Leviticus 14 – Christ’s atonement makes us totally cleansed

Leviticus 14 is needed to complete the picture that we truly have a gracious God. He would be unreasonable if lepers, declared unclean and not able to come into His holy presence, were not provided a way for them to be restored. Our holy God has a strong aversion for sin, but He is gracious enough to provide a way that sin can be dealt with and sinners can be restored.

Leviticus 14 essentially shows how graciously He had provided a means whereby the lepers could be restored to fellowship with Him. Verses 1-32 describe the ceremonies for the restoration of those affected by leprosy and diseases that made them unclean. There were essentially two parts to effect the restoration. The first consists of a ceremony that would take place outside the camp. The second would take place inside the camp. It would happen eight days after the first ceremony. This second ceremony required the various offerings except for the peace offering. Once the person had been declared fit, he would be restored to the covenant community with full rights and responsibility like all the rest. Leviticus 14:33-57 deal with the cleansing of houses that were affected by mold or fungus, and rotting had taken place. Moses and Aaron were given instructions on how those affected houses ought to be dealt with.

In this chapter, we are introduced to our God who is not only concerned for our souls but also cares for our physical and total well-being. He wants us to be well in soul and in the body. The priest who went outside the camp to deal with the leper points us to Christ who had gone to the cross outside the camp to deal with our sin nature. His death on the cross atoned for our sin. Two clean birds were brought for the cleansing ceremony. One would be slaughtered and its blood used for cleansing the leper with hyssop. The other would be set free in the open field and released. The slain bird shows the leper’s life cleansed vicariously by the blood of the bird that was slain on his behalf. The one that was released symbolized the new life that the cleansed leper would be given. The smearing of the blood on the right ear, thumb, and right big toe tell us how complete a person would be cleansed when he followed the instruction and act as God had prescribed. We too are cleansed by Christ’s blood and our total being - spirit, soul, and body - kept for God’s glory!