A House of Leprosy

Let's let's pray, merciful father your word was written for our instruction so that by steadfastness and by encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.

Grant a sound interpretation of all scriptures that we may receive all their comfort and hope according to your

Holy Spirit's will and intent. Grant that we abide in this simple direct and useful exposition that is permanently and well grounded in your revealed will.

Teach us to flee all abstruse and specious questions and disputations so that we reject and condemn all things contrary to your true simple and useful teachings through the same

Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. All right questions any questions?

Yes sir. No I don't it's it's it's in the

Lutheran study Bible at the back of it and I get that I get that so so am

I in error now for agreeing with the words that you so spoke that you just spoke yes I will say this abstruse means difficult to understand obscure so an interpretation that is difficult to understand or obscure would tend to lead towards error so that that word

I knew was a new vocabulary word for me as well I haven't heard that one I've heard abstruse okay all right we can work on that I like sharing my vocab words

Mikey yep okay so we get this from the fuller context when you take the different Gospels together that we learn that the two people that Jesus is crucified between that they were thieves that that and so we learned that from other

Gospels well it depends on what you steal right so the

Romans they let's just say crucifixion wasn't merely about punishing crime crucifixion was used by the

Romans to make a statement it was a form of psychological warfare yes so this is what happens to those who don't obey us break our laws or try to subvert our you know the

Pax Romana and fight against the Emperor and so the crucifixion was reserved for non

Roman citizens whom the Romans wanted to make a public example of and in fact in our gospel text today in Luke it used the word spectacle which is the right way to put it public executions historically have been spectacles and which is one of the reasons why coming into the 20th century even the

United States has shied away from and gotten rid of the public spectacle of executions now they're done you know in prisons behind closed doors and only certain people are allowed but in the past you know when hangings would take place the whole town everybody would come to see and oftentimes the people in the crowd at public executions would taunt and jeer and mock and insult just like and we know this has happened to Jesus as well yes that's right that's right get your souvenirs here souvenirs here yes we have we have a hangman's noose that you can bring home and play with your dollies and and here we've got the executioner's axe and a look look at this a guillotine that actually clips the ends of cigars this is great so yeah

Leviticus chapter 14

I yes yes live it live it is 14 we are going to rework our way through the small portion that we have looked at and we're gonna know what is what is being described here as far as what is being created is a mixture of ingredients including fresh water for the purpose of declaring using on a leper who has been cleansed for the purpose of them being made clean and so let me find a text in the in the in the

Gospels real quick here word is heifer and I want to do a gospel search hold on a second here maybe it's in the

New Testament here we go listen to this from Hebrews chapter 9 if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of deviled persons with the ashes of a heifer sanctify for the purification of the flesh now the reason

I'm pointing this out is because in the book of Numbers there is a second cocktail that has a very similar has very similar ingredients and there's one ingredient that's just a little bit different so you'll have the hyssop you'll have the scarlet yarn you'll have water but with the the one that's used in the book of Numbers the concoctions that's made with the water it will also include the ashes of a heifer that had been sacrificed and that then is used for the purpose of declaring of you being used to make somebody clean who has touched or been in direct contact with a corpse and this was a necessary part this was a necessary thing for them to go from being unclean to being clean and so you'll note then that this is all referencing something here and I think it's vital for us to remember what's going on here and let me do a little bit of work this way

Hebrews chapter 10 I'll work backwards in the book of Hebrews just to kind of reemphasize this point for since this is

Hebrews 10 1 for since the law and I'm gonna note here I'm gonna come over and take a look at the

Greek in the Greek and I know this is all Greek to you it says ha namas ha is means the and so that's what that's your definite article so so ha ha namas it's talking about the

Torah we're talking about law in the sense not of a specific command but in the broader sense of this is talking about the

Torah the first five books of the Bible for since the Torah has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities you'll know that's an incomplete sentence so far but note then this is explicitly saying what we see in the

Old Testament these are shadows these are types I know I keep hammering on that but I want to kind of drive home this idea that the

Bible teaches us this is how we are to read the scriptures so people who have a difficult time making sense of the

Old Testament and they and they're in a chapter like Leviticus 14 and they're reading why am

