“After that he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days" (vs.8).
Cleansed, and shaved, and washed, the man may now return to the camp. What a happy day for him! Formerly he was far off, outside the camp, but now he is brought nigh by the blood of that clean bird. Does it not remind us of Eph. 2:1313But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:13)? "But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometime were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." Now, no man can say him nay, as he enters the precincts of that camp, from which all uncleanness must be expelled.
But he may not enter his own home. He must tarry abroad out of it for seven days. What does this teach us? Many of us, when we know our sins are all cleansed, would gladly go home at once to be with Christ, and escape all the troubles and trials and reproach that come to us in this world. But this must not be, even though it is true and deep affection to Christ Himself which would make us long to be with Him forever. You remember that the man, out of whom the Lord cast the legion of devils in Mark 5, prayed Him that he might be with Him. But what did the Lord say? "Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee" (vs. 19). The Lord sent him back to be a witness for Himself, and I think that the cleansed leper, with clean clothes, and shaved head, was a mighty witness to the power and goodness of God. For seven days he must walk the streets and paths of the camp. He has nowhere to hide from the reproaches and sneers of those whom he meets; but without even speaking, he says to every one, "Here is a leper that has been cleansed and brought nigh." Seven in the Bible is a perfect number, and tells of the perfect length of time that the Lord chooses to leave each one of us "at home in the body .... absent from the Lord." 2 Cor. 5:66Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (2 Corinthians 5:6). For the dying thief the time was but a few hours but what a witness he gave! His witness has echoed down through the centuries, and many a poor defiled leper has found hope and cleansing through that clear, ringing testimony, when all the world was against the Savior, or afraid to bear witness to Him. For others those seven days have lengthened out into many, many years, covering a long life. But for each one the time is perfect, and is decided for us by our Priest.
Had the leper been allowed to do so, he would gladly have hidden in his own home from the reproach of men, until his hair and beard had grown again. But God had chosen him for a witness to Himself, and as the hair grew, it must be shaved again, as we will presently see. And God has chosen you, my reader, if you also are a cleansed leper, to be a witness for Himself. It is for this reason that He has left you down here. It is because He wants you to be a witness to Him in a world that has rejected Him and cast Him out, that He still leaves you down here, and does not take you home at once. The Lord Jesus Christ was the faithful and true witness. (Rev. 3:1414And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; (Revelation 3:14).) Oh, beloved friends, let us search ourselves and see what sort of witnesses we are to Him.