Leviticus 14: Cleansing the leper with blood
Begin in prayer
Before we read Leviticus 14, where the priest goes outside the camp with two birds and puts blood and oil on the healed man, let us bow in prayer. Ask the Lord to show us how the blood of Jesus cleanses and restores sinners.
For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before me,” says the Lord Yahweh.
Jeremiah 2:22
Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us how the slain bird, the living bird, and the blood and oil on the eighth day point to Jesus, who died and rose to make sinners clean. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.
See where we're going
In Leviticus 14 the LORD gives Moses the law for a leper on the day of his cleansing. First, the priest goes outside the camp and sees that the plague is healed. One bird is killed over running water, and the living bird, with cedar, scarlet and hyssop, is dipped in the blood. After sprinkling the man seven times, the priest lets the living bird go free, and the man washes and waits seven days. On the eighth day he brings lambs, flour and oil, or one lamb and two birds if he is poor. The priest puts blood and then oil on his right ear, right thumb and right big toe, and makes atonement. Finally, verses 33 to 57 give the law for scraping or tearing down a mildewed house, and cleansing a healed house with two birds.
As you read Leviticus 14, look for the answers:
- Where does the priest go in verse 3, and what happens to the two birds in verses 4 to 7?
- Where does the priest put the blood of the trespass offering and the oil on the eighth day? (verses 14, 17 and 28)
- What must be done to infected stones in a house, and how is a healed house cleansed? (verses 40, 45 and 49 to 53)
Reflect together
Key truth
God brings the outcast back into fellowship through shed blood and oil, pointing to Christ.
The outcast in chapter 13 could not enter the camp, so in verse 3 “the priest shall go out of the camp” to him. Notice that the priest did not cure the plague, which God alone had healed (verse 3). Over running water, one bird was killed, and the living bird was dipped in its blood and set free (verses 5 to 7). On the eighth day, the priest put the trespass offering blood on the man's right ear, right thumb and right big toe (verse 14). Then he put oil in those same places “upon the blood of the trespass offering” (verse 17). That was the exact mark placed on the priests in chapter 8! Even a poor man who brought two birds received the exact same blood and oil (verses 21 to 32). In verses 33 to 53, infected stones in a house had to be pulled out, not merely plastered over. These rites pointed to Christ, whose blood cleanses the conscience and whose Spirit renews His people (Hebrews 9 verse 14, Titus 3 verse 5).
How does Leviticus 14 show us that God brings the outcast back into fellowship through shed blood and oil, pointing to Christ?
The priest goes outside the camp, kills one bird, and frees the other.
When the leper was healed, the priest went “out of the camp” to examine him (verse 3). One clean bird was killed over running water, and the living bird was dipped in its blood (verses 5 and 6). After sprinkling the man seven times, the priest “shall let the living bird go into the open field” (verse 7). When Jesus healed a leper in Mark 1 verse 44, He sent him to offer what Moses commanded as a testimony.
On the eighth day, oil goes upon the blood for rich and poor.
On the eighth day the priest put the trespass offering blood on the man's right ear, thumb and big toe (verse 14). Next he put oil on them “upon the blood of the trespass offering,” and on his head (verses 17 and 18). A poor man who brought one lamb and two birds received the exact same blood and oil (verses 21 to 29). Blood always came first, and the oil was laid upon the blood.
Infected stones are pulled out, and a healed house is cleansed with blood.
When a spreading mildew appeared in a house, the priest emptied the house before inspecting it (verses 34 to 36). Bad stones were pulled out, and if the plague returned after plastering, the house was broken down (verses 40 to 45). When a house was healed, the priest cleansed it with two birds and running water (verses 48 to 53). Painting over sin never cures it, for the old corruption must be removed and cleansed by blood.
Memorise
and the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meal offering on the altar. The priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.
Leviticus 14:20
Looking to Jesus in my life
Ask yourself in your heart, am I trying to plaster over my sin, or has Jesus washed me clean?
In Leviticus 14, the leper lived outside the camp until “the priest shall go out of the camp” to him. One bird was killed over running water, and the living bird was dipped in its blood and let go into the open field. On the eighth day, for rich and poor alike, the priest put blood on the man's right ear, thumb and big toe. Then he laid the oil “upon the blood of the trespass offering,” so that “he shall be clean.”
No bird or lamb could take away sin, and plastering over a bad wall could never stop the rot inside. We were all outcasts in our sin, unable to reach the cost of our own cleansing. So Jesus Christ came out to where we were. Jesus died in His people's place on the cross and rose on the third day. He paid in full the whole cost of cleansing, and on the ground of His blood He pours out the Holy Spirit on all who believe.
Stop trying to plaster over your sins with good resolutions. Come to Jesus today, turn from your sin, and trust in Him. Everyone who trusts Christ is washed clean, forgiven, and brought home to God.
Parent's note
Tell your children that trying harder is like plastering over bad stones, and only Jesus' blood and Spirit can clean our hearts. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.
Pray together
Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that Jesus came out to save outcasts through His death and resurrection, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.
For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.
Hebrews 10:4
Merciful Father, thank You that when we were shut out by our sin and could not pay the cost of our cleansing, Jesus came to save sinners. Thank You that His blood does what the blood of bulls and birds could never do. Please wash us in Jesus' blood, renew us by Your Spirit, and keep our home clean in Your sight. Amen.