Leviticus 14:1–20

God opens the way of cleansing with almost the same words He used before. Those earlier words told a man how to know he had leprosy. "The LORD spoke to Moses, saying." Leviticus 14:1. These words that tell of the way of cleansing are the very words of the living God, and are true and faithful. Let us listen to them with all our hearts.

Shutting the leper out of the camp had cared for God's holiness. Now the Lord Jehovah speaks again, but this time only to Moses. If keeping that holiness had been Jehovah's only concern, the leper would have stayed outside the camp forever, away from the Tabernacle and from life with God's people. But He cared for the leper. He made a way to bring him back to all his privileges in the camp, if only he was healed first... Money, pleading, promises, efforts, all would be of no use. Jehovah Himself must heal the man, or he never could be cleansed. So grace had room to display itself, once the claims of divine holiness had been acknowledged.

These scriptures are enough to show two things. God inflicted leprosy as the expression of His righteous judgment of sin. It also showed His rejection of religious man — of his pride in the flesh, of his assumed ability to draw near to God, and of his refusal of the truth about his real condition. Leprosy shows sin: its inward workings as God knows them, brought out into the open in all their repulsive, revolting character. Chapter 14 now sets before us "the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing."

Leviticus 14 gives a richly instructive account of the cleansing of the leper. There is no such thing as the cure of leprosy named here. This belonged to God alone. No ceremony, no rite, could heal — nothing but divine power, direct or through another. Suppose the leprosy stopped: the man must still be cleansed. The ceremony for that stands at the beginning of the chapter.

The healing and the purification are different things. Being healed does not by itself make a man clean for God. No work in the soul, however necessary, can truly restore him. For this, God's grace in Christ must come in.

So we read, "The priest shall go forth out of the camp." Scripture does not say, "the leper shall go." That was out of the question... He might make efforts after cleansing; but his efforts could only prove him unclean, and tend to spread defilement. Before he could be called "clean," a work had to be done for him. He could not do it, and he could not help with it. Another had to do the whole of it... The priest accomplished all. The leper did nothing.

Seen as a type, the priest is the Mediator, the Saviour. As the leper could not come where He was, the priest must go out of the camp to the leper. Indeed "the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."

A cleansed leper at the altar, with his two birds in his hands, gave his testimony. God had come into the land. He was meeting men's need quite apart from priests' work and religious ceremonies. This is a principle of the greatest possible importance for our souls today. Cleansing for the soul is found, not in human doing of any kind, but in the fountain of the Saviour's blood.

Healing and purification are two different things. A man who is healed is not by that fact cleansed for God. No work in the soul, however necessary, can truly restore him. For that, God's grace in Christ must come in.

It was the priest's job to pronounce a leprous man unclean, and it was also his job to pronounce a man clean when he was cured. The law had no power to heal. It only took notice of whether a man had been healed or not. The work of ceremonial restoration started only after something else had already cured the disease.

So others seek out the person who is to be restored. He is not told to go and find the means of restoration himself. Hands are ready to serve him.

The friend who brought the leper to the priest mattered greatly. May we be more like him — unnamed, almost unmentioned, and yet the link in the chain without which the leper could not have been cleansed.

Seen as a picture, the priest stands for the Mediator, the Saviour. As the leper could not come where He was, the priest must go out of the camp to the leper. Indeed "the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."

It is not said, "the leper shall go." That was completely out of the question. It was no use talking to the leper about going or doing... He might make efforts to get clean, but his efforts could only prove him unclean and spread the defilement further. Before he could be pronounced "clean," a work had to be done for him. It was a work he could neither do nor help to do. Another had to carry it out entirely. The priest did it all. The leper did nothing.

There the leper stood, looking at God's work for him, then receiving God's remedy, and hearing God's sentence. He did nothing to earn any good thing, but received everything from the God of Israel... Whatever he felt, and whatever others said to him, he knew he was under the power of the blood. Through that alone, God's Priest had "pronounced him clean."

From verse 1 to the end of verse 7, as we have seen, the leper does nothing. All he brings to the priest is his leprosy and uncleanness. Everything is done for him. But the moment the priest has pronounced him clean and has let the bird go free, the leper begins to work. He does not work to be cleansed before God — he is clean before God already. He works to bring his outward life into line with his standing before God.

So we read, "the priest shall go out of the camp." It is not said, "the leper shall go." That was out of the question. It was no use talking to the leper about going or doing. Shut up in dreary loneliness, where could he go? Held in helpless defilement, what could he do? … He might make efforts to get clean; but his efforts could only prove him unclean, and spread the defilement further. Before he could be pronounced "clean," a work had to be done for him. It was a work he could neither do nor help to do, a work that another had to carry out entirely… The priest accomplished all. The leper did nothing.

But the Priest Himself has made a way. So we read in verse 3, "the priest shall go out of the camp." The great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, came out of His glory more than 1900 years ago. He came down to this sad, wicked world. Even down here, "He went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull." John 19:17. Yes, the Priest has already gone outside the gate. (Hebrews 13:12.) He sees you, poor defiled sinner, and He has already gone where you are.

Note this carefully: the ceremonies did not cleanse the leper. They began only when it was clear that he was already cleansed. The healing that is in view is an act of God, which took place while the leper was still outside the camp. The priest had to go outside the camp and inspect him. If the man was cleansed, the priest had the responsibility of pronouncing him clean. He then carried out the set ceremony, which pictured the ground and basis of that cleansing.

