THE LAW OF THE LEPER

Part 2

The Leper Cleansed

Chapter 5

God’s Way of Cleansing

The Lord Jesus Christ Himself tells us that there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. See Luke 4:27.

Although none of these lepers in Israel in the days of Eliseus were cleansed, yet all this time there was a long chapter in the Old Testament giving minute instructions as to exactly the way, and the only way, that leprosy might be cleansed.

Surely it is the same in our day. There are hundreds of millions of sinners in our tie, and any of them, or all of them might be cleansed, if they were but willing to come and be cleansed in God’s way.

God introduces the way of cleansing with almost the same words that He used about the way for a man to know he had leprosy. “The Lord spake unto Moses, saying” These words that tell of the way of cleansing are the very words of the living God, and are true and faithful. Let us listen to them with all our hearts.

“This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought unto the pries.” (Lev. 14:2).

Do you remember the day when that swelling, rising, or bright spot first appeared, and you were brought to the Priest? Do you remember how unwilling you were to go to Him. Do you remember His sad decision, “You are unclean?” Do you remember the time when you first found out you were a sinner? Perhaps you thought like many, “I am not as bad as a lot of others,” but still you knew that the hidden plague that ends in death was there.

But now things have got worse. The disease has spread. In those old days you could cover it up with your clothes,—but even so you had to go outside the camp, your clothes rent, your head bare, and cry, “Unclean! Unclean!” But still the disease spreads. It covers your face and head, your body, legs and feet,—all, all is covered! All is turned white! You are in a sad way indeed! There is not a spot where you could put the point of a pin without leprosy. Truly you are “full of leprosy.”

What happens now? Perhaps a friend meets you outside the camp, sad and weary and discouraged, yes, hopeless. Your friend’s eye looks you over: he says, “Come. I will take you to the Priest. You are all covered with leprosy. You may be made clean.” You reply, “No, there is no hope for me, I am worse than I have ever been. There is not a leper outside the camp as bad as I am. See, I am all covered.” “Yes, I see,” replies your friend, “And that is the very reason you are now ready to be cleansed. Come away to the Priest at once.”

Perhaps you fear that piercing eye that once before has found your spot of leprosy, and banished you outside the camp. Perhaps this fear would keep you away from the Priest, but your friend insists, and now he brings you to Him. His heart is glad for he knows what is in store for you. Perhaps your heart is filled with shame and fear and dread, as you go along that road to meet the Priest.

You, dear Christian Reader, have you any unsaved friends or relatives? Have you brought them to Him in prayer? Or have you brought them to hear the Gospel preached as you have had the opportunity? These are blessed privileges of which you and I are all too slow to avail ourselves. May the Lord give us each one to be more faithful towards our unsaved friends, who in reality are just poor, unclean lepers, far off, outside the camp.

We have a lovely record in John 1:42 of a man who did this very thing. He found the Lord,—or the Lord found him, and what does he do? “He first findeth his own brother Simon.” I love that little word “first.” It was already long past the “tenth hour:” the day was done: but Andrew did not stop for food or drink or rest, or anything else, but away to hunt for “his own brother.” And he found him, and what did he do with him? “He brought him to Jesus.” We never hear much of Andrew, but “his own brother” was Simon Peter, and what a blessing Andrew’s brother has been for every one of us! What a debt we all owe to Andrew for that evenings work!

And though it is true we do not hear much about Andrew, what we do hear is very, very lovely. This seems to have been a special line of work with Andrew. The next time we see him is in John 6:8, and there he is bringing “a lad” to the Lord Jesus. Again we find him at the same work in John 12:22, where he is bringing the Greeks to Jesus. Happy work, may the Lord teach every one of us to bring others, one by one, to Himself. It was not until we drew the pictures of the leper that we even realized that the friend who brought the leper to the Priest was of so much importance. May we be more like him, unnamed, almost unmentioned, and yet the link in the chain without which the leper could not have been cleansed.

We have seen the leper and his friend hurrying along the road to seek the Pries. But, stop, the poor leper cannot enter the camp. He is defiled and unclean. How can he meet that Priest? That Priest’s Home is the House of God, the very centre of the camp. But the Priest Himself has devised a way, and so we read in verse 3, “The Priest shall go forth out of the camp.” The Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, went forth out of His glory more than 1900 years ago. He came down to this sad wicked world, and even down here, “He bearing His cross, went forth into a place called the place of a skull.” (John 19:17). Yes, the Priest has already gone forth without the gate. (Heb. 13:12). He sees you, poor defiled sinner, and He has already gone where you are. (Luke 10:33). He is waiting to cleanse you. “Wilt thou be made whole?” (John 5:6). That is the question now, oh, poor, sinner, reply immediately, “With all my heart, I am willing to be made whole.”

“And the priest shall look, and behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper.” (Lev. 14:3). Those eyes of flame search you once again. Before they searched you to find if there was one spot of leprosy, and the Priest had to pronounce you unclean. Now they search you to see if there is one spot without leprosy, and if you truly are “all covered”, the Priest may pronounce you clean. Then He looked to see if you were entirely clean of this awful plague; Now he looks to see if you are entirely covered by it. In the same way, our Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ searches the sinner who comes to Him. Is he truly coming as a poor, lost, ruined, guilty sinner? Has he no good word to say for himself? Is he full of sin? The Priest shall look, and if the sinner is in this condition, them may he be made clean. He is a “sinner that repenteth,” and over him there is joy in the presence of angles of God. (Luke 15:10).

Bur if there is still a little whole flesh without the plague,—if the leper can still turn to his other leper friends, and say, “I am better than you! I have not so much leprosy on me as you have!” If he still has some goodness of his own in which he can glory,—then back to his old place outside the camp he must go. He is not ready for cleansing. The Apostle Paul could say, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (Galatians 6:14).

Chapter 6

Two Birds, Alive and Clean

But let us follow the leper who is truly all covered with leprosy. The priest looks,—not to see if the leper is cleansed, but to see if he is healed. And now he does not find a spot anywhere without the plague, and Joy, oh, Joy, Now he can be made clean.

Now, dear Reader, please note particularly what the leper must do to be cleansed. Somebody else brought him to the priest. The priest goes out of the camp, he looks and decides if the leper is in a condition to be cleansed. Now, listen! The priest speaks, he commands to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop. (Verse 4). The leper was far too poor and helpless to obtain those birds and other things for himself; nor does the priest tell him to them. No, he tells somebody else to provide those two birds alive and clean. He tells somebody else, not the leper, to get the other things needed for his cleansing.

It reminds us of Isaac’s question. “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” And we think of Abraham’s answer, “My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for the burnt offering.” (Gen. 22:28). God must always provide the offering. We poor sinners must die in our sins, if we have to go in search of a suitable sacrifice, for we could never, never find one. But God’s word says, “The priest shall command to take for him.”

