Leviticus 13

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Leviticus 13:1-59

“And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests: 3 and the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean. 4 If the bright spot be white in the skin of his flesh, and in sight be not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague seven days: 5 and the priest shall look on him the seventh day: and, behold, if the plague in his sight be at a stay, and the plague spread not in the skin; then the priest shall shut him up seven days more: 6 and the priest shall look on him again the seventh day: and, behold, if the plague be somewhat dark, and the plague spread not in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean: it is but a scab: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean. 7 But if the scab spread much abroad in the skin, after that he hath been seen of the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen of the priest again: 8 And if the priest see that, behold, the scab spreadeth in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a leprosy. 9 When the plague of leprosy is in a man, then he shall be brought unto the priest; 10 and the priest shall see him: and, behold, if the rising be white in the skin, and it have turned the hair white, and there be quick raw flesh in the rising; 11 it is an old leprosy in the skin of his flesh, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean, and shall not shut him up: for he is unclean. 12 And if a leprosy break out abroad in the skin, and the leprosy cover all the skin of him that hath the plague from his head even to his foot, wheresoever the priest looketh; 13 then the priest shall consider: and, behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague: it is turned white: he is clean. 14 But when raw flesh appeareth in him, he shall be unclean. 15 And the priest shall see the raw flesh, and pronounce him to be unclean: for the raw flesh is unclean: it is a leprosy. 16 Or if the raw flesh turn again, and be changed unto white, he shall come unto the priest; 17 and the priest shall see him; and, behold, if the plague be turned white; then the priest shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague: he is clean. 18 The flesh also, in which, even in the skin thereof, was a boil, and is healed, 19 and in the place of the boil there be a white rising, or a bright spot, white, and somewhat reddish, and it be shewed to the priest; 20 and if, when the priest seeth it, behold, it be in sight lower than the skin, and the hair thereof be turned white; the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a plague of leprosy broken out of the boil. 21 But if the priest look on it, and, behold, there be no white hairs therein, and if it be not lower than the skin, but be somewhat dark; then the priest shall shut him up seven days: 22 and if it spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a plague. 23 But if the bright spot stay in his place, and spread not, it is a burning boil; the priest shall pronounce him clean. 24 Or if there be any flesh, in the skin whereof there is a hot burning, and the quick flesh that burneth have a white bright spot, somewhat reddish, or white; 25 then the priest shall look upon it: and, behold, if the hair in the bright spot be turned white, and it be in sight deeper than the skin; it is a leprosy broken out of the burning: wherefore the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy. 26 But if the priest look on it, and, behold, there be no white hair in the bright spot, and it be no lower than the other skin, but be somewhat dark; then the priest shall shut him up seven days: 27 and the priest shall look upon him the seventh day: and if it be spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy. 28 And if the bright spot stay in his place, and spread not in the skin, but it be somewhat dark; it is a rising of the burning, and the priest shall pronounce him clean: for it is an inflammation of the burning. 29 If a man or woman have a plague upon the head or the beard; 30 then the priest shall see the plague: and, behold, if it be in sight deeper than the skin; and there be in it a yellow thin hair; then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a dry scall, even a leprosy upon the head or beard. 31 And if the priest look on the plague of scall, and, behold, it be not deeper than the skin, and that there is no black hair in it; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague of the scall seven days: 32 and in the seventh day the priest shall look on the plague: and, behold, if the scall spread not, and there be in it no yellow hair, and the scall be not in sight deeper than the skin; 33 he shall be shaven, but the scall shall he not shave; and the priest shall shut up him that hath the scall seven days more: 34 and in the seventh day the priest shall look on the scall: and, behold, if the scall be not spread in the skin; then the priest shall pronounce him clean: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean. 35 But if the scall spread much in the skin after his cleansing; 36 then the priest shall look on him: and, behold, if the scall be spread in the skin, the priest shall not seek for yellow hair; he is unclean. 37 But if the scall be in his sight at a stay, and that there is black hair grown up therein; the scall is healed, he is clean: and the priest shall pronounce him clean. 38 If a man also or a woman have in the skin of their flesh bright spots, even white bright spots; 39 then the priest shall look: and, behold, if the bright spots in the skin of their flesh be darkish white; it is a freckled spot that groweth in the skin; he is clean. 40 And the man whose hair is fallen off his head, he is bald; yet is he clean. 41 And he that hath his hair fallen off from the part of his head toward his face, he is forehead bald: yet is he clean. 42 And if there be in the bald head, or bald forehead, a white reddish sore; it is a leprosy sprung up in his bald head, or his bald forehead. 43 Then the priest shall look upon it: and, behold, if the rising of the sore be white reddish in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, as the leprosy appeareth in the skin of the flesh; 44 he is a leprous man, he is unclean: the priest shall pronounce him utterly unclean; his plague is in his head. 45 And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry Unclean, unclean. 46 All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be. 47 The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it be a woollen garment, or a linen garment; 48 whether it be in the warp, or woof, of linen, or of woollen; whether in skin, or in any thing made of skin; 49 and if the plague be greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; it is a plague of leprosy, and shall be shewed unto the priest: 50 and the priest shall look upon the plague, and shut up it that hath the plague seven days: 51 and he shall look on the plague on the seventh day: if the plague be spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in a skin, or in any work that is made of skin; the plague is a fretting leprosy; it is unclean. 52 He shall therefore burn that garment, whether warp or woof, in woollen or in linen, or any thing of skin, wherein the plague is: for it is a fretting leprosy; it shall be burnt in the fire. 53 And if the priest shall look, and, behold, the plague be not spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; 54 then the priest shall command that they wash the thing wherein the plague is, and he shall shut it up seven days more: 55 and the priest shall look on the plague, after that it is washed: and, behold, if the plague have not changed his colour, and the plague be not spread; it is unclean; thou shalt burn it in the fire; it is fret inward, whether it be bare within or without. 56 And if the priest look, and, behold, the plague be somewhat dark after the washing of it; then he shall rend it out of the garment, or out of the skin, or out of the warp, or out of the woof: 57 and if it appear still in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; it is a spreading plague: thou shalt burn that wherein the plague is with fire. 58 And the garment, either warp, or woof, or whatsoever thing of skin it be, which thou shalt wash, if the plague be departed from them, then it shall be washed the second time, and shall be clean. 59 This is the law of the plague of leprosy in a garment of woollen or linen, either in the warp, or woof, or any thing of skins, to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean.”