In general, leprosy is sin acting in the flesh… Here its activity has been stopped, and so, though he is a leper, he is to be counted clean… Such a man was healed, but not yet cleansed. The sacrifices had not yet taken effect for him, and he was not yet back in relationship with God inside the camp. In the picture, he is a sinner judging himself before God. He is defiled by sin and knows it, and the activity of sin has stopped, because he is in the place of repentance… He is still a sinner. Though he has repented, the death and resurrection of Christ have not yet taken effect for him. But while he is still a sinner, the working of the flesh has now stopped, and so he may be said to be "healed."

Those eyes of flame search you once again. Before they searched you to find if there was one spot of leprosy, and the priest had to pronounce you unclean. Now they search you to see if there is one spot without leprosy. If you truly are "all covered," the priest may pronounce you clean… In the same way, our Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, searches the sinner who comes to Him. Is he truly coming as a poor, lost, ruined, guilty sinner? Has he no good word to say for himself? Is he full of sin?

Leprous Israel will certainly be cleansed. Prophecy declares it in sure, abundant, and glowing testimony… But here the picture is so general that we have no right to narrow how it applies. We should see instead how grace fits it to the need of every and any ruined sinner.

We must carefully note that the ceremonies did not cleanse the leper. They only began when it was quite clear that he was cleansed. The healing in view is an act of God, which took place while the leper was still outside the camp. The priest had to go outside the camp and inspect him. If he was cleansed, the priest had to pronounce him clean. Then the priest carried out the prescribed ceremony, which pictured the ground and basis of his cleansing.

On the face of it, others did the work for the leper first of all; he did none of it himself. The priest gave the command: take two clean living birds for the man to be cleansed, and cedar wood, scarlet and hyssop. Then he commanded further that one bird be killed in an earthen vessel over living water.

So the leper stood by while the bird was killed for him, and he was sprinkled with its blood. But after this service he could act. First he washed his clothes, shaved off all his hair, and washed himself in water, so that he might be clean. After that he could enter the camp.

When the leper was to be cleansed, God prescribed a very lowly offering — two sparrows. But they had to be clean. This is how God teaches us in pictures about His Holy One: "He committed no sin" (1 Peter 2:22); "who knew no sin" (2 Cor. 5:21); "in him there is no sin" (1 John 3:5).

The two clean birds set forth Christ dead and risen — the one killed, the other let loose into the open field. But there is far more here, for the bird that was to die was killed in an earthen vessel over living water. How plainly this points to Him! Through the Eternal Spirit He offered Himself spotless to God, willing to be crucified in weakness. Again, see the pains taken to identify the living bird with the slain one. The priest dipped it in the blood of the bird killed over the living water. What could be clearer?

In the slain bird He is delivered up for our trespasses; in the freed bird He is raised for our justification. It is liberty out of condemnation... Yet how few consider what the resurrection of Christ means. "If Christ has not been raised ... you are still in your sins." Without it there is no justification. There is no assurance that the sacrifice is enough and acceptable. There is no certainty that there will ever be any resurrection at all.

Notice too that the cedar wood, the scarlet and the hyssop were to be dipped into the blood of the slain bird. The cedar is the most majestic of trees, hyssop is the humblest of herbs, and scarlet speaks of the glory of men. The death of Christ has stained the pride of all human glory. It has stained all that is natural to this first creation, from the greatest things to the least.

He was to see all that belonged to nature, and the glory of the world, dipped in the blood of the slain bird. In the same way now, whatever matches those emblems should be seen through the cross. The cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet were not destroyed. Dipped in the blood, they appeared in a new light — and so should it be with us.

We have seen that in the first place all was done for the leper, not by him. Another was active, not himself. He was to be brought to the priest; and the priest had to go out of the camp. The all-important thing was that the priest, not the leper, should look and find the sore of leprosy stopped — or rather healed. The priest had to direct the means then to be used.

There was far more to be done than the Son being sent and becoming man. It would have helped the leper very little if the priest had merely gone out from the camp and looked on his low and miserable condition. Blood-shedding was absolutely necessary before leprosy could be removed. The death of a spotless victim was needed. "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins" (Hebrews 9:22).

Who would have thought that that little "bright spot" appearing on some member of the congregation was a matter of such grave consequence? But that little "bright spot" was nothing less than the energy of evil, showing itself openly. It was the sign of the dreadful working of sin in the nature. Before that person could be fit for a place in the assembly, or enjoy communion with a holy God, the Son of God had to leave those bright heavens and come down to the lowest parts of the earth, to make full atonement for what showed itself as only a little "bright spot."

An earthen vessel; inside that earthen vessel, a pure spotless bird. The heavens are the home of the bird — the heavens are its native air — but it comes down and enters a vessel of earth. And in that earthen vessel it is killed. What a picture of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He leaves His home in the heavens, He leaves His throne above, He comes down to this sad world and takes a body of earth.

The bird represents the Lord as a heavenly Being, gaining the capacity to suffer and die in the manhood He had taken; the earthen vessel pictures that manhood. The living water here, as ever, is a type of the Eternal Spirit through whom He offered Himself without blemish to God. It is striking that the figure does not show the vessel broken while the bird escapes unhurt. It shows the death of the bird itself, and Scripture is always divinely perfect: such apparent slips are not blemishes, nor even the unavoidable shortfall of all figures, but things that call for the deepest and most reverent attention.

The bird was killed over "running water." Water is a type of the word of God as applied by the Holy Spirit, and running water speaks of the Holy Spirit in activity. "Christ … through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God" (Hebrews 9:14).