God has provided those two birds alive and clean. Both together they make one lovely picture of our Lord and Savor Jesus Christ. “And the priest shall command one of the birds to be killed in an earthen vessel over running (or living) water.” (Verse 5). And again the poor leper stands by while the another, not only provides the offering, but another kills it. Look, a moment, at that picture. Look, a moment, at that picture. An earthen vessel; inside that earthen vessel, a pure spotless bird. The heaven is the home of the bird,—the heaven is its native air,—but it comes down and enters into a vessel of earth. It leaves its native air, it leaves its Home above, for this poor sad earth. And in that earthen vessel it is killed. What a picture of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He leaves His home in the Heavens, He leaves His throne above, He comes down to this sad world and takes a body of earth. For truly our bodies are but “earthen vessels.” You know “Adam” means “Earthly” or “Red Earth.” So our Lord took an earthly body. How we love to watch that Heavenly Man walking this world in His body of earth! And in that same body He was killed. Wicked men nailed that body to the cross, and His precious blood was poured out.

But the bird was killed in an earthen vessel over running, or living, water. Running water has life and power in it. What amazing power there is in the running water at Niagara Falls! Water in the Bible very often speaks of the Word of God. (See Ps. 119:9, Ephesians 5:26 etc.). And running, or living water, tells us of the Living Word of God, applied by the Spirit of God, to our hearts. That Word is “living and powerful.” (Heb 4:12). It takes the death of Christ, and tells me in the living power of the Spirit, that the Lord Jesus Christ died for me, that it was for my sins that He suffered. You have often heard the story of His death, perhaps. You have often seen that bird killed in the earthen vessel: but, dear Reader, have you ever realized that it was for you? Have you ever seen Him killed over running water? “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” (Rom. 10:17). It is from the Living Word that you get Living Faith.

From the pierced side of our Savior there flowed down “blood and water.”

“Rock of ages! Cleft for sin,

Grace hath hid us safe within!

Where the water and blood,

From Thy riven side which flowed,

Are of sin the double cure:

Cleansing from its guilt and power.”

Verse 6. “As for the living bird, he shall take it and the cedar wood, the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall them and the living bird in the blood of a bird that was killed over the running water.”

It has been remarked that the two birds make one picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have seen Him come down from Heaven and take that body that was prepared for Him, and in that “earthen vessel” He died on the cross for us. He did not stay on the cross, but still bearing those marks of death in hands and feet and side, He was laid in the grave,—but on the third day He rose again, sill bearing those same marks of death. And so we see the living bird going down into the blood of the dead bird and coming up with its pure feathers all marked with death. What a wonderful picture of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ! But still the bird is held in the hand of the priest. It is not yet free to ascend up to its native home in the heavens.

But not alone was the living bird dipped in the blood of the dead bird: cedar wood, scarlet and hyssop were also dipped in that blood. The cedar wood tells us of the greatest and highest things of nature: the hyssop tells us of the meanest and lowest and the most bitter things of nature. Solomon spoke of the “trees from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall.” (i Kings 4.33). That which is greatest by nature must go under that precious Blood. The most clever, the most brilliant man or woman: the kindest, and most humane person on earth, the most honest and true-hearted man living,—all alike can only get salvation through the Blood. And again the poorest and most miserable coolie, whose life is bitter with hard labour, he also must go under the blood if he is to obtain salvation. Even “him that is simple” must have the blood for his only title. (Ezekiel 45.20). The scarlet speaks of royalty, and it tells us that those who occupy the highest place on earth must go down into the blood along with the lowest.

But these things tell us something more. They are things which belong to this world: and when Christ was crucified the world was crucified unto me, and I unto the world (Gal. 6.14). This world is stained with the blood of the Son of God, my Saviour, and it and I can never be friends again. The cross stands between it and me. Indeed the Word tells me plainly that “whosoever will be a friend of the world in the enemy of God.” (James 4.4).

“We are but strangers here, we do not crave

A home on earth, which gave Thee but a grave,

Thy cross has severed ties which bound us here,

Thyself our treasure in a higher sphere.”

Verse7. “And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.

Lovely verse! Just gaze on that wonderful scene. The poor leper has been brought from outside the camp, the priest has gone out to him. Another has provided two birds alive and clean. Another has killed one of those birds, and now its blood is in the basin, the living bird’s feathers, the cedar wood, the scarlet and the hyssop are all stained with the blood of the dead bird. The poor leper has gazed on all this scene, but there has been no change in him or his condition. But now the priest sprinkles the blood seven times on the leper himself,—once, twice, three times…… on, on six times, and still no change, but now the seventh time,—and the man is clean! The blood has made him clean. Without the blood there was no way of cleansing for the poor leper. And without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin (Heb. 9.22). But that blood had power to cleanse the leper from every bit of defilement. The clean bird can cleanse the unclean leper. It mattered not how vile and loathsome the poor leper was, provided the bird was clean. Seven times tell of the perfection of the cleansing. And now the Precious Blood of Christ has power to cleanse the vilest sinner from every trace of sin. Please be perfectly clear about this. It was the Blood, and the Blood lone, that cleansed the leper. It is the Blood and the blood alone that cleanses any poor sinner today.

But how did the leper know that he was cleansed? Did his leprosy suddenly vanish when the blood was sprinkled on him the seventh time? I do not think so. I do not think that he that he felt one bit different after the blood was sprinkled to what he felt before. I do not think that he looked any different after the blood was sprinkled to what he looked before.

How, then, did he know that he was clean? The moment the blood was sprinkled the seventh time, the Priest pronounced him clean. As you stand by and watch that wonderful scene, you may hear the Priest make that blessed pronouncement, “Be thou clean.” The Blood of the bird made him clean, the Word of the Priest makes him know he is clean. It was the Word of the Priest that made him know once before that he was unclean, and so in exactly the same way, it is the Word of the same Priest that makes him know that he is clean.

But that is not all, the moment the Priest pronounces the poor leper to be clean, then he takes that living bird, stained with the blood of the dead bird, and lets it free into the open fields. The work of the sacrifice was finished, the leper is cleansed, and knows he is clean, and now there is nothing to keep that living bird down here.

In just the same way, the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead, bearing the marks of death upon Him, and after a brief stay amongst men down here, He ascended up into the Heavens, still bearing those same marks: proof that His work is completed; His Victory won; our sins put away; and He Himself, and we with Him, are now accepted on high, In a coming day He will present His church to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. (Eph. 5.27). The wounds and scars of her warfare down here will all be gone up there, but those marks of death in His hands and feed and side.

If His work on the cross had not been complete,—if He had not truly cleansed our sins,—if one of our sins had remained upon Him,—He never could have come up from the grave, and ascended into Heaven. But, Praise be to God, His work is complete. It has been accepted on high, and He has returned to His Home in the Heavens, in positive proof that all is done.

