Daily Scripture Reading Leviticus 13:18-33

Marcus enjoyed playing with sin. He told little white lies, flirted with ladies other than his wife, and skimmed small amounts of money from his employer. Over time, the thrill subsided, so he began telling bigger lies, skimming larger amounts of money, and being bolder with his flirtations. His lies and embezzlement kept growing. His employer started to notice the missing money and launched an investigation. Eventually, Marcus crossed the line into adultery. Shortly after that, the police arrested him for embezzlement. He went to jail and his wife divorced him. After serving his three-year jail term, he had nothing.

Sin is something that needs to be avoided, not toyed with. Today’s passage illustrates how we should take every precaution to prevent contact with sin, not be casual about it.

The 18th chapter of Leviticus is part of a long section that describes the rules and procedures for dealing with leprosy. When a man had a swelling, scab, or bright spot on his skin, he was to present himself to the priest. The priest was to determine if the spot was leprosy, meaning the man was unclean, or if it was not leprous, meaning the man was clean.

Lev. 13:18 ¶ “When the body has a boil on its skin and it is healed,

Lev. 13:19 and in the place of the boil there is a white swelling or a reddish-white bright spot, then it shall be shown to the priest;

Lev. 13:20 and the priest shall look, and behold, if it appears to be lower than the skin, and the hair on it has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the infection of leprosy; it has broken out in the boil.

Lev. 13:21 But if the priest looks at it, and behold, there are no white hairs in it, and it is not lower than the skin and is faded, then the priest shall isolate him for seven days;

Look at the word “isolate”. When there was any risk that a man might have leprosy or be breaking out in leprosy, the man was isolated so that if he indeed had leprosy, then he would not come into contact with anyone else who was clean.

Lev. 13:22 and if it spreads farther on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is an infection.

Lev. 13:23 But if the bright spot remains in its place and does not spread, it is only the scar of the boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

Lev. 13:24 ¶ “Or if the body sustains in its skin a burn by fire, and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a bright spot, reddish-white, or white,

Lev. 13:25 then the priest shall look at it. And if the hair in the bright spot has turned white and it appears to be deeper than the skin, it is leprosy; it has broken out in the burn. Therefore, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is an infection of leprosy.

Lev. 13:26 But if the priest looks at it, and behold, there is no white hair in the bright spot, and it is no deeper than the skin but is faded, then the priest shall isolate him for seven days;

Once again we see the word “isolate”. When the spot on the skin did not appear to be deeper than the skin, then it was uncertain whether or not the man had leprosy. Therefore, he was isolated until there was certainty about the matter. If the man developed leprosy, then he would be unclean and it was important that all the Israelites be protected from potentially coming in contact with an unclean person.

This mirrors a teaching we see in the New Testament about protecting ourselves from falling into sin. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 5 that the church in Corinth should have removed from their midst a man who had his father’s wife. The reason was that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. In other words, if the church in Corinth allowed this sinner in their midst, it would desensitize people to his sin and perhaps lead to other men taking their father’s wives.

Also, in 1 Corinthians 6 Paul commanded us to flee sexual immorality. Sexual immorality is so dangerous and corrosive that believers should flee away from it, so as not to be ensnared by it.

Some people like to play with sin. They get a thrill out of seeing how much they can get away with. They love the challenge of walking as close to the edge as they can without crossing the line. However, over time the thrill fades away, and bigger risks need to be taken to get the same thrill. Eventually, people who dabble in sin will get burned.

Any Israelite who potentially had leprosy was isolated so that no one else ran the risk of coming in contact with an unclean leper. So too, all believers should isolate themselves from sin, so that we are not desensitized to sin.

Lev. 13:27 and the priest shall look at him on the seventh day. If it spreads farther in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is an infection of leprosy.

Lev. 13:28 But if the bright spot remains in its place and has not spread in the skin but is faded, it is the swelling from the burn; and the priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is only the scar of the burn.

Lev. 13:29 ¶ “Now if a man or woman has an infection on the head or on the beard,

Lev. 13:30 then the priest shall look at the infection, and if it appears to be deeper than the skin, and there is thin yellowish hair in it, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a scale; it is leprosy of the head or of the beard.

Lev. 13:31 But if the priest looks at the infection of the scale, and behold, it appears to be no deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall isolate the person with the scaly infection for seven days.

This is the third time we see the word “isolate”. Sometimes the signs of leprosy on the head or beard were inconclusive, so the person had to be isolated until there was enough evidence to make a conclusive decision.

Lev. 13:32 Now on the seventh day the priest shall look at the infection, and if the scale has not spread, and there is no yellowish hair in it, and the appearance of the scale is no deeper than the skin,

Lev. 13:33 then he shall shave himself, but he shall not shave the scale; and the priest shall isolate the person with the scale seven more days.

Some people like to fiddle with sin. They get a thrill out of seeing how much they can get away with. However, people who dabble in sin will eventually get burned.

Any Israelite who potentially had leprosy was isolated so that no one else ran the risk of coming in contact with an unclean leper. So too, all of us should isolate ourselves from sin, so that we do not fall into sin.

In what ways are you tempting yourself with sin?

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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.”