Leviticus 14:1 says, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Verse two adds, This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest: God told Moses that there was to be a ritual or procedure for the leper after he was pronounced clean. I believe this would have been for the benefit of both the leper and the people. He would no longer be isolated and they would no longer need to fear being in contact with him. Verse three continues, And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper; First, the priest had to go out to the leper and make sure that he was clean or healed. The leper could not go to the priest, so it was good that the priest could come to him. Matthew Henry points out that the priest was not made unclean by coming in contact with the leper, and I believe we can equate this to Jesus not being made unclean when He comes in contact with the sinner. We can also apply it to our reaching out to the lost of the world when they cannot or will not come to us. Verse four declares, Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: The priest was to prepare to offer a sacrifice for the leper. Verse five adds, And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water: One of the birds was to be killed in an earthen vessel over running water. Matthew Henry equates this mingling of the water and the blood with the piercing of Jesus' side when water and blood came out. Verse six continues, As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water: The other bird and all that was to be associated with the sacrifice was to be dipped in the blood and water of the bird that had been killed. Verse seven concludes, 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. The priest was then to sprinkle the one cleansed of leprosy seven times with the blood and water and then let the living bird go, then the person was to be pronounced to be clean. We don't have to be sprinkled by the blood of Christ seven times to be cleansed of our sins, but only once. Still, once we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we are called on to make the fact public and to follow Christ in baptism. Verse eight says, 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. The one pronounced clean was to then wash himself and shave off all his hair, and we would have to assume this applied to the women as well. The person could then come back into the camp but was to stay outside their tent for a week. They still weren't just free to mingle totally. Verse nine adds, But it shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his 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. After a week, the person was to shave off all their hair once again. Today, when we are spiritually cleansed by the blood of Christ when we accept Him as our Savior and Lord. We do not have to wait. We are immediately made clean.
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