Skip to content Spiritual Lessons from Leviticus’ Laws on Cleanliness: Chapters 13 and 14 Mar 5 · 11 min ...more
Spiritual Lessons from Leviticus’ Laws on Cleanliness: Chapters 13 and 14
March 5, 2026 · 11 min
Discover the deeper spiritual meanings within Leviticus’ lengthy chapters on skin and garment laws.
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The Relevance and Practical Wisdom of Leviticus 13-14 0:10 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Thanks for joining me this morning as we continue our journey through the book of Leviticus, looking at chapters 13 and 14 today. And let me just commend you. You know, I I0:21 think we've lost a few people during the book of Leviticus thinking it doesn't have any application to us. It it's not a book that's relevant to us. Thank you for sticking with it. I think you're going to be blessed as0:32 we make our way through the word of God. Now today, we've got 2 very long chapters, and they seem to be irrelevant to us. Granted, they are long, but they are very relevant.0:44 These 2 chapters are a whole lot more about a whole lot more than just dermatology. Verse 57, chapter 14, to teach when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law of leprosy.0:56 Let's begin. Verse 1 chapter 13. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, 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 the body1:08 like a lepros sore, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to 1 of his sons the priest. The priest shall examine the sore on the skin of the body. And if the hair on the sore has turned white, and the1:20 sore appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a leprous sore. Then the priest shall examine him and pronounce him unclean. Now the word here, the Hebrew word that we're looking at,1:32 for leprous is serath, which is translated as leprosy, but it is a generic term that means unclean, but but encompasses skin1:44 diseases, mildew, or mold on clothing or buildings. So it's not the same as the Hansen's disease that we, are familiar with when we talk about, leprosy today. Now in reading these1:56 2 chapters, you might come away with a couple of questions. I I know I did. Number 1 is why so much focus on skin disorders? I mean, again, this is the 2 very long chapters.2:08 Why did people go to the priest? And 3, what is the underlying spiritual message or application for us? This is what we should be thinking about every time we're reading, especially2:20 as we go through the Old Testament because we're not under the old covenant, we're under the new covenant, but it's here for a reason. And and we're to gain spiritual insight and application from these physical events2:31 that we read about in the Old Testament. Remember what Paul wrote to Timothy in his very last letter in second Timothy chapter 3. All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for2:43 reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete equipped for every good work. And that includes the book of Leviticus. So before I delve into2:55 the questions, let me give the the outline of these 2 chapters and then maybe a few observations. Chapter 13 verses 1 through 46 deal with3:07 skin plagues or diseases. Verse 47 through 59 deal with plagues related to garments. And then we get into chapter 14. These, verses 1 through 32 deal with the cleansing ritual.3:19 Nope. This was not a healing ritual. It was a spiritually, it was spiritually focused. It was a cleansing after the infection or the disease. Verses 34 through 533:31 deal with plagues in homes or buildings. Now you'll notice a a very present concern, a legitimate concern, and and this is a principle to pull away from this. There was a3:43 concern about the spreading of plagues, infections, or diseases, or whatever it may have been. But you'll also notice that the protocol was to isolate the 1 who3:55 was infected or suspected of an infection, not the entire community. Where am I going? Well, this is secondary to our look at this passage, which I'm about to get into.4:06 But you know what? There's some very practical aspects of these chapters in Leviticus, some of which we take for granted. You know, for instance, personal hygiene. As we read through this, personal hygiene factors in4:18 prominently, and it took centuries for the world of science to catch up to the word of god. For instance, washing your hands is 1 of the best ways to prevent the spread of diseases. We pretty4:30 much take that for granted today, but it wasn't until the middle of the nineteenth century that a Hungarian doctor, Ignaz Semmelweis, discovered the connection between bad health health4:42 outcomes and the lack of handwashing. Now there's other principles here. Had our our government officials, with all their advanced knowledge, turned to the wisdom of scripture4:53 during the COVID pandemic, we may have had different outcomes. I mean, just think about it. If those living in the time of the writing of Leviticus had responded to a suspected plague as5:05 our government did to COVID, they