I having to read about scarlet yarn hyssop and water and you being used to sprinkle leprous people so that they can be declared clean why in the book of Numbers do we have a similar thing with a heifer and all this type of stuff answer because according to Hebrews 10 here we have an interpretive key and then interpretive key tells us that these are shadows these are types and shadows but they do not have the true form of the realities so over here we have this wonderful picture right now occurring in front of our very eyes here this plant is receiving this beautiful sunlight right so this is the true form this is the reality but if you look on the ground you can see the shape kind of you can see the shadow cast by the reality that make sense so the

Old Testament then the Old Testament is the shadows it's the show it's the sunlight and it's you look on the ground ago that looks a lot like the shape of Jesus but you notice in shadows you missed all the three dimensions and things like that you can kind of make out the form

I couldn't tell you what kind of plant that is by looking at the shadow but the true form then is the plant itself so note the sunlight against the flat is casting the shadow this is the true form so Christ is the true form and in the

Old Testament the shadows are pointing back to him does that make sense okay

I would say remember that all scripture is God breathed because the more

I work in the Bible the more convinced there's no possible way any human beings could have put this thing together the way it was put together it is so clearly inspired by God so that not only do we have clear prophecies regarding Jesus like where he would be born that he would be born of a virgin that he would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver you know and even his cry of dereliction on the cross is there in the

Psalms my God my God why have you forsaken me I mean this amazing prophecies were specific details of the life of Christ that he fulfilled were there things that he couldn't possibly have tried to fulfill if he wanted to stuff that you know that had to be fulfilled you know by by him passively but on top of that then here in Leviticus 14 we're getting a shadow and we noted two weeks ago that the shadow was prefiguring the true reality which is going to be baptism baptism where the blood of Christ is mixed together with water and the word and that it is a washing for the forgiveness of sins so this prefiguring here in in Leviticus 14 is a shadow of baptism but let me keep reading then in 10 so a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities it can never by the same sacrifices that are continually offered year after year make perfect those who draw near talking about draw near to the temple a little bit of a note here this part of the sentence this first sentence in verse 1 of chapter 10 notice that it's written with the assumption that the temple is still a thing that the temple is still going on what year was the temple destroyed 70 ad 70 ad 70 ad so this this epistle was written prior to 70 ad earlier then and you can tell by paying attention to the details otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered since the worshippers have once been cleansed would no longer have any consciousness of sin but in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year for it is impossible for the blood of goats to take away sins it's impossible so animal sacrifices do not take away sins that's not the purpose of the

Mosaic Law or of the of the sacrifices that we're reading about the purpose of these sacrifices is a reminder of sin and there are portions and we're a ways away from there are portions of the book of Numbers especially near the end of the book of Numbers where it lists out all of these different sacrifices and God piles on even more sacrifices that are required that there are certain times of the year there were so many animals being sacrificed first particular feast days in the temple that in the ancient world it was described as having a river of blood flowing from it that's how many the sacrifices were and all of this then as a reminder of sin now coming back to Hebrews chapter 9 specifically

I wanted to look at verse 13 but I'll start at verse 11 so when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come even through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands that is of this creation he entered once and for all into the holy places not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood thus securing an eternal redemption and then here's that reference for if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer sanctify for the purification of the flesh will how much more with the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God purify our conscience from dead works to serve living

God therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance since the death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant for where a will is involved the death of the one who has made it must be established and a will takes effect only at death since it is not enforced as long as the one who made it is alive therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood for when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people he took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool there it is again and hyssop and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people saying this is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you and in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship indeed under the law almost everything is purified with blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins and so then you'll note that here scarlet wool and hyssop make an appearance with the establishing of the old covenant and so these ingredients as we look in Leviticus 14 we must consider them in light of their significance by virtue of the fact that they are shadows they're shadows on the ground and the true substance is pointing us to something in the