Introduction

[Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED570]

“Leviticus chapter 13 and 14 bring us to the very center of the Law, Genesis, Exodus then Leviticus, 13 and 14 at the very center, and then Numbers and Deuteronomy. And in the center we have this long chapter about the diagnosis of a disease. It the most in-depth lengthy ancient record in existence for the diagnosis of a disease. There isn’t anything in the cuneiform tablets or in Egyptian hieroglyphics, there isn’t anything else that equals this in regards to observation and diagnosis. Chapter 14 gives us the sacrifice that was to be offered when this disease was healed, when it was cured, when the leper was cleansed. It’s called leprosy here in the chapter, it’s probably broader than just leprosy the way it would categorized in our scientific journals and medical books today, Hansen’s Disease, leprosy. Armour Hansen in the 1800s isolated the bacillus that became known as Hansen’s Disease instead of leprosy, and it seems fairly well separated, we feel separated from that, but there are about 5,000 lepers in the United States, and they say in Africa and Asia at any given time there are about 15 million lepers, many of them isolated in leper colonies. The disease can be arrested now, I have not heard if they’ve come up with an effective vaccine. It is an interesting picture of sin. I am not saying the disease is because of sin. Disease is because of the fall in the Garden of Eden, and certainly then it entered into the picture. Can God use illness to chasten us? Well I’m sure he can, but I would not want to be the one who decides whether that’s happening or not, I’ll leave that to Job’s counselors or some Pharisee to make that decision. I’m saying that sometimes in the Scripture, sickness is a picture of sin. We have this in Isaiah 1, ‘Why should you be stricken anymore?’ God challenging the nation, ‘You will revolt more and more, the whole head is sick, the whole heart is faint, from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and petrifying sores, they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.’ And again that was Isaiah 1, ah Jeremiah chapter 30 says ‘For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, thy wound is grievous,’ again challenging them about sin. Jesus of course, himself, talking to the Pharisees about sin said ‘They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick, I am not called to call the righteous but the sinner to repentance,’ and he describes his own ministry in that text as the Great Physician, come to cure those that are sick. Of course he’s talking about not the righteous but calling sinners to repentance. So, sometimes it gives us that picture. And certainly leprosy here in this chapter and the next gives us a picture of that. They do their experiments with armadillos when they work on the study of leprosy, they tried with other laboratory animals and had little success, and they realized as they became more familiar with the bacillus and the disease, that it breaks out first in your appendages, your fingers, your toes, anywhere where your body temperature might just be a little bit cooler, and the body temperature of an armadillo instead of 98.6, this is information I bet you thought you’d never get in Leviticus, it runs around 93 degrees, and because of that they’re very effective in infecting them with leprosy and then watching the progress and learning how to treat the disease. But all of that is a picture of sin. Sin certainly makes us unclean, we’re going to hear that word 50 times through the next few chapters. Sin isolates us, we find, sin often strikes us in our lives when we’re the coolest, where we’ve cooled in our lives in regards to our passion for Christ, so often then sin strikes. And sin starts within, we find leprosy, we’re not sure of its contagion, the way it’s spread, but it follows neuropathways and it’ll break out, it starts underneath and it comes to the surface, and it’s slow. It desensitizes, one of the problems they have in leper colonies is there’s an atrophy of nerves because of the way it spreads, and the leper will often break his toe, the bone is broken, he doesn’t realize it, sometimes it’s even compounded, the fracture, and then it will rot. They said a leper had to yell “Unclean, unclean!” It’s said you could smell the leper at a 100 paces when the disease was advanced. But it starts small, it starts not very noticeable, it starts by something that can easily be ignored. And as we look into this, and we’re going to make tracks as we go through this chapter so you won’t get bored so, get a hold on with both hands. But just, you can imagine somebody in this culture realizing, ‘Wait a minute, I’ve got this little spot starting here, I’ve got this little lump that looks this way, wait a minute, something’s strange,’ and then you live with that, ‘and how long do I wait until I tell the priest, how long do I,’ and looking at it, realizing something may be festering, something may be going on, and that person being terrified, because realizing ‘This is going to separate me,’ a leper is often separated from his children, separated from his wife, or her husband, not being able to attend the death of their parent, not being able to be there if their child was dying of an illness or disease. There were horrible consequences, and would to God, all of us, including myself, when we saw in our lives today, little areas of compromise, little potential areas where we realize this could be, this could lead to something worse if I let this, I wish we were all as terrified of the consequences up front. Because so often it’s not until it breaks out that sin is recognized, so often we have people say ‘I don’t know how this happened. I don’t know how I got myself into this situation.’ It’s very simply something that began very small and moved forward in increments, and we become desensitized to the spiritual through the process because we grieve the Spirit and grieve the Spirit and grieve the Spirit, and grieve the Spirit. All sin has a history. No Christian is on fire for Christ one day and in complete compromise the next day. There’s something slow, there’s something malevolent, there’s something beneath the surface, in the heart, in the soul, in the mind, in the spirit, that makes its way, that finds its neuropathways, that finds its way to the surface, that slowly works its way out. And we have these pictures here, chapter 14 brings us though into a remarkable solution, as we look at this. So, rabbis said the lepers were the living dead, because they knew in 10 to 20 years that’s what they’d be, there was no cure. Let’s jump in, ok, and be patient, we’re gonna run through this.