would have all died, Not from the plague, but of starvation. Now we're fortunate. We all we survived, but it took a toll. It took a5:17 toll on the on the mental, emotional, and physical health of Americans, and it took a toll on our economy. In many ways, we're still trying to recover from the government's response.5:29 Now government's response to COVID is not our focus today. But, again, as we look through scripture, we should be looking for these principles. And and there are principles here that have application to government5:41 today in terms of its authority and its responsibility to protect the public from infectious diseases. They have a responsibility, but they have a a responsibility to do it in the right way. Now5:53 our focus today is on the spiritual meaning. That's our primary focus. And here's the message. Holiness matters. That's what this is about. With that, let's turn to our questions. The underlying message is not aboutLeprosy: A Vivid Picture of Sin 6:05 skin, but sin, s I n. And I know that's sin is not a commonly accepted term these days. We try to get away from it. It's a defensive term. In fact, there's an ongoing prosecution.6:16 It's been going on for a number of years now, and it's turned into a persecution of a member of the parliament in Finland, Ravi. In fact, she was here during our national gathering for prayer and6:28 repentance. She was 1 of the ones that prayed. She was accused of engaging in hate speech for tweeting a Bible verse from Romans. The prosecutor in the case, the6:40 state prosecutor, said the use of the word sin can be harmful. Well, here's the truth. Not using the word sin can be harmful. In fact, it can be deadly. As the apostle6:52 Paul writes in Ephesians 6 23, the wages of sin is death. And so where am I going with this? Well, leprosy, as we read it here in the Bible, is a picture of sin, an illustration of7:04 sin. Yes. It was a physical issue, but it illustrates for us the effects of sin. I mean, let let me read, Luke chapter 7 verse 22. Jesus answered and said to them, go and tell John the things that you have7:16 seen and heard, that the blind see, that the lame walk, that the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. In Jesus' own7:28 description of what he did for the lepers was not heal them, but cleanse them. In second Kings chapter 5, we read of Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army, coming to Elisha,7:40 to be healed from leprosy. But look at what Elisha says to him in second Kings chapter 5 verse 10. Go and wash in the Jordan 7 times and your flesh shall be restored to you7:52 and you shall be clean. Alright? How leprosy was treated gives us insight into how sin should be treated. The priest and the spiritual8:04 leaders examined and isolated the leprosy so that it would not spread. Another example of this, is for sin is leaven, yeast. You8:16 know, Paul wrote a little leaven leavens the whole lump. You know, sin sin, a little sin goes a long way. But here's what sin does, very similar to what we see here with leprosy.8:28 Sin isolates us from fellowship with others. More importantly, it isolates us from fellowship with God. Someone who had leprosy was cut off completely from the community and the8:40 tabernacle, the place of God's presence and the place of worship. Now, again, remember that the Old Testament speaks to the physical where the New Testament speaks to the spiritual. Here we8:51 have 2 very long chapters with detailed guidance on how to deal with leprosy. Leprosy was taken very seriously, infections, uncleanness. It was taken very spiritual9:03 very significantly. So the spiritual principle that we should come away from these 2 chapters with is that we should take sin very seriously, lest9:15 it become a pandemic. Keep sin outside the camp. Father, we thank you for your word, and and, lord, we we just we trust in your9:27 word. And as Paul said that all scripture is given for instruction, and and and this is here for a purpose for us. So we ask the holy spirit to help us even in in some of these difficult passages that that appear to have9:39 no relevance to us. May our eyes be open to the spiritual significance and how we, lord, need to be mindful of sin. We've taken sin very casually.9:51 And in fact, we don't wanna talk about it. We wanna ignore it. Father, I pray that, we would walk in holiness because you are a holy god. Thank you for your word. Thank you for the holy spirit that10:03 is teaching us. May our hearts be open. May our eyes be be open to receive from you. For we pray and ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks for10:15 joining me this morning, and until next time, keep standing on the word.10:22 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan available for free at frc dot org slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you10:34 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 The Relevance and Practical Wisdom of Leviticus 13-145:59 Leprosy: A Vivid Picture of Sin
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