Laws, Lepers, and Love

 Leviticus 13:18-44 and 45-46 

[picture from American Leprosy Missions]

Verses 18 to 44 simply describe other possible scenarios that may have been leprosy and needed diagnosis. These included skin boils (vs. 18-23); burned skin (vs. 24-28); head or beard infections (vs. 29-37); bright skin spots (vs. 38-39); and baldness (vs. 40-44). All these could possibly be leprosy infection. Then the last two verses of the passage (vs. 45-46) give a general comment as follows:

“As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the infection; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.”

Thoughts on the Passage

Currently, as I write this, the world is dealing with Coronavirus 19 and thousands of people are living their lives behind masks thinking they can avoid catching it. Millions of others are in quarantine in China where the whole thing broke out. It has the power of ruining nations as well as the global economy.  I find solace in the fact that I know my God is fully aware of the situation, He’s in control, and this is neither a surprise nor a snag for His plan for mankind.  We press on.

The images portrayed in the last two verses of the passage above certainly reminded me of the reality we face today with Covid-19 as the virus is referred to.

But what was God saying in these two verses? More importantly what can we glean from the passage for today?

Clearly, for the Jews of the O.T. and for Jews of Jesus’ days, leprosy was a big thing. We can read what was expected of them in the days of Moses in the passage above. However, in the first century A.D., David Guzik says the Jews and their rabbis went much further. He writes:

“Many Jews thought two things about a leper: You are the walking dead and you deserve this because this is the punishment of God against you. Jewish custom said that you should not even greet a leper, and you had to stay six feet away from a leper. One Rabbi bragged that we would not even buy an egg on a street where he saw a leper, and another boasted that he threw rocks at lepers to keep them far from him. Rabbis didn’t even allow a leper to wash his face.”

It sounds like the inhumanity of the clergy was alive and well in those days as it often is today.  But as Christians, we are not to stuck there. We don’t have to stick with the laws put in place for the Jews to keep them from being eliminated by sickness or a plague after they left Egypt.  Nor can we rely on what rabbis proposed in the days of Christ.  No, instead we must look at Jesus himself as the role model in how we treat those with such infirmities.  Guzik continues:

“But Jesus was different. He loved lepers; He touched them and healed them when they had no hope at all (Matthew 8:1-4 and Luke 17:11-19).”

Here’s the good news, at least for North Americans, according to Guzik:

“Because of modern drugs and treatments, leprosy is almost unknown in the western world – the United States’ only two leper colonies have been shut down. But worldwide there are some 15 million lepers, almost all of them in third-world nations.”

For an excellent more recent update than Guzik’s on leprosy (and yes there are still two places you can find some lepers in the U.S.), take a few moments to check out this clip: Leprosy Update 2016.

The lesson for us? While you and I may not be able to heal lepers unless the Holy Spirit wants us to, we still have a responsibility to behave like our Lord did towards them.  Think Mother Teresa.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Sunday Musings -- January 16, 2010

Of course, being Sunday many of our musings will focus on what many North Americans do on Sundays -- worship.  For those that don't, I'm sure you'll still find the thinking challenging and interesting.  Hang in there.

First, let me say that much to my surprise the person who led us in prayer today at our church did indeed mention some of the situations around the world and prayed for them -- including the weather calamities and the situation in Tunisia.  It was enough to somehow connect us with others around the globe.

Here's a helpful hint for those trying to figure out how much you love God.  Simply ask yourself and give an honest answer as to how much you love your neighbor.  And don't tell me you love "everybody in the world".  That's easy.  Just love that terrible person next to you.  If you can do that with real  deeds, then you are exhibiting the love of God.  (Thought based on Hans Peter Royer's words.)

A great quote from Mother Teresa -- check it out here, but make sure you think about each of her statements.  I hope you do really well "in the final analysis".

I know the world needs 'daddys' and God may be yours, but please, let's not confuse the relationship that each of us can have with Him, and how we talk to Him personally, with how we may want to address Him in corporate public prayer.  Just do yourself a favor and Google the following, "abba+daddy" and you will see a myriad of hits and sites that will argue against each other as to whether or not the Aramaic word "abba" used in the Greek New Testament did in fact mean "daddy".  I'm not taking sides, but in the event that it does not (and most scholarly sites seem to indicate it does not), then we may want to think a little before we use it in public.

Looking at the global big-picture events this past week, the words of a song many Christians sang this Sunday sure hit the spot, "When the ocean rises and the thunders roar, I will soar with you above the storm, Father you are King over the flood, I will be still and know You are God."  Hillsong United does a great job of this.  We need to soar with God above the events of life, be still, and know He is God.  I hope you can do that today.

You have to love this.  I picked up the thought listening to Hans Peter Royer (of Austria) today at church.  He was explaining sin and why God doesn't send anyone to their death -- they do it themselves.   The true definition of sin is not doing what you should not, but rather it's a "separation from the life source".   So when someone asks you "what is sin?" all you need to do is take him/her home and turn on the vacuum.  Lay it down and then go to the plug in the wall and pull it out.  The vacuum stops.  It has no 'life' source.  It's dead and useless.   Did it do anything to cause it's death?  No.  It just got disconnected from its source of 'life'.  That's man.  God is Love and God is Light, and God's Son is Life.   Man, if he remains separated from God, is dead.  You can't accuse God of killing or sending someone to their death, if they are already dead person.   That's why there's no penalty against suicide and why a person's innocence in a murder case often revolves around the ability to prove a body was already dead before the accused got on the scene.  Think about it.

A word to pastors and Christian educators:  (thought from Hans Peter Royer)  We need to be asking ourselves whether our programs 'train' people or 'form' people?  Do we 'inform' or are we aiming to 'transform'?  Unfortunately, many of our curricula are geared to the former in each of these questions.  If you can, do something about it.

That's enough musings for a very sunny, but cold Sunday afternoon (we're at minus 9 degrees Celsius here).  If you read something you like, share this blog with others you think should read it.  If not, well you can write me and tell me why you disagree.

 

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