Message 41
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Scripture Reading: Lev. 13:47-49, 53-59
In studying Leviticus 13, a chapter full of types and figures, we need the proper knowledge and understanding of the Bible as a whole. Otherwise, we shall have either no understanding of this chapter or an understanding that is wrong or biased. Chapter thirteen of Leviticus first deals with leprosy on a person’s body and then with leprosy in a garment. As we shall see, chapter fourteen deals with leprosy in a house. These are the three basic categories of leprosy.
In the Bible our garments signify our outward conduct, our daily living. Leprosy in a garment (vv. 47-59) signifies the filthiness in one’s outward living, conduct, contact with people, etc.
In Leviticus 13 three kinds of garments are mentioned.
Verse 47 speaks of a leprous disease in a woolen garment. Woolen garments signify one’s conduct, contact with people, etc., in meekness. Since wool is mild, it signifies behavior that is meek.
Linen garments (v. 47c) signify one’s conduct, contact with people, etc., in plainness. Linen is pure, plain, and simple. As signified by linen, our conduct should be pure, plain, and simple.
Clothing made from leather is warm. Hence, leather garments (v. 48b) signify one’s conduct, contact with people, etc., in warmness.
As signified by these three kinds of garments, our conduct should be in meekness, in plainness, and in warmness. There should not be any leprosy — the expression of sin and rebellion — in any of these kinds of conduct.
To consider the warp and the woof in the garments is to consider the textiles used in making the garments. The warp goes from the bottom to the top, and the woof goes from left to right.
The warp runs from bottom to top and from top to bottom. Thus warp in the garments signifies our outward conduct toward God, our relationship with God. In our conduct toward God there should be no leprosy, no rebellion.
In textiles the woof goes from left to right and from right to left. Thus woof signifies our outward conduct toward others. This aspect of our conduct should be pure, clean, from any leprosy, from any rebellion.
Our conduct in our daily walk is actually a matter of interweaving, that is, a condition which involves both God and man. We are not complete if we are right merely with God or merely with man. We need to be proper with both God and man. This means that in our garments, in our conduct, there will be leprosy neither in the warp nor in the woof.
The greenish or reddish appearance in the garment (v. 49) signifies the abnormal and strange change in one’s living and conduct. Suppose a garment belonging to a certain Israelite suddenly became greenish or reddish. That would be an abnormal change in the appearance of the garment. Such a change typifies an abnormal change in our behavior. Our daily living and conduct should be normal. However, a person’s conduct may change in a way that is abnormal and strange. This is a sign of disease, a sign of leprosy.
The greenish or reddish disease spreading in the garment, becoming a malignant (fretting) leprosy (v. 51), signifies the spreading sin that is becoming worse in malignancy (fretting). The words “malignant” and “fretting” indicate a disease that spreads by eating the flesh. Such a malignant leprosy signifies sin that is spreading within a person by eating up his being. At the beginning, the sin may be very small in scale and very low in degree. Now, however, the sin is spreading by devouring the person, becoming worse and worse in its malignancy.
“He shall burn the garment, whether diseased in woven or knitted material, in wool or in linen, or any article of leather, for it is a malignant leprosy; it shall be burned in the fire” (v. 52). Burning the garment in fire signifies eliminating the sinful and filthy living and conduct. When we discover that something sinful in us is becoming worse and worse, we should eliminate that thing by “burning” it, that is, by dealing with it by the cross of Christ.
Burning a garment signifies a strong dealing. Sometimes instead of such a strong dealing, we need another kind of dealing — the dealing signified by washing a garment. Concerning this, verses 53 and 54 say, “But if the priest examines it, and the disease has not spread in the garment, in woven or knitted material, or in any article of leather, then the priest shall command that they wash the thing in which the disease is, and he shall isolate it another seven days.” Washing the garment, the disease of which has not spread, signifies dealing with the suspected weakness in one’s living and conduct. It may not be clear whether a certain thing is a real sin or a suspected sin. In such a case it is sufficient to wash the garment. This is to deal with a matter by the washing Spirit of God, who is likened to water for washing.
“After it has been washed the priest shall again examine the diseased article and if the diseased spot has not changed its appearance, though the disease has not spread, it is unclean; you shall burn it with fire; it is a rotting, whether on its inside or on its outside” (v. 55). A rotting, a deeper fretting leprosy is very serious; it signifies the corroding sin that is becoming worse and deeper, having no change in appearance through repentance and confession. This is the kind of sin that can take over a person, devouring him and swallowing him up.
In our Christian life we daily need two things — repentance and confession. A day without repentance and confession is not a good day. Just as we need to wash our hands again and again, we need to repent and confess again and again. Every day we have things to repent of and confess. If we would live a holy life we need a daily washing, and this washing comes through our repentance and confession.
We need to repent and confess in our married life and our family life. In our married life we should be willing to say to our spouse that we are sorry. If we are not willing to say that we are sorry, we shall have problems with our husband or wife. In our family life the parents should be willing, when they have offended their children, to tell them that they are sorry. The word “sorry” implies repentance and confession.
God’s forgiveness of His children has certain terms or conditions. The main condition is our confession (1 John 1:9), and confession comes out of our repentance. We cannot confess unless we repent.
