Day 187: Skin Diseases 1

July 6
Today's Connected Readings: 

• Leviticus 13-14; 22:4-8
• Numbers 5:1-4 
• Deuteronomy 24:8-9 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Welcome to the Canon Connected, where we read the connections, see the connections, and study the connections of the Bible. Thank you so much for joining us here on day number 187 of the Canon Connected. And today we're going to embark on a six-day journey through the theme in the Bible that I'm going to divide three different ways. We're going to divide three different ways on what's considered clean versus unclean in the Old Testament. And there's definitely some spillover into the New Testament on these topics, most of them at least. But the idea that again in the Old Testament law, the ceremonial law, which again, Chris, whenever he was on here with me long ago now, before we talked about the Ten Commandments, on day number 99 of this plan, he helped us understand the distinction between the ceremonial law and the moral law of the Old Testament, and so as well as the sacrificial law. And so these are ceremonial things, they're ritualistic things, and they were time-sensitive. They were not to be eternal. God's people were supposed to, of course, take them very seriously, and there's principles we can see from them, I think, that do matter to us. But they absolutely were a part of the law as God gave it to his people, and they had to adhere to these rules when it came to cleanliness versus uncleanliness. And I would even say a better word, and I'll explain this more as the week goes along, would be pure versus impure, and I'll explain more so why I think that probably is the better word, even when it comes to the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5. Blessed are the pure in heart. That word in Matthew is often translated as clean when Jesus is talking about a person being righteous. But we'll get to more of that as the week goes along. Today I just wanted to start with the establishment of this idea, and we're doing two days on skin diseases. We'll also do clean and unclean food, and we'll do bodily uncleanliness. And all of these things center around this idea of, again, to God, some things are clean or pure, and some things are not. And with the skin diseases, it almost seems unfair again to my our modern ears, I think, but it's the idea of a person being, you know, being put outside the camp until they recover from their skin disease is not again supposed to be some kind of harsh punishment from God. Um, it is again to establish that they were supposed to see things as how God created them and things that God had purified, and then when things were not that way, and that included even touching dead bodies, as you can see from the passages today, all in Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, um, that the idea is these things were not natural. They were not a part of God's creation whenever He created it. These are things that have been touched and tainted by sin. Even our skin diseases. And of and uh of course, you probably know this. If you have a good study Bible or even a Bible that just has a little you know textual note or whatever, it'll tell you probably that um the word Jews that sometimes is just translated as leprosy often just means a general skin disease. That's just the big one. We know that one um very well because Jesus healing lepers in the New Testament from Naaman that we'll read tomorrow. And even King Uzziah, we're gonna see that story tomorrow as well. But the idea that people could contact skin diseases and then they had to be outside of the camp or they could touch a dead body, and then they had to come after they were healed, they had to be approved, you know, by the priest, which Jesus didn't undo. We'll talk about that more tomorrow. Um, he still had people do that. But these were all ritualistic things, yes, but they were for a time, but they were pointing to how again God wanted his people to be clean and pure, and he wanted that he wanted them to see the difference between the way that he is and the things that he's created, and then the things that sin has corrupted. He wanted them to be distinct from the nations around them. And I don't even think I was reading uh, you know, an article from from a from a pastor um from probably 13 or 14 years ago on this, just talking about how the uh you know, again, the ancient Near Eastern Eastern nations around them, and you probably have heard this before with a lot of other things, like when we talked about, you know, slavery, you know, a few weeks ago, um, they didn't have you know laws like this. And the reason is because God went above and beyond to prove to his people again the that he has a standard, you know, for how his people are supposed to live. And he has a standard for how things you know are supposed to be. And anything outside of that is not, even if it's not from the result of sin. Again, death, disease, when people experience these things, sometimes they are completely innocent. But the idea is, you know, this is how God, you know, want he wants it to be pristine. He wanted his