Skin Diseases

INTRO

Yesterday, we made it through the list of clean versus unclean land animals, aquatic animals, swarming animals, insects, and birds. God used clean and unclean animals to set His people apart; this was God’s holy nation. Today, we are going through another list: diseases. Remember, in Leviticus 10, the Lord spoke to Aaron and told him the priests could not drink alcohol because they had to distinguish between the holy and the common, the clean and unclean.

TEACHING

Leviticus 13:1: God spoke to Moses and Aaron about different skin diseases, and the priests were given specific instructions about how to examine each circumstance. The priests were responsible for examining and determining what was clean and unclean on people and in their fabrics.

Leviticus 13:2–8: Constable pointed out that God gave them five sets of tests for examining a variety of diseases of the skin.¹The first set of tests was for rashes. Anyone with a swelling, scab, or spot on his body had to be examined by the priest who would ultimately decide if the person was clean or unclean.

Leviticus 13:9–17: These verses cover a second set of tests for skin disease. If the person had white swelling on the skin, white hairs, or patches of raw flesh in the swelling, the priest pronounced him unclean (vv. 10–11). When the raw flesh changed and turned white, then the priest could pronounce him clean (v. 17).

Leviticus 13:18–23: These verses cover a third set of tests for boils on the skin and describe circumstances under which the priest pronounced the person either unclean or clean.

Leviticus 13:24–28: These verses cover a fourth set of tests for examining burns on a person’s body. Based upon his examination of the burn, the priest pronounced the person unclean. When the burn healed, the priest would pronounce the person clean again.

Leviticus 13:29–37: These verses cover a fifth set of tests for examining scaly infections. After examining the affected area, the priest would decide whether the person was clean or unclean.

Leviticus 13:38–44: The priests examined people with rashes or baldness to determine whether they were clean or unclean.

Leviticus 13:45–46: When someone was determined to be unclean, their clothes must be torn, their hair would hang loose, they must cover their mouth (their upper lip, or mustache), and must call out, “Unclean, unclean!” This was a sign of mourning for they were walking death. No one wanted to be around a person who had a skin disease or leprosy. Weirsbe said at this point the person was taken outside the camp, and people who were outside the camp were away from the presence of God.²The ultimate picture was that the person was separated because of sin. Most theologians would say in this context that the disease was the result of some form of sin.

Leviticus 13:47–59: These verses guided the priests in examining a variety of fabrics as clean or unclean and stated that unclean fabrics had to be burned.

This list shows us how serious leprosy was for Israel, and its importance in Scripture. In Exodus 4:7, Moses put his hand inside his cloak, and it was covered with leprosy. Then he put his hand inside his coat again and the leprosy was healed. In Numbers 12:10, Miriam was stricken with leprosy when she spoke against Moses. In 2 Kings 5, Naaman was an incredible warrior who had been stricken with a skin disease (more on this in a later lesson). So, what do we do with all this information about skin diseases?

Wiersbe described how to take all this and apply it to the Israelites and to our lives as well. According to Wiersbe, disease was an illustration of sin.³

• Symptoms of sin are deeper than the skin. In Leviticus 13:3–4, the priests examined infection to see if it was deeper than the skin. Jeremiah 17:9 warns us that “the heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?” In Romans 7:18, Paul said that nothing good lived in his flesh, and that even though he desired to do good, there was no ability to do so.
• Expect sin to spread. Leviticus 13:5–7, 34–36, states that a spreading disease was unclean; but when the disease did not spread, the person was okay. James 1:14–15 describes how temptation and evil desire conceive and give birth to sin, which ultimately leads to death.
• Sin very clearly defiles. Leviticus 13:44–45 says that a person whom the priest declared unclean had to cry out “unclean.” In Isaiah 6:5, Isaiah declared himself “a man of unclean lips” who lived “among a people of unclean lips.” Later he said, “All of us have become like something unclean” (Isaiah 64:6). Sin always leads to defilement. In Psalm 51, David confessed that sin affected his eyes (v. 3), mind (v. 6), ears and bones (v. 8), heart (v. 10), and mouth (vv. 13–14).
• Sin goes to your inner core and everything about you is defiled. That’s why David cried out for cleansing (v. 2) and purifying (v. 7). When you are defiled by sin you have to be cleansed.
• Sin isolates. In Leviticus 13:46, the unclean person lived alone outside the camp. In 2 Kings 15:5, King Azariah was afflicted with a serious skin disease and he lived in a separate house by himself. You will know sin has a hold on you when you start isolating yourself.
• Sin is fit only for the fire. Contaminated fabrics had to be burned in the fire (Leviticus 13:52, 55, 57). Mark 9:44 reveals that if you don’t have a relationship with Christ and sin is taking over your life, it will lead to the fire. Matthew 25:41 says those who are cursed will be cast “into the eternal fire.”

All these symptoms pointed to a greater issue—sin. The Israelites were constantly examined and faced the consequences of their sin.

CLOSING

Let’s consider the story recorded in Luke 5:12–16. A man had a serious skin disease all over him—it had spread, so he was unclean (v. 12). The man begged Jesus to heal him (v. 12). Even though he was unclean, the man came to Jesus. And although lepers were supposed to go outside the community, Jesus touched him (v. 13). The touching hand of Jesus radically healed this man. He was immediately healed and made clean (v. 13). Jesus told the man to tell no one but to present himself to the priest for examination and to make the offering prescribed by Moses (v. 14). News about Jesus spread quickly, and large crowds came to be healed (v. 15).

A man who was unclean became clean through the touch of Christ. Turn to the Lord. Despite what you are going through, whether sin or sickness, turn to the Lord. Jesus wants to heal you physically, emotionally, and spiritually. He wants to heal every single thing about you. He wants you to be whole. He wants you to be clean. That happens through the blood of Christ.