Leviticus 13-14

Daily Devotional from Leviticus 13—

Verses 45-46
The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.

The chapter on Identifying Leprosy is the longest chapter in this book. It was a serious disease. The Leprosy bacteria attack nerve endings, destroying your ability to feel pain, causing crippling disabilities that lead to shame and isolation.

In Israel, a person with leprosy was not just sick, they were ceremonially unclean. Outcast. Unwelcome. Unaccepted. We don’t see much leprosy today thanks to antibiotics. But there is a leprosy that persists, which is a spiritual ailment. Sin is a leprosy of the soul which, left unchecked, starts deadening one spiritual nerve at a time, so that we can’t even feel it taking over our lives. It too leads to shame and isolation, even if it’s only internal. We mustn’t let sin get a foothold in our life, not even a “small” sin – root it out, let Jesus clean and heal you, and walk whole, healthy, in the light and love of Jesus.

Audrey Rogers