Diagnosis For The Plague Of Leprosy

“And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying, When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests: and the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.” (verses 1-3) So what it says is, if this plague, if this spot, if this scab, as the priest makes examination, realizes the hairs that are growing in it have turned white, and it isn’t like a mole that’s concave on the surface, it becomes convex, it’s lower than the surface of the skin, then this is a leprosy, this is something going on, he’s to be unclean. “If the bright spot be white in the skin of his flesh, and in sight be not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague seven days: and the priest shall look on him the seventh day: and, behold, if the plague in his sight be at a stay,” it hasn’t spread, it’s contained, “and the plague spread not in the skin; then the priest shall shut him up seven days more:” (verses 4-5) and you know people, you’d love to shut them up for seven days, I’m sure. “and the priest shall look on him again the seventh day: and, behold, if the plague be somewhat dark,” these details are amazing, “and the plague spread not in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean: it is but a scab: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.” (verse 6) So there’s a lot of detail, because you don’t want to make the wrong diagnosis, you don’t want to tell somebody that’s got psoriasis or poison oak that they have leprosy, and cut them off from Israel. So there’s a lot of detail here. And look, the priest never makes up his mind whether the person is clean or unclean, it is the Word that does it, and only as he submits to the written Word can the priest make the right diagnosis in regards to these things, “he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.” Verse 7, “But if the scab spread much abroad in the skin,” so after the two “seven days” he looks on the scab, and if it has spread out “after that he hath been seen of the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen of the priest again: And if the priest see that, behold, the scab spreadeth in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a leprosy.” (verses 7-8) “When the plague of leprosy is in a man, then he shall be brought unto the priest; and the priest shall see him: and, behold, if the rising be white in the skin, and it have turned the hair white, and there be quick raw flesh in the rising;” So there’s swelling and it’s whitish in colour, the pigment’s dying away, and there’s a raw wound involved in the rising, “it is an old leprosy in the skin of his flesh, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean, and shall not shut him up: for he is unclean.” (verses 9-11) it’s something that’s been there for awhile, it’s breaking out. “And if a leprosy break out abroad in the skin, and the leprosy cover all the skin of him that hath the plague from his head even to his foot, wheresoever the priest looketh; then the priest shall consider: and, behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague: it is turned white: he is clean.” (verses 12-13) So he says if the priest realizes, ‘Wait a minute, whatever this skin problem is, it’s spread from the top of his head to the bottom of his foot, he’s completely covered with this, the whole body, it’s something that’s only on the surface, this is not a leprosy, it’s something else, and he's pronounced clean.’ “But when raw flesh appeareth in him, he shall be unclean. And the priest shall see the raw flesh, and pronounce him to be unclean: for the raw flesh is unclean: it is a leprosy.” (verses 14-15) Hope you didn’t eat a big dinner before you came here this evening. “Or if the raw flesh turn again, and be changed unto white, he shall come unto the priest; and the priest shall see him; and, behold, if the plague be turned white; then the priest shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague: he is clean.” (verses 16-17) it wasn’t really leprosy, it was some kind of an open sore, it’s healing, you know when you get a scab and get kind of a scar there that’s whiter than the rest, he says ‘That wasn’t a leprosy, it’s healed up, he’s clean.’ “The flesh also, in which, even in the skin thereof, was a boil, and is healed,” (verse 18) you want to make sure if somebody’s got a boil that they don’t get diagnosed with leprosy, you guys know what a boil is, most of you, maybe you’re younger, you don’t know what a boil is. You know what a zit is? Well a boil is a zit the size of an egg, just that’ll help you get the picture. Anybody whose had one knows I’m telling the truth. “and in the place of the boil there be a white rising, or a bright spot, white, and somewhat reddish,” there’s great detail here, “and it be shewed to the priest; and if, when the priest seeth it, behold, it be in sight lower than the skin, and the hair thereof be turned white; the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a plague of leprosy broken out of the boil.” (verses 19-20) Now it appeared like a boil, but now it’s got whitish flesh around it and it’s sunk down into the skin. “But if the priest look on it, and, behold, there be no white hairs therein, and if it be not lower than the skin, but be somewhat dark;” if it looks like it’s fading, and the boil has black hair on it, “then the priest shall shut him up seven days: and if it spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a plague. But if the bright spot stay in his place, and spread not, it is a burning boil; the priest shall pronounce him clean.” (verses 21-23) good know for those of you with boils. “Or if there be any flesh, in the skin whereof there is a hot burning, and the quick flesh that burneth have a white bright spot, somewhat reddish, or white;” so there’s some type of inflammation, it’s reddish, you get a bursitis on your elbow, it swells, and you feel it, it’s actually hot to the touch, it’s swollen, it can be red, “then the priest shall look upon it: and, behold, if the hair in the bright spot be turned white, and it be in sight deeper than the skin; it is a leprosy broken out of the burning: wherefore the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy. But if the priest look on it, and, behold, there be no white hair in the bright spot, and it be no lower than the other skin, but be somewhat dark; then the priest shall shut him up seven days: and the priest shall look upon him the seventh day: and if it be spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy. And if the bright spot stay in his place, and spread not in the skin, but it be somewhat dark; it is a rising of the burning, and the priest shall pronounce him clean: for it is an inflammation of the burning.” (verses 24-28) This is important. Some of this is a picture of sin, sin can be like a bright spot, sin can look innocent, and then you realize it’s deeper than the skin, this is not just something on the surface, this is deeper than the skin, and what grows out of it is atrophied, is white, is dead, it’s a plague, it’s a plague of leprosy. I think sometimes as Christians we can judge each other too readily, instead of taking our time. Here, you know, we hear something, we’re ready to spread the news. We see something wrong, even if it’s just perceived wrong, snap! we’re ready to gossip sometimes. Instead of putting the person aside, getting on our knees for seven days, considering again, putting away for seven more days as it were, giving time, looking, seeing if it’s something that’s really coming within, it’s deeper than the skin. Then God gives such gracious instruction here, such details, kind of reddish, a little white, this here, a little lower, just making sure with great detail. And if we take this kind of detail with a disease of the physical frame, we should certainly take this kind of time with a disease of something that’s deeper. Paul says ‘if you see a man overtaken in a fault, you that is spiritual, with a spirit of meekness, restore such a one.’ And when he says “restore” he uses the word for the mending of a broken bone. You know, you see a brother or sister overtaken in a fault, you want to fix them immediately, because you’re used to instant breakfast, instant-on oven, instant cameras, and you want to say ‘Hey! All things work together for the good,’ you want to give them one of those. But is says with a spirit of meekness to restore, it may take six weeks. How long does it take for a broken bone to heal? And we have to understand that, to come alongside of someone. And by the way, the best counselor is the best listener, not the best talker. There’s a parable on your head, two ears, one mouth. It means you should listen twice as much as you talk. If God wanted it the other way, we’d have two mouths and one ear, and dentist bills would be really high then.