Suppose, now, an old neighbour meets the cleansed leper, and says to him, “What are you doing around here? You are a leper! Get away from here!” The leper replies, “Yes, truly I was a leper, but now, Thank God, I am cleansed!” “Cleansed!” replies the neighbor, “You are not cleansed! On the contrary you look worse that ever! You appear to be all covered with leprosy!”

“Just so, but the Priest has sprinkled the blood of the bird upon me, and has pronounced me clean, and I know that I am clean, because He said so.”

“Nonsense! You misunderstood Him. He probably told you that you were not clean! Anybody can see you are a leper!”

“Ah, No. There is no possibility that I misunderstood Him. First I had the blood sprinkled on me, and then I myself heard the Priest’s own voice telling me that I was clean: but that is not all,—with my own eyes, I myself have seen the living bird,—with its feathers covered with blood,—fly away into open heaven. You know the law. You know the living bird cannot fly away until the Priest has pronounced me clean.”

“But,” continues the neighbour, “Do you mean to tell me that you feel yourself to be clean, when you admit that you are all covered with leprosy?”

“Friend, that is not the point. The Priest said I am clean, and that settles the matter. As you know, He, and He only has authority to pronounce any man clean, so now I know that I am clean, no matter how I feel.”

The neighbour is silenced, and the leper is filled with joy and peace and triumph, as he recalls that sight of the living bird, flying away free, back to its old home.

Even so, is it with you and me, dear fellow-sinner, cleansed in the blood of Jesus. As we watch, by the eye of faith, our Lord and Saviour returning to His Home in the Heavens, we know that He is accepted, and we know that we also are accepted in Him. (Eph. 1.6).

But that living Saviour, gone back to Heaven, tells us more than the fact that His work of cleansing us complete. His resurrection and ascension tell us that He is Conqueror, He is victorious over death and the grave. The mightiest battle of the universe has been fought and won, and now He can sing in triumph, and we with Him, “Oh death where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (I Cor. 15.15)

Oh, show me not my Saviour dying

As on the cross He bled,

Nor in the tomb, a captive lying,

For He has left the dead.

Then bid me not that form extended

For my Redeemer own,

Who, to the highest Heavens ascended,

In glory fills the throne.

Weep not for Him at Calvary’s station!

Weep not only for thy sins;

View where He lay with exultation;

‘Tis there our hope begins.

Yet stay not there, thy sorrow feeding

Amid the scenes He trod,

Look up, and see Him interceding

At the right hand of God.

Still in the shameful Cross I glory,

Where His dear blood was spilt;

For there the great propitiatory

Abolished all my guilt.

Yet what, ‘mid conflict and temptation,

Shall strength and succour give?

He lives, the Capitan of Salvation;

Therefore His servants live.

By death, He death’s dark king defeated,

And overcame the grave;

Rising, the triumph He completed,

He lives, He reigns to save.

Heaven’s happy myriads bow before Him:

He comes, the Judge of men;

These eyes shall see Him and adore Him:

Lord Jesus, come and reign.

(J. Condor)

Chapter 7

Washed and Shaved

Verse 8. “And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days.”

Now, in the eyes o God, the poor leper is clean and spotless. The Priest has pronounced him clean, and that pronouncement comes with all the authority and certainty of God Himself.

What follows? The man immediately seeks to cleanse everything about him, and to bring all into conformity to that wonderful standing, in which he now stands before God,—even clean and spotless/

You may recall that we asked you to note particularly what the leper had to do in order to be cleansed. If you have followed the seven verses of this chapter in Leviticus that we have just been considering, you will have noticed that the man has not to do one single thing. Everything was done for him. His part was to accept what others did for him, and to put his confidence in the shed blood, and believe the spoken word of the Priest. There was not the smallest thing else for him to do, except to stand by in wonder, amazement and thanksgiving for God’s wondrous plan of cleansing. But now all is changed. Now the leper starts to work. Let us stand by and watch him.

First he washes his clothes. Before, perhaps, they were so vile and loathsome that nobody would touch them. Some of us have seen lepers begging at the roadside, and we know how filthy their clothes are. They themselves are hopelessly unclean, why should they seek to keep their clothes clean? But now all is changed. The man is clean in the eyes of God, and by faith he is clean in his own eyes. Now he must appear clean in the eyes of other men.

Or, it might be, in the old days that he had succeeded in keeping his clothes cleaner than most lepers, so that they wondered that he should be able to keep his clothes so nice: and he himself was probably well satisfied with the condition of his clothing. But now, clean and spotless in the eyes of God, he finds that his clothes are far from what they should be. They must be washed.

The clothes tell us of that which touches us,—our associations,—that with which we have to do, that which the world around sees as connected with us. Perhaps men have been accustomed to see us in the gambling halls, or in other evil places. All these associations and ways must be “washed.” How do we wash our ways and associations? We get that question answered or us in Psalm 119.9, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?” That is the question. Here is God’s Own answer,—“By taking heed thereto according to Thy Word.”

Leviticus 13.47 to 59 tells us of leprosy in the garment. This speaks of sin in a person’s surroundings, even when the person himself was free from the plague. It is not enough that we ourselves are cleansed from sin: we may not go on with those things around us which are sinful, no matter whether they are business affairs, religious associations, or any other matters with which we are connected.

What happens next? “He shall shave off all his hair.” It was against the law for an Israelite to “make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard.” (Lev. 21.5, 19.27). It was a mark of shame and reproach, see Isaiah 15.2, “on all heads baldness, and every beard cut off.” (Also see Jer. 41.5, 48.37, ii Sam 10.4, 4). But now all this hair must come off. All his own natural beauty and glory must go. Everything that might shelter any uncleanness must be cut off, at any cost.

The cleansed by the blood will find that he is called to share the Lord’s reproach and shame, as he seeks to walk a path that is according to His Word. In China where we are accustomed to shaved heads and faces, it is hard for us to realize what shame and reproach and contempt this shaving would bring. We read of those who in the early days “were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions,” (Heb. 10.33) The world tells us that Moses “chose rather to suffer afflictions with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.” (Heb. 11.25.26.) We, too, are exhorted to bear His reproach. (Heb. 13.13). The Lord Himself knows what reproach means. It was He who could say, “Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee. Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none: and for comforters, but I found none.” (Psalm 69.19, 20). None have ever tasted reproach and shame as deeply as He has done; but you and I, dear fellow-believer, have the privilege of bearing in some measure His reproach. May He grant us to esteem it greater riches than this poor world can offer!

