Linking our Physical Diseases to our Spiritual One; the Affects are Similar

Leviticus 13:47-59 

[picture from DoItYourself.com]

Verses 47 to 59 (of Leviticus 13) describe how a leper’s clothes were to be treated by the Israelites in the Old Testament. If there were ‘marks of leprosy’ found on them, they were to be shown to the priest and he would quarantine the article of clothing for seven days.  After seven days, he would declare it unclean (if it had spread) or clean (if it had not spread).  If unclean, it would be burned. If clean, it would be deemed so and allowed to be used again. 

Thoughts on the Passage

David Guzik reminds us that in Old Testament times, the term leprosy had a broad definition and could include some forms of mold or fungi. . .. The priests had to make careful determination to see if a garment might pass on a contagious disease or if it old still be used.

Robert Jamieson says “It is well known that infectious diseases, such as scarlet fever, measles, the plague, are latently imbibed and carried by the clothes. But the language of this passage clearly indicates a disease to which clothes themselves were subject, and which was followed by effects on them analogous to those which malignant leprosy produces on the human body--for similar regulations were made for the rigid inspection of suspected garments by a priest as for the examination of a leprous person.”

He continues, “It has long been conjectured and recently ascertained by the use of a lens, that the leprous condition of swine is produced by myriads of minute insects engendered in their skin; and regarding all leprosy as of the same nature, it is thought that this affords a sufficient reason for the injunction in the Mosaic law to destroy the clothes in which the disease, after careful observation, seemed to manifest itself. Clothes are sometimes seen contaminated by this disease in the West Indies and the southern parts of America [WHITLAW, Code of Health]; and it may be presumed that, as the Hebrews were living in the desert where they had not the convenience of frequent changes and washing, the clothes they wore and the skin mats on which they lay, would be apt to breed infectious vermin, which, being settled in the stuff, would imperceptibly gnaw it and leave stains similar to those described by Moses. It is well known that the wool of sheep dying of disease, if it had not been shorn from the animal while living, and also skins, if not thoroughly prepared by scouring, are liable to the effects described in this passage. The stains are described as of a greenish or reddish color, according, perhaps, to the color or nature of the ingredients used in preparing them; for acids convert blue vegetable colors into red and alkalis change then into green [BROWN]. It appears, then, that the leprosy, though sometimes inflicted as a miraculous judgment ( Num 12:10 2Ki 5:27 ) was a natural disease, which is known in Eastern countries still; while the rules prescribed by the Hebrew legislator for distinguishing the true character and varieties of the disease and which are far superior to the method of treatment now followed in those regions, show the divine wisdom by which he was guided. Doubtless the origin of the disease is owing to some latent causes in nature; and perhaps a more extended acquaintance with the archaeology of Egypt and the natural history of the adjacent countries, may confirm the opinion that leprosy results from noxious insects or a putrid fermentation. But whatever the origin or cause of the disease, the laws enacted by divine authority regarding it, while they pointed in the first instance to sanitary ends, were at the same time intended, by stimulating to carefulness against ceremonial defilement, to foster a spirit of religious fear and inward purity.”

All that to say that God knew exactly what He was demanding of the Israelites and why. That’s the lesson for us.  Trusting God, the Creator in His laws and believing that they are for our ultimate good.

Finally, Matthew Henry provides us with some additional insights. He perhaps gives us the ‘spiritual’ significance of the passage when he writes:

“The signification also was . . . to intimate the great malignity there is in sin: it not only defiles the sinner's conscience, but it brings a stain upon all his employments and enjoyments, all he has and all he does. To those that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure, Tit. 1:15. And we are taught hereby to hate even the garments spotted with the flesh, Jude 23. Those that make their clothes servants to their pride and lust may see them thereby tainted with a leprosy, and doomed to the fire, Isa. 3:18-24. But the ornament of the hidden man of the heart is incorruptible, 1 Pt. 3:4. The robes of righteousness never fret nor are moth-eaten.”

So, there you have it. The bottom line is this. A physical disease can indeed affect our possessions. A spiritual disease affects everything we do and enjoy. People know when they have a physical disease. They often miss their own spiritual disease and its consequences.

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

In God's Service? What Are You Wearing with Honor?