New Testament the true reality so Leviticus 14 Yahweh spoke to Moses saying this shall be the law of the leprous person for the day of his cleansing and leprosy is used in Scripture as a picture of the effects of sin so you want it you want sin and the fact that we are born with this condition of sin it's like leprosy you know it's this invasion and corruption of our body so when a leper is cleansed it is then a picture of somebody who is saved by Christ and who in you know and he's cleansed of their sins so he shall be brought to the priest so the priest shall go out of the camp the priest shall look then in the case if the case of the leprous disease is healed and leprous person the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live clean birds cedar wood scarlet yarn and hyssop and the priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water he shall take the live bird with the cedar wood and the scarlet yarn and the hyssop and dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water now you're gonna note here our gospel text today the passion of Christ from Luke 23

Barabbas goes free Christ is sacrificed and here with these two little birds one bird is killed and its blood is poured into fresh water in an earthenware vessel where you have cedar wood scarlet yarn and hyssop and you dip all of this together as well as the living bird in the blood of the dead bird here these tiny little birds you know show us again a picture of the salvation the one is left free the other dies

Christ is crucified Barabbas is free to go so he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease this then this concoction of blood cedar wood hyssop and scarlet yarn is sprinkled then on the leper seven times then he shall pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird go into the open field interesting same thing happens on the day of atonement with a scapegoat same thing one animal sacrifice the others let free he was to be cleansed shall wash his clothes shave off all his hair and that will include eyebrows which is weird okay so you ever seen anybody without eyebrows

I mean it just does not look right so just doesn't look right so all the hair goes he's to be cleansed he shall shave off all his hair bathe himself in water and he shall be clean and after that he may come into the camp but live outside his tent for seven days and on the seventh day he shall shave off all his hair from his head his beard and his eyebrows do

I have to shave my eyebrows yes he shall shave off all of his hair and then shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water and he shall be clean you know it just makes me wonder you know this kind of harkens to small babies although some babies are born with a lot of hair you know but you know and a lot of babies are bald when they're born so so on the eighth day eighth day is the first day of the new creation remember six days

God creates the heavens and the earth rests on the seventh Christ is raised on the eighth day always that eighth day is in one way or another symbolic a shadow of the first day of the new creation on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish to you at one you lamb a year old went without blemish a grain offering three -tenths of an ephah fine flour mixed with the oil one log of oil and you'll note here grain offering harkens to bread and I would argue that when it comes to unleavened bread there is no greater unleavened bread than unbaked bread you see what

I'm saying it hasn't been baked yet it's it's it's fine flour at this point and it's mixed with oil that oil is harkening to the anointing of Christ east of these elements you can kind of connect back to Jesus so the priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed and these things before Yahweh at the entrance of the tent of meeting the priest shall take one of the male lambs offer it for a guilt offering along with the log of oil wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh he shall kill the lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering in the place of the sanctuary for the guilt offering like the sin offering belongs to the priest it is most holy so this means that the priests get to consume the sacrifice the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering and the priest shall put it on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed on the thumb of his right hand on the big toe of his right foot so we got lobe thumb big toe hmm yeah

I've heard conflicting ways in which to understand this that's why I'm not I don't know

I'm not quite sure what to do with this I would note this I like to always pull it back to Christ that Christ has the crown of thorns pressed into his head his hands and his feet are nailed and so I think in some ways it's taking the wounds of Christ and putting them on that person so then the priest shall take some of the log of oil pour it into the palm of his own left hand dip his right finger in the oil that it is is in his left hand sprinkle some oil with his finger seven times before Yahweh some of the oil that remains in his hand the priest shall put on the lobe of the right ear of him who's to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot again that's a clear reference to Christ this is an anointing and on top of the blood of the guilt offering and the rest of the oil that is the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed then the priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh and you're gonna note here notice the passive nature of making atonement and this is this is an important aspect of this

Christ is our high priest he has made atonement for us the person offering the sacrifice is not making atonement for themselves that's not how that works so it's the priest then who fulfills the function and he makes atonement for the person so then the priest shall offer the sin offering make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness and afterwards he shall kill the burnt offering and the priest shall offer the burnt offering the grain offering on the altar thus the priest shall make atonement for him and here we go something pre figuring the atone the the absolution and he shall be clean just like when the sacrifices are made and he shall be forgiven he shall be clean the sacrifice is done for him the sprinkling occurs on him and is done to him and now he shall be clean type and shadow picture of our being cleansed from sin now of course that you'll note that the ingredients for some of these things some of the sacrifices may start to cost a wee bit of money and the one thing we know about lepers especially they've been lepers for a long time they don't exactly get to go to work every day and work at the office or at a job they have to live outside the city and they have to say when people come by I'm unclean

