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The Prophetic Lens

Would You Turn Away from the Leprosy of Sin?

February 6

 

“1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 ‘Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings the Israelites consecrate to me, so they will not profane my holy name. I am the LORD.

3 ‘Say to them: ‘For the generations to come, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean and yet comes near the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the LORD, that person must be cut off from my presence. I am the LORD.

4 ‘If a descendant of Aaron has a defiling skin disease or a bodily discharge, he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is cleansed. He will also be unclean if he touches something defiled by a corpse or by anyone who has an emission of semen, 5 or if he touches any crawling thing that makes him unclean, or any person who makes him unclean, whatever the uncleanness may be. 6 The one who touches any such thing will be unclean till evening. He must not eat any of the sacred offerings unless he has bathed himself with water.” (Leviticus 22:1-6) (NIV)

            As I read these verses, I could not help but to thank Jesus for His mercy in my life and for saving my soul. The Majesty of God’s holiness cannot and will never be contaminated by anything or anyone. The beauty of His holiness will remain forever. I can actually say that it is perhaps the most impressive thing in heaven. God’s holiness is not God’s desire to separate us from Him; God’s holiness is what He wants to share with us. The beauty of His holiness will not be compromised or His standards become diluted for us. Why take away from something great so that others may join? In His eternal wisdom, God kept His standard, but created a way to reach low to take us and bring us to His Higher Place through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

            We are the lepers, the one suffering from a skin decease that represents the curse of sin in our lives. That curse was broken on the cross of Calvary, but many of us still battle sin in our lives. Nevertheless, we all have access to God’s presence in the Name of Jesus…He gave us access even as the leprosy of our sin is not totally cure in our reality. We are the ones that at one point, and some still do it today, provoke the emission of semen by embracing pornography and sexual immoral life styles; but we are still alive and God is still calling us to His higher place. He has not struck us down today and everyday He extends His mercy, giving us innumerable opportunities to repent and turn from our wicked ways. We are the ones that, still today fellowship with the things of the world; things that crawled the earth to advance the Evil One’s destructive agenda to remove all holiness and all standards established by God.

            Jesus has given us access to the splendor of God’s holiness. We are only ready for God’s presence through Jesus Who gave His life for us. Would you embrace His holiness today, receive the sacrifice of Jesus that makes you whole and turn away from the leprosy of sin?

 

 

2 responses

  1. Dennis Owen Avatar
    Dennis Owen

    Because of the dreadful effects of leprosy and the isolation it brings, many see it as a picture of sin, Angel. But I don’t think that is its primary meaning in Scripture. It far more symbolizes the tragic element of life and human vulnerability.

    When Elisha declares, “Let him [Naaman] come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel” (2 Kings 5:8), the suggestion is that only a prophet can heal leprosy. This is consistent with the circumstance that it is Moses, Elisha and Jesus who heal lepers in the Bible. It also helps explain Matthew 11:5 and Luke 7:22, where Jesus refers to his ability to heal lepers as a sign that he is “the coming one.”

    The beggar in Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19–31) is said to have “sores” that the dogs lick. Although the passage is silent on the matter, tradition has specified his disease as leprosy. Regardless the nature of his disease it is clear that the world at the time of Jesus was divided up in two ways: clean and unclean. If you were sick, you were unclean. If you were crippled you were unclean. If you ate certain foods, you were unclean. If you weren’t a Jew, you weren’t circumcised, you were unclean. If you needed to be healed on the Sabbath, tough luck.

    Jesus came to end all that. “Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man” (Mat 15:17-18). He healed on the Sabbath, He touched lepers, a woman who had a menstrual cycle that hadn’t stopped for 12 years, which made her unclean, touched Jesus’ garment. He wasn’t afraid of being defiled. A prostitute touched Jesus and it didn’t bother Him a bit, it bothered all the religious people, but Jesus just offered her love, not lust.

    Ultimately, Jesus was totally defiled on the Cross, His body broken, His blood shed, and He asks His followers to remember that sacrifice. He gave His followers the Bread and said take and eat, this is my body broken for you. He gave his followers the Cup, and said drink, this is my blood shed for you. Have faith! When threatening, out-of-control events roar around us and the world rocks under our feet, we cry out in fear and outrage: “God, my life is going to pieces! Don’t you care? Are you sleeping?” Think of the living Christ, who is the God you can taste and touch! He will not leave you. Hold onto Him. You are safe with Him. His healing hand is touching you. Take His peace into your body. Take His peace into your heart.

    Reply
    1. angelcasiano Avatar
      angelcasiano

      Amen! The Scripture is always deeper!

      Reply

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