I’m going to pick up my verse-by-verse walkthrough of Leviticus 14 in v. 8. This installment will cover vv. 8-32. But first, a quick note of reminder about why we’re in Leviticus 14 in the first place:
This all started when I was reading through the book of Leviticus in my morning devotions. As I read chapter 14 I began to see how this passage pointed to Christ in beautiful ways. The Gospel is amazingly portrayed in Leviticus 14 (not to mention the rest of the book) and I wanted to write a series of articles that took the time to walk through the passage slowly and magnify Christ. So here we are. If you want to read part one, you can do so here.
Washed Clean
And he who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes and shave off all his hair and bathe himself in water, and he shall be clean. And after that he may come into the camp, but live outside his tent seven days. And on the seventh day he shall shave off all his hair from his head, his beard, and his eyebrows. He shall shave off all his hair, and then he shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and he shall be clean.
Leviticus 14:8-9
After the ceremony of the two birds, the cleansed leper was instructed to physically wash and he was welcomed back into the camp, though still quarantined from his tent. After this seven-day quarantine he would wash again.
God’s wisdom is manifest in the cleanliness laws we find in Leviticus. The message of this book is far more than just “God gave laws to help with hygiene”. As we are seeing as we walk through the laws of cleansing leprosy there is much deeper significance beyond practical hygienic principles. But we also must take notice that these laws don’t do less than illustrate the wisdom of God’s care for His people’s physical wellbeing, even though they do far more than just that.
Atonement
And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish, and a grain offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, and one log of oil. And the priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed and these things before the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the priest shall take one of the male lambs and offer it for a guilt offering, along with the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. And he shall kill the lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the place of the sanctuary. For the guilt offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest; it is most holy. The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. Then the priest shall take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand and dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand and sprinkle some oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. And some of the oil that remains in his hand the priest shall put on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering. And the rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed. Then the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord. The priest shall offer the sin offering, to make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness. And afterward he shall kill the burnt offering. And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.
Leviticus 14:10-20
After the physical washing and quarantine, the ritual continues.
Now, this ritual involving various types of offerings references earlier chapters of Leviticus that deal with instructions for burnt, grain, peace, sin, and guilt offerings. We don’t have the space here to fully explore these types of offerings but it’s important to note that each of these types of sacrifices had specific purposes. For example, the sin and guilt offerings were meant to symbolically purify the person offering the sacrifice (Lev. 4-5). The burnt offering was also used to atone for (that is, cover) a person’s sin but it had the added significance of expressing devotion to God and lifting up a “pleasing aroma” (Lev. 1). The grain offering was an offering of thanksgiving from the harvest that was given with joy (Lev. 2).
All these offerings were incorporated in the ritual cleansing of the leper which once again points us to the parallel between leprosy and sin. Of course, it was not considered morally wrong to have a skin disease in the sense that it was an active sin being committed. But similar to other places in Leviticus (chapter 12 for example), this natural phenomenon of disease is atoned for because it is a mark of sin’s corruption in the world. That corruption must be covered, atoned for.
I wish we had more space here to go more in detail regarding these sacrifices but I want to focus our attention in this passage on vv. 14-18.
Here we see the priest taking the blood from the guilt offering and some of the oil from the grain offering and applying it directly to the individual’s body: on his right ear, his right thumb, and his right big toe.
To our modern minds, this is absolutely strange. What kind of bizarre ritual is this? But like the two birds from earlier in the chapter, this ritual has a profound and rich significance.
First, we are cleansed by the blood of Christ. The blood is applied to our lives. The ear, thumb, and toe are symbolic of the whole person: our head, hands, and feet. Blood has been applied to our whole lives and we are cleansed. There is not a partial cleansing, it is a whole cleansing.
We see this being expressed by the New Testament writers as well:
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 1:7
How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
Hebrews 9:14
. . .To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood
Revelation 1:5b
But it doesn’t stop with the blood. On top of the blood, the priest applies the oil. Throughout Scripture, oil represents the Holy Spirit. And so, in this picture of the cleansed leper, we see that on top of the blood of Christ which cleanses, the sinner receives the Holy Spirit. He is anointed with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit’s anointing touches all areas of his life, just as the atoning blood did.
And if that were not enough, the priest then pours out the rest of the oil over the cleansed leper’s head, signifying a full anointing of the Spirit and a consecration to priesthood. The priests and kings received this kind of anointing (Lev. 8:12, 1 Sam. 10:1, 1 Sam. 16:13) and now we see this anointing also given to a common person!
Once again, we see this referenced in the New Testament:
And you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.
Revelation 5:10
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9
And made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Revelation 1:6
This anointing has been at times been referred to as the “baptism of the Holy Spirit”. There have been abuses of this theology, like most doctrines, but Scripture clearly teaches it (Acts 1:5, 1:8, 2:4, 4:31).
Compassionate Regard
“But if he is poor and cannot afford so much, then he shall take one male lamb for a guilt offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, and a log of oil; also two turtledoves or two pigeons, whichever he can afford. The one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. And on the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, before the Lord. And the priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. And he shall kill the lamb of the guilt offering. And the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. And the priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand, and shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the Lord. And the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, in the place where the blood of the guilt offering was put. And the rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the Lord. And he shall offer, of the turtledoves or pigeons, whichever he can afford, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, along with a grain offering. And the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for him who is being cleansed. This is the law for him in whom is a case of leprous disease, who cannot afford the offerings for his cleansing.”
Leviticus 14:21-32
We close this installment of Leviticus 14 with a simple note regarding vv. 21-32. This passage repeats much of what was explained in vv. 10-20 so we won’t look at it in detail. But there is one distinction that is important to note. In v. 21 we read that if the cleansed leper is too poor to bring the necessary offerings, he has an alternative. Here we see the compassionate regard of God revealed. He does not compromise His holiness by not requiring a sacrifice at all. Instead He provides a way by which the cleansed leper can fulfill his sacrificial responsibility. This is not a lowering of God’s standard as much as it is a provision of a way to offer sacrifice despite material poverty.
Our God is gracious to those who are poor, both materially and spiritually.
Cleansed & Anointed
We can see the Gospel played out in Leviticus 14 as the leper (sinner) is cleansed by the blood of sacrifice (Christ’s atoning blood for us) and anointed with oil (the Holy Spirit). He is pronounced clean and welcomed back into the camp and back into the Tabernacle. In the same way, because of Christ’s blood, we can enjoy a restored fellowship with our Creator.