What do skin diseases, bodily discharges, and ritual impurity have to do with us? More than you might think. Discover how God teaches his people to live with his holiness in the realities of everyday life.
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What repeated words and themes do you notice as you walk through these chapters? How does this help you to see what the big idea is?
As we see our own need to be cleansed, how do these chapters help us to glory in Jesus and his cleansing work?
Turn to Hebrews 10:22. Take some time to meditate on this verse, thanking God for Christ's work to cleanse you completely.
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The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.
Felicity: Thanks for joining us for Two Sisters and a Cup of Tea, the Bible study podcast for everyday life. Each episode is about 20 minutes long, the perfect length to enjoy with a cup of tea and an English style biscuit while we chat through the Bible together. This season we're making our way through Leviticus, and we're really glad you've decided to listen today. This whole season is thanks to our listeners who have generously and kindly given to us, enabled in us to keep the kettle on. We are very, very grateful.
Sarah: Welcome to Two Sisters in a Cup of Tea. My name is Sarah, I live in the UK. I'm here with my sister Felicity, she lives in the USA. And today we are getting into chapters 12, 13, 14 and 15 of Leviticus. They're kind of a chunk that work well together, thinking about a lot of diseases and mould, Felicity. But on that note, before we get in there, give me a flavour of what would you classify as an old biscuit for you? Do you go for, like when would you not touch it? When it's just soft? When it's got a little bit of mould on it? Full on green? What's your vibe on like when is something too diseased or mouldy?
Felicity: I mean yeah, well I’d I feel like the visual clue there. I I'm I I'm fairly sure that if I saw green on it or saw mould on it, I'm not going there. The softness of a biscuit, however, no, no, I don't think a biscuit is actually valuable enough to actually preserve and then throw away some of the moldy bit. The softness, however, you know, you can't tell whether a biscuit is soft until you pick it up, I don't think and you know, if you're having your cup of tea and you've decided that you you're gonna treat yourself to a biscuit with that cup of tea, and then you pick it up and you realize it's soft, I don't know, I feel like my my hopes have been set on the biscuit. So I I would probably eat it. I would I actually did persevere just a few days ago with a slightly soft custard cream, and I did regret it afterwards. But I, you know, also I had a custard cream with my cup of tea. It was it was fairly dreamy as well.
Sarah: Yeah, there's a blurry line there between how you discern it. Well, we're getting into a part of scripture that is difficult, it's unfamiliar. You can open this up and go, why am I reading about a lot of quite grim diseases and discharges and all the things here? Felicity, what do we do when we get to a part of scripture like this and we feel like we're getting to a sticking point with we really don't know why it's here and what we do with it? How do you even begin with that kind of thing?
Felicity: Yeah, and I think that the challenge with that is what I find myself doing when I'm reading through a bit like this is I kind of I my temptation is to skip it or just kind of like leapfrog through it in a kind of like, yeah, I'll just read a few words here, a few words here. And and in that very act, I find myself actually confirming all my misconceptions that this is not actually relevant and it's not actually useful. Not worth my time, exactly. I'll get to the like Leviticus sixteen, but you that'll be the bit. But I think and we've said we say this again and again, don't we? But but reading it in its context, like keeping in view the the big picture of the book, in fact the big picture of the whole Bible, which it sounds challenging to do that, isn't it? And I hope that as our listeners are in the Bible more, as they're kind of getting used to various different books and these things, then actually that sort of salvation story is just a bit more familiar. And you and you're now asking I find myself asking the question now, not not why am I reading this now on a Monday morning in Illinois, but why has God put this bit in this book? Why is this book in the whole Bible? How does it help me to understand our God and what he's doing? And and those are those are big questions, but I think every time I read and actually make myself read, there's a bit of discipline there, isn't it? To just keep reading and rereading, then my understanding just begins to increase a bit more. What any you got any tips to add?
