And on the eighth day he shall take two he-lambs without blemish, and one yearling ewe-lamb without blemish, and three tenth parts of fine flour mingled with oil, for an oblation, and one log of oil.
The priest declares the healed leper clean — but the instructions do not stop there. On the eighth day he comes back with lambs, flour and oil in hand. Why does a clean man still need a whole set of offerings? What do the things in his hands stand for?
Scripture does not call this day the first day of a new week. It calls it the eighth.
"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.
The man has already been declared clean. The offerings of this verse come after that verdict, not before it.
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.
The list is not random. The animals, the flour and the oil cover almost the whole range of Israel's offerings — and the man carries them all.
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 priest kills one of the two male lambs first. He kills it as a trespass offering — the offering for wrong actually done.
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 ceremony that set apart the priests started from a different offering.
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 flour offering carries its own picture — not of death, but of a life.
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.
after_note: DELETE Now the man is clean.
One log is a small, fixed measure, and it has to serve the whole ceremony.
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 list here is the full requirement. Later in the chapter a smaller list is allowed, and commentators note what may be reduced and what may not.
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.
- New day. The eighth day is not simply the next day; it marks an entirely new beginning, all things made new.
- Already clean. The verdict of cleanness comes first, in verse 9; the offerings of verse 10 follow it rather than earn it.
- Full hands. The man carries nearly every offering at once, each one telling out a different excellence of the one sacrifice of Christ.
- Trespass first. The first lamb dies as a trespass offering, because a holy relationship had been violated and must be met.
- Oil left over. One log serves the whole ceremony, and there is still more left — the Spirit given without measure.
And the priest that cleanseth [him] shall present the man that is to be cleansed and those things before Jehovah, at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
It is the eighth day. A man who a week earlier was shut outside the camp now stands at the entrance of the tent of meeting. Two things stand out. He does not walk up on his own; the priest presents him. And he does not come empty-handed.
The timing is not accidental. Scripture gives the eighth day a meaning of its own.
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."
The man had already washed himself and shaved off all his hair. That mattered, but it did not open the door.
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.
What he carries in his hand decides how near he may come.
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 verse brings the man and the whole set of offerings forward together. Which one comes first carries meaning.
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.
What follows this presentation repeats the ceremony that set the priests apart, with one difference.
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.
The New Testament uses the same word — present — for what God does with people who were once shut out.
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.
- Brought. He is presented; he does not present himself. Washing and shaving were not enough.
- Bought. He stands at the door on the ground of sacrifice alone. Without the offerings he had no business there.
- Nearest. Sacrifice carries a former outcast as near to God as priests and Levites came.
- Claimed. Blood on ear, hand and foot marks the whole man as God's — what he hears, what he does, where he walks.
- New. The eighth day is not day one again but a fresh beginning, pointing on to the day God makes all things new.
And the priest shall take one he-lamb, and present it for a trespass-offering, and the log of oil, and wave them as a wave-offering before Jehovah.
On the eighth day the healed leper stood at the tent door with lambs, flour, and a small measure of oil. The priest took one lamb for a guilt offering and waved it alive before the LORD — why that offering, and why alive?
The chapter calls for several offerings. The one killed first — the guilt, or trespass, offering — tells us how the leper is still seen.
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.
One writer reads the whole eighth day as a picture, and notes which sacrifice the leper's restoration rests on.
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.
Here the priest lifts a living lamb. Commentators differ on what this points to. One sees a life lived wholly for God — the very thing the man had failed in.
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.
Another sees the lifting itself as the point.
The waving speaks of Christ ascended back to glory, though in the picture the waving came before the killing of the sacrifice.
The lamb does not go up alone. The priest waves the log of oil with it.
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.
Neither part can be spared. But the picture has a limit.
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.
The priest does not only offer this lamb — he also eats 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 unspeakable grace! And this is just what our great High Priest has done for us.
God makes room for a man too poor to bring all of this. But the allowance stops at one point.
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."
- Trespass. The healed man is still treated as one who wronged God; the first offering names the debt, not just the stain.