I'm unclean I'm a leper stay away all right so how they make their money then is probably through people giving them alms and it has to be done in the distance so lepers are not known for having padded bank accounts far from it so what then if you have a leper whose

God has cleansed of his leprosy and he can't afford these sacrifices do not despair he's poor and cannot afford so much then he shall take one male lamb for a guilt offering to be waived to make atonement for him and a tenth of an ephah fine flour with oil for grain for a grain offering and a log of oil also two turtle doves or two pigeons which are not worth much you know best pigeon is a dead pigeon that's what

I always like to think anyway I don't particularly care for those birds they're like rats with wings anyway so two turtle doves two pigeons whichever he can afford one shall be a sin offering the other burnt offering and on the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest to the entrance of the tent of meeting before Yahweh and the priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering and the log of oil and the priest shall waive them for a wave offering before Yahweh and he shall kill the lamb for the guilt offering and the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering put it on the lobe of his right ear of him who is to be cleansed on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot and the priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand and he shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before Yahweh and the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot in the place where the blood of the guilt offering was put and the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed to make atonement for him before Yahweh and he shall offer of the turtle doves or pigeons whichever he can afford one for a sin offering the other for a burnt offering along with the grain offering and the priest shall make atonement before Yahweh for him who is being cleansed this is the law for him who is a case of leprous disease who cannot afford the offerings for his cleansing all right types shadows reminders of sin ultimately the substance the root the true form is found in Christ we continue

Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron saying when you come to the land of Canaan which

I give you for a possession and I put a case of leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest this by the way sounds a lot like a mold infection what's going to be described here your house can get leprosy it's a kind of a broad category and there seems to be that in there there seems to me to be some case of disease in my house then the priest shall command that they empty the house before the priest goes to examine the disease lest all that is in the house be declared unclean and afterwards the priest shall go in to see the house and he shall examine the disease if the disease is in the walls of the house with greenish or reddish spots and if it appears to be deeper than the surface then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house shut up the house for seven days

I want you to consider this for a second just by way of like hygiene certain molds if they get into your house they will kill you they will flat -out kill you now we don't have that much of a problem here in this climate due to this fact the winters are

Sahara Desert dry here and in order for molds you know really the toxic kinds to really get going you need a very humid climate now

I'm not saying you can't get mold up here but that's not what I'm saying but move down to Florida move down to Florida you live in a house that doesn't you know the basement doesn't empty properly or things like that and now the house is like humid all you know 24 -7 you're gonna get mold in that thing it's gonna get into the walls it's gonna get into the rafters and there there's only one solution once it gets to a particular point you got to take the house down because living in it it'll kill you it will kill you quick it'll kill you faster than cigarettes now that being the case consider then what's being described here are homes that have a mold infection we even got the colors of these molds which means you could probably backwards engineer this and figure out which molds are being talked about here and so as an

Israelite now God has said in the types and shadows your house can get leprosy your house can get leprosy and if it does your house can be declared unclean and the result of this is is that you have to be cognizant of what's going on in your house oh what's that what's with the greenish splotches on the walls here we had better call the priest priest says your house is unclean but by going by doing this you're saving people's lives isn't it fascinating that God chose to use mold as a type and shadow of sin and uncleanness and by this little procedure now

Israelites who couldn't even begin to tell you how mold does what mold does and how dangerous mold is they just know

