Scripture Daily

Context No. 1555 of 4322 · Leviticus

Context · Reflection

Leviticus 13:24-28: in context

24“Or when the body has a burn from fire on its skin, and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a bright spot, reddish-white, or white, 25then the priest shall examine it; and behold, if the hair in the bright spot has turned white, and its appearance is deeper than the skin, it is leprosy. It has broken out in the burning, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is the plague of leprosy. 26But if the priest examines it, and behold, there is no white hair in the bright spot, and it isn’t deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest shall isolate him seven days. 27The priest shall examine him on the seventh day. If it has spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is the plague of leprosy. 28If the bright spot stays in its place, and hasn’t spread in the skin, but is faded, it is the swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is the scar from the burn.

This law instructs the priest on examining a burn on the skin to determine whether it is the beginning of a serious disease or merely a healing scar. He is to look at the spot: if the hair in it has turned white and it lies deeper than the skin, it is the disease, and the person is unclean. But if it has faded and not spread, the priest isolates the person seven days and looks again. If it has spread, it is the disease; if it has stayed in place and faded, it is only the scar of the burn, and the person is clean.

The distinction the priest must make is between a scar and a spreading disease, and it required patient watching over time. A mark on the skin might be one of two very different things: an old burn that has healed, leaving only a harmless scar, or the start of an active disease that would spread and corrupt. From a single glance they might look similar; the way to tell was to watch over time whether it spread or stayed put and faded. There is a spiritual discernment worth drawing from this. Not everything that marks us is a spreading danger; some things are scars, healed wounds of the past, marks left by old hurts or old sins that are genuinely healed and no longer active. Others are active corruptions, sins or wounds still spreading, still doing damage, not scarred over but alive and growing. And the two can look alike at first; it takes patient self-examination over time to tell whether something in us is a healed scar we can leave in peace or an active disease that is spreading and must be dealt with. Some of us treat old healed scars as if they were active diseases, endlessly reopening wounds God has already healed; others treat active, spreading corruptions as if they were harmless scars, ignoring what is growing and doing damage. The wisdom the priest practiced, watching over time to tell the healed from the spreading, is a wisdom we need in examining our own hearts, to distinguish the scar that is healed from the corruption that is still alive and must be brought to the healer.

Can I discern in myself the difference between a healed scar, an old wound or sin God has genuinely healed that I should leave in peace, and an active, spreading corruption that must be brought to the healer, rather than reopening healed wounds or ignoring what is still alive and doing damage?

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