- Relation. The offering is a trespass offering, not a sin offering: a holy relationship had been broken, and that breach had to be met.
- Lifted. The lamb is waved alive — pointing, some say, to a life lived wholly for God, and others to Christ raised to glory.
- Paired. The oil rises with the lamb — Son and Spirit together welcome the restored man: atonement first, then power to serve.
- Limit. God lowers the cost for the poor, but never removes this lamb — no one is restored on any other ground.
And he shall slaughter the he-lamb at the place where the sin-offering and the burnt-offering are slaughtered, in a holy place; for as the sin-offering, so the trespass-offering is the priest's it is most holy.
Leviticus 14 sets out how a person healed of a serious skin disease came back into God's presence. Verse 13 settles two things about the first offering he brings: where the lamb dies, and who it belongs to.
Older translations call the guilt offering the trespass offering. The reason it comes first lies in how the man is regarded:
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.
The disease was more than defilement to wash away. It was a wrong done to God, and that changes what a person must learn about himself:
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.
The place of the killing matters. So does what the man learns from it:
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.
He had often stood in that place before, with no sacrifice needed. Coming back was different:
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.
The verse gives the offering to the priest, exactly as the sin offering was given. What the priest then does with it points to Christ:
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.
Why is the offering for wrongdoing ranked most holy?
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.
Everything that follows on the eighth day rests on this one lamb. The ceremony echoes another one:
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.
- Trespass. The healed man is treated as one who wronged God, not just as one who was unclean — so a guilt offering leads the way.
- Place. The lamb dies where the sin and burnt offerings die, in the holy place. A way back into God's presence exists, but death alone opens it.
- Priest's. The offering becomes the priest's — a picture of the High Priest making the offerer's trespass His own.
- Most holy. A holy relationship was broken, so the offering that repairs it ranks as most holy. God's holiness shines brightest there.
- Foundation. The whole eighth-day consecration rests on this lamb. The restored man is set apart by a guilt offering, not by his own washing.
And the priest shall take of the blood of the trespass-offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot.
A skin disease had shut this man out of the camp. He is well again, and on the eighth day the priest marks him with sacrificial blood — ear, thumb and toe, each on the right side. Why those three places, and why blood on a man who is already healed? (Where the commentators below say "trespass offering," they are using the older rendering of what the ESV calls the guilt offering.)
The eighth day opens with a sacrifice, and it is not the sacrifice used to install priests.
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.
Priests received blood on those same three places when they were set apart. But their blood came from a different sacrifice.
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.
Ear, hand and foot together map out a life.
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.
The order matters. Hearing comes before doing and walking — and one Man had His ear opened with no blood at all.
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.
The ritual is God stating a claim over the person He has restored.
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.
The three marks also set a limit on thought, action and walk.
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.
Later in the ceremony the priest puts oil on those same three spots, on top of the blood.
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.
- Healed, then claimed. The man is already well before verse 14 begins; the blood does not cure him, it marks out who he now belongs to.
- Guilt met. The blood comes from a guilt (trespass) offering, because a holy relationship had been violated and had to be met.
- Whole man covered. Ear, hand and foot stand for what a person hears, what he does and where he goes — his whole responsibility.
- Hearing leads. The ear is touched first: you cannot do God's will until you know it, so listening comes before service and walk.
- Blood before oil. The anointing lands on the same three spots, but always on top of the blood — the Spirit's seal rests on the value of the sacrifice, not on the man's worthiness.
And the priest shall take of the log of oil, and pour it into his, the priest's, left hand;
The blood of the trespass offering is already on the healed man's ear, hand and foot. Now the priest pours the log of oil into his own palm — so why must the oil pass through his hand, and go before the Lord, before it ever reaches the man?
Writers read the fixed order of this ritual as a picture of how God works in a person.
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.
The priest holds the oil in his left hand, dips his right finger, and sprinkles it seven times toward God.
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.
Why seven times?
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.
The priest then puts the oil on the same three places already marked by the blood of the trespass offering.
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!