Leprosy On The Head Or Beard

OK, this troubles me a bit, verse 29, “If a man or woman have a plague upon the head or the beard;” so I guess leprosy spreads to the carnival here, some problems, if a woman or a man has a plague in their beard. You know, I think a woman with a beard should be put outside the camp no matter what she has [loud laughter]. I would think they would have separate leper colonies for bearded women. I don’t want to hear a voice, ‘How you feeling today honey?’ and wake up and see, you know, let’s turn to leprosy quick. “then the priest shall see the plague: and, behold, if it be in sight deeper than the skin; and there be in it a yellow thin hair; then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a dry scall, even a leprosy upon the head or beard.” (verse 30) And I guess if your wife is going to have a beard you’d want it to be yellow thin hair, I’m sorry, it’s a chapter on leprosy, I’m doing my best. It’s kind of interesting. “And if the priest look on the plague of scall, and, behold, it be not deeper than the skin, and that there is no black hair in it; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague of the scall seven days:” it doesn’t have any black hair, but it’s not deeper than the skin, so we need to take our time, “and in the seventh day the priest shall look on the plague: and, behold, if the scall spread not, and there be in it no yellow hair, and the scall be not in sight deeper than the skin; he shall be shaven,” or she, “but the scall shall he not shave; and the priest shall shut up him that hath the scall seven days more:” (verses 31-33) So it says if you have this big kind of scab thing, there’s hair growing out of it, and if the hair that’s growing out of that particular area is a different colour than the rest of your hair, on your beard or on your head, then the process is that the priest would shave around that, but leave the hair that’s growing in that sore spot, and then come back seven days later, and then he would be able to see if the sore spot has spread out from under that funny looking ponytail, the area it might have been. “and in the seventh day the priest shall look on the scall: and, behold, if the scall be not spread in the skin; then the priest shall pronounce him clean: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.” (verse 34) “But if the scall spread much in the skin after his cleansing; then the priest shall look on him: and, behold, if the scall be spread in the skin, the priest shall not seek for yellow hair; he is unclean.” (verses 35-36) it doesn’t matter if the hair is yellow at that point. “But if the scall be in his sight at a stay, and that there is black hair grown up therein; the scall is healed, he is clean: and the priest shall pronounce him clean.” (verse 37) this is a guy, I hope, he’s growing thick black hair now. And look, there’s no medicine here, this is all God’s judgment, God making a decision about these things. “If a man also or a woman have in the skin of their flesh bright spots, even white bright spots; then the priest shall look: and, behold, if the bright spots in the skin of their flesh be darkish white; it is a freckled spot that groweth in the skin; he is clean.” (verses 38-39) Now, you know my Dad when he was around 80 got all these on his knuckles, just where the pigment died, all these white spots, and there’s consideration here to make sure this guy doesn’t get put outside the camp because he’s got a white spot.