In a land where every man had a fine head of hair, and a big bushy beard, the cleansed leper without either hair of beard would indeed be a gazingstock. As he walked down the street many a finger would be pointed at him, many a joke would be cracked at his expense. But was it not worth the while? Was it not infinitely better to be cleansed and in the congregation of the Lord’s people without a beard, crying “Unclean! Unclean!” And he must tarry abroad out of his tent seven days, but soon, very soon, the seven days will pass, and he can retire to that loved home of his, away from the reproach and shame and dishonor, to enjoy the peace and joy and love of his own dear ones. Then let him boldly bear witness to all around, while he has the opportunity, of the grace and power that has cleansed him, and brought him back to the congregation of the Lord.

But there is still more. The leper is to “wash himself in water.” “Wash himself.” What does that mean? I think that is nearer homes than washing clothes: something more intimately connected with himself than cleansing his ways and associations. This touched every habit of my life. It cleanses even my thoughts, and the effect reaches out to my words, my deeds, and all my habits,—“myself”. For “as a man thinketh, so is he.” (Prov. 23.7). All are to be cleansed now, not by blood, but by water.

The bird was slain only once. The blood was sprinkled only once, but the water may be applied many times. As we go on in our chapter, we will find that on the seventh day he must wash again, not be cleansed again in blood, but in water. You will recall that in the tabernacle, the laver with water in which the priests washed their hands and feet, stood between the alter and the tabernacle: and at that laver the priests continually washed, before entering the tabernacle for service. This showed the continual need for cleansing from the defilements of this world,—not by blood,—that has been done once, and once only,—but by water,—the water of the Word.

Do not these words, speaking of washing in water remind us of many verses in the New Testament? For instance, in ii Corinthians 7.1, after giving us the beautiful promise that the Lord Almighty will be a Father unto us, the Word continues, “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

Again, Ephesians 5.2 tells us “Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor.” Then after gazing the wondrous offering that has cleansed us from our sins, immediately we read (verses 3 and 4), “But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.”

Does this not exactly correspond to washing our clothes, shaving our hair, and washing ourselves in water?

We will speedily find that a refusal to indulge in foolish talking and jesting will bring plenty of reproach, and make us a “gazingstock.” What a natural ornament is quick wit, or a cleaver reply! But harmless as it may seem to us, there is very grave danger of defilement lurking here. “In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin,” (Prov. 10.19). And again, “Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savor; savor; of doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.” (Eccles. 10.1).

So this mark of ability and beauty must come off. The Word exhorts us again and again to be sober and grave. See for example, I Thess. 5.8, I Tim. 2.15, 3.2,4,8,11, Titus 1.8, 2.12.

There are multitudes of passages in the New Testament that stress the urgent need of what corresponds in the leper to this cleansing of clothes and self. One feels that this very important truth has not been stressed as it should have been. We have delighted to stand by and watch the grace of God that has cleansed that poor vile leper, without him so much a moving a finger, but we are often very slow in our washing and shaving. But if we realize what it cost our Lord and Master to cleanse us, how can we do less than seek to walk in His glory while He leaves us down here? From verse 1 to the end of verse 7, as we have seen, the leper does nothing. All he brings to the Priest is his leprosy and uncleanness, everything is done for him. But the moment the Priest has pronounced him clean and has let the bird loose—from that moment the leper begins to work, not in order to be cleansed before God,—he is clean before God already, but to bring his outward condition into keeping with his standing before God.

We get these two sides beautifully brought out in Titus 3.4,5,8. “But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost… This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works.”

Again, please ponder Colossians 2.20, 3.1-14, “If ye be dead with Christ… If ye be risen with Christ.” That spotless little bird had done nothing to merit death. It had no uncleanness nor defilement, yet it died instead of the defiled, unclean leper. In God’s sight the leper deserved death, —indeed, —was dead while he lived. (Num.12.12). In God’s sight, the leper rose again with that living bird,—but in His sight, the leper rose again with that living bird, which has told us so plainly of the resurrection of Christ. In God’s sight the leper is a new man with a new life. So God sees us “dead with Christ,” and “risen with Christ,” new men with a new life, and He continues in verse 3, “ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” When that living bird died, I, the poor vile leper, died with it. When it rose, (in type), I rose with it, a new man with a new life, and as it flew back to the open heavens it took my life, and hid it up there with Christ in God.

Chapter 8

Out of His Tent

“After that he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days.” (Verse 8). Cleansed, and shaved, and washed, the man may now return to the camp. What a happy day for him! Formerly he was far off, outside the camp, but now he is brought nigh by the blood of hat clean bird. Does it not remind us of Eph. 2.13? “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” Now, no man can say him nay, as he enters the precincts of that camp, from which all uncleanness must be expelled.

But he may not enter his own home. He must tarry abroad out of it for seven days. What does this teach us? Many of us, when we know our sins are all cleansed, would gladly go Home at once to be with Christ, and escape all the troubles and trials and reproach that come to us in this world. But this must not be, even though it is true and deep affection to Christ Himself, which would make us long to be with Him forever. You remember that the man out of whom the Lord cast the legion of devils in Mark 5, prayed Him that he might be with Him. But what did the Lord say, “Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.” (verse 19.) The Lord sent him back to be a witness for Himself, and I think that the cleansed leper, with clean clothes, and shaved head, was a mighty witness to the power and goodness of God. For seven days he must walk the streets and paths of the camp. He has nowhere to hide from the reproaches and sneers of those whom he meets: but without even speaking, he says to everyone, “Here is a leper that has been cleansed and brought nigh.” Seven in the Bible is a perfect number, and tells of the perfect length of time that the Lord chooses to leave each one of us “at home in the body,…absent from the Lord.” (ii Cor. 5.6). For the dying thief the time was but a few hours but what a witness he gave! His witness has echoed down through the centuries, and many a poor defiled leper has found hope and cleansing through that clear, ringing testimony, when all the world was against the Saviour, or afraid to bear witness to Him. For others those seven days have lengthened out into many, many years, covering a long life. But for each one the time is perfect, and is decided for us by our Priest.

Had the leper been allowed to do so, he would gladly have hidden in his own home from the reproach of men, until his hair and beard had grown again, but God had chosen him for a witness to Himself, and as the hair grew, it must be shaved again, as we will plainly see. And God has chosen you, my Reader, (if you also are a cleansed leper), to be a witness for Himself. It is for this reason that He has left you down here. It is because He wants you to be a witness to Him in a world that has rejected Him and cast Him our, that He still leaves you down here, and does not take you Home at once. The Lord Jesus Christ was the faithful and true witness. (Rev. 3.14). Oh, Beloved Friends, let us search ourselves, and see what sort of witnesses we are to Him.

Chapter 9

More Washing and Shaving

“But it shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and beard and his eyebrows even all his hair he shall shave off: and he shall wash his clothes, also he shall wash his flesh in water and he shall be clean.” (Verse 9).