Running water has life and power in it. Water in the Bible very often speaks of the Word of God. And the running, or living, water tells us of the living Word of God, applied by the Spirit of God to our hearts. It takes the death of Christ, and tells me in the living power of the Spirit that the Lord Jesus Christ died for me. It was for my sins that He suffered. You have often seen that bird killed in the earthen vessel. But, dear reader, have you ever seen Him killed over the running water?

The object of the birds was the cleansing of the leper; it was application to the defiled man, not the ransom presented to God. It could only happen on the ground of the blood-shedding and satisfaction. But the immediate action was the purifying, so there was water as well as blood. The Spirit, in the power of the word, makes the death of Christ available in the power of His resurrection.

The two clean birds set forth Christ dead and risen — the one killed, the other let loose into the open field. But there is far more here, for the bird that was to die was killed in an earthen vessel over living water. How plainly this points to Him! Through the Eternal Spirit He offered Himself spotless to God, willing to be crucified in weakness. So Christ was given up for our offences and raised for our justification, as the apostle says (Rom. 4:25).

One bird was killed in a clay pot over running water. That is of course the death of Christ come in the flesh — the clay pot — and it cannot be separated from the living water of the word. Birds belong to the sky, so a case like this one calls for the highest thought of His being and His person.

The priest takes the second bird, the living bird, along with the cedar wood, scarlet and hyssop. He plunges them all under the blood of the dead victim. He then sprinkles the leper seven times from it. This identifies the man in the most solemn way with everything that has happened. He then lets the living bird loose in the open field, and the leper is pronounced clean. The meaning of all this is very plain. It is the death and resurrection of Christ. In the slain bird He is delivered for our offences; in the freed bird He is raised again for our justification. It is liberty out of condemnation... the bird being dipped in the blood of the slain one is identified with it. It is in a sense the same bird.

The bird that was released was first dipped in the blood of the slain bird, and so was identified with it. Two birds were needed in the type to set forth Christ in death and in resurrection. As the released bird soared into the heavens it carried the blood not into the sanctuary but into the heavens. This was the basis of all that followed.

Notice too that the cedar wood, the scarlet and the hyssop were to be dipped into the blood of the slain bird. The cedar is the most majestic of trees, hyssop is the humblest of herbs, and scarlet speaks of the glory of men. The death of Christ has stained the pride of all human glory. It has stained all that is natural to this first creation, from the greatest things to the least.

He was to see all that was of nature, and the glory of the world, dipped in the blood of the slain bird. In the same way now, whatever answers to those emblems should be viewed through the cross. The cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet were not destroyed. When dipped in the blood they appeared in a new light, and so should it be with us.

On the face of it, the work was first of all done for the leper, not in the least degree by himself.

So the leper stood by while the bird was killed for him, and he was sprinkled with its blood. But once this service was done, he was able to act. The first thing he did was wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, so that he might be clean. After that he could enter the camp.

The leprosy might be great or small, many spots or few, long-standing or recent. Still the leper was unclean. He was utterly unclean, unfit for the camp of Israel, until the priest sprinkled him with the blood of the sacrifice. Every other washing was useless, every other remedy pointless. He could go here or there, do this or that, cover his spots and hide his sores — he was still utterly unclean. But the moment the priest sprinkled him with the blood, he pronounced him clean. It was the blood that made the difference.

The priest then sprinkled the blood seven times on the leper, and when this was done he pronounced him "clean." Seven tells of the perfect application of the blood, for "the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7)... sprinkling the blood seven times was enough for the priest to pronounce him clean.

It belonged to God, and to Him alone, to plan and carry out a work that could cleanse the leprosy perfectly. And it belonged to God, and to Him alone, to pronounce the leper "clean." So Scripture says that the priest shall sprinkle, and "he shall pronounce him clean." It does not say, "the leper shall sprinkle, and pronounce, or imagine, himself clean." That would never do. God was the Judge — God was the Healer — God was the Cleanser... There is the most precious connection between the three things in verse 7: the blood is sprinkled, the leper pronounced clean, and the living bird let loose. Not a single syllable tells us what the leper was to do, to say, to think, or to feel.

So many are troubled by the question of feeling it, realising it, and making it their own. They fail to see what the leper's case shows: the sprinkling of the blood was as independent and as divine as the shedding of it... The plan of deliverance was divine; the provision of the sacrifice was divine; the shedding of the blood was divine; the sprinkling of the blood was divine. The record of the result was divine. In short, it was all divine.

We could hardly have a more perfect picture of the resurrection of Christ than the living bird let loose into the open field. It was not let go until its companion had died. The two birds stand for one Christ in two stages of His blessed work — death and resurrection. Ten thousand birds let loose would not have availed for the leper. It was that living bird, rising into the open heavens, carrying on its wing the sign that atonement was finished. That is what announced the great fact: the work was done.

The priest first dipped the living bird in the blood of the slain bird, marking it as one with it... As the released bird soared upward, it carried the blood into the heavens, not into the sanctuary. This was the basis of all that followed.

The cedar wood, the scarlet and the hyssop were also dipped in the blood of the bird that was slain, and this has a worthy meaning. The death of Christ has pronounced, for the one who is cleansed, death on everything man deals with here. The chosen emblems of the highest in nature and of the lowest, along with that which pictures the conventional glory of the world, were dipped in the blood... every evil is counteracted for the believer in Christ's atoning death.

It may seem strange that the priest pronounced the leper clean in verse 7. Yet this is the sure and cheering ground on which he begins the practical work of cleansing himself in verses 8 and 9. God's own verdict gives the highest assurance. It does not cancel the moral cleansing the LORD calls for in every respect. On the contrary, it gives priceless encouragement to start on every detail and work it through.