Leprosy On A Bald Head

“And the man whose hair is fallen off his head, he is bald; yet is he clean.” (verse 40) you don’t want to put anybody outside the camp because their hair fell out, they’re clean, this is baldness, this is not leprosy, the guy’s suffered enough, just leave him alone. It doesn’t say “or a woman,” it’s narrowing things down here a little bit. Yesterday I took my son to the dentist, and as he was in with the dentist, this girl went by, and she had, her hair was dyed, and this side of her head was bright maroon-purple-red you see sometimes, and it was really bright, and then right down the center of her head was pure black, I mean, the lines were real distinct, it really looked cool, and then it was blond on this side. And she had like this loose braid in the back, so these different colours were braided. I thought, that would confuse a priest, but it really looks cool. So I’d been reading this chapter, I thought, that would have freaked them out, if they had to figure what to do with that, that’s not even in the chapter. I really liked it. [Of course, you used to be a Hippie 😊] OK, “And he that hath his hair fallen off from the part of his head toward his face, he is forehead bald: yet is he clean.” (verse 41) If he looses his hair that’s baldness, that’s not leprosy. It would be a different thing if he was bald on the right side of his head, and hair on the left side his head, because then you might think about it. “And if there be in the bald head, or bald forehead, a white reddish sore; it is a leprosy sprung up in his bald head, or his bald forehead.” (verse 42) now it’s going to talk about a sore, look, I’m sorry, I’m having trouble keeping up with this too. “Then the priest shall look upon it: and, behold, if the rising of the sore be white reddish in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, as the leprosy appeareth in the skin of the flesh; he is a leprous man,” he’s a bald leprous man, “he is unclean: the priest shall pronounce him utterly unclean; his plague is in his head.” (verses 43-44) now you might feel your husband has that problem with hair, I don’t know. I know some people like that. “his plague is in his head,” and they have lots of hair, some of these people I know. Sin will do that. “And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry Unclean, unclean.” (verse 45) So there was a law in Israel, a leper would have his upper lip covered, I don’t know, so that his breath, and he would have to cry “unclean, unclean,” from a hundred paces.

Leprosy On A Garment--Your Surrounding Environment

Now the garment, now this is not leprosy, this is some kind of mildew, we have all these kind of black molds and stuff around today, verse 47, “The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it be a woollen garment, or a linen garment;” now it’s talking about sometimes our surroundings can be the things that are infected with sin, that are to be dealt with. “whether it be in the warp, or woof, of linen, or of woollen; whether in skin, or in any thing made of skin;” (verse 48) Now anyone here whose worked on a loom, you know that the warp is the vertical strand, the threads, the woof is the horizontal strands. “or in any skin” if you have a leather sash or something, a leather garment, “or in anything that’s made of skin that’s leather” [lederhosen], “and if the plague be greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; it is a plague of leprosy, and shall be shewed unto the priest: and the priest shall look upon the plague, and shut up it that hath the plague seven days: and he shall look on the plague on the seventh day: if the plague be spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in a skin, or in any work that is made of skin; the plague is a fretting” or an active “leprosy; it is unclean.” (verses 49-51) Now this would be some type of a mold or something. “He shall therefore burn that garment, whether warp or woof, in woollen or in linen, or any thing of skin, wherein the plague is: for it is a fretting leprosy; it shall be burnt in the fire. And if the priest shall look, and, behold, the plague be not spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; then the priest shall command that they wash the thing wherein the plague is, and he shall shut it up seven days more: and the priest shall look on the plague, after that it is washed: and, behold, if the plague have not changed his colour, and the plague be not spread; it is unclean; thou shalt burn it in the fire; it is fret inward, whether it be bare within or without.” (verses 52-55) If the colour hasn’t changed, but it hasn’t spread, it says there’s something inward there, whether it’s within or without, it’s unclean, it should be burned. “And if the priest look, and, behold, the plague be somewhat dark after the washing of it; then he shall rend it out of the garment, or out of the skin, or out of the warp, or out of the woof: and if it appear still in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; it is a spreading plague: thou shalt burn that wherein the plague is with fire.” (verses 56-57) How often we need to get rid of the things that surround us, if we attempt to clean them, nothing changes, there are things in our lives that are not expedient, and we can sit back as Christians and say ‘This isn’t wrong, but it is not moving us forward,’ and it becomes as we come under conviction something that shouldn’t be there. So this would be a picture, and it’s hard to be dogmatic, these are types of something that surrounds us. “And the garment, either warp, or woof, or whatsoever thing of skin it be, which thou shalt wash, if the plague be departed from them, then it shall be washed the second time, and shall be clean.” it was ketchup or something, “This is the law of the plague of leprosy in a garment of woollen or linen, either in the warp, or woof, or any thing of skins, to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean.” (verses 58-59) Not up to the priest, up to the Word of God, great detail given, he’s only an observer, he’s not the judge as it were. It’s judges itself, that the Word of God makes a decision. You know, you hear Christians and people say that, if you challenge if they’re in sin, ‘Hey, don’t judge me,’ I’m not judging, the Word of God judges you, I’m just a fruit-inspector, this is what the Word says, I didn’t say this. And of course the problem is, look, our culture, how many leprosies are there in our culture, deeper than the skin? You know, it’s sad in the church, there’s cancer, there’s physical illness, and you come on those people, and some of those people are the greatest heroes we ever see, incredible faith. Because despite the fact that they’re suffering, you hear their trust for Jesus Christ. If this is what he wants for me, if this is what he has for me, and I listen and think ‘Lord, I’m such a wimp, just give me the correspondence course.’ They’re amazing, these people are amazing.