temple to be that way, he wanted his people to be that way. And of course they weren't because they still sinned, okay? But the law, even the ceremonial law, which was just for a time, it doesn't apply to us today, okay? But even that was supposed to prove to them that our God is pure, he is quote unquote clean, and anything that's that's uh outside of his will, okay, is unclean, even whenever innocent people suffer from them. This is not a perfect illustration, it's probably not even close, okay? But this is just something I think of to at least get us in the ballpark for this. It's not would not be unlike if my boys went outside and played at the park and they got in the in the in the dirt and they were just dirty from head to toe and they haven't done anything wrong, they've played innocently, although they don't, okay. But uh as their dad, I don't parent them perfectly either when they're playing non-innocently. I parent non-innocently as well. Lot of lot of sin that goes on there from both generations. But if they get dirty from head to toe, and their their mom tells them, before you can eat dinner, before you can step foot in the kitchen and the dining room, okay, you have to go take a shower first, okay? It does not mean they've done anything wrong. It just means, again, for my my wife wanting to keep the kitchen clean, especially if she's just cleaned it, okay, then she wants it to be a certain way to, again, manifest, you know, cleanliness and excellence and purity in the case of God. And so the idea that God would put people outside of the camp, again, was not supposed to be some kind of, you know, you know, over-the-top punishment for them. It was just a way of, again, pointing to this idea that we're going to see very clearly tomorrow. Okay, we have we're seeing a lot of stories tomorrow from this, and we're going to get into the New Testament and how Jesus dealt with lepers. Um, but the idea is purity to God matters. The idea is cleanliness matters in the sense of purity. Again, Jesus Christ is perfect, he's sinless, he's spot the spotless lamb. The bride is supposed to be presented to Christ in the New Testament as pure and as cleansed from sin, and that's how we get purity from Jesus Christ Himself, because He fulfilled all the law perfectly, even the ceremonial law. Even though he touched lepers, he was he was morally and ceremonially and ritualistically perfect. And so by his righteousness we are cleansed. And even Ephesians makes through the reference of, you know, by reading the word of God, this is Ephesians chapter 5. It's almost like taking a spiritual shower. The word washes us from our sins and makes us pure and makes us clean. And so, again, these things to our modern ears may seem like, well, a person got a skin disease, it's not their fault. Why do they have to be banished? But it's because of God's holy standard, of how they were supposed to be different. He wants things to be kept pure, to point to him, to point to how we are supposed to be in our sin, okay, even though again sin touches things that are innocent, and it's not uh always the person's fault why they get a disease, okay. So this is again a little strange to our modern ears. I know these sections it's tempting to want to skim them or to be like, I don't understand, that's boring, that's dry, but again, I hope, just as I've said many times, that studying these connections the way we're studying them this year, you know, and seeing old and new together and seeing, you know, the different parts of the old testament and how they they do speak to the same things. I hope it again, you know, you know, uh wakes our ears up a little bit if we need that, and perhaps you don't, but I know sometimes I do when I'm reading through a Bible reading plan and I get to Leviticus 13 and 14. Usually by that point I'm like, oh, I'm just trudging along. But if I read Leviticus 14 and 13 and 14 with 22, 4 through 8, Numbers 5, and Deuteronomy 24, I can see, again, the connections. I think it it speaks to me in kind of a different way. And so, disease, death touching the dead body, these are all things that God never intended. They're the result of the fall. They really are. Um, and there would be no disease, there would be no death if Adam and Eve hadn't sinned. And so, yes, sometimes innocent people do have to suffer as a result of general sin, the sin of all people. Um, but God always restores, okay, and we're gonna see that beautifully tomorrow, okay? The even through something as horrible as leprosy or skin disease, God still works miracles and he still shows his mercy and his grace and his his ability to heal, and that is part of our gospel as well. Jesus didn't come just to save people, he came by his stripes we are healed. So I'm looking forward to tomorrow because we've got Uzziah, we've got Naaman, and his name was Naaman, and he dipped seven times, and then Jesus talking and uh about the about healing lepers in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. So come back and be with us again tomorrow as we continue to read the connections, see the connections, and study the connections. Thank you.