God says you got to be looking out for this thing and if your house has this your house could be declared unclean the priest has got to make has got to make the call the priest comes in says yeah your house is unclean you got a leprous disease in here they're being spared their lives are actually being spared in the days before we understand how microbes and things like that work so the priest shall go out of the house shut the door for seven days the priest shall come again on the seventh day and look if the disease has spread in the walls of the house then the priest shall command that they take out the stones in which the disease and which is the disease and throw them into an unclean place outside the city and he shall have the inside of the house scraped all around and the plaster that they scrape off they shall pour out in an unclean place outside the city then they shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones and he shall take other plaster and plaster the house if the disease breaks out again in the house after it is taken out after he has taken out the stones and scraped the house and plastered it then the priest shall go and look if the disease has spread in the house it is a persistent leprous disease in the house it is unclean and he shall break down the house its stones and timber and all the plaster of the house and he shall carry them out of the city to an unclean place moreover whoever enters the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening and whoever sleeps in the house shall wash his clothes and whoever eats in the house shall wash his clothes isn't that fascinating so you've just spent time inside of an unclean house with a mold infection and you are then required to wash your clothes is that interesting but if the priest comes and looks and if the disease has not spread in the house after the house was plastered and the priest shall pronounce the house clean for the disease is healed and for the cleansing of the house he shall take two small birds with cedar wood scarlet yarn and hyssop now your house gets to be baptized right and shall kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over the fresh water and shall take the cedar wood and the hyssop and the scarlet yarn along the live bird dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed and in the fresh water and sprinkle the house seven times thus she shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the fresh water and with the live bird and with the cedar wood and the hyssop and scarlet yarn and he shall let the live bird go out of the city into the open country so he shall make atonement for the house and it shall be clean houses need to have atonement made for them why would that be is my house a sinner well truly sinners live there

I'm gonna I'll agree with you that let's take a look at Romans 8 we'll get there we'll get there my goal is to like drag it out as long as possible yeah we're gonna be in chapter 14 for the next three more weeks listen to what

Paul writes in Romans 8 I'll start in verse 18 for our context for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us for the creation waits with eager longing for the revelation of the revealing of the sons of God for the creation was subjected to futility not willingly but because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God for we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now and not only the creation but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the

Spirit we groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons and the redemption of our bodies so you'll note in Romans 8 it makes it very clear that the creation itself has been subjected to futility and corruption do you know that there are no weeds no weeds in the new earth none there will be no mold in the new earth that will destroy houses this is the impact of sin so think of it this way then

Christ bleeds and dies for the sins of the whole world and his atoning sacrifice will have the ultimate effect of redeeming a sinful fallen creation including us and we're all going to be saved then through death and resurrection the creation itself will pass away it will die it is being impacted severely by our sin and everything that you see will be destroyed and God will resurrect the creation itself and there will be a new creation so it is not a superfluous weird thing that houses can be declared unclean because houses are made up of the stuff of the earth of the creation and they are subjected to futility

I want to find the weeds text real quick see if I can find this and I think it's in the

Psalms yeah let's see maybe not Old Testament I'm gonna have to find it later bummer for me

I'll have to hunt this down there is a text in the psalm and I've got to find it where the psalmist literally talks about the fact that if in the new creation if there were weeds

I would muster my armies to fight them but alas they're not you know it's an interesting thing so in the creation itself everything is subjected to futility including your house and I would argue the reason why

Lowe's Home Depot and Menards exist is because our homes are subjected to futility and we're always having to bring them back to the state that they should be in The ultimate sin is when we've had leprosy, weeds, all things that challenge us in our daily living and what they're trying to explain to us in Leviticus here is that we will be plagued with them but not necessarily they have a section in the

Bible with all the plagues too but these weeds, wouldn't it be nice for a farmer to be able to farm without them?

It just doesn't happen and not only that,

I always am fascinated like when I drive out in this when

I drive out in this area in the summertime and you get those yellow planes so I'm driving down the highway heading towards Kongsvinger and all of a sudden right across the road like feet above my truck this barnstorming weed crop duster is doing his thing what's he doing?

He's killing bugs and killing weeds There will be no need for crop dusters in the new earth which

I'm very happy about I've got to find this text but I can't find it, bummer

Alright, let's continue on. Are you ready Dave? Are you ready?