The days of witness pass, and now the last of those seven days draw nigh. What must he do? Does he need more blood to make him fit to enter that longed for Home? No, we have seen already that the blood was only shed once, and only offered once. ”By one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.” (Heb. 10.14). But he does need to shave and wash again. As long as we are down in this world, and not at Home with the Lord, we will find the constant need for shaving and washing. And did you notice that the description of the washing is more minute and careful than when he shaved the firs time after the priest had pronounced him clean? This tells us that as we go on in our life as a Christian, and learn to know our Lord better, that we will be more and more conformed to Him, and less and less conformed to the world.

Perhaps the hair of his head speaks of his natural intelligence: the beard of experience: the eyebrows of power of observation. Intellect, experience, and observation all need to be conformed to Christ, and His death.

But not only does he shave afresh, but he again washes his clothes, and his own flesh. This tells us of the need for constant cleansing by water in thought and word and deed. May you and I, dear Reader, be more careful about this needed washing and shaving for we are in a world that is filled with defiling influences on every hand. Soon we will be Home, then we will hear no more of washing in water. The “sea” before the throne in Revelation 4.6, was a sea of glass like unto crystal, telling us of fixed and settled purity that never could be defiled, and needed not to be used for cleansing.

But we have another lesson in this “seventh day.” The seventh day in Scripture tells us of the Sabbath, the day of rest. We read, “Six day thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest.” (Ex. 23.12). But the sabbath rest of this seventh day is broken into by the defilements that need cleansing, and instead of rest we find work. Instead of enjoying the sabbath of rest prescribed by the law, we find the man busy shaving, bathing and washing his clothes. Does this not tell, to the opened ear, that where sin and defilement have come in, the seventh day of rest has passed away, and a new order of things has been brought in?

Chapter 10

The Eighth Day

“And on the eighth day he shall take two he lambs without blemish and one ewe lambs of the first year without blemish, and three tenth deals of fine flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil. And the priest that maketh him clean shall present the man that is to be made clean, and those things, before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.” (Verses 10, 11).

That long-looked-for day has dawned at last. The seven days are past and gone, and now the eighth day has come. Now he may return Home to the happy family circle, where all is peace and joy and love. The reproach is a thing of the past. His days of witnessing are done; and Home, Sweet Home, is before him.

“The Eighth Day” in Scripture seems to have a special significance. Seven days completed the week, ending with the Sabbath on the seventh day. The following day was “the morrow after the Sabbath” or the first day of a new week. But here it is not called the First Day, or “the Morrow after the Sabbath,” but “the Eighth Day.” If we turn on to Leviticus 23 we may notice the difference. In verses 11, 15 and 16, we read of “the morrow after the Sabbath.” These verses tell in type of the resurrection of Christ, and the coming of the Holy Spirit. But when we go on to verses 36 and 39, we do not get “the morrow after the Sabbath,” but “the eighth day.” In these verses we have typically an entirely new beginning. Christ has reigned on this earth for a thousand years, all sin is put down, the devil banished forever and an eternity of joy and peace begins. If is truly a new beginning for all: as the Lord says, “Behold, I make all things new.” Rev. 21.5.

And surely that Eighth Day was a new beginning for that poor leper. The days of wandering alone outside the camp are gone forever. Now no more need for shaving and washing. No longer absent from Home and loved ones, but a life of love, joy, peace and worship has begun. Now with every offering (but the Peace Offering) in his hand, (telling our all the various aspects and excellencies of the mighty sacrifice of Christ Himself), that man who so recently was an outcast leper, comes to be presented before the Lord. The Trespass Offering, Meat Offering, Sin Offering and Burnt Offering, are all included, as well as the log of oil, telling of the Holy Spirit, through Whom Christ offered Himself (Hebrews 9.14). In virtue of these offerings the man once so far off, approached so near, so very near to God. I do not recall any other Israelite (except the priests and Levites) who came so near the Lord, or who had this wondrous privilege of being presented before the Lord, in this way.

I love to stand and gaze on that scene. That man only eight days before had been a vile leper, outside the camp, his head bare, his clothes rent, his lip covered, while he himself cried “Unclean! Unclean!” Now he is brought, not only inside the camp, but to the House of God, and there presented before the Lord. Happy, wondrous, blessed place! Yet that place is ours. “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight.” (Col. 1.21, 22). “Alienated and enemies in you mind” just describes the leper outside the camp. “Yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death,” tells us of the leper cleansed and brought back into the camp by the death of that clean bird. And to what does it all lead up? “To present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight.”

You know how certain favoured individuals are presented at court to the king,—but you and I, dear fellow-Christian, have the wondrous and blessed prospect of being presented to the King of Kings!

And I love that expression, “the Priest that maketh him clean shall present the man.” It is no Stranger who will take me, stranger I in courts above, stranger to all those glories and wonders of that Bright Home: No, it is the Priest who made me clean: the Priest Whom I have known and loved so long down here, He Himself, and no other, it is He Who takes me and presents me to the Lord. Will I fear as He takes my hand and leads me up those courts of glory to present me before the Lord? It is His hand, that same blessed, pierced hand, that has led me all these years through the wilderness, that now takes me, and presents me before the Lord.

We were reading in i Peter 2.11, and someone turned to a dear old Chinese saint, and asked “Mr. Chang, How is it that Peter says, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims…” and Paul says, “Ye are no more strangers and foreigners”? (Eph. 2.19). Mr. Chang was puzzled for a moment, and the question was put, “Are you a stranger down here?” “Yes, even my own family hardly know me.” “When you meet the Lord Jesus, will He be a stranger? A bright smile lit up his whole face, as he replied warmly, “Oh, No, He is my best Friend; I have known Him for over forty years.” We may truly sing,

“There no stranger God shall meet thee,

Stranger thou in courts above,

He Who to His dwelling greets thee,

Greets thee with a well-known love.”

And the more we have been strangers down here,—the more carefully we have kept ourselves shaved and washed, the less we have been conformed to the world, the less we will find ourselves strangers up there. Another could sing,

“‘Tis the treasure I’ve found in His love

That has made me a stranger below.”

We think of the joy, and honour, and privilege of that moment, but Beloved Friends, what is our joy to His? As He takes us and presents us before the Lord, does he not see of the travail of His soul, and is satisfied? Here is another poor sinner, cleansed by His Own most precious blood, and now brought into the very presence of God. Nothing short of this would satisfy the heart of Christ, even though you and I would have been perfectly satisfied to be saved from the punishment of our sins, and get the least place inside the door of Heaven. But this would not satisfy Him. Such is our Saviour!

And what is our joy to His? Do we not get a little glimpse of His joy at this time in Jude 24? “Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” Once He could say, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful.” (Matt. 26.38). Now that “exceeding sorrow” is turned into “exceeding joy.” When He had found the lost sheep, He laid it on His shoulder rejoicing: but now having brought it Home, He presents it before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. All the journey to that Home on high He has guided it with the skillfulness of His hands. (Ps. 78.72), He has upheld it and kept it from stumbling, and now the end of the journey has come, and with exceeding joy He presents the trophy of His Grace and Power.