If you have followed the first seven verses of this chapter, you will have noticed something. The man does not have to do one single thing. Everything was done for him... But now all is changed. Now the leper starts to work.

It may seem strange that the priest pronounced the leper clean back in verse 7. But that verdict is the sure and cheering ground for starting the practical work of cleansing himself in verses 8 and 9. Being pronounced clean by divine authority gives the highest assurance. It does not replace the moral cleansing the Lord calls for in every respect. On the contrary, it gives priceless encouragement to go into every detail and work through it, as here.

The blood shed and sprinkled, precious and effective as it is judicially for the unclean, is not all. There is and must be a moral cleansing also by the water of the word applied to the sinner. Out of the pierced side of Jesus flowed not blood only but water... The sinner needs for blessing not only expiation, but purification.

The bird was slain only once. The blood was sprinkled only once, but the water may be applied many times... This showed the constant need for cleansing from the defilements of this world. Not by blood — that was done once, and once only — but by water, the water of the Word.

The clothes tell us of that which touches us — our associations — that with which we have to do, that which the world around sees as connected with us. Perhaps people have been used to seeing us in the gambling halls, or in other evil places. All these associations and ways must be "washed." How do we wash our ways and associations? We get that question answered for us in Psalm 119:9 — "How can a young man keep his way pure?" That is the question. Here is God's own answer: "By guarding it according to your word."

The blood has been applied in its expiating power. Then comes the washing of water. This expresses the action of the word on the character, the habits, the ways. It makes the person fit for a place in the public assembly, morally and practically — and not only in God's view, but in the view of the congregation too.

It was a mark of shame and reproach... But now all this hair must come off. All his own natural beauty and glory must go. Everything that might shelter any uncleanness must be cut off, at any cost.

In that land every man had a fine head of hair and a big bushy beard. So the cleansed leper, without hair or beard, would indeed be a spectacle. As he walked down the street, many a finger would point at him, many a joke would be cracked at his expense. But was it not worth while? Was it not infinitely better to be cleansed and among the Lord's people without a beard, than to wander outside the camp with a beard, crying "Unclean! Unclean!"

He had been sprinkled with blood and washed with water. That entitled him to a place in the public assembly. Even so, he could not enter his own tent. He could not yet enjoy the private, personal privileges that belonged to his own particular place in the camp. In other words, he knew redemption through the shed and sprinkled blood, and he took the word as the rule for his person and all his habits. But he had still to be brought, in the power of the Spirit, into full and intelligent communion with his own place, portion, and privileges in Christ.

First, the restoration to a place among the people of God, from whom he had been separated; and this is done upon the first day, when he returns to the camp; secondly, on the eighth day, there is a new and only now complete cleansing, by which he is brought fully to God, and restored to his tent also.

"The eighth day" in Scripture seems to have a special significance. Seven days completed the week, ending with the Sabbath on the seventh day. The following day was "the morrow after the Sabbath," or the first day of a new week. But here it is not called the first day, or "the morrow after the Sabbath," but "the eighth day." … In these verses we have, in picture, an entirely new beginning. Christ has reigned on this earth for a thousand years. All sin is put down. The devil is banished forever. And an eternity of joy and peace begins. It is truly a new beginning for all: as the Lord says, "Behold, I am making all things new." Revelation 21:5.

Though at the end of verse 9 the leper is now said to be clean, yet on this same eighth day he must bring two male lambs, one ewe lamb of the first year, all without blemish … and one log of oil.

Now the man who was so recently an outcast leper comes to be presented before the Lord. In his hand is every offering but the peace offering. They tell out all the various aspects and excellencies of the mighty sacrifice of Christ Himself. The trespass offering, meal offering, sin offering and burnt offering are all included. So is the log of oil, which tells of the Holy Spirit, through whom Christ offered Himself. (Hebrews 9:14.) Because of these offerings the man once so far off comes near, so very near to God.

The entire range of offerings is brought in here. But the trespass offering is killed first, because the leper is seen as an actual trespasser. This is true in every case. As those who have trespassed against God, we need Christ as the one who atoned, on the cross, for those trespasses. "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree." The first view the sinner gets of Christ is as the reality that the trespass offering pictured.

The ritual of the eighth day points forward to the work of Christ in the light of His resurrection. It points to how richly the Christian takes hold of that work, and to the gift of the Holy Spirit that follows. … Here the conscience is cleansed from dead works, so that the man may serve or worship a living God. He is at home, as it were, coming not just into the camp but into his tent. In its measure this is a consecration like the priests'. Only here it rests not on a sin offering (Lev. 8:14; Lev. 9:2) but on a trespass offering (Lev. 14:12-13), because a holy relationship had been violated and that had to be met.

The meal offering showed something more: all the perfectness of the grace of Christ in His life. Here is humanity, pure without doubt, but kneaded with oil. It is humanity with all the strength, the taste, and savour of the Holy Spirit in its nature. That is the aspect presented here: not humanity anointed with oil — that is, power — but humanity kneaded with oil in its substance.

It is lovely to see the way that oil never fails. It is sprinkled before the Lord seven times. It is put on the ear, thumb and toe of the leper. And there is still more left. It reminds us of the word, "he gives the Spirit without measure." John 3:34. Whatever need we have for His power and energy, we may be sure that the Spirit of God is more than enough for our every need.

