Leviticus 14:10-20 - The Cleansing of the Leper (Part 2)

"10 And on the eighth day he shall take two he lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, and three tenth deals of fine flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil. 11 And the priest that maketh him clean shall present the man that is to be made clean, and those things, before the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: 12 And the priest shall take one he lamb, and offer him for a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: 13 And he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place: for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering: it is most holy: 14 And the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot: 15 And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand: 16 And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD: 17 And of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering: 18 And the remnant of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed: and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD. 19 And the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed from his uncleanness; and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering: 20 And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meat offering upon the altar: and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and he shall be clean." — Leviticus 14:10-20 KJV.

10. Eighth day — See Leviticus 9:1, note. Two lambs — The Hebrew term applies to young sheep till three years old. If it be of the first year the fact is expressly stated. Without blemish — See Leviticus 1:3, note. Three tenth deals — Three omers, about nine quarts: R.V., “three tenth parts of an ephah.” See Leviticus 23:13, note. Meat offering — See chap. ii, notes. One log of oil — The term “log” is transferred from the Hebrew. It contained the twelfth part of a hin, or six egg-shells=.833 of a pint. This olive oil was to be applied to the person of the cleansed leper. Whilst other requisites for the final cleansing varied, according to his ability, this was invariable, because of its typical significance — the unction of the Holy Ghost.

11. Maketh clean… made clean — The superiority of the Hebrew to the English is seen in this verse in its employment of the reflexive voice, in the Hiphel form of the verb, declaring the activity of the leper in the cleansing process. “The priest that maketh him clean shall present the man who is making himself clean.” The divine efficiency blends with the human. This is the synergism of our Arminian theology. Door of the tabernacle — See Leviticus 1:3, note. It was a great privilege to stand there. The purification without the camp was necessary to the attainment of this right. There are promises which are made only to the regenerate. The Comforter and Sanctifier are sent only to those who already love Christ. John 14:15, 16.

12. Trespass offering — R.V., “guilt offering.” See chap. v, Introductory, also verse 6, note. This offering was required, not as a payment of debts to Jehovah accumulated during the sickness, (Riem, Oehler, and Murphy,) but rather as a consecration offering, because this served as a restoration to all the rights of the priestly covenant nation, which had been suspended by the mortal ban of leprosy. This is shown by the fact that the אָשֵׁם, or trespass offering, was to be waved for a wave offering, an unusual ceremony in connexion with the אָשֵׁם, but used when persons are to be dedicated to the Lord, as were the Levites in Numbers 8:11-15, after their sin offering. For the manner and meaning of waving see Leviticus 7:30, note. Most holy — Leviticus 2:3, note.

14. Right ear — The organ which may have been a willing channel for folly, impurity, or slander must be cleansed by the blood of sprinkling. Hand — This instrument of the wicked will need the purifying blood, while the foot, which has often run in the way of sin, must be purged as an offending member. This mode of purification in detail is almost exactly like the order for the consecration of the priests. Leviticus 8:24, note.

15. The priest shall take… oil — The administration of the oil to various parts of the person, ending with pouring it upon the head, is the last act in the process of cleansing. Its spiritual significance is no enigma. Oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit. Jesus, as the Messiah, or the Christ, was anointed of the Holy Spirit. Zechariah 4:2-12; Acts 10:38; Hebrews 1:9. Believers endowed with the fulness of the Spirit are said to be anointed. 1 John 2:20, 27. All genuine Christians are etymologically the oiled ones. The restoration of the leper involved two parts — the negative, the removal of the impurity by the blood sprinkled; and the positive, the reinvestment with all lost privileges, especially communion with God’s people, and favour with him and the right of access to him. The positive work is typified by the anointing. Entire sanctification consists not only of a death unto sin, but of life unto God. There must be a destructive and a constructive process. The old man must be slain and the new man must be created in righteousness and true holiness.

16. Sprinkle of the oil — Since it is ordinary oil, and not “the holy anointing” oil, (Exodus 30:23-25,) the sevenfold sprinkling is its perfect consecration unto Jehovah.

17. Upon the blood — As the oil was put upon the blood of the אָשֵׁם, or trespass offering, so is the blood of Christ our אָשֵׁם, (Isaiah 53:10,) the divine basis of the operations of the Holy Ghost. Hence he was not given till after Christ had been glorified by the crucifixion, (John 7:39; 12:23; 17:1,) nor in Christian experience is his peculiar office of the sanctifier fulfilled until after justification through the blood of Christ. The divine order of these blessings, prefigured by the oil upon the blood, should be carefully observed, inasmuch as all legalists are forever falling into the mistake of making sanctification the ground of justification. Whereas we are cleansed by the blood of sprinkling, and then the chief work of consecration, symbolized by the oil applied, takes place. Hence we do not consecrate to God our evil things, but our good things; we abandon our evil habits and consecrate our cleansed selves unto the Lord. Says Dean Alford, “The gift of the Spirit at and since the day of Pentecost was and is something totally distinct from any thing before that time. The first reception of him must not be illogically put in place of all his indwelling and working, which are intended,” in John 7:39. Thus we find here strong confirmation of the Wesleyan view of entire sanctification as a distinct work, an instantaneous “change immensely greater than that wrought when the believer was justified, and infinitely greater than any before, and than any one can conceive till he experiences it.” — J. Wesley.

18. Pour upon the head — This symbolized the endowment of the whole man with the gift of the Holy Ghost. The believer is not only to be cleansed from the leprosy of hereditary and inbred depravity, but to be “filled with all the fulness of God.” Ephesians 3:19.

19. Atonement — See Leviticus 1:4; 4:20, notes. Burnt offering — See Leviticus 1:3; 6:9, notes.