Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. Today we see that for those who have been made clean, they bring an offering to God. It's an act of gratitude, but it's also more than that.
I know these laws may seem super detailed and frustrating to read through, but don't lose sight of the point of it all. God is perfect and holy. We are not. And there are many ways we are not. Some are sinful, and some are just because we live in a fallen world and sometimes you get mold in your house when the world is broken.
But even that mold serves as a reminder of the fall, and it has to be atoned for. It has to be covered. There are lots of offerings required. The leprous person brings an offering when they're healed, but people also bring an offering for their houses when the house is purified. With any of the various discharges, there's an offering. But again, these things don't indicate sin, but they serve as reminders to God of the fall.
Reproduction and all its affiliated fluids are not gross or sinful. God ordained them. But even the best parts of God's plan have a kind of brokenness attached to them now. You may remember this from when God laid out the curses for Adam and Eve. Man's work, which brings him joy, would have new levels of struggle attached to it. Women's childbearing and relationships with their husbands, which are often a source of joy for them as well, would have new challenges.
These things we try to find our identities in prove less than perfect, forcing us to look back to God, our Creator, for acceptance and love and joy. In 1434, God is clear on the fact that He's the one in charge of putting leprosy where it shows up. Some people like to attribute all disease and struggle to the enemy, but God is sovereign over even the enemy's work. I loved that in the midst of all this heavy stuff, God gave Moses this little reminder that they aren't going to be living in the tents in the wilderness forever.
God goes ahead and tells Moses how to handle it if and when there's leprosy in their actual houses in the land of Canaan someday, when they finally get there. God's giving a fun little reminder that someday they'll be in Canaan and they'll have houses. Those houses might have mold though, so even Canaan isn't perfect. It's kind of like if he said, don't forget, Terrilee, when I make you a millionaire, you still have to pay taxes. Okay, no problem. So with all these sacrifices and offerings, I want to point out three important aspects at the heart of it all.
First, it's about giving something that costs you—an animal, food, oil. Second, sacrifice is about the element of substitution. Something else is covering the debt for your sins. When ancient Jews performed these sacrifices, they were essentially saying that the things being done to this animal are what they actually deserve themselves.
Third, sacrifice is about drawing near. The heart of these sacrificial offerings is to be able to draw near to God. Because remember, He has them do these sacrifices at the entrance to His temple courts, not out in the middle of nowhere, far away from His manifest presence. What was your God shot today? This one literally brought me to tears, and to be honest, I never expected that kind of response in this particular passage. But I'm learning not to doubt how God works to reveal Himself to me in the most unlikely ways.
In 14:3-4, we see the leprous man getting healed, then going to be cleansed. Those who are healed must then be cleansed. This points to a picture of justification and sanctification. If you're unfamiliar with these words, let me explain briefly. Justification is when God the Judge declares us righteous, even though we're sinners, because of what Christ did on our behalf. Justification is a judicial term, a legal standing.
Sanctification, on the other hand, is the process of God cleaning us up to make us look more like Him. It's a relational act where He purifies us, and it's a lifelong process. Those who are healed are then cleansed. Those who are justified are then sanctified. And you know what else caught my attention in 14.3-4? Let me read it to you.
If the case of leprous disease is healed in the leprous person, the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live birds and cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop. The part I found odd here is the part that says, the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed. Who is the priest commanding to do this, to get the necessary components for the sacrifice?
When I looked into it, I found that it likely refers to other priests going to get what is required for the leprous man because he can't get it for himself. Anything he touches will become unclean and unfit for sacrifice if he gets it for himself. We can't clean ourselves up. We can't heal ourselves. We have nothing to offer God. Yet he draws in here. He provides everything we need for healing and cleansing. Even for those who can get their own animals for the sacrifice, who do you think gave them those animals?
I'm blown away in the midst of Leviticus and laws about skin disease at what a great, generous God we serve. Truly, He's where the joy is.
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