Sarah: Yeah, I think asking the question of myself of what am I not seeing? Holy Spirit help me to see what you want me to see here. Praying Lord please show me yourself, show me what you want me to see in these chapters and then diligently reading and doing some colouring in with my highlighters you know just like just trying to kind of make sense of what's there. Remembering God's character is a big thing, I think. Remembering that God doesn't change. He's the same yesterday, today and forever. So actually, like his heart and his character is the same in this part of scripture as it is right back in Genesis and all the way through to Revelation. And I think that really helps to just trust him more with the unfamiliar and then we were just saying that actually just the practical reality of like, actually, there's quite a lot here. We're in four chapters today. So we've just noted down summaries of each part of this section. What's going on here? What like, okay, and how does that link to the next bit? And that just helps to kind of literally get our head round what's in here as well. But as you say, keeping the big picture and we'll kind of come to that. We're gonna read chapter 14 verses 1 to 32 today. But before we do that, we'll just talk through what's going on in chapters 12 and 13. Do you want to give us a flavour Felicity of what's going on there?
Felicity: Yeah. So the big picture here of these chapters is all about clean and unclean. If if you were to do the the usual thing of going through and sp and you looking for repetitions, that's what we're gonna see is a lot of clean and unclean. And there are different kind of areas of life that are considered in each of these chapters. So chapter twelve we have we have the situation of what happens after childbirth and what it what is the what do you do in order to move from unclean to clean. And then we I mean we have the next chapter we have skin diseases. A lot of detail actually about what it is when a a disease manifests itself, how I mean it's it's not something we think about every day, but for the
Sarah: No, but so the key is the priests really needed to know because they needed to be able to discern what was clean and what was unclean because they are mediating, because they are guarding and protecting the people from drawing near when they're in an unclean state.
Felicity: Which is surprising in itself, isn't it, that actually priests are involved with skin diseases. But that in itself is a big tell as to why five chapters is given over to this kind of stuff. That this is of of significant importance in terms of that, as you say, being able to be in the presence of God. And and and actually we go on through and we we come across mould, which is a problem as well, because that defiles or or makes you unclean. And again, this knowing and not knowing, like it's enlightening, isn't it? This is gonna be a problem in order that you might be able to approach God.
Sarah: Yeah, so last time we looked at preventable impurity, didn't we, with the food situation and these chapters are dealing with unpreventable situations. Like when you can't help but come across mould, when you can't help but have a disease, what do we do with that? That's what these chapters are addressing.
Felicity: Yeah. And I'm gonna re then read chapter fourteen, verses one through thirty-two. And it's kind of very much along the same lines, isn't it? We the defining skin diseases that we have going on here, and and really it continues along the same vein, and the priests are very much involved with this. So chapter fourteen, verses one through thirty-two.
The Lord said to Moses, These are the regulations for any diseased person at the time of their ceremonial cleansing, when they're brought to the priest. The priest is to go outside the camp and examine them. If they have been healed of their defiling skin disease, the priest shall order that two live clean birds and some cedarwood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop be brought for the person to be cleansed. Then the priest shall order that one of the birds be killed over fresh water in a clay pot. He is then to take the live bird and dip it, together with the cedarwood, the scarlet yarn, and the hyssop, into the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the defiling disease, and and then pronounce them clean. After that he is to release the live bird in the open fields. The person to be cleansed must wash their clothes, shave off all their hair, and bathe with water, then they will be ceremonially clean. After this they may come into the camp, but they must stay outside their tent for seven days. On the seventh day they must shave off all their hair. They must shave their head, their beard, their eyebrows and the rest of their hair. They must wash their clothes and bathe themselves with water and they will be clean. On the eighth day they must bring two male lambs and one new lamb a year old, each without defect, along with three tenths of an ephah, of the finest flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, and one log of oil. The priest who pronounced them clean shall present both the one to be cleansed and their offerings before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then the priest is to take one of the male lambs and offer it as a guilt offering, along with the log of oil. He shall wave them before the Lord as a wave offering. He is to slaughter the lamb in the sanctuary area where the sin offering and the burnt offering are slaughtered. Like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest, it is most holy. The priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. The priest shall then take some of the log of oil, pour it in the palm of his own left hand, dip his right forefinger into the oil in his palm, and with his finger sprinkle some of it before the Lord seven times. The priest is to put some of the oil remaining in his palm on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering. The rest of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed, and make atonement for them before the Lord. Then the priest did to sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from their uncleanness. After that the priest shall slaughter the burnt offering and offer it on the altar together with the grain offering and make atonement for them, and they will be clean. If, however, they are poor and cannot afford those, they must take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waived to make atonement for them together with a tenth of the ephah of the finest flour, mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of oil, and two doves or two young pigeons, such as they can afford, one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. On the eighth day they must bring for their them for their cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting before the Lord. The priest is to take the lamb for the guilt offering, together with the log of oil, and wave them before the Lord as a wave offering. He shall slaughter the lamb for the guilt offering, and take some of its blood, and put it on the lobe with the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. The priest is to pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand, and with his right forefinger sprinkle some of the oil from his palm seven times before the Lord. Some of the oil in his palm is to be put on the same places he put the blood of the guilt offering, on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot. The rest of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for them before the Lord. Then he shall sacrifice the doves or the young pigeons, such as the person can afford one is a sin offering and the other is a burnt offering, together with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make atonement before the Lord on behalf of the one to be cleansed. These are the regulations for anyone who has a defining skin disease and who cannot afford the usual offerings for their cleansing.
