What does the Mosaic Law say about Leprosy? This was the most loathsome of all diseases and required severe measures of control, including prolonged isolation with careful and repeated examination to determine when a cure had been effected. (Le 13:1-46; De 24:8) It, therefore, required a great deal of faith for the unclean leper to say to Jesus: “Lord, if you just want to, you can make me clean.” Jesus not only wanted to but he also showed he had the ability to cure this loathsome disease by commanding: “Be made clean.” Jesus then told this restored man: “Go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses appointed.”—Mt 8:2-4; Mr 1:40-44. Originally, under the prescribed regulations of the Law, before a cured victim of leprosy could return to normal living, an elaborate two-part ceremony was necessary, the first part involving the use of water, cedarwood, coccus scarlet material, hyssop, and two birds. These things were supplied by the recovered leper when he presented himself to the priest outside the camp of Israel. One of the birds was then killed over running water, and its blood was caught in an earthenware vessel. The cedar, scarlet material, hyssop, and the living bird were dipped in the blood; the cured leper was spattered seven times by the priest with the blood, and the live bird was turned loose. Upon being pronounced clean, the man shaved, bathed, washed his garments, and entered the camp, but he was required to dwell seven days outside his tent. On the seventh day he again shaved off all his hair, including his eyebrows. The next day he brought two rams and a female lamb, less than a year old, together with a little flour and oil, as a guilt offering, sin offering, burnt offering, and grain offering. The guilt offering consisting of one ram and the oil was first presented as a wave offering before Jehovah by the priest, who then killed the ram; he put some of its blood on the lobe of the right ear, the right thumb, and the right big toe of the one being cleansed. Similarly, some of the oil was then placed on top of the blood in the three above-mentioned places; some of the oil was also sprinkled seven times before Jehovah, and the balance of it was put on the head of the one being cleansed. The priest then offered up the sin, burnt, and grain sacrifices, making atonement and pronouncing the cured leper clean. If, because of circumstances, the candidate was very poor, he could substitute two turtledoves or two young pigeons for the lamb and one of the rams used as the sin and the burnt offerings.—Le 14:1-32.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 01:08:13 +0000
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