Message 44
Scripture Reading: Lev. 14:33-53
In the messages on Leviticus 13 we saw that leprosy may be in a person and also in one’s garments. In this message we shall consider the leprosy in a house.
Everything in the book of Leviticus is a type. This includes the house in chapter fourteen. Based upon the principle that Leviticus is written in the form of types, we may interpret the house in 14:33-53 as a type of the church. As New Testament believers, we recognize that our real house is not our physical house but the church. Without the proper church life, we are homeless. Only when we are in the church and live the proper church life are we truly at home. Many have testified upon entering into the church life that they are now at home. The house in Leviticus 14, therefore, typifies the church as our house, our home, and the leprosy in a house signifies sins and evils in the church (vv. 33-48).
Leviticus 14:34 speaks of God’s putting a leprous disease in a house of the land of Israel’s possession. This signifies that when the condition of a church becomes abnormal, God causes the leprous sin to appear in the church, reminding and warning the believers that they no longer have a house to live in and are no longer able to enjoy all the blessings God promised in His salvation.
During the more than fifty years I have been in the Lord’s recovery, I have passed through many turmoils. Sometimes the turmoil reached the point that there was leprosy in the house. When the church becomes leprous, sick because of sins and evils, we have the sense that we have lost our home, that we have become homeless. Furthermore, when the church is sick of leprosy, we lose the enjoyment of Christ. Since there is no longer a proper church, we are no longer able to enjoy all the blessings God has promised in His salvation.
“When you enter into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put a leprous disease in a house of the land of your possession, then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, Something like a leprous disease has appeared in my house” (vv. 34-35). The owner’s coming and telling this to the priest signifies that the leading brothers or those who are concerned for the church approach the Lord or the apostle, the Lord’s deputy, and tell the Lord or His deputy. This is what we need to do when the church is sick.
“The priest shall then order that they empty the house before he goes in to examine the disease, so that all that is in the house shall not become unclean” (v. 36a). This signifies to do one’s best to prevent and eliminate the contagion.
In order to stop the contagion, we should be careful about our talking, for gossiping will spread the disease. From experience we know that gossip spreads the contagious disease in the church. If we listen to gossip, we shall be contaminated. By being careful about gossip, we shall help to stop the spread of the contagious disease.
“After that the priest shall go in to examine the house” (v. 36b). This signifies that the Lord or the apostle comes to examine. This kind of examination is not a matter of condemnation; rather, it is a kind of grace for healing.
“He shall examine the disease, and if the disease is in the walls of the house with greenish or reddish depressions, and it appears to be beneath the surface of the wall, then the priest shall come out of the house, to the entrance of the house, and shut up the house for seven days” (vv. 37-38). This signifies that the problem of the church is not only on the surface, but it is deeper, beneath the surface. The communication and fellowship of the church should be kept under observation for a complete course of time. When there is such a sickness in the church life, the elders, the responsible ones, should do their best to watch over the communication between the saints and the fellowship among them for a complete course of time. The more of this kind of observation there is, the better.
“And the priest shall return on the seventh day and examine it; and if the disease has spread in the walls of the house, the priest shall order that they remove the stones in which the disease is, and throw them into an unclean place outside the city” (vv. 39-40). This signifies that after the observation of a complete period of time, if the problem of the church is still spreading, the believer or believers involved in the problem should be removed from the fellowship of the church and be considered unclean, like the outsiders (cf. 1 Cor. 5). This means that when the church is sick of a certain disease, the elders should first observe the situation. If the problem is becoming worse, the source of the problem — the believer or believers who have become involved in the disease — should be removed from the fellowship, the communication, of the church in order to stop the spread of the disease and to eliminate the disease. Actually, the problem may need to be dealt with from many directions. How we handle the situation depends on our observation and on the wisdom we receive from God.
“And he shall have the house scraped all around inside, and they shall pour out the mortar which they scraped off into an unclean place outside the city” (v. 41). This signifies that because of a few believers, the whole church should be dealt with, and whatever is dealt with should be put out of the church as unclean.
“Then they shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones” (v. 42a). Putting other stones in the place of the removed stones signifies the using of other believers to fill up the gap. When the church becomes sick with leprosy, it often becomes necessary to remove from the fellowship of the church the saints who are involved in the problem. This will create a gap, and we should seek to fill this gap with other believers.
“And he shall take other mortar and plaster the house” (v. 42b). This is important, for it signifies the renewing of the church with new experiences of the Lord’s gracious works.
In dealing with the leprosy in a house, it is not adequate to remove certain believers and then fill the gap with other believers. We need to have a new start in the church life, that is, to renew the church with new experiences of the Lord’s gracious works. This is typified by taking other mortar and plastering the house. This is not a matter of simply dealing with a problem but of bringing in the riches of Christ in a new way. If we are unable to do this but simply do something in a legal way to remove certain persons and replace them with others, this will make the church empty, and in this emptiness the church will suffer even more. Therefore, the leading ones need to pray, perhaps with fasting, that the church will receive something new in the experiences of Christ’s gracious works. Then the church life will be renewed, replastered with new mortar, and all the members will be happy about the renewed church life.
“If the disease breaks out again in the house after he has removed the stones and scraped the house, and after it has been plastered, then the priest shall come and examine it, and if the disease has spread in the house, it is a malignant leprosy in the house; it is unclean. He shall break down the house, its stones, its timber, and all the mortar of the house; and he shall carry them outside the city into an unclean place” (vv. 43-45). This signifies that after the dealing, if additional serious sins break out, the whole church should be torn down. This is most pitiful. If the situation of a church reaches the point where it cannot be cured, healed, then it will be necessary for that church to be terminated.