The garments and other accessories of the High Priest and other Priests

Exodus 39:1-31:

This is an account of the following:

Verses 1-7, the making of the ephod or sleeveless garment as specified earlier in Exodus 28:5-14.

Verses 8-21, the making of the breastplate for the high priest as specified earlier in Exodus 28:15-29.

Verses 22-26, the making of the robe for the high priest as specified earlier in Exodus 28:31-35.

Verses 27-29, the making of the tunics, turbans, sashes, trousers, for all the priests as specified in Exodus 28:39-43.

Verses 30-31, the making of the turban for the high priest as specified in Exodus 28:36-38.

Thoughts on the Passage

As I have been studying these chapters describing all the work done on the Tabernacle and how it followed the earlier instructions given by God to Moses, I can’t help but think about the fact that God wants us to follow His instructions about life in general. He has given us a combination “designer’s and manufacturer’s manual” in the form of His Word, the Bible. God knew that there was no way that man could follow the “maintenance schedule” required which was given in the form of the hundreds of Old Testament Laws. So, in the New Testament, He provides for each of us, a means by which we could have life and have it more abundantly and eternally – He gives the Ultimate Care package in the person of His own Son, Jesus Christ.

With respect to our current passage in Exodus, Robert Jamieson points out that gold metal was actually beaten with a hammer in thin plates or sheets (verse 3), then cut somehow into long strips, and rounded into filaments or threads.  (This has been observed in the presence of cloth with which ancient mummies have been wrapped.)

In verse 30, we read of the inscription on the plate of the holy crown. It was the text says like the engravings on a signet-ring worn both by ancient and modern Egyptians. The inscription contained the owner’s name along with a sacred symbol intimating that the wearer was the servant of God and/or expressed his trust in God. Jamieson believes that what we have here alludes to that practice and he invites us to compare the thought with what John wrote in his gospel, chapter 3, verse 33.

Matthew Henry has several things to say about this passage.

He points out the fact that the priests’ garments were called “clothes of service” or “for ministering in the holy place” (vs. 1). Several thoughts come to mind here.  First, are we should we have special attire for those that minister in our local church?  Second, is our local church (if it is represented by the Tabernacle), a “holy place” as referred to here? Clearly our modern thinking, as a result of our interpretation of the New Testament and the New Covenant through Christ, would lead us to say that the answer to both those questions is ‘no’. Many congregations today struggle with both these questions even though they may feel they don’t. However, the fact that “anything goes” is not readily the modus operandi with respect to what a minister wears or does not wear (there is a limit) or with respect to what can be done in the church building (there is a limit here as well).

Henry points out that what is more important is that these clothes are clothes of honor and we need to remember that “upon whom honor is put service is expected.” He quotes Revelation 7:13,15 which says that those that are arrayed in white robes “are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple.”  He reminds us that holy garments were not made for us to sleep in, but to do service in, and that the Son of Man Himself “came not to be ministered to, but to minister”.

Secondly, Henry reminds us that given the repetition and the emphasis on everything being constructed or made exactly as God had earlier specified, everything was by divine appointment. And he says, this “is an intimation to all the Lord’s ministers to make the Word of God their rule in all their ministrations, and to act in observance of and obedience to the command of God.”  That’s the bottom line.

Given the richness and splendid of these garments, it is easy for us to see how this was carried over into garments of not only more modern services of the Jewish faith, but also in our Roman Catholic, Greek and Eastern Orthodox, and the Anglican or Episcopalian traditions. In all these cases, the church tried to copy the material or physical aspects of worship.  Now, however, as we are under the Gospel and the ministration of the Spirit, following such traditions is certainly not necessary and perhaps inappropriate. To Henry, doing so, that is following such habits may “betray ‘the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free’, and to entangle the church again in the bondage of those carnal ordinances which were imposed only till the time of reformation.”  Well, we certainly know where he stands.  Each of us will have to make up our own minds of course, but for me, this is certainly not a hill I want to die on.

Matthew Henry does take us back to the main foreshadowing of this chapter’s contents. “Christ is our great high-priest; when He undertook the work of our redemption, He put on the clothes of service – He arrayed Himself with the gifts and graces of the Spirit. . ..  And (lastly) He crowned himself with ‘holiness to the Lord’, consecrating His whole undertaking to the honor of His Father’s holiness.”