Here we go This is the law for any case of leprous disease, for an itch, for leprous disease in a garment or in a house or for a swelling or for an eruption or a spot to show when it is unclean and when it is clean

This is the law for leprous disease We did it, we made it to chapter 14

We're going to have some cake afterwards And you're going to wish we were still in 14 as soon as I turn the page

Because this is again part of the icky bio portions of the book of Leviticus Again, always as I read this

I'm so thankful I am not a Levitical priest that I am a new covenant pastor, that's all

I have to say So Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron saying speak to the people of Israel say to them when any man has a discharge from his body this discharge is unclean

This is the law of his uncleanness for a discharge whether his body runs with his discharge or his body is blocked up in his discharge it is his uncleanness

Every bed on which the one with the discharge lies shall be unclean everything on it in which he sits shall be unclean

Anyone who touches his bed shall wash his clothes, bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening

And whoever sits on anything in which the one with the discharge has sat shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening

Whoever touches the body of the one with the discharge shall wash his clothes, bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening

You'll notice discharges here then are an effect of sin If the one with the discharge spits on someone who is clean then he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening

And any saddle on which the one with the discharge rides shall be unclean

Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening And whoever carries such things shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening

Anyone whom the one with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening

Take a look at that, washing his hands So you'll note then now we're getting to discharges that have to do with illnesses and of course this is rather disgusting and this is now held up again as a picture of the effects of sin and you are to recognize what is clean and what is unclean and in this particular case you've come in contact who has a discharge as a result of an illness and you are to wash your hands

These are the things that spread diseases This is why we have hand sanitizers now, right?

God knew this all the way back then and in this type and shadow of sin and its effects of being clean and unclean we have a command to wash your hands and this command is for the purpose of you not getting the ewe on you and you end up being the one with the discharge

It's very fascinating An earthenware vessel that the one with the discharge touches shall be broken, every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water and when the one with the discharge is cleansed of his discharge then he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing wash his clothes and he shall bathe his body in fresh water and shall be clean

Isn't it interesting that most diseases like this they pretty much run their course in about a week or a little longer and on the eighth day he shall take two turtle doves, two pigeons and come before Yahweh to the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest and the priest shall use them, one for a sin offering the other for a burnt offering and the priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh for his discharge

Put more bluntly the person who finds themselves ill in such a way that they end up needing

Pepto -Bismol afterwards they have to go and there's a sacrifice for their being cleansed of that illness

The man has a mission of semen he shall bathe his whole body in water and be unclean until the evening Every garment and every skin on which the semen comes shall be washed with water and be unclean until the evening

If a man lies with a woman and has an omission of semen both of them shall bathe themselves in water and be unclean until the evening

When a woman has a discharge and the discharge in her body is blood she shall be in her menstrual impurity for seven days and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening

Everything on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean Everything also on which she sits shall be unclean

Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening

Whoever touches anything on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening

Whether it is the bed or anything on which she sits when he touches it he shall be unclean until the evening and if any man lies with her and her menstrual impurity comes upon him he shall be unclean for seven days and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean

Now this then has impact then for the story that we read about the woman who has an issue of blood for 12 years

She is unclean for 12 years 12

In fact it's worth reviewing this woman who is impacted by this command in the

Gospel of Mark chapter 5 and we'll take a look at some of the some of the interesting

Greek here Mark 5 .21 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side

So he's coming back onto the other side of the Sea of Galilee Sea of Galilee if you were to look at it is in the northern part of Israel The western bank is going to be

Gentile territory Eastern side with the exception of the southeastern side is

Capernaum and places like that That's all Jewish settlement So Jesus coming back across He traveled across the sea with the disciples to the area of the

Gerasenes That's where the demoniac of the Gerasenes was and now he's coming back and he's landed at Capernaum which is his home base of operations

He actually has a home there And so when Jesus crossed again in the boat to the other side a great crowd gathered about him and he was beside the sea

Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue Jarius by name and seeing Jesus he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly saying

My little daughter is at the point of death Come lay your hands on her so that she may be made well and live

And he went with him Now I always like to point out that there's an interesting play on words here

Be made well Sothe is from the Greek verb sozo means to save So it's kind of fascinating This word is used for salvation in the true sense

We're sozo, we're saved by what Christ has done But it's also used in a temporal sense

