IN THESE next two chapters we I have presented leprosy, that most terrible, most hateful and loathsome of all diseases — type of sin, as a living death and an uncleanness which only God could meet. It is a disease which only ends in death. But more than that it is a disease which works in life, for those parts of the body which are affected really die, while the man lives on.
There was no cure for leprosy naturally. The poor suspected victim of the disease did not go to the doctor for a diagnosis of his case, but to the priest. It was for the priest to pronounce on, but not a word is said about a cure. Only God Himself could cure leprosy, and if one were cured by such means there were certain offerings prescribed for his cleansing.
It was not so much what the leper did that made him unclean, but what he was. Since sin came in at the fall; we all were born unclean. And so we needed to be cleansed.
How wonderful that God in His love should devise such a means of cleansing as seen in these wonderful types, all pointing on to Christ.
Leprosy, like sin, begins in a small way. There might appear in the skin of the flesh a swelling, or a scab, or a bright spot. A “rising” speaks of pride, so hateful to God. Pride may take many forms, and “Only by pride cometh contention.” (Prov. 13:1010Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom. (Proverbs 13:10)). It is the source of so many sins and evils.
A scab is a crust or covering which has formed over an old sore or wound. Sin left unjudged breaks out, it will spread and defile others. A “bright spot” speaks of sin — it looks “bright” and attractive, yet death is there regardless. “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). May we beware of the “bright spots” of sin which Satan has prepared in this world to lure and trap the unwary and hasten them down the road to death. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Prov. 14:1212There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. (Proverbs 14:12).
“He shall be brought unto Aaron the priest.” It wasn’t a question of what the man might think, or what his friends or relatives might say about his case, all depended on the word of the priest. And that pictures to us the sinner brought into the presence of the Lord, the great High Priest. He may not think his case very bad, he hopes he will get better, yet if he has sin on him at all the Priest must pronounce him “Unclean!” But the same One who pronounces the sinner “Unclean!” is the One who can cleanse him from the leprosy of sin, for He is God, and His precious blood, shed in death at Calvary, washes whiter than snow.
ML-01/30/1972