If the blood dealt with what the ear, hand and foot had done, the oil sets those same members to new use.
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.
This order of blood first, then oil, is not unique to the leper.
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.
- Order. Water, then blood, then oil. Washing comes first, then forgiveness, then the anointing of the Spirit — never the other way round.
- Godward. The priest sprinkles the oil seven times before the Lord before a drop reaches the man. The Spirit is here first of all for God and for His glory.
- Upon. The oil goes exactly where the blood already was. The Spirit comes on the ground of Christ's work, not alongside it.
- Onward. What the blood forgave in ear, hand and foot, the oil now empowers — hearing, doing and walking turned to God's use.
- Abiding. Because the oil rests on the blood, the indwelling rests on a finished work, and so it is never withdrawn.
and the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before Jehovah.
The man being cleansed is standing right there. Yet the first seven sprinklings of oil never touch him — they go toward God, and that raises the question of who this oil is for.
The verse counts the sprinklings but never says where the priest stood. One writer offers two possible spots:
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.
Up to now the ceremony has been about the healed man. At this moment the priest turns away from him:
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.
The same writer reads the number seven, and then looks at the world we live in now:
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.
One writer contrasts this anointing with the mere setting apart of a man for a job:
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.
The verses that follow put this same oil on the man himself. One writer sees the whole sequence as a picture of Pentecost drawn in advance:
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.
- God first. Before any oil touches the healed man, the priest turns away from him and sprinkles it seven times "before the Lord."
- A Person, not a force. Writers read the oil as the Holy Spirit, and this Godward sprinkling as God's delight in Him. He is "not merely an 'influence'" but "the true and living God."
- Full, not partial. Seven speaks of perfection. The sprinkling shows the Spirit "present in His fullness, and acting towards the Lord," not a partial light in a dark place.
- For His glory before ours. He dwells in every believer as their strength, yet "first of all He is down here for God, and for His glory."
- Then the man. Only after this does the oil go where the blood had gone. That pattern, one writer says, "pictured in advance the full blessing first enjoyed at Pentecost."
And of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put on the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass-offering.
The priest has already put the blood of the guilt offering on the healed leper's right ear, thumb, and big toe. Now he adds oil to those same three spots, on top of the blood: first a sacrifice, then the Spirit, then a whole life claimed for God.
The oil never touches bare skin. It goes only where the blood already is, and that order never changes.
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 verse names whose blood the oil goes on: "the blood of the guilt offering." Older translations call it the trespass offering. One writer compares that sacrifice with the one used to consecrate priests. They are not the same.
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.
The priest marks three body parts: the ear, the hand, and the foot. A person listens, acts, and walks with these. Each one now gets a new purpose.
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.
The ear comes first in the list. That has a practical edge for anyone God has cleansed:
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.
The oil rests on blood, never on bare flesh. So the anointing is not an improvement of the man as he was.
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.
The verse speaks of "the oil that remains in his hand." The priest has already sprinkled oil seven times before the LORD, and there is still more. The next verse pours the rest on the man's head.
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.
- Order — Blood first, then oil. The Spirit comes after the sacrifice, never before it.
- Ground — The oil rests on the blood of the guilt offering. That sacrifice cleansed a defiled sinner; a different one consecrated priests.
- Reach — Ear, hand, foot: hearing, acting, walking. The cleansing is not abstract; it lands on the exact parts of life a person uses.
- Power — The anointing is not added strength for the natural man. It is God's own power making real what the blood has already secured.
- Overflow — The oil never runs out. The priest pours the rest on the man's head. That marks his whole person, and sets a former outcast among the anointed of Israel.
And the remainder of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put upon the head of him that is to be cleansed, and the priest shall make atonement for him before Jehovah.
A healed leper comes back on the eighth day, and the priest empties his hand: the last of the oil goes on the man's head. The questions are why any oil is left, why it goes there, and why a rite so full of oil ends with the word "atonement."
One writer sees the oil left over as a supply that never runs out, and notices who else in Israel ever had oil poured on the head:
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!