The allowance of grace here is only for falling short on the eighth day, and it is here that poverty is found now and has long been found. Few rise up to the riches of God's grace in its Christian form and fulness. But the principle must be maintained if the right measure is lacking. … The priest began with the lamb slain for a trespass offering, and not a sin offering simply, still less a ram of consecration of sweet savour. … The defilement must be felt and met adequately.

Seven days completed the week, ending with the Sabbath on the seventh day. The following day was "the morrow after the Sabbath," or the first day of a new week. But here it is not called the first day, or "the morrow after the Sabbath," but "the eighth day." In Leviticus 23 we can notice the difference. In verses 11, 15 and 16 we read of "the morrow after the Sabbath." These verses tell in type of the resurrection of Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit. But in verses 36 and 39 we do not get "the morrow after the Sabbath," but "the eighth day." In these verses we have, in figure, an entirely new beginning. As the Lord says, "Behold, I am making all things new."

On the first day the priest went out to the leper; on the eighth day the former leper took his place at the door of the tent of meeting, but only with the appointed sacrifices. Without them he could have had no business there. Only on the ground of sacrifice could he again stand at the place where the people gathered to meet with God. Unless he had washed and shaved, it would have been presumption to draw near. But without the sacrifices as well, he had no right to approach. And even with these, he needed the priest to present him before the Lord.

Now that man who so recently was an outcast leper comes to be presented before the Lord. In his hand is every offering except the peace offering. They tell out all the various aspects and excellencies of the mighty sacrifice of Christ Himself. The trespass offering, grain offering, sin offering and burnt offering are all included. So is the log of oil, which tells of the Holy Spirit, through whom Christ offered Himself (Hebrews 9:14). By virtue of these offerings the man once so far off approaches so near, so very near to God. I do not recall any other Israelite, apart from the priests and Levites, who came so near the Lord. No one else had this wonderful privilege of being presented before the Lord in this way.

The whole range of offerings is introduced here. But the trespass offering is killed first, because the leper is viewed as an actual trespasser. As those who have trespassed against God, we need Christ as the one who atoned on the cross for those trespasses. The first view the sinner gets of Christ is as the fulfilment of the trespass offering.

Here we have the conscience cleansed from dead works to serve or worship a living God, and to be at home, as it were, coming not merely into the camp but into his tent. In its measure it is a consecration like the priests'. Only here it is founded not on a sin offering but on a trespass offering. A holy relationship had been violated, and that had to be met. And the priest applied its blood to the right ear, right thumb, and right big toe. The whole man is brought under the most holy blood — what he hears and does, and his walk. He belongs wholly to God in thought, work, and way.

That man only eight days before had been a vile leper, outside the camp, crying, "Unclean! Unclean!" Now he is brought, not only inside the camp, but to the house of God, and there presented before the Lord. Happy, wonderful, blessed place! Yet that place is ours. "And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him" (Colossians 1:21-22). "Alienated and hostile in mind" exactly describes the leper outside the camp.

This chapter brings in the whole range of offerings. But the trespass offering is killed first, because the leper counts as an actual trespasser. This is true in every case. We have trespassed against God, so we need Christ as the One who atoned on the cross for those trespasses. "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree." The sinner's first sight of Christ is as the One that trespass offering pictured.

The ritual of the eighth day pictures the work of Christ in the light of His resurrection, the rich share the Christian has in it, and the gift of the Holy Spirit that follows. In its measure this is a consecration like the priests'. But here it rests on a trespass offering, not a sin offering, because a holy relationship had been broken and that had to be met.

The priest brought the lamb to the altar, waved it, and then killed it. This order appeared only on this occasion. Note that the lamb was waved before death. That was the token that the man here on earth should be for God, as the One whom that lamb pictured was for God in His life. And here, when we read his history as a picture, is exactly where the man had failed.

The waving speaks of Christ ascended back to glory, though in the picture the waving came before the killing of the sacrifice.

What joy beyond words for the Lord to receive that lamb of the trespass offering, along with the poor leper! It told of that Lamb of God's own providing, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It told of God's only Son. And with it was the log of oil, speaking of the Holy Spirit. The three Persons of the Trinity are all engaged in welcoming the ransomed sinner to His home above.

Without the atonement we could not receive the Holy Spirit. Without the Spirit we have no power to serve God. The priest's action here reminds us of these things. But we must not take that action to teach that the Spirit is received a second time. That can no more happen than the Lord can die again.

But the trespass offering, like the sin offering, was the priest's. When the priest eats the trespass offering he makes the trespass of the man who offers it his own. What unspeakable grace! And this is just what our great High Priest has done for us.

If a man could not obtain everything the law prescribed, God would accept smaller offerings for the grain, sin, and burnt offerings. No one was to be left outside for lack of the means of full restoration. Yet all had to bring the sacrifice appointed for the first day, and the lamb for the trespass offering. No one could set these aside. Everyone alike had to own, in this picture, the ground he stands on and his need of a sacrifice to restore him. The words of the woman of Tekoa are true here, and this rule for the leper reminds us of them: God "devises means so that the banished one will not be an outcast."

The whole range of offerings comes in here. But the trespass offering is killed first, because the leper is viewed as an actual trespasser. This is true in every case. As those who have trespassed against God, we need Christ as the One who atoned, on the cross, for those trespasses. "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree." The first view a sinner gets of Christ is as the fulfilment of the trespass offering.

Leprosy was counted not only unclean, but an actual trespass against the Lord, calling for the trespass offering. So we need to realise that sin does more than defile us. Each one of us has "sinned against the Lord." It is good when we are brought to cry, "Against you, you only, have I sinned." Psalm 51:4. The poor prodigal had to learn that lesson, as we see when he cried, "I have sinned against heaven, and before you." Luke 15:21.