But there’s a message for us as well. “True believers,” he says, “are spiritual priests. The clean linen with which all their clothes of service must be made is ‘the righteousness of saints’ (Rev. 19:8), and ‘Holiness to the Lord’ must be so written upon their foreheads that all who converse with them may see, and say, that they bear the image of God’s holiness, and are devoted to the praise of it.

How are our clothes of service? Are we wearing them with honor? What do others see when they talk with us? Whose image are we bearing? What are we devoted to?

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

Does Moses Add His Own Condition Regarding Consecration? -- Exodus 19:14-15

So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people, and they washed their garments.  And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.”
 

Every once in a while we are presented with a text in Scripture that some of us may find a little problematic or at least one that we need to dig deeper into.  This is one such verse for me, as you will see.

After God tells Moses that He wanted him to consecrate the people and to prepare them for His coming down “on Sinai”, Moses does return to the bottom of the mountain and consecrates the Children of Israel.  The people did indeed wash their garments as a symbol of their willingness to present themselves as being clean before God, but what about their hearts, their minds, and their lives or behavior?  The answer seems to reveal itself in later chapters and books of Scriptures.  While washing our clothes, we would do well, Matthew Henry suggests, to be thinking about washing our souls by repenting from the sins we have committed since our deliverance. He also writes, “It becomes us to appear in clean clothes when we wait upon great men; so clean hearts are required in our attendance on the great God, Who sees them as plainly as men see our clothes. This is absolutely necessary to our acceptably worshipping God.”  Note he is not saying we need our “Sunday best” to be worn at all times, but is calling for the equivalent in clean hearts.

But the real problematic part for me was the issue of whether or not the message of the need for consecration was only for the men?  Is that why Moses warned them “do not go near a woman” again until we have met with God?  If not, why was that said?

Commentator Chuck Smith simply states that this was spoken to men with respect to their wives.  That is, they were not to have sexual relations with them for this short period of time.  They were to just really set themselves aside for God, and God alone.  And perhaps since it was the men who in those days dominated the sexual relationships between husband and wife, Moses addressed this statement to them, while the whole consecration matter was intended for all the Children of Israel.

Moses was saying, “Look if you want to have done all you could to be ready to meet God when He comes down on Sinai, you need to focus on Him and that means no sex with your wives until after that – it’s only two days.”  You may think that what Moses was asking for was a little too much.  Well, maybe.  I must admit I am a little puzzled by it especially as we have no record here of God demanding this.  However, in I Corinthians 7:5, the apostle Paul writes the following: “Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again lest Satan tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”  That’s the New Testament take on the same matter.  But it is addressed to both the husband and the wife.  Society had changed much on this topic from the day of Moses to the time of Paul.  The matter of equality of husband and wife, before God, continued to evolve as a concept in the New Testament, and neither Jesus nor the Apostles taught against this progression.

There is an excellent book on this very development, as well as two others, in Scripture written by William J. Webb. It is entitled Slaves, Women & Homosexuals: Exploring The Hermeneutics of Culture Analysis.  Intervarsity Press, 2001, is the publisher.

Did Moses add something here on his own initiative?  Perhaps he did, but God allowed it to remain as part of His Holy Word.  And Paul supported it many years later.  Did Moses do this because he felt it was appropriate and/or what God would expect?  Not sure.  This was not the last time that Moses was to act on his own.  And when he did so another time it cost him dearly.  However, here, clearly, even if he acted on his own initiative as a leader, God did not disapprove of his action.

Here’s the bottom line for me.  If we want to meet with God on the mountain and hear His voice and get His directions for our lives, it cannot be on a spur of the moment type of thing.  Great preparation is necessary.  And that means physical, mental, and spiritual consecration.  Sometimes I fear far too many of us are guilty of simply wanting what God has for us, but not willing to do our part to receive it.  Salvation may be a free gift of God that we cannot deserve or earn, but walking closely with God and benefitting from His being our Lord and Master, Teacher and Friend, requires hard work.  Just ask Moses or the host of other saints God has used mightily through the ages.

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