Leviticus 14:43, commentary and pictures

The verse describes the plague of leprosy breaking out anew in a house after the affected stones have been taken away, the house has been scraped round about, and it has been replastered. If the spots return upon further inspection, the trouble is not a defect that repairs can fix but a damp and unhealthful site, so the house must be torn down. Removing stones and replastering only took away the visible uncleanness and prepared the house to be cleansed, and afterward it was cleansed with blood and by atonement made for it, and then it was clean. It stands among the laws for leprosy, mold, unsanitary conditions, and contagious disease, condemning damp, sunless, moldy dwellings as unfit to live in and showing that God required practical cleanliness and precaution for health. Leprosy here is a fitting type of sin as a moral disease, incurable by human means, infectious and spreading its pollution, seated within in the heart while making the outward life defiling and shameful, and its cleansing is a symbol of thorough cleansing of the heart from sin by the blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, by which alone those who repent and believe are atoned for, pardoned, justified, and made clean.

Cleansing Procedure and Setting

The plague comes again and breaks out in the house after the affected stones have been taken away, after the house has been scraped, and after it has been replastered. The house is then to be inspected and examined again, because the plague may break out anew after these cleansing measures. The procedure belongs to the law of cleansing, which required the visible physical uncleanness to be removed before the cleansing with blood.

If the plague reappears after the stones have been removed, the walls scraped within round about, and the house repaired with new material, its returning spots are to be examined again. Their return shows that the trouble is not a mere leak or defect that repairs could fix, but that the location itself is damp and unhealthful. The house in that condition is to be torn down. Such careful attention to unhealthy homes is a model of public health vigilance.

Taking away the stones affected with the plague, scraping the house, and repairing it with new material only removed the visible physical uncleanness and prepared the house to be cleansed. It did not make the house clean. The house was cleansed afterward with the blood of birds and by the priest making atonement for the house, and then it was clean.

Hyssop was much used in these purifications of leprous persons and their houses, and clean water was used in the ceremonial cleansing rite. The related law required a person cured of leprosy to go show himself to the priests and make an offering, after which he was officially pronounced clean. In accordance with that law the ten lepers were told to go show themselves to the priests, and they understood the command to mean their prayer for healing was answered. Their healing did not appear until they began to obey, and they showed faith by starting while the evidence of leprosy was still upon them.

The instruction stands among laws for leprosy and unsanitary conditions in houses, for mold and other harmful growth, and for leprosy and other contagious diseases including infectious germs that can remain in buildings. It condemns damp, sunless, moldy rooms as unfit to live in. It shows that God gave ancient Israel rules for physical cleanliness and required practical precautions even though He is the healer.

Leprosy as Type of Sin

Leviticus 14:43 belongs to the laws on uncleanness and leprosy, in which leprosy stands as a fitting type and prefigure of sin. It is a moral disease that does not heal by itself, and the ordinances concerning it are mighty object-lessons emphasizing the exceeding sinfulness of sin everywhere. Like leprosy, sin in its own nature is incurable so far as human means are concerned. Like leprosy, sin is infectious and communicates itself and spreads its pollution to all who come in contact with it. Like leprosy, it eats up its victim alive, and like leprosy it has its chief seat within, in the motives, purposes, and desires of the heart, polluting the fountain of life, while also making the outer man with its visible acts an object of disgust and shame, so that it defiles and repels.

The cleansing of a leprous person and of a house from its plague, with clean water and with hyssop much used in purifications, is a familiar symbol of cleansing from sin. That cleansing shows the complete, thorough work in the heart desired by the penitent who realizes his carnal condition and his need to be made clean and washed whiter than snow. The offerings belonging to these cleansing instructions are types of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Only the blood of the great Physician of souls can cleanse from that plague those who heartily repent and unfeignedly believe. Atone, cleanse, reconcile, purify, purge, pardon, sanctify, hallow, forgive, justify, redeem, and blot out signify the same work of bringing into favor with God, and in all cases blood is the means.

The verse belongs to the complete round of service performed every year in the sanctuary of the Levitical dispensation built by Moses in the wilderness and later replaced by the temple. Its building, appointments, priesthood, and service typify Christ and His priesthood in the heavenly sanctuary begun when Jesus ascended on high. Each year's round typified in miniature the service of Christ which was once for all.