In order to live a holy life, we need to know the things concerning discernment in diet, concerning our birth, and concerning our condition. After learning these things, we must come to realize our need of daily repentance. We need to repent because it is so easy for us to make mistakes. Furthermore, we need to repent of what issues from within us. We may use the cleansing of our physical body as an illustration. During the day our hands do not touch anything unclean. Nevertheless, we shall become unclean through what issues out from within us. For this reason, we need a daily washing. The principle is the same in our Christian life. Even if we do not contact anything unclean, we still need to repent of what issues from within our being. This means that we need to repent not only of what we do but of what we are. Remember, we are a totality of uncleanness. As such, we need daily repentance and confession.
“If the priest examines it, and the diseased spot has faded after it has been washed, he shall tear it out of the garment or the leather, or out of the woven or knitted material” (Lev. 13:56). This signifies the eliminating of the suspected weakness in one’s living and conduct. The fading of a diseased spot in a garment after washing is a good sign, a sign of healing, of recovery. Nevertheless, that faded spot should be torn out of the garment. This means that the faded spot should be cut off. This indicates that we need to cut off, have a thorough dealing with, our suspected weakness.
Verse 57 speaks of the disease breaking out again in the garment after the diseased spot has been torn out of the garment. “Then if it appears again in the garment, in the woven or knitted material, or in any article of leather, it is a breaking out; you shall burn with fire the thing in which the disease is.” The breaking out again of the disease is a bad sign. It signifies that one’s weakness, after being dealt with and eliminated, has come out again.
“But the garment, or the woven or knitted material, or any article of leather from which the disease departs when you have washed it, shall then be washed a second time, and it shall be clean” (v. 58). The washing of garments a second time after the disease has departed through washing signifies that one’s weakness, having been dealt with, should be dealt with a further, a second, time.
The points we have covered in this message show us that we need to do four things: repent, confess, deal with certain matters, and eliminate certain matters. If we would live a normal, proper, holy Christian life, we daily need to repent, confess, deal with our actual and even suspected weaknesses, and eliminate those weaknesses from our conduct. From this we can see that there are many details involved in dealing with sin, leprosy, and rebellion.
Chapters thirteen and fourteen of Leviticus cover the matter of sin in more detail than any other chapters in the Bible. These chapters deal with sin not only in our being and in our conduct but also in our house, our dwelling. There is thus a threefold dealing with sin — with leprosy in one’s body, in one’s clothing, and in one’s house. A person may be unclean first in his body and then in his clothing and in his house. We need to be cleansed from sin, from leprosy, in a threefold way.
If we want to deal with these three kinds of leprosy, we need to repent again and again, even every hour. No matter how careful we may be, in our behavior and in our contact with others we are not perfect. The only perfect person is the Lord Jesus. In every respect His behavior was perfect. We, however, surely are not perfect. We were born uncleanness, and our very being is unclean. How, then, could we be perfect? How could we be pure? For us, this is impossible. Therefore, we need to repent of our failures, confess our mistakes, and deal with our failures and mistakes, seeking even to eliminate them.
In Leviticus 13 different words are used to describe and diagnose leprosy: swelling, eruption, bright spot, white, raw flesh, chronic, boil, reddish-white bright spot, scall, yellow hair, greenish, malignant. If in our study of this chapter we pay attention to all these expressions, we shall be enlightened concerning the ugliness of leprosy. We shall see how troublesome and contagious leprosy is. In particular, we shall be enlightened concerning the leprous condition of our own being, for in all these details we shall see a portrait of ourselves.
If we are enlightened regarding ourselves, we shall no longer be self-dignified. How could a leper, an unclean person, be self-dignified? This is impossible. There is no dignity or honor in leprosy. None of us should be honored, dignified, and glorified. Who, then, should be honored? Only the Lord Jesus is worthy to receive glory and honor. He alone should be honored and glorified.
Because this chapter gives us such a clear picture of our negative situation, it surely helps us to know ourselves. I can testify that I have been greatly helped by studying this chapter through the years. I cannot easily forget what I am, for I have been enlightened deeply and in detail through Leviticus 13. I have seen what I am in myself. Often this chapter reminds me that I have nothing to be proud of. Apart from the Lord’s mercy, this leprosy would spread and consume my entire being.
Leviticus 13 humbles us. This chapter shows us that we are altogether leprous, that we are a totality of rebellion. There is rebellion in every part of our being. With us there is no submission, no subjection, no obedience. Therefore, we need to live a life of repentance and confession, a life of dealing with our shortcomings and eliminating them by the cross of Christ. Then we may live a holy life.
I use the word “may” because from experience I know that we cannot be perfect even for a whole day. We may have a good start in the morning but not so well the rest of the day. Have you ever been perfect, living a holy life, for one whole day? I cannot remember ever having such a day. How about you?
Chapter thirteen of Leviticus reveals that we are a totality of leprosy. Every aspect of the uncleanness in which we were born is a matter of leprosy, of rebellion. Rebellion, uncleanness, leprosy, sin — these are synonyms. To say that we were born uncleanness means that we were born rebellion. We are the totality of rebellion. Since this is our situation, if we are to live a holy life, we need to repent and confess all day long.
Consider Isaiah’s reaction when he saw the glory of Christ (Isa. 6:1; John 12:41). He said, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips” (Isa. 6:5). Concerning our tongue, James said, “The tongue no one among men is able to tame” (James 3:8a). He also said, “If anyone does not stumble in word, this is a perfect man” (v. 2). How much trouble is caused by our lips and our tongue! When we speak it is very easy for us to say something sinful, something that requires our repentance and confession.
In Leviticus 12 we see that we are a totality of uncleanness, and in Leviticus 13, that we are a totality of leprosy. This leprosy is sin, and sin is rebellion. Therefore, we need a continual repentance and confession.