So if you have a disease and you are made well then you are saved

It's fascinating how that works It has an interesting double entendre So he literally says

Lay your hands on her so that she may be saved and live And you can then decide how it best goes

Interesting play on words So he went with him A great crowd followed him and thronged about him

So you get this idea There's a whole group of people like a river now going up towards Jarius' house

Jesus is in the midst of that throng And there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years

What we've just read in Leviticus 15

This woman is unclean Everything she sits on is unclean

Her bed is unclean She has been forbidden from participating in the worship life of her own community for 12 years

She can't even go to the synagogue because anything she sits down on she's going to make unclean

She's just a walking pile of uncleanliness She's not allowed to touch people

She's not allowed to be there And she has come up with this brilliant plan

She's going to sneak a miracle Why is she having to sneak it?

Because she can't come to Jesus She's unclean She's got to stay out of his presence

But she's taking it upon herself to concoct a way in which to overcome all of this

So There was a woman who had a discharge of blood 12 years I find it fascinating that Jarius' daughter is 12 years old

This woman has had an issue of blood for 12 years Now she suffered much under many physicians and had spent all that she had and was no better but rather grew worse

Let's just say medical technology wasn't all that brilliant in the time of Christ So she's desperate to be able to no longer be unclean and every effort on her part has only resulted in the situation getting worse

She had heard the reports about Jesus And she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment

Now we know from the cross references in the other Gospels what this is referring to And I wonder if I can pull that up Alright So here we have some

Orthodox Jews And The book of Numbers requires that they have these tassels coming off the corners of their shirts

And these are called tzitzioth tzitzith would be the singular tzitzioth is the plural

And so these are the tassels that's being referred to here

So Jesus He's keeping the law perfectly for us

His garments will include tzitzioth where he's got four of them two coming off the front corners two coming off the back corners

And so there Jesus is walking towards Jairus' house

And his tzitzioth are flapping in the wind And this woman has the brilliant idea

She's going to swim in through the crowd And all she's got to do is touch one of those

That's it And she knows that she's going to be healed And that's what she does It's a brilliant plan

Except She didn't take something into consideration Now here's what she says though She says, if I touch even his garments

I will be And here's this word again Saved If I touch even his garments

I will be saved So immediately she touches it And the flow of blood dries up She felt in her body

She was healed of her disease And Jesus perceiving in himself

That power had gone out from him Immediately turned about in the crowd And said, who touched my garments?

Which makes no sense I mean Imagine if you would

That you got tickets to go to See the Vikings play You know, in October Yeah They were given to you for free

Yeah So And they were playing the Patriots You might go

Yeah, yeah, yeah You might go for the sake of the Patriots, right? So you arrive at the stadium

You get out of your car You go through the ticket stall In fact, there's a line And you're just in this group of people

And guess what's happening to you You're getting touched It just happens Crowds have this weird way

Of kind of moving this way And moving that way And doing their thing So there's Jesus in the midst of this crowd Thronged about him and says

Who touched me? Which then explains the next part

So his disciples said to him You see the crowd pressing around you And yet you say, who touched me?

This doesn't make any sense, Jesus And now Jesus doesn't say anything He just starts looking around This woman knows for a fact

She's just stolen a miracle She knows for a fact she's unclean Has been unclean

And she shouldn't have been doing what she did She broke so many commands

If you would Doing what she did That I'm sure at this point

She's expecting She's going to be brought up on charges Taken outside the city And stoned

That's to be expected at this point And she has no reason Because I put it this way 12 years of being unclean 12 years of not being able to go to church 12 years

That feels like God is Well, he doesn't love you He hates you This woman has experienced

The consequences of sin And not just her consequences But the consequences of the whole creation

Falling apart in a way That her experience here Has left her completely destroyed

So now Jesus says Who touched me? And he's looking around And the woman knowing

What had happened to her Came in fear and trembling So here She's this

At this point And I don't know if you've noticed But when any human being Especially women get to this point

Usually there's tears And when you're that frightened And you're that crying

And you're that scared You need a Kleenex I mean, this is what's going on This woman has completely come apart

So she comes She came in fear and trembling And she fell down before Jesus And she told him the whole truth