What Leprosy Pictures Spiritually

But there are things, not physical in nature, that sometimes we allow, and they’re deeper than the skin, and it’s something in our thoughts, something in our hearts, something that goes on sometimes deep within us. David would say this after his sin with Bathsheba, after he killed her husband, he said ‘Behold I was shapen in iniquity, in sin did my mother conceive me, I’m a sinner. Behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts, in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop,’ we’re going to read about that in this chapter 14 of Leviticus, of the leper being sprinkled with hyssop, ‘purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean, wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.’ (Psalm 51) David’s saying ‘my problem is the inner parts, I was born in iniquity and so forth, and you desire truth in the inward parts. Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken my rejoice, hide thy face from my sins, blot out my iniquities,’ look what he says, ‘create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me, renew LORD a fixed spirit, an established spirit, stedfastness again within me, O God. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free Spirit, LORD, sustain me, uphold me.’ You know David says here ‘the problem was something inward, it was in me, it manifested, I committed sin, I committed adultery, I was immoral, I was violent, but LORD it’s deep within me, it’s iniquitous, it’s sin. And only you LORD can cleanse me, only you can blot out my transgression, so that what I have done is gone, and only you can create a new heart within me, LORD, you can renew a spirit within me that’s stedfast.’ If that isn’t who he is, we might as well go home. Because there are things that we wrestle with as Christians that the medical doctor can’t touch, that no counselor will ever get to. There are things in our lives that only Jesus Christ can set us free from, and if we could handle all of those things by natural wisdom and natural ability, there’d be no need for the Church, Christ would never have had to come, he’s the One whose come to deal with the deep things, the problem of iniquity and sin, those things in our lives. Now look, David said ‘Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation,’ how many Christians sometimes, excited about the Lord, sharing Jesus with everyone, and then somehow as time goes on, they cool, and there’s a cool spot. Sometimes as time goes on there’s something within, and they let it fester. Oh they know about God’s grace now, they’re more theologically correct, but there’s no fire. And then pretty soon you find out they’re watching pornography, there’s some plague. Oh it’s not of the physical frame, but it’s a spot, it’s a defilement, they’re in an immoral relationship, they’re getting drunk on a regular basis, using drugs, not prescription drugs, illegal drugs, abusing prescription drugs which haven’t been prescribed for them, involved in sin. And we can sit in church, and we can sit in church, we can sit in church, ‘and I need a counselor, I need this, I need that.’ You need Jesus Christ, and he has to be real to you. And sometimes it takes complete brokenness like David said ‘LORD, I was tortured within, LORD, the things that were going on were so deep, it felt like my bones were broken, LORD, until I confessed my sin, LORD, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, LORD, fan that back to flame again, create in me LORD a clean heart, renew a stedfast spirit within me.’ If that’s not who he is, we might as well go home. But that is who he is. And for you and I as Christians, he’s willing to do that, or he wouldn’t write it down, he wouldn’t put it there to tease us and to frustrate us. It’s, are we going to play games? Are we going to be just content with some type of thing festering, cooling, slowly working its way to the surface and defiling? Or are we going come to him? This chapter 14 is incredible, because it’s a picture of what happens with the leper the day in which he’s cleansed, he’s healed, there’s no doctor involved here. There’s just the observation of the priest again, there’s something miraculous that takes place. There is an incurable disease that’s cured. That’s what happened in my life, I got saved, that’s what happened in your life. You look at our culture, look what’s going on in the media, look what’s being allowed, what’s being condemned today is righteousness that you and I would take a stand. Woe unto the nation when they call wrong right and they call right wrong. But the truth is, I believe those people out there trapped in sin and hopelessness, they can pontificate all day long about their position, but they are broken, and they are hungry, and Jesus loves them, and they want to know the truth, and we might be right on the edge of a Revival the likes of which the world has never seen, and may never see again [see https://unityinchrist.com/prophets/Zephaniah/REVIVAL.html and to see how and when the Calvary Chapel Revival took place in the late 1960s, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vmHFvnjPDw]. But he’s not going to use an uncommitted people to reach an uncommitted world. Our message to them is that Jesus Christ sets us free, Jesus Christ breaks the bonds of sin, Jesus Christ gives me a reason to live, Jesus is better than pornography, he’s better than drugs, he’s better than alcohol, if that’s not true we might as well go home. And if you’re struggling with those things, how real is Jesus in your life tonight? He loves you! He’s powerful! He can set you free! He can cleanse you! He’s exactly who he was the day you were saved, he has not changed, he’s immutable, it’s part of his character. But he never ever changes, he will be the same forever. And we can sit around and sit around and get counselling, I need this, I need that, and wonderful for those things, great. But no counsellor is worth anything but a counsellor that brings you to Jesus Christ anyhow. No friend whose praying for you does any good unless they’re weeping and really praying for you to bring you to Jesus Christ. Nobody has anything worthwhile to say to you unless they can say ‘Here it is right here, this is what it says, and this is what we believe, and this is the God that’s given us his Word, and let heaven and earth pass away, but his Word is never going to pass away.’

Leviticus 14:1-18

“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest: 3 and the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper; 4 then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: 5 and the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water: 6 as for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water: 7 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. 8 And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days. 9 But it shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off: and he shall wash his clothes, also he shall wash his flesh in water, and he shall be clean. 10 And on the eighth day he shall take two he lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, and three tenth deals of fine flour for a meat [grain] offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil. 11 And the priest that maketh him clean shall present the man that is to be made clean, and those things, before the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: 12 and the priest shall take one he lamb, and offer him for a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: 13 and he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place: for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering: it is most holy: 14 and the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot: 15 and the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand: 16 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 the LORD: 17 and the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering: 18 and the remnant of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed: and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD.”

