Imagine the joy of a once-leprous sufferer when the priest “shall pronounce him clean” (Lev 14:7)!
Leviticus 14, although the subject is still leprosy, is a very happy chapter. In it, God anticipated the day when people, formerly leprosy patients, would be declared clean! Thus the chapter begins, “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing’” (vv 1-2). Here we have what was to follow if someone had been pronounced clean. Interestingly, half the chapter tells us about the cleansed persons and what must be done for them (vv 1-32), and the rest speaks about the effect leprosy had on their environment (vv 33-57) and how to deal with that. You don’t suppose dealing with sin has the same two steps—not only how sin has affected us, but also dealing with what influence it has had on others? But what a glorious day that would be for the dear woman or man! Perhaps for years they had been banished from society, unable to see their families. I recall visiting a leprosarium in the Bahamas. How heartbreaking to see these men who had suffered physically and emotionally. But these were believers, and I’ll never forget their glowing faces and spirited singing as we worshiped the Lord! They knew they would soon meet the One who, when He met a leprosy sufferer, was “moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘…be cleansed’” (Mk 1:41). In the meantime, their scarred and swollen lips would praise the Savior anyway. Now I wonder: Have you been cleansed from your sin by faith in the Lord Jesus? If so, you should be as happy as a person cleansed of leprosy! Of you it can be said, “But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor 6:9-11). Praise the Lord!