Leviticus 13:43
Then the priest shall look upon it: and, behold, if the rising of the sore be white reddish in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, as the leprosy appeareth in the skin of the flesh; Then the priest shall look upon it: and, behold, if the rising of the sore be white reddish in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, as the leprosy appeareth in the skin of the flesh;
The verse describes the priest looking upon a white-reddish rising or swelling in a bald head or in a bald forehead and comparing its appearance with leprosy as it appears in the skin of the flesh. It belongs to the laws regulating uncleanness and leprosy given to ancient Israel, forming part of Leviticus 13:1-46. More specifically it belongs to the law of cleansing and examination of suspected leprosy of the head, in which a priest examined visible signs of uncleanness. A confirmed case led to permanent separation from home and friends, whatever the leper touched was unclean, and the leper had to cry Unclean to warn others.
These laws are admirable precautions concerning leprosy and unsanitary conditions despite God's power to heal, illustrating the need to obey God's instructions for health and to be cleansed from bodily and spiritual defilement. As sanitation promulgated by Moses they still stand at the head of sanitary law, above the sanitary laws well understood by up-to-date physicians and rigidly enforced with marked success in the Panama Canal Zone, and their enduring superiority proves the divine inspiration that guided Moses. An object had to be visibly clean before its cleansing with blood, and this physical removal of uncleanness prepared for the sanctuary's real cleansing.
Leprosy as described here is a horrible disease in its utmost loathsomeness and a fitting type or prefigure of sin as a terrible moral disease and mortal sin embracing every kind of evil thing, universally prevalent. Like leprosy, sin has its chief seat within, pollutes the source of life, and brings outward shame. It is infectious and contagious, never gets well of itself, consumes its victim, and is a worse disease than physical leprosy, so the sinner contaminates the very atmosphere and introduces pollution where all before was comparative purity. Likewise the sinner's society leads others to sin, giving more reason to fear his influence than to fear infection from a leper.
Cleansing from sin comes through the blood of the great Physician for those who repent and believe. Healing from it requires the proud self to die, with the old person put off and the new person put on. Jesus Christ made leprosy a showing of his power to heal. The same loathsome leprosy is still prevalent in the Holy Land, bearing witness to scriptural truth.