Bible Talks: Leprosy in the House

From: Messages of God's Love: 1972

Narrator: Chris Genthree

• 3 min. read • grade level: 8

Leviticus 14:33-57³³And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, ³⁴When ye be come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession; ³⁵And he that owneth the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, It seemeth to me there is as it were a plague in the house: ³⁶Then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest go into it to see the plague, that all that is in the house be not made unclean: and afterward the priest shall go in to see the house: ³⁷And he shall look on the plague, and, behold, if the plague be in the walls of the house with hollow strakes, greenish or reddish, which in sight are lower than the wall; ³⁸Then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days: ³⁹And the priest shall come again the seventh day, and shall look: and, behold, if the plague be spread in the walls of the house; ⁴⁰Then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which the plague is, and they shall cast them into an unclean place without the city: ⁴¹And he shall cause the house to be scraped within round about, and they shall pour out the dust that they scrape off without the city into an unclean place: ⁴²And they shall take other stones, and put them in the place of those stones; and he shall take other mortar, and shall plaster the house. ⁴³And if the plague come again, and break out in the house, after that he hath taken away the stones, and after he hath scraped the house, and after it is plaistered; ⁴⁴Then the priest shall come and look, and, behold, if the plague be spread in the house, it is a fretting leprosy in the house: it is unclean. ⁴⁵And he shall break down the house, the stones of it, and the timber thereof, and all the mortar of the house; and he shall carry them forth out of the city into an unclean place. ⁴⁶Moreover he that goeth into the house all the while that it is shut up shall be unclean until the even. ⁴⁷And he that lieth in the house shall wash his clothes; and he that eateth in the house shall wash his clothes. ⁴⁸And if the priest shall come in, and look upon it, and, behold, the plague hath not spread in the house, after the house was plaistered: then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed. ⁴⁹And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: ⁵⁰And he shall kill the one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water: ⁵¹And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times: ⁵²And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet: ⁵³But he shall let go the living bird out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house: and it shall be clean. ⁵⁴This is the law for all manner of plague of leprosy, and scall, ⁵⁵And for the leprosy of a garment, and of a house, ⁵⁶And for a rising, and for a scab, and for a bright spot: ⁵⁷To teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean: this is the law of leprosy. (Leviticus 14:33‑57)

THERE IS still one more case of leprosy and this is reserved for the end — that is, leprosy in the house. When these instructions were given Israel was still in the wilderness, dwelling in tents, but they would apply when they were “come into the land of Canaan.” For our instruction the Christian assembly is here typified, that which is formed on earth by the indwelling of the Spirit of God. Christians are seen as “living stones,” “builded together as a habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph. 2:22²²In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22)).

But men build too and so we find in the “great house” (2 Tim. 2:20²⁰But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor. (2 Timothy 2:20)) that which defiles and corrupts as well as that which is precious and holy. Any allowance of evil is “a plague in the house.” God insists on holiness in His presence; thus we read “Holiness becometh Thine house, O Lord, Forever.” Psa. 93:5⁵Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever. (Psalm 93:5).

If there seemed to be a plague in the house the priest was to command that they empty the house first of all, “that all that is in the house be not made unclean.” After that the priest would go in and inspect the house. If he found in the walls greenish or reddish hollow streaks, he would order the house to be shut up seven days. Then on the seventh day he would come again and look, and if the plague had spread in the house he would command that they take away the stones in which the plague was. One who had an interest in the house was not to be indifferent to any suspicious signs of evil, yet he himself was not to be the judge. Judgment was reserved for the priest, whose place now would be taken by faithful, godly men who are true “doorkeepers in the house of God” (Psa. 84:10¹⁰For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. (Psalm 84:10)) and who under the Lord’s guidance are chosen to act for Him and for His glory. The seven days allowed to run their course speak of how there was to be neither haste nor indifference, but calmness and patience all through. Perhaps things might not be as bad as it first seemed, and no action would be necessary. But if the evil had spread, then those who were affected by it were to be put outside the assembly, and the saints would prove themselves pure in the matter.

The house was then to be scraped, other stones replaced those taken away, and other mortar put in. How this tells of proper cleansing and care necessary to preserve the purity of that place which the Lord deigns to fill with His presence.

If after all this the plague broke out again in the house, the priest was to come and look, and if the plague had spread then the house was judged unclean. There was no remedy, and the house was to be torn down. How sad to think that there have been cases where evil has been unjudged and allowed to abide in a Christian assembly; it has become a leprous house, and the Lord has had to disown it.

However, it is lovely to see the provision made if the plague were checked in time, for the house could then be preserved by that which figured the death of Christ. The cedar wood (man’s greatness), the scarlet (man’s glory), the hyssop (man’s littleness), and the living bird were all to be dipped in the blood of the bird that had been killed over running water. The house was sprinkled seven times with the blood of the slain bird, speaking of the perfect cleansing by the blood of Christ. Then the living bird was let go into the open fields, atonement was complete, and the house declared clean.

Truly God’s only way of cleansing and blessing, whether for the individual or for the whole assembly, is through the death and shedding of the blood of Christ, His beloved Son.

ML-04/09/1972

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