Chapter 14 - My Leanness, My Leanness: Leviticus 14:21-53

Leviticus 14:21‑53; Isaiah 24:16  •  3 min. read  •  grade level: 8
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Leviticus 14:21-5321And if he be poor, and cannot get so much; then he shall take one lamb for a trespass offering to be waved, to make an atonement for him, and one tenth deal of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering, and a log of oil; 22And two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to get; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering. 23And he shall bring them on the eighth day for his cleansing unto the priest, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, before the Lord. 24And the priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering, and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord: 25And he shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot: 26And the priest shall pour of the oil into the palm of his own left hand: 27And the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the Lord: 28And the priest shall put of the oil that is in his hand upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the place of the blood of the trespass offering: 29And the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put upon the head of him that is to be cleansed, to make an atonement for him before the Lord. 30And he shall offer the one of the turtledoves, or of the young pigeons, such as he can get; 31Even such as he is able to get, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, with the meat offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed before the Lord. 32This is the law of him in whom is the plague of leprosy, whose hand is not able to get that which pertaineth to his cleansing. 33And 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. (Leviticus 14:21‑53); Isaiah 24:1616From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously. (Isaiah 24:16)
We have finished considering this most exquisite section of God's holy Word. And yet almost every time one reads it, one seems to see some fresh ray of glory and beauty shining from it, so that we can never truly speak of having "finished considering" any portion of that Word.
Perhaps we wonder how much, or how little, God's people of old saw wrapped up in this precious portion, and how highly they valued it. Should we not rather ask, how much do we comprehend of the glories and the excellencies and the worth of our own precious Savior, who has been revealed to us in such a different measure to those in days of old? And this brings us to the next section of our chapter.
“And if he be poor, and cannot get so much; then he shall take one lamb for a trespass offering to be waved, to make an atonement for him, and one tenth deal of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering, and a log of oil; and two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to get; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering. And he shall bring them on the eighth day for his cleansing unto the priest," etc. Lev. 14:21-2321And if he be poor, and cannot get so much; then he shall take one lamb for a trespass offering to be waved, to make an atonement for him, and one tenth deal of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering, and a log of oil; 22And two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to get; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering. 23And he shall bring them on the eighth day for his cleansing unto the priest, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, before the Lord. (Leviticus 14:21‑23).
How often we are "poor"! Our apprehension of Christ is often so poor! But yet, if we do trust in His precious blood, we have pardon and cleansing. Thank God, it is not my estimation of His worth, but God's estimation, that is so important. Instead of the lambs for the sin offering and burnt offering, I can, perhaps, only afford pigeons: but my acceptance and my cleansing are not affected thereby. None who come in that precious name of Jesus are ever turned away. Our faith may be terribly small, our appreciation of His worth utterly insignificant: but if we come in that name, the One to whom we come knows His true worth and value, and we are accepted in Him. Keenly as we may feel our poverty, never let that keep us away from God. Come as we are, in that worthy name, and all will be well.
“For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.... And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." Heb. 10:14, 1714For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:14)
17And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 10:17).
“Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." 1 Cor. 1:3030But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: (1 Corinthians 1:30).
Notice how the Spirit of God, in Lev. 14:23-3223And he shall bring them on the eighth day for his cleansing unto the priest, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, before the Lord. 24And the priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering, and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord: 25And he shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot: 26And the priest shall pour of the oil into the palm of his own left hand: 27And the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the Lord: 28And the priest shall put of the oil that is in his hand upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the place of the blood of the trespass offering: 29And the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put upon the head of him that is to be cleansed, to make an atonement for him before the Lord. 30And he shall offer the one of the turtledoves, or of the young pigeons, such as he can get; 31Even such as he is able to get, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, with the meat offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed before the Lord. 32This is the law of him in whom is the plague of leprosy, whose hand is not able to get that which pertaineth to his cleansing. (Leviticus 14:23‑32), delights to recount again in all its fullness and detail the wondrous picture over which we have just been pondering. And that picture is worth repeating! It is as if He Himself would never weary of gazing on those sights that He has, in infinite grace, just been revealing to us. May we never weary of those sights either, but may we ponder them, feed on them, delight in them, and make them our own. It is no accident that two long chapters in the Bible are devoted to leprosy and its cleansing: May the Lord give us to learn more and more of the depth and fullness of these wondrous pictures, and ever value them more and more highly as, by His Spirit, we ever see new beauties and glories in them. Like their Author they are infinite.
Lord, "open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law." Psa. 119:1818Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. (Psalm 119:18).
Leviticus 14:33-5333And 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. (Leviticus 14:33‑53) tells us of leprosy in a house, and its cleansing. This would apply when Israel reached the land of Canaan. This speaks of sin in an assembly of God's people. It is a most solemn and most important subject, and one that every Christian person should seriously consider. It goes beyond the scope of this little book, but we would earnestly commend our readers to read and ponder with prayer this portion of God's Word.