The Huge Significance Of The Healing Ceremony For Leprosy

“So when we come to chapter 14, the remarkable thing is we see this incurable disease. In fact, you think about this chapter, maybe you don’t, I think about this chapter a lot. Because when Jesus heals the leper, Matthew chapter 8, Mark chapter 1, the same record is given, he heals the leper. And then he says to him ‘Don’t tell any man, but go and offer the sacrifice that Moses prescribed in the Law for a testimony unto them.’ And you see, here’s the problem, I believe this chapter was written for Caiaphas and Annas. Jesus said in the days of Elisha there were many lepers in Israel, none of them were healed but Naaman the Syrian. We hear of Miriam being smitten with leprosy and then being healed as Moses prays for her, that’s before the Law, before this evidently. There’s no sacrifice offered for her when you read through the text. We hear of Naaman the Syrian being cleansed, but we have no record, I’m not saying it didn’t happen, I’m saying we have no record of lepers being diagnosed in Israel and then being healed and these sacrifices being offered. Which means that Annas and Caiaphas saw many, the lepers that Jesus healed, the ten of them, the one of them. Jesus healed many lepers. And initially those individuals would have had to go to Jerusalem, not just to a rabbi, not just to a synagogue, to Jerusalem, and the priest comes outside to examine them and look at them. And then he pronounces them unclean, chapter 13, all of these details, he was able to look, ‘Oh ya, sunken below the skin, ya, it’s reddish, it’s broken open, the hair is white, you’re unclean, you’re unclean,’ and go through this whole process. But Caiaphas and Annas, when this leper that Jesus healed came back and he’s standing outside yelling or sends somebody in, and they’re saying ‘There’s somebody outside, remember you know Heimi, Moishe or whoever, John, Paul, ten years ago you pronounced him unclean, well something remarkable has happened, his leprosy is gone!’ And the priest, we’re going to read, had to come out and examine him, and then the priest would set him aside and the priest would take, we’re going to read it, an earthen vessel, which is a picture of Christ come in humanity, fill it with living water, a picture of the Holy Spirit, he was to take two birds and slaughter one and mix his blood with the living water. And take the living water and put the scarlet, tie it onto a piece of hyssop, a scarlet thread, dip it in there, and sprinkle the leper that’s to be proclaimed clean. And then dip the other bird and let it go free, and the leper and the priest would stand there and watch this white bird dripping with blood flying away. Of course it’s a picture of the sinner cleansed in the blood of the other, it’s a picture of Jesus Christ risen and going, the pictures are just staggering. But the thing is, Caiaphas must have said to Annas ‘I’ve never, what’s the chapter 14 of Leviticus, whoever offered this sacrifice? I’ve never offered this sacrifice, did you ever offer this sacrifice?’ And it tells you through the process the man finally had to be presented publicly back to the congregation. Jesus said ‘Tell no man, I don’t want them to know it was me that healed you because then they’re going to trouble you. But go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the sacrifice Moses prescribed in the Law for a testimony unto them.’ Caiaphas and Annas and the Sanhedrin should have known the Messiah was walking among them just by the sacrifices that they had to offer, that they had no record of any Jew [Levitical priest] ever offering before. And he says here, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest:” (verses 1-2) in the day of his cleansing, from a disease that’s incurable. ‘Oh, I’m struggling with pornography, I’m struggling with this,’ wait a minute, this is what happens in the life of an individual who claims to be a believer, who claimed to be a Jew, who was smitten with something, came down with something, this is what happens in the day that he was cleansed, of an incurable disease, no doctor, no medicine involved here, no human help. “He shall be brought unto the priest:” look, “and the priest shall go forth out of the camp;” what a picture of Jesus, he died outside the camp, “and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper; then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: and the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water: as for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water: 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.” (verses 2b-7) What was that like for Annas and Caiaphas in the days of Jesus, to do this for the very first time in all tenor as a priest? What was it like for those in the Sanhedrin that had never seen this before? What was it like to get the earthen vessel, what size was the vessel? ‘How big’s the piece of cedar? I don’t know, get some scarlet thread and hyssop. How do we know what hyssop is? Kill the bird, we need running water, this has to be living water, sprinkle the guy seven times and dip the bird, the white bird in there and he turns red, and let him fly away into the heaven.’ The priest must have been standing there with the guy that was cleansed, healed, of an incurable disease. “And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes,” God’s done something, there’s responsibility, wash his clothes, his hair, wash himself in water, that he may be clean, “and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days. But it shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off:” like a q-ball, like a baby, come out of the womb, fresh, clean, “and he shall wash his clothes, also he shall wash his flesh in water, and he shall be clean. And on the eighth day” the number of new beginnings, Jesus rose on the 8^th day, “he shall take two he lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, and three tenth deals of fine flour for a meat [grain] offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil. And the priest that maketh him clean shall present the man that is to be made clean, and those things, before the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:” (verses 8-11) This then took place publicly, after this long examination, after this initial sacrifice. What was the priest thinking? This guy’s shut up for seven days, what’s the guy thinking? Imagine Caiaphas and Annas for seven days ‘You ever done this? Your grandfather ever do this? What’s going on, what did this guy?’ Imagine by the time Jesus then sends ten lepers to Jerusalem, imagine what’s happening there. And because of the hardness of their hearts, they chose not to believe. It happens in your life. Jesus Christ saves you, he sets you free, you have friends, and they see your life, and they see it change, and you know what, they’re bugged, they don’t like the fact you’ve changed. ‘Oh, you’re holier than thou now? You don’t drink anymore, you don’t get stoned anymore, you don’t do this anymore, oh you’re better than us now?’ They’re offended that you’ve changed. And what happened in Israel is they understood the testimony, they saw these individuals that were cured from an incurable disease, they saw transformed lives. Let me tell you, some of you, I’ve had your friends come here and say “We came to this church, and when we saw them sitting there, we thought, We better stay, God must be doing something here if that person’s in church.” For some of you, you’ve been living epistles, known and read of more men than you know. And so have I, and so have I. And I love Jesus, because he set me free. And I don’t do drugs any more. I have one woman, I have a license. He’s so changed me and set me free, that I never want to look back, I never want to be in bondage again, it’s not worth it. Yes, I could get on my knees and ask forgiveness, and he would forgive me. But I don’t want to look back, there ain’t anything new out there, it’s the same old stuff. Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived said ‘There ain’t anything new under the sun.’ Nothing new under the sun.

