2 - Bible Commentary | Karuna Sadan

One day ten lepers came to Jesus:

So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. (Luke 17:14)

Showing themselves to the priest was a way of verifying and certifying that they had indeed been healed of leprosy. This why I also tell people to go to the doctor to get a report of their healing, of their deliverance. People can question you and me but they cannot deny medical evidence.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest. (Leviticus 14:1-2)

This ritual may have been rarely done in those times because leprosy could not be cured by natural means. So when Lord Jesus told the leper who was healed to go and show himself to the Priest and offer the offering that Moses required. It must have been a rare sight to see.

In the Old Testament, there are three types of anointing that is symbolic to us as Christians.

The Three Anointings

Lepers
Priestly
Kingly Anointing

And the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him; and indeed, if the leprosy is healed in the leper, then the priest shall command to take for him who is to be cleansed two living and clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop. (Leviticus 14:3-4)

two living and clean birds,
Cedar wood,
Scarlet
and hyssop.

This process is symbolic to the cleansing of a sinner. The items contained in the leper’s anointing are pictures of what Lord Jesus Christ did for us at the cross.

And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water. (Leviticus 14:5)

This is symbolic of our Lord Jesus coming in the flesh, being baptized in water and dying for us.

As for the living bird, he shall take it, the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water. (Leviticus 14:6)

The wood represents the cross. Scarlet is representative of sin. Isaiah 1:18 says, "Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Then the bird had to be dipped into the blood. This is a symbol of sinner being cleansed by the Blood of Jesus.

And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose in the open field. (Leviticus 14:7)

The priest would take the hyssop and sprinkle the leper with blood seven times and pronounce him clean. In the Old Testament, hyssop is associated with cleansing (sprinkling or applying the blood). Psalms 51:7 says, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."

and shall let the living bird loose in the open field.

This picture is all throughout the bible

It's a picture of redemption. One dying in place of another

Barabas was set free instead of Jesus

Barabbas meaning ‘son of the Father’ Jesus also was the Son of the Father.

He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean. After that, he shall come into the camp, (Leviticus 14:8)

- the born again experience. Just as a baby is hairless so also the man.

and bathe himself in water, and he shall be clean.

Water represents the word of God

Speaks about the word of God that cleanses a person

You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. (John 15:3)

And the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt or trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot. (Leviticus 14:14)

tip of the right ear (Ear - hearing)

the thumb of his right hand (Hand - work of our hands)

the great toe of his right foot (Foot - our walk)

Before we accepted the gift of salvation, we were on a path to destruction. Proverbs 14:12 says, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." When we come to Jesus, He cleanses our walk and set us on the path to life.

And of the rest of the oil in his hand, the priest shall put some on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the trespass offering. (Leviticus 14:17)

Ear - this signifies that hearing has been sanctified.

Thumb His works were also sanctified. The Bible shows us that if our works are not anointed by God, they will be rejected.

Toe If our walk is not anointed, we will stumble. God tells us that we must walk in the Spirit in order not to fulfill the lust of the flesh (Rom. 8:13).

Notice the blood came first and then the oil on the same areas

The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed. So the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord. (Leviticus 14:18)

Then the priest takes the rest of the oil in his hand and pours it over the leper’s head. To me, this represents submission to God’s authority.

It was not only the blood of the Lamb that cleansed the leper it was the anointing oil (symbol of the Holy Spirit) that restored him.

Chapter 14