One male lamb is offered for him as a trespass offering. So his sin is confessed and judged. The lamb is even killed in the place where the sin offering and the burnt offering are killed. He knows it is for him, and it shows him that his sin is forgiven by it, so that in this way he can approach the sanctuary of God.

Suppose he had dared to come there just because he had washed his body and shaved off all his hair. Would he have been received? Certainly not. Unless he had washed and shaved, it would have been presumption to draw near. But without the sacrifices too, he had no right to approach. And even with these, he needed the priest to present him before the Lord. Now, presented in the right way, he stood where he might often have stood before without needing a sacrifice or any priest to present him. He learned that there was a way back into God's presence, but death alone could open it.

But the trespass offering, like the sin offering, was the priest's. When the priest eats the trespass offering he makes the trespass of the man who offers it his own. What indescribable grace! And this is just what our great High Priest has done for us.

Granted, the offering was to meet a specific failure, against God or against man. It dealt not with moral wrong only, but with failure in their relationship before Jehovah. All the more necessary, then, that the trespass offering should be most holy. Even in human matters, the wrong was "against Jehovah," and it demanded full satisfaction in both directions. It is found perfectly and only in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And it produces results even now toward people as well as toward God. See Saul the persecutor become Paul the sufferer. See the proud, abusive man become a lowly servant of God and of man for Jesus' sake. Never did the holiness of God stand out so clearly. Never did it receive such immeasurable evidence as when God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us — yes, a curse for those under the curse — so that those who believe on Him should be cleared for ever.

It is, in its own measure, a consecration like the priests'. Only here it is founded not on a sin offering (Lev. 8:14; Lev. 9:2) but on a trespass offering (Lev. 14:12-13); for a holy relationship had been violated, and that had to be met.

The ritual of the eighth day points forward to the work of Christ, seen in the light of His resurrection. It points to all the Christian gains from it, and to the gift of the Holy Spirit that follows... Here the conscience is cleansed from dead works, to serve or worship a living God, and to be at home — coming not merely into the camp, but into his tent. It is in its measure a consecration like the priests'. Only here it rests on a trespass offering, not on a sin offering. A holy relationship had been violated, and that had to be met. And the priest applied its blood to the right ear, right thumb, and right great toe. The most holy blood covers the whole man — what he hears, what he does, and how he walks. He belongs wholly to God in thought, work, and way.

The blood put on the leper's ear, thumb and great toe came from a trespass offering, because what is pictured there is the cleansing of a sinner. But the blood that consecrated priests for God's service came from a communion offering.

In cleansing the leper, and in consecrating the priest, the blood goes on three parts of the man: the tip of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the great toe of the right foot. Together these three show what he is. By the ear he is to receive the word of God; with the hand, to do the enjoined work; with the foot, to walk in His blessed ways. This is clearly the man in his whole responsibility.

Then the blood goes on the ear. If I am to do the will of God, I must know it. The ear is cleansed first; then come the hands to do and the feet to walk. The blessed Lord had His ear opened, but no blood was needed there. He was sinless.

This symbolized two things. First, there is no approach to God except on the ground of the atoning sacrifice of our Lord. Second, the amazing love of that Sacrifice claims nothing less from us than the consecration of our lives to Him, who loved us and gave Himself for us... Not only should there be a response on our side, but the glad acknowledgment of the claim that God makes on His side.

No thought is to go into our mind, we are to do nothing with our hand, and there is to be nothing in our walk, unfit for the blood of Christ.

At the consecration of the priests, and at the restoration of the leper, the blood of sacrifice went on ear and hand and foot. It marked the whole man as redeemed. After the blood came the oil, a picture of the Spirit. With the leper in particular, we are told that the oil went on ear and hand and foot, on top of the blood. So the Spirit of God seals us because of the blood, the work of Christ. It is not a matter of personal worthiness or of personal faithfulness, but of the value of the work of Christ.

As when the leper was cleansed and purified under the law, he was first washed with water, then sprinkled with blood, then anointed with oil (Lev. 14:8-9, and 14-18). This is a clear picture of our purification by the word of God when we are converted and born again. Then comes the sprinkling of the blood of Christ, and last the anointing of the Holy Spirit, which seals us for the day of final redemption.

Now the priest turns away from the leper. For the moment the leper is forgotten, and the oil is "sprinkled before the Lord."... I think this tells us of the perfect delight that God has in His Holy Spirit. Sometimes we forget that the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Godhead. He is not merely an "influence," but the true and living God.

Seven speaks of perfection. Look around this world, with all its sorrow and sin and suffering. How wonderful to remember that, in spite of it all, One dwells down here now who is altogether well pleasing to God in heaven... Although He dwells in every believer, and is their strength and power for all things of God, yet we need to remember that first of all He is down here for God, and for His glory.

Then follows the anointing from the Holy One (15-18). The waving of everything too was before Jehovah, and so was the application, as with the priestly consecration. The oil was put where the blood had been. How clearly this pictured the full blessing first enjoyed at Pentecost. Christ's death did more than remove evil. In the Holy Spirit's power we enter into all its fullness before God, so that we know and enjoy it for ourselves: we have redemption in Christ through His blood, and priestly access to the sanctuary as well... how much we owe to the Spirit, sent in Person to live in us and with us!