Sarah: Thank you, Felicity. Wow, there's a lot there, isn't there? So in the previous chapters, we've had these kind of diseases diagnosed and kind of shown what particular diseases are talked about and this chapter really is talking about what it looks like to be cleansed from these diseases. I don't know about you, but just reading that through again, hearing the kind of repetition of cleanse, cleanse, cleanse, cleanse, cleanse, cleanse, and the involvement of the priest, priest, priest, priest, priest all the way through, it becomes that actually they can't cleanse themselves. There needs to be someone outside who's gonna bring cleansing, who's gonna help bring this new start.
Felicity: Yes and again, and I think we've said this before in relation to you know, as you're made aware of the severity of the issue, what a relief that there is a provision by which you can be made clean. And again, just even just on the repetition, you know, that repetition of the the ear lobe, the right thumb, the big toe, and it's not really that those particular parts of the body are significant, it's actually just that that represents the whole person. Yeah, and so every every part of the person is cleansed through this act. And that's necessary. And I wonder, you know, in we don't have this in our time, do we? There's a gift for those back then of just how clear it is that you're unclean. Like we're we're not we don't have, you know, skin diseases and mould and all these things that we're not the things that we talk about so much. But actually for for this context, well yeah, this is really obvious. There's quite a big problem here.
Sarah: Yeah, it's kind of light and dark, isn't it, in terms of like what the kind of darkness to light maybe in terms of the kind of transition. And I think it's experiential, isn't it? Like they are experiencing what it is to go from unclean to clean and it's really striking around verse seven onwards in this chapter, seven times, there's repetition of the word seven, seven is kind of a completeness through the Bible, seven through nine, it just talks about the kind of really, you really are going to have a new start here, like to the extent that like your hair is going to be shaved off your beard and the eyebrows, you're going to be completely cleansed from head to toe and yet this idea that you're kind of, you're a new creation, really, like you're a new person, you're kind of really gone from one to the other, you can't be unclean and clean at the same time.
Felicity: Yeah, I love that. I hadn't I hadn't seen, yeah, that that fresh start we've got. And that this is the means by which that can happen. And as you previously said, you can't bring that about on your own. Like that's not just a muster up the willpower I'm just gonna be clean now. That's like that's not how it works.
Sarah: No and the priest has to declare it so verse 11 the priest who pronounces them clean shall present both of the one to be cleansed and their offering before the Lord so actually they need an outside witness they need the priest to be the one to declare them clean it's a public kind of declaration isn't it that they are now allowed to draw near again and again just what grace that the Lord provides away.
Felicity: So not only does the priest declare the person clean, but but more than that, it's not just like one particular person who is kind of eligible for this pronunciation. It it's actually there's a provision here, and we've seen this already. I love, love how, you know, if you can't afford it, then bring the pigeon or bring the bird, like like it's it doesn't have to be the the the lamb. What whatever it is, whoever you are, whatever circumstance you're in you can bring an offering which will allow you to be made clean in this way. What grace
Sarah: which it's what beauty as well isn't it that the Lord sees and he knows and he cares for the least of these and he says come there's provision for you to be cleansed there's provision for you to be brought back into the holy community so that you can draw near and it's just it's just so beautiful isn't it and it cannot help but take us to Jesus and his interaction with the women in Mark 5, that's where we've of really kind of gone to as we've been thinking this through, it? This woman who was not only bleeding for years and years, so like she was unclean, according to the law here, but she was socially outcast. She was, she was nothing, wasn't she? She was unseen and people would not go near her and yet we find her in this incident where she's in the crowds, she's in the crowds and she probably shouldn't be there but she's so desperate to be cleansed, she's so desperate that she kind of clamours to even touch his cloak doesn't she? And it's just the most extraordinary thing, one, that she can even draw near to Jesus, that's even possible in that moment. Yeah.
