Feb 25

February 25, 2012

 

Dusting off the Old Books

 

Leviticus 14   What we have in this passage is a glimpse of the first seminary training. Now if you think it is boring to read about everything that had to be done when someone had been cured of leprosy, just think about learning how to do all 18 steps of it. I am sure there was a class in seminary called Leprosy 101. Since no one ever got healed from leprosy, probably the most frequent question in that class was, "Why do we have to learn all this stuff?" 

 

Consider all the procedures they would have to go through... 

1. Take an hour walk and go outside the camp. The tabernacle was at the center of the community.

2. Give the person a physical.

3. Put in an order at Costco for 2 live birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn and some hyssop (a branch).

4. Kill one bird over a clay pot.

5. Take the remaining live bird and dip it in the blood with the wood, yarn and hyssop.

6. Sprinkle the leper 7 times and pronounce him clean.

7. Release the bird.

8. Have the leper go to the laundromat and clean his clothes.

9. Have the leper shave his head….  we are talking all the hair!!

10. Have the leper take a bath at the Desert Day Spa.

11. Have the leper camp outside for 7 days.

12. Bring two male lambs and a one-year old ewe lamb with some flour and oil.

13. Sacrifice one lamb as a guilt offering.

14. Wave the offering before God.

15. Offer the other lamb as a sin offering.

16. Put blood on the lobe of the right ear of the leper.

17. Then take the oil and sprinkle it 7 times.

18. Put oil on the right ear, the big toe of the right foot and on the head of the leper.

 

That is an elaborate ceremony!!!. As far as we know, there were only two people cured of leprosy in the 2000 years of Jewish history. One was Miriam and the other was General Naaman in 2 Kings 5. So these seminary guys learned this stuff and then they placed their notes aside of other useless materials like "Famous Egyptian Ballet Dancers or Egyptian Chariot Driving Techniques for Snowy Roads."  

One day, many centuries later, there is a knock on the temple door. The person on the other side says, "I have been healed of leprosy." All of a sudden the priests start scrambling around looking for the notes from that class. The next day 3 more appear. Then next week 10 guys show up. The priests start asking, "How were you healed?" The name Jesus comes up every time. I believe God put this in the law to give the priests in Jesus' time overwhelming evidence that He was the Messiah.

Matthew 8:4  Then Jesus said to a guy healed of leprosy, "See that you don't tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

Wow, what a plan to show the world that Jesus is the Messiah.

 

Even in Leviticus 14, God has drawn up a plan to show the world the uniqueness of his one and only son. Do you appreciate the signs given by God to point us to Jesus?  He is the Messiah.