Scripture Daily

Context No. 4012 of 4322 · Leviticus

Context · Reflection

Leviticus 13:9-17: in context

9“When the plague of leprosy is in a man, then he shall be brought to the priest; 10and the priest shall examine him. Behold, if there is a white swelling in the skin, and it has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling, 11it is a chronic leprosy in the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. He shall not isolate him, for he is already unclean. 12“If the leprosy breaks out all over the skin, and the leprosy covers all the skin of the infected person from his head even to his feet, as far as it appears to the priest, 13then the priest shall examine him. Behold, if the leprosy has covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean of the plague. It has all turned white: he is clean. 14But whenever raw flesh appears in him, he shall be unclean. 15The priest shall examine the raw flesh, and pronounce him unclean: the raw flesh is unclean. It is leprosy. 16Or if the raw flesh turns again, and is changed to white, then he shall come to the priest. 17The priest shall examine him. Behold, if the plague has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him clean of the plague. He is clean.

These laws about diagnosing skin disease required something significant: the affected person had to be brought to the priest and examined openly. There was no hiding it, no self-diagnosis, no pretending the problem was not there; the condition had to be brought into the light and honestly assessed by the one appointed to judge it.

There is a spiritual picture in this, for uncleanness in Scripture often stands for the deeper defilement of sin. Just as the leper could not hide his condition or heal himself but had to bring it into the open to the priest, so we cannot hide our sin or cure it ourselves; it must be brought honestly into the light before God. Our instinct is to conceal what is wrong with us, to cover it over and hope no one notices; but hidden defilement is not healed, only postponed. The way to cleansing runs through honest exposure, bringing our uncleanness out of hiding and into the light. And the hope, for us, is greater than for the leper, for we bring our sin to Christ, who alone can cleanse it.

Do I bring my sin and uncleanness honestly into the light before God rather than hiding it, trusting that the way to cleansing runs not through concealment but through honest exposure to the One who can cleanse me?

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