then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two clean living birds, and cedar-wood, and scarlet, and hyssop.
Leviticus 14 sets out what happens when a leper is healed and comes back among God's people. The list of items in this verse looks strange, so what is each one there to say?
The ritual of verse 4 is not what makes the leper well. By the time the priest gives this command, God has already healed him. The birds, wood and yarn only explain how.
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.
The priest commands every item, and others bring it for the leper. He does nothing himself.
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.
Then that changes. After the blood, the man has his own work to do.
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.
The offering is small — just two birds. But one word in the command carries great weight.
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).
One death is not the whole story. The priest dips the second bird in the blood of the first, tying the two together.
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?
The second bird carries as much weight as the first.
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.
The other three items cover the whole of nature and the glory of man.
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.
They are dipped, not burned up. What the cleansed man keeps, he now sees differently.
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.
- Healed first. The ceremony never cured anyone. It started only after God had healed the man, and it explained the basis of his cleansing.
- Done for him. The priest commands and handles every item on the man's behalf. The leper adds nothing to the work done for him.
- Clean birds. The birds had to be clean. That pictures the sinless One: He committed no sin, knew no sin, and in Him there is no sin.
- Dead and risen. The priest killed one bird in an earthen vessel over living water. He dipped the other in its blood and set it free: Christ delivered up for our trespasses, raised for our justification.
- Cedar to hyssop. The tallest tree, the lowest herb and the world's glory all go into the blood. The cleansed man then sees them through the cross. He washes, and comes home to the camp.
And the priest shall command that one bird be killed in an earthen vessel over running water
The leprosy was already healed before this ceremony began. The rite that follows raises three questions: why a bird, why a clay pot, and why water as well as blood?
The leper does not arrange his own cleansing. Another acts throughout.
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.
The priest's looking, by itself, changed nothing. A life had to be given up.
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).
The symptom itself looked tiny. Leprosy began as a bright spot on the skin.
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."
The verse names no species. A creature of the sky dies shut inside earth.
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.
Another writer reads each part of the picture, and notes what the figure does not show.
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.
Writers render the "fresh water" of this verse as running, or living, water. One presses it toward the reader, as the means by which Christ's death comes home to a particular person.
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).
Others press the same water toward the hearer, as the means by which that death reaches a particular person.
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 blood of this bird does not go in to God as a ransom. Its aim lies elsewhere.
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.
- Healed first. The ceremony begins only after the leprosy is healed. The rite shows the ground of cleansing; it does not produce the cure.
- Commanded, not earned. The priest orders every step. Another acts for the man, who does nothing himself.
- Death required. A look of pity would not have cleansed him. A spotless life had to be given up.
- Heaven in clay. A bird of the sky dies inside a vessel of earth. That earth pictures the manhood Christ took, and the bird dies, not just the vessel.
- Living water. The running water speaks of the Spirit through whom Christ offered Himself, and of the word that brings His death home to the heart. The aim of the whole rite is to purify the defiled man.
as to the living bird -- he shall take it, and the cedar-wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water;
The cleansing of a healed leper begins with a strange scene: one bird killed, and a second bird dipped in its blood and set free. Why two birds rather than one, and why bind wood, dye and a common herb into the ceremony at all?
The two birds are not two sacrifices. They are one picture in two halves.
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).
Two details fix where the bird died: a clay pot, and fresh running water.
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 dipping ties the two birds together. The living one does not just outlive the other; it carries its blood.
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.
Where the blood goes next also matters.
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.
Three ordinary materials go under the blood with the bird.
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.
So what became of the three materials themselves?
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.
Through all of this the man himself does nothing. He is present, but the priest acts.
On the face of it, the work was first of all done for the leper, not in the least degree by himself.
Only afterwards does he act, and his washing follows the cleansing:
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.
- Two birds, one Saviour. One killed, one released — the same life seen through death and out the other side, "in a sense the same bird."
- Dipped, therefore joined. The living bird is bound to the slain one by its blood. Death and resurrection are one picture, not two.
- Blood that flies. The blood does not go into the sanctuary but into the open sky. That ascent is the basis of all that follows.
- Cedar to hyssop. The highest and the lowest of nature go under the blood, and scarlet for human glory with them. The cross leaves nothing in the old creation untouched.
- Done for him. The leper only stands there while it is done; his washing comes after the blood, never instead of it.
and he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.
In this verse a leper stops being unclean, and he does none of it himself: the priest sprinkles, the priest speaks, the priest lets the bird fly. What made him clean, who could say so, and why did one bird go free?
How much leprosy a man had made no difference to where he stood:
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 count of seven carries its own message:
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.
The verse hands both the sprinkling and the verdict to the priest, never to the man:
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.
The same writer turns this on anyone who waits to feel forgiven:
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.
Only after the blood and the verdict does the second bird go free:
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.
Where that blood was carried is itself part of the picture:
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 blood touched more than the man:
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.
The verdict is not the end. Washing and shaving follow in verses 8 and 9:
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.
- Blood — no washing, no cover-up and no improvement touched leprosy. The sprinkled blood alone made the difference between unclean and clean.
- Seven — seven sprinklings mark the cleansing as perfect. Nothing had to be added to it.
- Verdict — the man never sprinkles himself or calls himself clean. The plan, the sacrifice, the shedding, the sprinkling and the record all come from God.
- Flight — the freed bird carries its companion's blood up into the heavens. It pictures the resurrection, announcing that the work is done.
- Then walk — the verdict of verse 7 does not replace the washing of verses 8 and 9. Being called clean is the ground on which practical cleansing starts.