But how can He present “faultless” one so faulty as I? It is in virtue of those three lambs that the leper holds in his hand, as the Priest presents him. You will note that as each of those lambs is offered the Word records, “the Priest shall make an atonement for him.” (Verses 18, 19 and 20). Atonement means “covering.” Covered by the blood of the Sin Offering; and covered by the blood of the Burnt Offering, not only not a fault, or flaw, or spot, or stain can ever be found in that man so lately an outcast leper, unfit for the company of even his fellowmen, but God sees him in all the excellencies, beauty, and righteousness of the One those Lambs represented. That threefold covering tells of the one offering of the body of Jesus Christ in its threefold character, nor could those offerings be separated from the Meat Offering which told of His spotless life on earth, nor from the oil. If the man had tried to come into the presence of God to be presented before Him without those offerings, God never could have accepted him, but with them, the man who was unfit for company with his fellow-men, is fitted for the presence of God. It was not the washing and not the shaving that fitted him for that wondrous Presence, though those were right and needful, but the Blood, and the Blood alone. So we, too, who sometimes were far off, are brought nigh by the Blood of Christ, (Eph. 2.13) and we, too, are “accepted in the Beloved.” (Eph. 1.6). In Him alone, and in virtue of His blood alone, can we ever be accepted.

In I John 3.2,3, we read, “We know that when Hi shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.” We do not purify ourselves in order to see Him and be like Him, but we purify ourselves, because we have the sure and certain hope of seeing Him, and being like Him, by the sacrifice of Himself, and through His Own most precious blood. We purify ourselves, not by blood, but by the water of the Word.

The Eighth Day

“And he sprinkled…seven times…and he poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron’s head.” Lev. 8.11, 12

“And the priest shall sprinkle…seven times…and the remnant of the oil he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed.” Lev. 14.16-18

Behold! the sons of Aaron fail:

But lo! the leper now

Doth find the precious blood avail—

The unction on his brow.

Beneath the ceremonial law

Who wore this holy crown?

The leper and high priest it saw

Anointed thus alone.

Abounding grace! Amazing love!

The sinner, cleared by blood,

Rejoices with the priest alone,

A saint—brought nigh to God.

Thrice blessed truth! Our God to know,

His Christ in fullness see,

And then to seek our tent below

In power of life set free.

And thus upon our head we find

The gladdening oil descend;

First, leave the things of old behind,

And then—among them blend.

The long’d for eighth-day morn arose,

The door the outcast nears,

Where glory’s light in blessing flows,

And God Himself appears.

How many toil to find the path

For pilgrimage on earth,

Ere yet they know the joy of faith

Above the scene of dearth.

They pitch the tent before they pass

Beyond time’s days—the seven;

And thus they wander on, alas!

Without a view of Heaven.

Through grace the circumcision, we

Our joyful alter raise:

Then here, as buried, Lord, with Thee,

Our tent must hear Thy praise.

To walk,—a new creation band,

Its perfect ‘rule’ to own,

Once lepers in the Adam-land,

Now here for Christ alone.

(Writer Unknown)

Chapter 11

The Lamb of the Trespass Offering

“And the priest shall take one he lamb, and offer him for a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the Lord.”

What an unutterable joy to the Lord to have presented to Him, with the poor leper, that Lamb of the Trespass Offering. It told of that Lamb, of God’s Own providing, The Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world. It told of God’s only begotten Son. And with it was the log of oil, speaking of the Holy Spirit. The three Persons of the Trinity we find all engaged in welcoming the ransomed sinner to His Home above.

“And he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place: for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering: it is most holy.” (Verse 13).

We see that not only was leprosy accounted unclean, but it was also counted an actual trespass against the Lord, calling for the trespass offering. So we need to realize, not only are we defiled by sin, but we have each one individually “sinned against the Lord.” It is well when we are brought to cry “against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned.” (Ps. 51.4). The poor prodigal in Luke 15, had to learn that lesson, as we see when he cried, “I have sinned against Heaven and in Thy sight.”

If you will recall the different cases of leprosy mentioned in the Old Testament amongst the people of Israel: Miriam, (Numbers 12); Gehazi (ii Kings 5); Uzziah, (ii Chronicles 26): you will note that in every case this terrible disease was sent as a punishment for a great sin each committed. In the case of Gehazi the leprosy was to cleave unto his seed for ever. There is no suggestion of sin in the case of Naaman, (ii Kings 5); but he was not of the people of Israel. If, as it would seem, God used leprosy as a punishment for His people, it may be that the Trespass Offering atoned for the sin that had causes the disease. But I have no doubt that in the type, the Trespass Offering tells us of the death of Christ that atones for the acts of sin that we commit.

But the trespass offering, like the sin offering was the priest’s. When the priest eats the trespass offering he makes the trespass of the man who offers his own. What unspeakable grace! And this is just what our Great High Priest has done for us.

“And the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it upon the top of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot.” (Verse 14).

The blood of the trespass offering that has blotted out all our trespasses, now marks the ear and thumb and toe of the cleansed leper. It is the badge, or insignia, that marks every one who enters those courts of glory. There is not one but must own that his head, with all his intellect and ability, has had need to be cleansed by that precious blood. His hands have many times been used to sin against the Lord, but now the blood on the right thumb is the mark, the sign, that all has been forgiven. How often have our feet carried us astray, to go our own way, (Isaiah 53.6), but now the blood on the right toe tells to all that the Lord has laid on Him all their iniquity.

How wonderful that the One Who down here stooped to wash people’s feet, again stoops to mark those feet with His Own precious blood.

His holy Head was once crowned with thorns, and His visage was so marred more than any man’s (Isaiah 52.14), His precious blood once stained His Head and Brow, and now it marks my head as His and His alone, forever. His hands and feet were pierced for me, and to all eternity He will bear the marks of those cruel nails: and now my hand and foot bear the mark of the blood that bought them.

A girl who called herself a Christian asked an old Christian friend if he thought it would be wrong for her to go to a dance. The old man replied: “It all depends whether there was blood on your toe, or not.” The girl was puzzled, but the old man then told her about the leper who was cleansed, and had his ear, his hand and his foot marked with blood, as a sign that all had been bought by his Saviour. When the girl realized that her toe was marked with her Saviour’s own precious blood, she knew at once she could not use it for dancing with the world. The day is coming when we will have “music and dancing” (Luke 15.25), but it is not down here.

As we look around that countless throng in those courts above, we find every one bears the same marking: every one will delight to join in that new song,—

“Thou hast been slain, and hast redeemed to God, by Thy blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.”

Chapter 12

The Log of Oil

“And the priest shall take some of the log oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand: and the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord.” (Verses 15, 16).

