| The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron telling them that when they got to the land of Canaan, which He was giving them as a possession, and He puts a leprous plague in a house there, then the owner of the house must tell the priest. He should say, “It seems to me that there is some plague in the house.” Why would God put a leprous plague in a house? According to Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers, house leprosy was sent by God if the owner of a plot of land on the sacred soil built his house with materials unlawfully acquired. Benson’s Commentary suggests that if the natural cause for the leprosy couldn’t be determined, then it could be resolved that the power of the God of nature put it there. Clarke’s Commentary suggests that it only means that God permitted or suffered it to be done in the course of His providence (all googled, of course). There are other commentaries that offer different suggestions as well. The bottom line is that God offered a cleansing plan in place for a leprous plague in a house. The priest should command that the house was emptied before he entered it to examine the plague. This was done so that everything in the house would not be declared unclean. After the house was emptied, the priest would go in to examine it. If the priest examined the plague and saw that the plague was on the walls of the house with ingrained greenish or reddish streaks that appeared to be deep in the walls, then he should leave the house and shut the door of the house for seven days. On the seventh day, the priest should look and if the plague had spread on the walls of the house, then he should command that the stones that have the plague be taken away and cast into an unclean place outside the city. The priest should have the house scraped all around on the inside. The dust that is scraped off should be poured in an unclean place outside the city. The stones that were removed should be replaced with other stones and new mortar should be used to plaster the house. If the plague came back and broke out in the house after the stones were removed, after the house was scraped and plastered, the priest should take another look at it. If he determined that the plague had indeed spread in the house, it is an active leprosy and the house was unclean. The house should be broken down completely – the stones, timber and all the plaster. Everything should then be carried outside the city to an unclean place. Also, anyone who went in the house at all while it was shut up would be unclean until evening. Whoever laid down or ate in the house should wash his clothes. If the priest examined the house and the plague did not spread after it was plastered, then he should pronounce it clean because the plague was healed. He should take to cleanse the house, two birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop. The priest should then kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water and then take the cedar wood, hyssop, scarlet and the living bird and dip them in the blood of the slain bird and the running water. He should sprinkle the house seven times. The priest should then cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, the running water, the living bird, the cedar wood, hyssop and the scarlet. Then he should let the living bird loose outside of the city in an open field and make atonement for the house because it was now clean. |
| This is the law for any leprous sore, scale, swelling, scab and bright spot (Leviticus 13:2-46); for the leprosy of a garment (Leviticus 13:47-59); for the leprosy of a house (Leviticus 14:33-53). The leprous laws were to teach whether the aforementioned were unclean or clean. “This is the law of leprosy.” Since leprosy is a contagious disease, God’s covering had to be over the priests as they did all of these examinations to determine if a potential case of leprosy was active. Are you covered or protected by the Lord? Next week, we journey to Leviticus 15. To God Be The Glory! Click “Be Encouraged” for Spiritual, Encouraging and Inspirational Uplifting. Be Encouraged |