Daily Scripture Reading Leviticus 14:48 - 15:12
On the outside, Justin appeared to be a model Christian. He did not smoke or drink. He attended church every time the doors were open. He taught Sunday School, led a men’s Bible study, and always showed up for workday. He conscientiously donated at least ten percent of his income to the church, and all giving outside his church was in addition to his ten percent.
However, on the inside, Justin was a very different person. He hated the talents God had given him. He wanted a different set of gifts and abilities. He envied those who were better athletes and made more money than he did. He was very good at teaching doctrine acceptable to his church, but deep down he really didn’t believe what he was teaching. While externally Justin appeared to be a Christian everyone should emulate, the reality was that on the inside he was bitter, resentful, judgmental, and envious.
The Book of Leviticus has multiple chapters that describe the rules surrounding cleanliness. As we will see in today’s passage, uncleanness was not necessarily visible. This illustrates that being an upright Christian is not just a matter of what people see. We also have to be pure and upright on the inside.
In the middle of Leviticus 14, Yahweh began explaining the rules surrounding leprosy in a house. When certain marks appeared, the priest needed to examine the mark and put the house under isolation in order to determine what, if any, corrective action was necessary. If the mark spread during the isolation, then the mark needed to be removed.
Lev. 14:48 ¶ “If, on the other hand, the priest comes in and looks again, and the mark has not indeed spread in the house after the house has been replastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean because the mark has not reappeared.
Lev. 14:49 To cleanse the house then, he shall take two birds and cedar wood and a scarlet string and hyssop,
Lev. 14:50 and he shall slaughter the one bird in an earthenware vessel over running water.
Lev. 14:51 Then he shall take the cedar wood and the hyssop and the scarlet string, with the live bird, and he shall dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird as well as in the running water, and he shall sprinkle the house seven times.
Take note that the live bird was dipped in the blood of the dead bird.
Lev. 14:52 He shall thus cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the running water, along with the live bird and with the cedar wood and with the hyssop and with the scarlet string.
Lev. 14:53 However, he shall let the live bird go free outside the city into the open field. So he shall make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.”
Notice the live bird was allowed to go free. One bird was killed while the other bird was released. This is a picture of how Jesus died for our sins in order to set us free from sin.
Lev. 14:54 ¶ This is the law for any mark of leprosy—even for a scale,
Lev. 14:55 and for the leprous garment or house,
Lev. 14:56 and for a swelling and for a scab and for a bright spot—
Lev. 14:57 to instruct when they are unclean and when they are clean. This is the law of leprosy.
Lev. 15:1 ¶ Yahweh also spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
Look at the words “Yahweh also spoke”. This indicates the author was starting a new section on a different topic.
Lev. 15:2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean.
Lev. 15:3 This, moreover, shall be his uncleanness in his discharge: it is his uncleanness whether his body allows its discharge to flow or whether his body obstructs its discharge.
Lev. 15:4 Every bed on which the person with the discharge lies becomes unclean, and everything on which he sits becomes unclean.
Take note of the transfer of uncleanness. When an unclean person touched other objects, they became unclean, even though visibly there was nothing to make the object unclean.
Lev. 15:5 Anyone, moreover, who touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening;
Uncleanness could transfer from a person, to an object, and to a different person.
Lev. 15:6 and whoever sits on the thing on which the man with the discharge has been sitting shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
Lev. 15:7 Also whoever touches the person with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
Don’t miss the fact that a person could become unclean even though visibly nothing was unclean. When an unclean person touched a bed, the appearance of the bed did not change. It still appeared to be clean. However, since an unclean person had touched it, it was in fact not clean.
This illustrates that not all sin is visible. Jesus criticized the scribes and Pharisees because outwardly they appeared to be righteous, but on the inside they were full of hypocrisy and lawlessness (see Matthew 23:28). Jesus taught that it is not that which enters a man which makes him unclean, it is what comes out of his heart that makes him unclean (see Mark 7:15). Some of the unseen thoughts which defile a man are coveting, envy, pride, and foolishness.
Lev. 15:8 Or if the man with the discharge spits on one who is clean, he too shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
Lev. 15:9 Every saddle on which the person with the discharge rides becomes unclean.
Lev. 15:10 Whoever then touches any of the things which were under him shall be unclean until evening, and he who carries them shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
Lev. 15:11 Likewise, whomever the one with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
Lev. 15:12 However, an earthenware vessel which the person with the discharge touches shall be broken, and every wooden vessel shall be rinsed in water.
It is easy to focus on external acts and convince ourselves that we are good Christians if we do things that gain the approval of other people. However, God looks at the heart. Being an upright Christian is not just a matter of appearances, it is also a matter of being a good Christian on the inside.
What do other people see when they observe your life?
What does God see when He looks at your life?
How is God’s perspective different from the perspective of other people?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”