We have seen that the oil speaks of the Holy Spirit. Now the priest turns away from the leper, for the moment he is forgotten, and the oil is “sprinkled before the Lord.” The leper, as we have seen, was presented before the Lord, in the power of the Holy Spirit, and in virtue of the sacrifice of Christ. But now the oil is sprinkled before the Lord. I think this tells us of the perfect delight that God has in His Holy Spirit. Sometimes we are apt to forget that the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Godhead, and is not merely an “influence,” but is the true and living God.

Seven speaks of perfection, and how wonderful it is to remember, when we look around this world, with all its sorrow and sin and suffering, that in spite of all these things, there is One Who dwells down here now, Who is altogether well-pleasing to God in Heaven. You remember how God the Father delighted to look down form the Heavens when his Son dwelt upon the earth, and of Him, and Him alone, say, ‘Thou are My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.” In like manner can God look down now upon the Holy Spirit, and to all eternity He will be His delight in heaven. Although He dwells in every believer, and is their strength and power for all things in God, yet we need to remember that first of all He is down here for God, and for His glory.

“And of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering.” (Verse 17).

(We believe that the oil put on top of the blood of the trespass offering, tells of the power and energy of the Holy Spirit for the believer’s life, and song, and service in those courts of glory. The Lord promised that the Comforter should abide with us forever, and surely all the activities of Heaven will be in His power).

“And the remnant of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall pour on the head of him that is to be cleansed.” (Verse 18).

It is lovely to see the way that oil never fails. Although sprinkled before the Lord seven times, and put on the ear, thumb and toe of the leper, there is still more left. It reminds us of the word, “God giveth not the Spirit by measure.” (John 3.34). Whatever need we have for His power and energy, we may be sure that the Spirit of God is more than sufficient for our every need. And after every requirement of the oil towards God, and towards men, has been fully met, there is still more, and this is poured on the head of the man that is to be cleansed. Those in Israel who were anointed were the priests, the kings, and in one case at least, a prophet,—and the cleansed lepers! What a wondrous company into which he is brought! And does it not tell us of the place into which the Lord has brought us. In Rev. 1.6 we read, “And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father.” In i Peter 2.9, we are called “royal priesthood.” The new song of Rev. 5.9, N.T., says, “And made them to our God, kings and priests.”

It is all so far beyond comprehension, or our dreams. Who could have ever conceived the thought that one who was a poor, vile, despised, unclean outcast, should be brought into a place which no other Israelite possessed, even that of a priest and a king! That thought was God’s, and His alone. We can but bow in adoration and wonder, as we gaze upon this lovely scene.

“And the priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord.” (Verse 18).

I think this verse completes the wonderful picture of the trespass offering and the oil, a scene which began in verse 12. It was not, I think, the oil that made the atonement, but the blood of the trespass offering. In Leviticus 17.11, we read, “It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” Blood, not oil, makes atonement. Blood alone can cover sins. But this pronouncement, being placed as it is, at the end of verse 18, at the close of the section which includes both the trespass offering and the oil, show us clearly, how intimately connected the Spirit of God is, with the Offering of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Heb. 9.14). We see the “man that is to be made clean” not only cleansed by the blood, but also sheltered by the blood, and all his trespasses covered by it. Truly we may exclaim, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” (Ps. 32.1)

What more could be added to such a picture? We would think that one more stroke might spoil it, but we find that there still are needed two more scenes to complete its perfection.

“And the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed from his uncleanness; and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering.”

What a perfect and complete work our Saviour accomplished at the Cross. Not only are all the trespasses blotted out by the blood of the trespass offering: but even that old incurable root of sin, was judged. The sin offering told out that nothing but death could deliver us from this. That old nature is not forgiven, it is judged. Our Sin Offering has died, and we have died with Him, and with Him we are risen; and when in that Home in glory, never again will we be troubled with that old, sinful nature, that often causes us so much sorrow now.

There is but one scene more, and the picture is complete, and perfect. “And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meat offering upon the altar: and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and he shall be clean.” (Verse 20).

In the trespass offering, the offerer put his hand on the head of the offering, and all his sins and trespasses passed over from him to it; and he was left clear and free from guilt. In the burnt offering, the offerer again put his hand on the head of the offering, but now all the efficacy and virtue of the offering passes over to the offerer. The burnt offering is especially God’s part in that Mighty Offering at the Cross. The burnt offering was not brought because the man had sinned, but it was brought as the highest mark of worship that man could offer to God, The meat offering, (or meal offering, as it might more correctly be termed), tells of the pure and holy life of our Lord Jesus Christ down here.

Now, the cleansing of the leper is completed. He looks back over the history of those days, the old life outside the camp, his cleansing, his presentation to the Lord, his marking by the blood that had blotted out his trespasses, that wondrous new place of the priest and the king into which he has been brought, that sin offering that delivered him from his old self. What a story it has been! What can he offer now to the One Who has done all this for him? His heart overflows in worship and praise and thanksgiving, and he brings that which gives the greatest joy to the heart of God. He offers the burnt offering and the meat offering. He offers to God the Sacrifice of His Own dear Son, in the way in which that sacrifice was specially God’s part, and he brings to Him also that spotless undefiled life down here, so very, very different to his own. Not only has the cleansed leper come into the place of the priest and the king, but now he has become a worshiper, and we leave him bowed before that alter, with the burnt offering ascending to God as a sweet savour, and we hear him exclaim,—

“Thou anointest my head with oil,

My cup runneth over!”

True worship is the overflow of the heart to God,—a heart so full that it cannot be held back, and it overflows in praise and worship and adoration. This we believe, is what the burnt offering and the meat offering, both going up as a sweet savour to God, tell us here.

We have sought in a feeble way to follow the leper from outside the camp to his place as a worshiper before that burnt offering, going up as a sweet savour to God. What a path it has been, and yet, dear fellow-Christian, it is your path and mine. What infinite grace! May it move our hearts to a more burning love to the One Who has done so much for us!

Chapter 13

The Present Application

Psalm 119.9 says, “Thy commandment is exceeding broad.” And we believe that this wonderful history has another interpretation, with another lesson for us in it. We believe that many passages of Scripture have a double meaning. One, perhaps, for the present time, and one for a coming day. We have been looking at that meaning that tells us of our “Home-coming” when we reach the glory above. But we know from such passages as Ephesians 2.6 that God looks at us even now, as raised up from the dead, and seated in the heavenlies. “God who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved); and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; that in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grave in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2.4-7). Note, these are not what He will do in the future, but what He has already done.

So we may see that in one sense we have no need to wait till we reach our Home in the glory, to enjoy the blessings of the “Eighth Day.” Even now, God has made all things new for us, even now we are accepted in the Beloved. Even now we are presented holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight. It is surely now that He is able to keep us from stumbling, and even now He delights to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. The fullness of the type, we believe, will only be fulfilled when we actually reach our Home above, but how blessed to know, that in one sense, even now, we may prove and enjoy, all these blessings.

