Leviticus 13:18-37 comments: malignant skin diseases (cont.)

 

Leviticus 13:18 ¶  The flesh also, in which, even in the skin thereof, was a boil, and is healed, 19  And in the place of the boil there be a white rising, or a bright spot, white, and somewhat reddish, and it be shewed to the priest; 20  And if, when the priest seeth it, behold, it be in sight lower than the skin, and the hair thereof be turned white; the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a plague of leprosy broken out of the boil. 21  But if the priest look on it, and, behold, there be no white hairs therein, and if it be not lower than the skin, but be somewhat dark; then the priest shall shut him up seven days: 22  And if it spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a plague. 23  But if the bright spot stay in his place, and spread not, it is a burning boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean. 24  Or if there be any flesh, in the skin whereof there is a hot burning, and the quick flesh that burneth have a white bright spot, somewhat reddish, or white; 25  Then the priest shall look upon it: and, behold, if the hair in the bright spot be turned white, and it be in sight deeper than the skin; it is a leprosy broken out of the burning: wherefore the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy. 26  But if the priest look on it, and, behold, there be no white hair in the bright spot, and it be no lower than the other skin, but be somewhat dark; then the priest shall shut him up seven days: 27  And the priest shall look upon him the seventh day: and if it be spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy. 28  And if the bright spot stay in his place, and spread not in the skin, but it be somewhat dark; it is a rising of the burning, and the priest shall pronounce him clean: for it is an inflammation of the burning. 29  If a man or woman have a plague upon the head or the beard; 30  Then the priest shall see the plague: and, behold, if it be in sight deeper than the skin; and there be in it a yellow thin hair; then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a dry scall, even a leprosy upon the head or beard. 31  And if the priest look on the plague of the scall, and, behold, it be not in sight deeper than the skin, and that there is no black hair in it; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague of the scall seven days: 32  And in the seventh day the priest shall look on the plague: and, behold, if the scall spread not, and there be in it no yellow hair, and the scall be not in sight deeper than the skin; 33  He shall be shaven, but the scall shall he not shave; and the priest shall shut up him that hath the scall seven days more: 34  And in the seventh day the priest shall look on the scall: and, behold, if the scall be not spread in the skin, nor be in sight deeper than the skin; then the priest shall pronounce him clean: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean. 35  But if the scall spread much in the skin after his cleansing; 36  Then the priest shall look on him: and, behold, if the scall be spread in the skin, the priest shall not seek for yellow hair; he is unclean. 37  But if the scall be in his sight at a stay, and that there is black hair grown up therein; the scall is healed, he is clean: and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

 

There are interesting sermon possibilities in these passages about the Plague of Leprosy. One can imagine verses 18-20 that sin which we thought was conquered arises up again in a time of distress or carelessness and so forth.

But, we should be careful about forcing the context to justify something we want to say, as Fundamentalists do, putting the Bible’s stamp of approval on some social condition of the past that we wish would come back. Many commentators have tried to use this chapter to explain society’s ills and while there are many interesting sermon possibilities on Leprosy and sin we must remember that these instructions were specific to the Hebrews under the  Law and had as much a physical application as they did a spiritual in the following of God’s commands as He separated them from Egypt and the rest of the heathen world. This should reinforce to us how vile the ancient world had become, how wicked their religion and how diseased their bodies could be.

Some scientists who study Syphilis, the sexually transmitted disease, conclude that some of what was diagnosed as Leprosy before modern times may have been that dreaded disease. I bring this up because of the sexual practices of ancient religion which you and I have seen in our study and while some scientists believe that Europeans contracted Syphilis from their New World adventures in the Americas these other scientists report that there is sufficient archaeological and documentary evidence from ancient times to insist that there was always Syphilis in the Old World and that it was sometimes diagnosed as Leprosy.

Is this Plague of Leprosy including diseases from the lack of understanding of sanitation and from the practices in pagan temples making them not much more than houses of both heterosexual and homosexual prostitution? Whether the disease we know today as Syphilis was present or not could this have also been sexually transmitted diseases as well as Leprosy which produce visible skin lesions?