Is there such a thing as a little leprosy? Or a little sin? Watch out! It’s sure to grow. And GROW.
“When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling, a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes on the skin of his body like a leprous sore, then…The priest shall examine the sore” (Lev 13:2-3). Turning our attention to the diagnosis of one of the most feared diseases in ancient Israel, we need to understand that leprosy in Bible times, although similar to what is named leprosy today (often called Hansen’s Disease), had some differences. The Bible description may have included several infectious diseases. What is leprosy? Caused by a bacillus, Mycobacterium leprae, it mainly affects the skin, the peripheral nerves, the upper respiratory tract, and the eyes. It may take as little as 1 year or as long as 20 years for symptoms to show, and so it reminds us of the tendency of sin to work within before it manifests itself to others. “Then, when desire [or lust, KJV] has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (Jas 1:15). Like that “swelling,…scab, or…bright spot,” it may not seem like much. But sin is the smallest it will ever be the first time you do it, and it keeps spreading until it’s “full-grown.” Some commentators suggest the swelling speaks of the puffing up of pride, at the heart of all sin; the scab speaks of the covering up of unconfessed wrongs; and the bright spot speaks of superficial attractiveness, or “the passing pleasures of sin” (Heb 11:25). While nobody would like such an examination by the priest, especially if the diagnosis meant that “The priest shall…pronounce him unclean” (Lev 13:3), how crucial to be honest about it—especially before it spread to family and friends! So, too, our sins can spread to others we love. Leprosy, and sin, are nothing to fool with!