Even now we enjoy the blessings from the acceptance of that trespass offering, and even now, we bear the blood of that offering on our right ear, and thumb and toe. Oh, dear fellow-believer, may the Lord give us grace in this defiled scene to walk worthy of that badge, that mark, that we wear even now down here. May we be careful that nothing shall pass the blood-marked ear that would be dishonouring to that One who shed His blood for us. May all we hear, and say and think by conformable to His death,—for surely the blood on the ear, is representative for the whole head.

But not only has it a negative side, so to speak, but there is the positive side as well. May that head of mine, with my intellect, my ears, my mouth, my eyes, my all,—be His, and His alone, and his forever. May they be used for Him! May we hear, and think, and speak for Him. They are stamped and sealed with the mark of death, the price that has been paid to purchase them for His Own. May God grant that not one of our faculties may ever be used for another.

That hand of mine that once was used to serve His enemy, now is bought with that same precious blood, and gladly will it work and war for the One who has purchased it for His Own. He can say of it, “Let him that stole steal no more;” (that was what I used it for once), “but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.” (Eph. 4.28). Once that hand of mine took my neighbour’s things. Now it labours to give to the one from whom I once stole, or to any in need. Such is the effect of that blood on my right hand.

That foot of mine once delighted to go its own way, but anointed with that precious blood it becomes beautiful, as it goes to preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things. (Romans 10.15).

That blood tells me that I am not my own, that I am bought with a price, and it says to me, “Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are Gods,” (i Cor. 6.19, 20). That blood on ear and thumb and toe says to me, “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” As I gaze on that blood, I cry,

“Take my life, and let it be

Consecrated, Lord, to thee!”

As we ponder all this we are constrained to say, “Who is sufficient for these things?” (ii Cor. 2.16). And the better we know ourselves, the more fervently will we answer, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves…; but our sufficiency is of God.” (ii Cor. 3.5). And this brings us to the next scene, where the priest, after sprinkling the oil seven times before the Lord, puts it on our right ear, and thumb and toe, upon the blood of the trespass offering. Never could we venture to walk through this defiled and defiling world with the blood of the trespass offering upon us, were it not that that blood is covered with the oil. This tells us of the power of the Holy Spirit to carry us through circumstance, to keep us, not only from falling, but even from stumbling, all through this wilderness pathway. The Holy Spirit alone can keep us from bringing dishonour on that precious blood that marks us who are Christians. The Holy Spirit alone can give power to take these instruments and yield them to God, to use them in His service, and for Himself. How can we ever thank God enough for the oil upon the blood?

And we may thank God, too, that even now down here, we have the good of the sin offering. Even now down here, we are dead and indeed unto sin, and alive unto God (Rom. 6.11). And even now down here, we are brought into that wondrous place of royal priests. True, we share the rejection of our absent King, but it is to us now that the Holy Spirit writes, “ that the Holy Spirit writes, “Ye are a…royal priesthood.” (i Pet. 2.9).

Yes, and it is even now down here, that we are worshippers. In John 4.23 we find that the Father is seeking worshippers. (He does not say He is seeking worship, but worshippers). Who would have thought that He would have found them in poor, defiled lepers, now cleansed and brought nigh? But so it is. Yes, even now, you and I, dear fellow-Christian, have the privilege, the infinite privilege, of bringing our Burnt Offering, (from which we must not separate the Meat Offering). We bring them with overflowing heart, and offer them to the One who has done all for us,—truly even now we may exclaim with burning hearts,

“He anointeth my head with oil,

My cup runneth over.”

As we look onward to the future, we may sing with perfect assurance,

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”

Then at Home in the House of the Lord, the “Father’s House,” we will know in all their inconceivable fullness and glory, all these blessings we have sought to gaze upon and enjoy even now down here, and we will say,

“It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of Thy acts and of Thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: Thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. Happy are Thy men, happy are these Thy servants, which stand continually before Thee, and that hear Thy wisdom.” (i Kings 10.6, 7).

Chapter 14

My Leanness, My Leanness

(Isaiah 24.16)

We have finished considering this most exquisite section of God’s holy Word. And yet almost every time one reads it, one seems to see some fresh ray of glory and beauty shining from it, so that we can never truly speak of having “finished considering” any portion of that Word.

Perhaps we wonder how much, or how little, God’s people of old saw wrapped up in this precious portion, and how highly they valued it. Should we not rather ask, how much do we comprehend of the glories and the excellencies and the worth of our own precious Saviour, Who has been revealed to us in such a different measure to those in days of old? And this brings us to the next section of our chapter.

“And if he be poor, and cannot get so much; then he shall take one lamb for a trespass offering to be waved, to make an atonement for him, and one tenth deal of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering, and a log of oil; and two turtle doves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to get; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering. And he shall bring them on the eighth day for his cleansing…” (Lev. 14.21, 22, 23).

How often we are “poor”! Our apprehension of Christ is often so poor! But yet, if we do trust in His precious blood, we have pardon and cleansing. Thank God, it is not my estimation of His worth, but God’s estimation, that is so important. Instead of the lambs for the Sin Offering and Burnt Offering, I can perhaps, only afford pigeons: but my acceptance and my cleansing are not affected thereby. None who come in that precious Name of Jesus are ever turned away. Our faith may be terribly small, our appreciation of His worth utterly insignificant: but if we come in that name, the One to Whom we come knows His true worth and value, and we are accepted in Him. Keenly as we may feel our poverty, never let that keep us away from God. Come as we are, in that worthy Name, and all will be well.

For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified…And their sins and iniquities I shall remember no more.” Heb. 10:14

Christ Jesus is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption. 1 Cor. 1:30

Notice how the Spirit of God, in verses 23 to 32, delights to recount again in all its fullness and detail the wondrous picture over which we have just been pondering. And that picture is worth repeating! It is as if He Himself would never weary of gazing on those sights that He has, in infinite grace, just been revealing to us. May we never weary of those sights either, but may we ponder them, feed on them, delight in them, and make them our own. It is no accident that two long chapters in the Bible are devoted to leprosy and its cleansing: May the Lord give us to learn more and more of the depth and fullness of these wondrous pictures, and ever value them more and more highly as, by His Spirit, we ever see new beauties and glories in them. Like their Author they are infinite.

Lord,—

“Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.” (Psalm 119:18).

Leviticus 14.33 to 53 tells us of leprosy in a house and its cleansing. This would apply when Israel reached the Land of Canaan. This speaks of sin in an assembly of God’s people. It is a most solemn and most important subject, and one that every Christian person should seriously consider. It goes beyond the scope of this little book, but we would earnestly comment our readers to read and ponder with prayer this portion of God’s Word.