Ear, hand and foot were each touched on their own. Commentators read the head in two ways. One links each place the oil touches to a power the Spirit gives:
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.
Another notes that the oil went only where the blood had already gone:
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.
The head is the one place blood never touched. One writer takes that omission as a picture of Christ Himself.
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.
One writer sets this moment beside the day the high priest himself was anointed.
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.
The verse ends with atonement. One writer asks what actually made that atonement:
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).
The rite echoes the consecration of priests, yet its starting point is not the same.
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.
- Blood first. The atonement named at the end of the verse rests on the trespass offering, not on the oil; blood alone covers sin.
- Oil after. Where the blood had gone, the oil followed — the Spirit's power for the ear that hears, the hand that serves, the foot that walks.
- Oil over. There is always a remainder, because the Spirit is not given by measure.
- Oil on the head. The head takes oil and no blood; commentators read it as the mind brought under the Spirit, or the whole man claimed for God.
- Oil that lifts. Only two men in Israel had oil poured on the head: the high priest and the cleansed outcast. The man shut out ends the day where the highest in Israel stood.
And the priest shall offer the sin-offering, and make atonement for him that is to be cleansed from his uncleanness; and afterwards shall he slaughter the burnt-offering.
This verse falls on the eighth day of the leper's restoration. The priest has already put blood and oil on the man's ear, hand and foot. Two more sacrifices still follow: a sin offering and a burnt offering. If the man is healed and already marked with blood, what is left to do?
The man in this chapter is already healed. That alone does not settle matters with 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 order of the sacrifices is not accidental. The trespass offering came first (verse 12). Only now comes the sin offering. One deals with what we have done. The other deals with where it came from.
"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.
So the cross dealt with more than a list of wrongs.
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.
The word "afterward" in the verse fixes the order: the sin offering first, then the burnt offering. The same act of laying hands on the animal now means something different. This time the exchange runs the other way.
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 has just described the oil poured on the man's head. That could look like the high point. This verse does not stop there.
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.
The man had already washed and shaved off all his hair. None of that gave him the right to draw near to God.
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.
- Healed — the disease stopping is not the same as being clean before God; only grace in Christ restores.
- Trespasses — the trespass offering came first, because we first meet Christ as the One who puts away what we have done.
- Root — the sin offering of verse 19 goes deeper, to the nature that produced those acts; it is not forgiven, it is judged.
- Acceptance — the burnt offering reverses the flow. The worth of the offering now passes to the man, and worship rises to God.
- Assurance — the oil of verse 18 does not replace atonement. God adds these sacrifices so the cleansed man is clean and knows it.
And the priest shall offer the burnt-offering and the oblation upon the altar; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.
This verse ends the ritual for a man healed of leprosy — a disease that had shut him out from everyone. Why does he still need atonement after the washing and the shaving, and what do the last two offerings add?
One writer sets the grain offering beside the burnt offering, and then names all four sacrifices this cleansing used:
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.
One commentator weighs the Spirit's place beside the offerings that make atonement:
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.
Another writer takes the word "atonement" at its root, and draws out what this threefold covering secures — and what it rules out:
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.
The same writer shows which way the benefit flows in this offering, and why the man brought it:
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.
Commentators differ here. One reads the ritual as a picture of a sinner brought to God for the first time: "It pictures a sinner cleansed from an impurity that would otherwise be fatal, rather than a believer tripped up along the way" (William Kelly). Another reads the closing words as a recovery:
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!"
One writer insists this is not just a return to where the man was before:
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.
- Covered — atonement means covering. Three offerings cover the man, so God now sees him in the excellencies of the One the lambs pictured.
- Cleansed — the blood alone fits him for God's presence. The washing and the shaving were right and needful, but they could not do it.
- Certain — God marks every offering, so the man is clean and knows it with the utmost assurance.
- Communion — his trespasses are forgiven and the root of sin judged. Now he can enjoy communion with God about the One who lived a perfect life and offered Himself without spot.
- Consecrated — the last offering answers no sin at all. It is the highest mark of worship man can bring. It leaves the outcast higher than he had ever stood before.