The law has been broken She has touched

Jesus When she's so unclean And Jesus doesn't rebuke her

First words out of his mouth Is thugater It's kindness

He says, oh daughter Daughter Your faith has

And the Greek word is sozo Your faith has saved you Go in peace

And here's a fascinating word And be healed from your mastigas

It gets translated as disease And that isn't even nearly strong enough

Mastigas is what happens to you When the Roman soldiers take your arms

Put them up in the shackles Put you against a pole Strip your shirt off your back

And pull out the cat of nine tails And beat on your back Until it opens up and starts bleeding

That's a mastigas It's a scourging And Jesus says to her

Be saved From your scourging

Which means he totally understood What she had just gone through And not only does he heal her

He forgives her He comforts her And he empathizes with her In what she went through for twelve years

Yeah What does it mean when they say

Jesus has been considered unclean Because someone touched him

Yeah, that's the thing about Jesus That's the thing about Jesus Let's talk I'll have to read the rest of the story

To answer the question But as far as what does it mean To have power go out of Listen, I don't have any power

So I couldn't tell you what that feels like You know, my wife is very thankful That I am not a deity

Because I'd be a terrible one But the idea then is that Christ being

God He knows when power goes out of him He's all knowing And so he perceived

There was some way in which he knew That that power His power as God Had gone out from him

And notice Jesus had no volition in this This woman just totally snuck and stole this

Now, to answer your next question Yeah, strength in her faith Yeah, all of this is for her

Now, let's continue on Jesus isn't allowed to touch dead bodies either So take your question

Is Jesus unclean? Let's kind of let that hang out in space For a second here So, while he was still speaking

There came from the ruler's house Some who said, your daughter is dead Why trouble the teacher any further?

Overhearing what they said Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue Do not fear, only believe

Isn't that what I mean, anxieties It's just fear on steroids, right? So now you've had somebody who's died

And now he's just terribly afraid I mean, the guy Jairus at this point Has just gone to feel like He's utterly

You know, failed But on top of that You have to wonder Is there any sense in which he's thinking

If that woman Who had been unclean for 12 years Hadn't slowed everything down Then maybe

Jesus would have made it on time Because he was in a race Against death

And now he just lost the race So Jesus says Do not fear, only believe

So now Jesus gets rid of the crowd He only allowed Peter, James, and John The brother of James To come with him

In order for something to be established You need two witnesses Jesus takes two plus one So they came to the house

Of the ruler of the synagogue Jesus saw a commotion People weeping, wailing loudly And when they had entered

He said to them Why are you making a commotion? And weeping The child is not dead But is sleeping Only Jesus gets to talk this way

About death, by the way It's just this weirdest thing So they laughed at him But he put them all outside He actually throws them out

Took the child's father and mother And those who were with him And went where the child was And watch this

This child's dead Taking her by the hand He said to her Talitha koumi

Which means little girl I say to you, arise Notice again Another instance Of the tenderness of Christ And immediately the girl got up And began walking

For she was 12 years of age And they were immediately Overcome with amazement And he strictly charged them

That no one should know this And that he told them To give her something to eat That little piece of there

Tells us that this girl Probably got so sick That as the illness ran its course

She couldn't keep any food down Whatever killed her Involved a lot of vomiting

And it just overcame And so now we've got Jesus Technically being touched

By an unclean woman But it says the flow of blood Immediately shut up And now

Jesus takes a dead girl By the hand And she's alive Which direction are things running?

Here in the sinful creation As sinners Uncleanness gets passed around But Jesus is

God So when something unclean touches him He doesn't become unclean

They become clean When he touches a dead body That body ceases to be dead

So Jesus never once Had to offer any sacrifices Or be cleansed

For touching a woman Who was unclean Or for touching dead bodies

And you could see That this had to kind of like It was hard for the Jews To wrap their heads around it

Because you could see As Jesus was getting ready To take this dead corpse by the hand In slow motion

I always like to see At this point The camera cranks to super slow mo And the Jews go No Jesus stop

And so the answer to the question is No, Jesus is never unclean The unclean are made clean by him

Jesus is never corrupted by a corpse He makes the corpse alive Peter loses his mind