So not only are our members cleansed by the blood of Christ, but also consecrated to God, in the power of the Spirit. God's work is not only negative, but positive. The ear is no longer to be the channel for passing on defilement, but to be "swift to hear" the voice of the Good Shepherd. The hand is no longer to serve unrighteousness, but to reach out in acts of righteousness, grace, and true holiness. The foot is no longer to walk in foolish paths, but to run in the way of God's holy commandments. And finally, the whole man is to be dedicated to God in the power of the Holy Spirit.

In the consecration of Aaron and his sons the oil was put on the blood. The oil pictures the Holy Spirit; the blood pictures the atoning sacrifice of Christ, applied in all its blessed power. This is why the Spirit is never taken away. He is given to live in us on the righteous ground of the finished atoning work of our Lord on the cross.

Then the priest was to sprinkle the oil seven times before the Lord — perhaps at the altar of burnt offering, or possibly at the door of the tabernacle.

We have seen that the oil speaks of the Holy Spirit. Now the priest turns away from the leper. For the moment the man is forgotten, and the oil is "sprinkled before the Lord." As we have seen, the leper himself was presented before the Lord, in the power of the Holy Spirit and on the basis of the sacrifice of Christ. But now the oil is sprinkled before the Lord. I think this tells us of the perfect delight that God has in His Holy Spirit. Sometimes we forget that the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Godhead. He is not merely an "influence." He is the true and living God.

Seven speaks of perfection. How wonderful it is to remember, when we look around this world with all its sorrow and sin and suffering, that despite all of it there is One who lives down here now who is altogether well-pleasing to God in heaven. You remember how God the Father delighted to look down from the open heavens when His Son lived on this earth, and to say of Him, and of Him alone, "You are My beloved Son; with You I am well pleased." In the same way God can look down now upon the Holy Spirit, and to all eternity He will be His delight in heaven. He dwells in every believer, and He is their strength and power for all the things of God. Yet we need to remember that first of all He is down here for God, and for His glory.

Then the anointing takes place, and the power and action of the Spirit of God is at work in the man's consecration. But note first that this action happens before the Lord, in His presence. It is not, so to speak, a prophetic action, coming out from Him with a partial revelation, a light shining in a dark place. It is the full, present anointing and action of the Spirit of God before God Himself. The oil was sprinkled seven times before the Lord, not merely a person set apart in holiness for a task, but the Holy Spirit (the Comforter) present, and present in His fullness, and acting towards the Lord. We are no more to grieve the Spirit of God than we are to allow or do anything inconsistent with Christ's blood. His holy understanding of God is to govern our thoughts and acts and ways.

Then follows the anointing from the Holy One (15-18). The waving of it all was done before the Lord, and so was the application, just as at the consecration of the priests. The oil was put where the blood had been. How clearly this pictured in advance the full blessing first enjoyed at Pentecost. Christ's death was not only for the removal of evil. It was entered into in all its fullness before God, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, so that a believer personally knows and enjoys it all — having redemption in Christ through His blood, and priestly access to the sanctuary as well.

You must get blood before you get oil, and the oil may come immediately after the blood, as in the case of the leper. When I am cleansed by the blood of Christ, then the Holy Spirit can come and dwell in me.

The blood put on the leper's ear, thumb and big toe was the blood of a trespass offering, because what is pictured there is the cleansing of a sinner. But it was the blood of a communion offering that consecrated priests for the service of God.

Not only are our members cleansed by the blood of Christ, but also consecrated to God, in the power of the Spirit. God's work is not only negative, but positive. The ear is no longer to be the way defilement gets in, but to be "swift to hear" the voice of the Good Shepherd. The hand is no longer to serve as the instrument of unrighteousness. It is now to be stretched out in acts of righteousness, grace, and true holiness. The foot is no longer to walk in folly's paths, but to run in the way of God's holy commandments. And, finally, the whole person is to be dedicated to God in the energy of the Holy Spirit.

Those who are saved by grace and sealed by the Spirit are warned again and again about what they allow into their ears. … The precious blood claims the ear. The Spirit pictured by the oil is the power God gives, so that the ear may be used in a way that pleases Him.

Note well that the blood was first placed on the leper's ear and hand and foot, and afterwards the oil (Lev. 14:17). The Spirit's power is not something added to what I am as a mere natural man. The work of Christ must be grasped, its results formed in the soul.

It is lovely to see the way that oil never fails. The priest sprinkles it before the Lord seven times, and puts it on the ear, thumb and toe of the leper, and there is still more left. It reminds us of the word, "God gives the Spirit without measure" (John 3:34). Whatever need we have for His power and energy, we may be sure that the Spirit of God is more than enough for our every need. … Those in Israel who were anointed were the priests, the kings, and, in one case at least, a prophet — and the cleansed lepers! What a wonderful company he is brought into.

It is lovely to see the way the oil never fails. Although it was sprinkled before the Lord seven times, and put on the ear, thumb and toe of the leper, there is still more left. It reminds us of the word, "God gives the Spirit without measure" (John 3:34). Whatever need we have for His power and energy, we may be sure that the Spirit of God is more than enough for our every need. … Those in Israel who were anointed were the priests, the kings, and, in one case at least, a prophet — and the cleansed lepers!

The oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit. He is the power by which the ear takes in the truth. He is the power that puts a person's actions right and corrects the walk. Put on the head, it shows the mind coming under the power of the Spirit.

These parts of the body were already marked with blood. So the oil was put on the blood… The rest of the oil was poured on the head of the cleansed leper, a picture of the whole man being claimed for God.