The Ordained Priesthood Of The Cleansed Leper

Present him at the door of the congregation, “and the priest shall take one he lamb, and offer him for a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: and he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place: for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering: it is most holy: and the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot:” (verses 12-14) The only other place we see this done is when the priest is inaugurated into the ministry, they did this to Aaron and his sons. They took the blood of the trespass and the sin offering, they put it on his right ear, which means ‘I’m ready to hear God’s voice,’ they put it on his right thumb, which means ‘I’m ready to do God’s work,’ they put it on the big toe of his right foot, which means ‘I’m ready to walk God’s path.’ This person is set free by the blood of the Lamb, this person that is brought back to life again, this person that had an incurable disease, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t get rid of it, when they were finally broken, the LORD sets them free, let me tell you something, they are really priests, that’s the person that’s got something to say, that’s the person that wants to listen to the voice of God, wants to do the LORD’s work and wants to walk in the LORD’s path. And it says the blood is applied to all of these things. And how the priest must have been amazed, Annas and Caiaphas, when they were installed they did this to them. Now they’re looking at a leper, whose been cleansed, which they never saw before, offering sacrifices they never saw before, and they’re now making this guy as it were a priest. “and the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand: 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 the LORD: and the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering:” (verses 15-17) So he takes the oil now, it’s a picture of the Holy Spirit, the guy’s not only cleansed now, he’s enabled, he’s changed, has a new Spirit. The Holy Spirit, he’s not the lukewarm spirit, he’s not the pretty-cool spirit, he’s not the slick-spirit, he’s the Holy Spirit, and if we’re filled with him, that determines what we listen to and what we do and where we go. Now the Spirit is applied, the same thing that happened to the priest, and look verse 18, “and the remnant of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed: and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD.” We even have…the coming upon, the empowering. Even the detail of the Spirit coming upon, to empower. Look, Jesus was born of the Spirit, we’re told that, ‘The power of the Highest shall overshadow thee,’ Mary, he was conceived, born of the Spirit. But he didn’t enter his public ministry until the Spirit came upon him, he was baptized in the River Jordan, and it says there the Spirit came “upon him,” and that’s when he said ‘The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, has empowered me to preach the Good News, to bind up the broken hearted’ and so forth. The picture is complete here, God is willing to give to us what he gave to us the day we were saved. If you’re living in compromise, I’m gonna have the musicians come, I’m talking to my brothers here, to my sisters, sisters with beards, all of you are included [laughter] this evening. Look, for us as believers, I think the time we live in is urgent. I need your prayers. I don’t need you to be lukewarm, my wife and I, our family, we’re in warfare all the time, I bet we’re on Satan’s top-ten list in Philadelphia. And I don’t need you praying lukewarm prayers for me, I want you to be on fire when you pray for me and the leadership in the church. I want you to be on fire when you go out into the world, I don’t want you to be in compromise, I don’t you to be watching pornography, I don’t want your life involved with junk and trash, God’s called us to something higher. He’s made us the Temple of the Spirit of God, of Christ, the Temple of the Living Christ. If that’s not true, we might as well go home. And whatever your struggle tonight, he’s not condemning you, he’s telling you, yes we can diagnose this, it’s sin, it’s incurable, it’s deep within you, it has cooled you, it has separated you, it has isolated you. It is a disease, and it is deeper than the skin, but that is nothing before My Power [Jesus is saying]. If you come to him in genuineness, not playing games, in genuineness, you’re his son, you’re his daughter, he loves you, he loves you. You can go to support groups and counselors until you turn blue, if you don’t come to him, nothing’s going to happen. If you come to him with genuineness and say ‘Lord, you know me, my wife doesn’t know me, my husband doesn’t know me, my kids don’t really know me, my parents don’t know me, you know me, and you know what’s going on deep within, and it’s incurable Lord to me, I have no means, I have no strength, I have no ability, Lord. Create in me, from nothing Lord, create in me a clean heart Lord, renew a right spirit within me, Lord. You can do it, set me back on fire, Lord, Jesus restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, light me up Lord.’ That’s what Leviticus 13 and 14 is all about. You didn’t know that, did you? You should have read ahead. Let’s pray that for ourselves as we sing this last song, as we lift our hearts, let’s ask the Lord, ‘Fill me afresh, cleanse me, set me free from this, let me drop it here and walk away, Lord. I don’t want to play games anymore.’ I’m not talking to the vast majority of you, I understand that. But 20 is too much, 15 people that are compromised is too much. We love you, he love’s you, he can set you free, he can set you free. He wants to set you free. He wants to fill you afresh with his Spirit, and he wants to give you the power of his love and the power of his mercy, and the power of his grace, and the power of his Spirit to be effective in your life, that we would be as it were, burning and shining lights in this last hour of human history in this dark time. If you don’t want that, pray for me, I want it bad. I am not content with where I am with Jesus Christ, and I never want to be. There are things in me that need to change, two of them [he laughs], I’m just kidding. You can ask my wife, she’ll write a list down, problem, she emails, I don’t. There are things in my life I want changed, pray for me, pray for me. Let’s stand, lift our voices, and let’s lift our hearts also to him. And look, if you don’t know him tonight, we don’t want to leave you out, when the service is over, make your way up here, we’d love to pray with you, give you a Bible, we’re not going to sell it to you, we’re going to give it to you, we don’t want your address and phone number, we’re not going to give you offering envelopes, we don’t want anything from you. We do want everything for you. But we don’t want you to play church or phony religious games, we want you to know Jesus, that’s what we want. But for the rest of us we’re going to bring our lives, our hearts before him and say ‘Here I am, Lord, wash me afresh Lord, fill me, Lord, with your power be effective in my life.’…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on Leviticus 13:1-59 and Leviticus 14:1-18, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]