Felicity: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you'd think she should kind of be she should should be blown up before she even gets there.
Sarah: Yeah, exactly. But in a moment, her faith heals her and in a moment she is cleansed. And what really, really blew me away as I was kind of dwelling on that kind of interaction, I've always puzzled as to why, why it happens around the Jairus and his daughter dying and why is it there? Why has it put so much together? But Jairus is the priest he's the synagogue leader who's going to be able to pronounce her clean. He's seen it. He's there. He's the witness testifying to Jesus's extraordinary power to be able to bring this woman back into community, into fellowship, into being holy. And I just, whoa.
Felicity: I yeah, I love that. I'd never thought of that before. Just even just that notion that like pronoun pronounced clean, like the certainty of that, the the full stop of that, as you as you were saying, that new beginning, like this woman is given the new start, the new life, literally new life. And then and then we extrapolate that through and we're not the woman with the blood situation, but we are unclean through our sin. And I mean we're going to Hebrews so much, aren't as we're in Leviticus. But if you head to Hebrews ten, twenty-two, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart, with a full assurance that faith brings having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. And and that that very just it's so huge. It is so huge what is being achieved through the blood of Jesus and I think that as you are in these chapters, which as we were talking about at the start, they hard. Like, what are we doing? Why are we reading this? But actually as we're in it and as we grasp what's going on here, how much more then does it enhance our understanding of what is happening as we are sprinkled with the blood of Jesus, as we are pronounced clean when we are most definitely unclean when left to our own, our own devices, our own hearts.
Sarah: And that his pronouncement is final. He's the High Priest and he is the forever priest interceding for us and his word stands. Our uncleanness, our sin does not have the final word, Jesus does. We cannot scrub up for God, can we? I think these chapters make that abundantly clear as you read through goodness me, like there's just no way in our fallen world that we can scrub up for God by ourselves. We cannot wipe away our guilty consciences, we cannot clean ourselves from the mess that we're in, our sin, and yet what grace that he provides, the way, Jesus the way, the truth, the life, and his heart here. So I think I've just been really surprised at God's heart that's come through in these chapters when I mean, you know, you start reading them and you're like, Lord, I don't know.
Felicity: Yeah. Yeah, it's so true, isn't it? That he would again, and we we're seeing that throughout this whole book, that he's so much in pursuit of relationship with us, which is mind-blowing in itself. And then you see the the lengths to which he goes, ultimately through Jesus. But I think we do see that here, don't we, as we understand quite what's going on with the clean the cleanness, the uncleanness, the priest's role in that, the need for a declaration of being clean. Yeah. It's profound, isn't it, Sarah? You wanna you wanna pray for us as we sit in in the aftermath of these chapters?
Sarah: Yes, I'd love to. Let's pray. Our Father, just praise you so much of what we've seen of your heart and ultimately what we see in Jesus that he is willing. Lord, the leper cries out, Lord, if you are willing, make me clean. And Jesus says, I am willing. Lord, we praise you that you are willing to make us clean. And we praise you that that happens only by the blood of the high priest himself, the Lord Jesus who was the atoning sacrifice for our sin. Lord we praise you so much that we are pronounced clean through Christ and we pray please help us to live in light of that reality. Lord help us to go into our day rejoicing and jumping for joy and striving to live out our identity as those who are clean, those who are holy, those who are beloved by you and it's in Christ's name we pray, amen.
Felicity: Amen. Well, who knew? Who knew that all of that could get us to this level of wow?
Sarah: I know, I definitely didn't think we'd get there, but we really have. Come back next week for chapter 16, one of the biggest chapters in the Bible, chapter 16 and 17 actually next week. And if you are interested in partnering with us financially to help make each of these seasons happen, please do head to www.twosistersandacupoftea.com/partner. We're so grateful for every donation that helps keep the kettle on and we really look forward to seeing you next week.
Felicity: See you next week. Bye bye.
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