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. 2:22).
But men build too and so we find in the “great house” (2 Tim. 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. 93:5.
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. 84:10) 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