No blood is put upon the head itself, but the remainder of the oil is poured on it. "The head of every man is Christ," and when Christ personally is pictured, He is anointed without blood, for He was personally sinless and needed no expiation. So when the high priest is consecrated on his own (Lev. 8:6-12), he is bathed and then the oil is put on him straight away. It is the same as when our Lord was baptised in the Jordan. He was "anointed by the Holy Spirit" when the divine Spirit came down on Him at once in the form of a dove. Had it been anyone else, atonement would have been required before the anointing could take place.

Here the high priest himself could say: "After Moses sprinkled the anointing oil seven times on the altar and its vessels, he poured it on my head" (Lev. 8). How remarkable the likeness here. The leper who had been shut out and the high priest both had oil poured on their heads at the door of the tent of meeting. Under the ceremonial law, only these two had the oil poured on the head… The astonishing ordeal the healed leper went through certainly pictured the amazing place the believer is now brought into, through and in Christ.

It was not, I think, the oil that made the atonement, but the blood of the trespass offering. In Leviticus 17:11 we read, "it is the blood that makes atonement by the life." Blood, not oil, makes atonement. Blood alone can cover sins. But this statement comes at the end of verse 18. It closes the section that includes both the trespass offering and the oil. So it shows us how closely the Spirit of God is connected with the offering of our Lord Jesus Christ (Heb. 9:14).

In the case of the leper, it is different from the consecration of the priests. This is not consecration to God first of all… The first thought is cleansing — consecration from defilement. Yet we do reach up to the anointing oil, and here it is poured on the head of the cleansed one. He is seen on his own as one who shares in the Holy Spirit before God.

The healing and the purification are different things. Healing does not by itself make a man cleansed for God. No work in the soul, however necessary, can truly restore him. For that, God's grace in Christ must come in.

"The priest shall offer the sin offering, to make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness." Here we have a picture of Christ. He is not only the bearer of our trespasses, but also the One who made an end of sin, root and branch... As the trespass offering, Christ put away all my trespasses. As the sin offering, He met the great root from which those trespasses came. He met all; but it is as the trespass offering that I first know Him, because that is how I first need Him.

Not only are all the trespasses blotted out by the blood of the trespass offering, but even that old incurable root of sin was judged. The sin offering told out that nothing but death could deliver us from this. That old nature is not forgiven, it is judged.

In the trespass offering, the offerer put his hand on the head of the offering. All his sins and trespasses passed over from him to it, and he was left clear and free from guilt. In the burnt offering, the offerer again put his hand on the head of the offering. But now all the power and worth of the offering passes over to the offerer. The burnt offering is especially God's part in that mighty offering at the cross. The man did not bring the burnt offering because he had sinned. He brought it as the highest mark of worship that man could offer to God.

Verse 18 gives a powerful picture, crowning the details before it. Yet the Spirit's power is set out there in full. See how carefully God marks, after it, in verse 19, the sin offering offered, as well as the burnt offering and the meal offering that went with it. Each one was needed to make atonement for the man who was to be cleansed from his uncleanness. All were offered so that he should be clean, and know it with the utmost assurance. For atoning virtue Christ is everything; yet the Spirit has His own blessed function.

Suppose he had come there on the strength of having washed his body and shaved off all his hair. Would God have received him? Certainly not. Unless he had washed and shaved, drawing near would have been presumption. But without the sacrifices as well, he had no right to approach. And even with these, he needed the priest to present him before the Lord... He learned that there was a way back into God's presence, but death alone could open it.

The grain offering pictures "the man Christ Jesus" in His perfect human life. In the case of the cleansed leper it stands closely joined with the burnt offering. So it is in the experience of every saved sinner. We first know that our trespasses are forgiven, and the root or principle of sin judged. Only then can we enjoy communion with God about that blessed One, in our measure and by the power of the Spirit. He lived a perfect human life down here, and then offered Himself without spot to God on the cross. So the four classes of offerings are set before us in their divine order in the cleansing of the leper: the trespass offering, the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the grain offering. Each one shows its own aspect of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ.

The Spirit's power is set out here in full. Yet see how carefully God marks, right after this in v. 19, the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the grain offering that goes with it. Each one was needed to make atonement for the man who was to be cleansed from his uncleanness. All of them were offered so that he should be clean, and know it with the utmost assurance. For atoning power Christ is the all; yet the Spirit has His own blessed work.

Atonement means "covering." He is covered by the blood of the trespass offering, covered by the blood of the sin offering, and covered by the blood of the burnt offering. No fault or flaw or spot or stain can ever be found in that man, so recently an outcast leper, unfit for the company of even his fellow-men. More than that, God sees him in all the excellencies, beauty and righteousness of the One those lambs represented… It was not the washing and not the shaving that fitted him for that wonderful Presence, though those were right and needful, but the blood, and the blood alone.

In the burnt offering, the offerer again put his hand on the head of the offering. But now all the efficacy and virtue of the offering passes over to the offerer. The burnt offering is especially God's part in that mighty offering at the cross. The man did not bring the burnt offering because he had sinned. He brought it as the highest mark of worship that man could offer to God.

Priestly service goes on at the altar, and a pleasing aroma (the acceptability of the sacrifice of Christ) is delighting the heart of God. All the while the recovered and cleansed leper stands before God with heart and conscience fully purged. He is there to know the blessedness of his portion in communion with God. How much is implied in the words, "And he shall be clean!"

God visited the leper where he was; but He did not leave him there. He went out ready to do a work. On the strength of that work He could bring the leper into a higher place, and higher communion, than he had ever known before… If any case could fully test and settle the question of human effort, human merit, and human righteousness, the leper is, beyond question, that case.