“Moreover, he who goes into the house all the days that it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening” (v. 46). This signifies that with him who touches the defiled things, the old day should be ended and there should be a new beginning.
Whenever there is a problem in the church life, the leading ones should endeavor to have something new in the experience of Christ that the church may have a new start. Such a new start is able to rescue the diseased church from its problems. However, if we pay attention fully to the problems, there will either be more problems or the problems will be intensified. Thus, there is the need of much seeking, through prayer and fasting, of new experiences of the Lord, experiences that will be a rescue of the diseased church life. This means that we should try our best to end the old day of the diseased church life and to help the church to have a new beginning.
“And he who lies down in the house shall wash his clothes; and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes” (v. 47). This signifies that those who do not have a positive service in the church in which there is a problem and those who only enjoy the supply in that church should also be dealt with in their living and behavior.
Leviticus 14:47 speaks of those who lie down and eat in a diseased house. Lying down in a diseased house signifies that one is not positively involved in the church service. If we are involved seriously in the church life, we shall not have time to lie down. Lying down is an indication that one is indifferent to the church life or that one is not positively in the church service. Eating in a diseased house signifies that one cares only for the supply and enjoyment in the church life. Such a person likes to have a good time in the church. He comes to the meetings not to serve but to eat, to enjoy. He has no intention of doing anything in the church service.
Here in verse 47 we can see two of the categories of saints in the church life: those who come to the church to lie down, to rest, and those who come to the church to eat, to receive the supply and to have enjoyment. Although these saints are not positively engaged in the church service, having no heart for this, they are good at criticizing others. They do not speak in the meetings, but they criticize those who do. As they rest in the church and enjoy the supply, they find fault with others. These saints need to wash their clothes. This means that by washing they need to cleanse their conduct and behavior.
We need to ask the Lord to be merciful to us that none of us will be those lying down or caring only for our eating. We all should be those who serve in the church.
“But if the priest comes in and examines it, and the disease has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, for the disease has been healed” (v. 48). This signifies that if no sin is spreading after the renewing of the church with the new experiences of the Lord’s gracious works, the church is clean and has no problem. I have seen this a number of times in the past. In each case there was a healing, a rescue, mainly by the new experiences of Christ.
In 14:49-53 we have the cleansing of the leprosy in a house, that is, the cleansing in a church.
Leviticus 14:49-51 reveals the leprosy in a house is cleansed in the same way as the cleansing of leprosy in a man. This signifies that the whole church experiences once again the suffering, death, resurrection, ascension, and entering into glory with Christ. In order for a church to be cleansed, the church needs to experience again the processes through which the Lord Jesus has passed.
“Thus he shall purge the house with the blood of the bird and the fresh water, and with the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet” (v. 52). This signifies that the whole church needs to be cleansed with the eternally efficacious blood of Christ and His eternal and living Spirit. Hence, we always depend on the blood and the Spirit, both of which are seen in the type. In the type we have the blood of the slain bird, the water, and the oil. The blood of the bird signifies the blood of Christ, the water signifies the cleansing Spirit, and the oil signifies the anointing Spirit. When a church becomes sick, it needs these two elements — the blood of Christ and the Spirit — to recover it.
“Then he shall let the live bird go free outside the city over the open field” (v. 53a). This signifies that the church enters with Christ into the realm and experience of His resurrection and ascension. When a diseased church is healed, surely this church will not remain on an earthly level but will rise up to the heavens and soar in the heavens. Nothing will be able to hinder, restrict, restrain, or bind such a church. As long as a church is on the earthly level, it will be bound by the earthly ties. But when the church enjoys Christ’s resurrection and ascension, the church is above the earth, enjoying freedom in the heavens.
Leviticus 14:53b says, “Thus he shall make propitiation for the house, and it shall be clean.” The house being clean signifies that the church is fully clean to be the mutual dwelling of God and man.
Often there are problems in the church. It seems that in the church life problems are unavoidable. With a new church there are few problems, if any, but with an older church there are more problems. Just as it is easy for an older person to become ill, so it is easy for an older church to have problems.
Perhaps when you came into the church life, you enjoyed a church honeymoon. However, a church life honeymoon, like a honeymoon in married life, does not last very long. During our church life honeymoon, we may think that the church is marvelous, that it is a real paradise. However, when the honeymoon is over, our eyes will be opened to see all the problems, defects, and shortcomings in the church. Just as the eyes of Adam and Eve were opened after they ate of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and they knew that they were naked, so our eyes will be opened to see things that are not positive or pleasant. If we dwell on these things, we shall want a separation from the church life and eventually a divorce.
We need to realize that the church is the best place on earth. What, then, shall we do about the problems in the church? We should pray to be renewed in the experiences of Christ. We should not pray too much for others or about the situation. Instead, we should pray for ourselves that we might be able to bring something new of Christ into the church life. This is the way for a diseased church to be healed. Sometimes a church will be healed through the new experiences of the new ones.
The more we experience Christ in a new way, the more the church will be healed. A diseased church cannot be healed by discussion, argument, and debate. The more we engage in these things, the more trouble there will be. We need to pray for ourselves and for the church that through the new experiences of Christ we as members and the church as a whole may have a new start and enter into a new age. This is the only way for a diseased church to be healed.
