The Torah’s cleansing process for “leprosy” in people and houses recorded in Torah reading מְּצֹרָע Metzora (“leper,” Leviticus 14–15) symbolized restoration, yet isolated the “unclean.” This study explores how Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) in Matthew 8 and Luke 17 inverted this process by providing immediate healing and instructing the restored to offer sacrifices, just as the Torah prescribed, yet welcoming all into God’s presence through faith in His atoning work. A similar lesson comes from an account in 2Kings 7 of four lepers.
Tag: Leviticus 14
A house with toxic mold can be a hidden chronic health hazard. And an unsightly discoloration of the skin could be the harbinger of a creeping killer, if not diagnosed properly and quickly. The physical necessities of dealing with such “leprosy” in body and stuff illustrate well the cancers of character that grow and consume, if left untreated.
The Torah reading, מְּצֹרָע Metzora (“leper,” Leviticus 14–15) reveals how entering the Presence of the Creator of Heaven and Earth requires cleanliness that’s more than skin-deep. That cleanup job is something that’s described in Yom haKippurim (Day of Atonement, Leviticus 16) and reaches its reality in the death and resurrection of Yeshua the Mashiakh (Jesus the Christ).
The human condition is often ugly and gross. Yet the Creator still wants to live among us. He wants to deliver us out of the grossness and corruption of our culture. Yeshua (Jesus) sat with sinners, but He didn’t sin with them. That’s the lesson behind all the icky instructions in the dual Torah reading Torah readings תַזְרִיעַ Tazria (“she will conceive”) and מְּצֹרָע Metzora (“leper”) covering Leviticus 12–15.
Why would God want newborns and their mothers to be purified shortly after birth? Why is God so concerned about leprosy amid instructions for living life differently from the rest of the world? If we stick with appearances, our understanding the heart of God will be only skin deep. That’s what’s between the lines of this week’s dual Torah reading, תזריע Tazria (“she will conceive”) and מְּצֹרָע Metzora (“leper”), covering Leviticus 12–15.
It’s easy to fixate on the mysterious nature of the physical ailment translated “leprosy” in Torah reading מְּצֹרָע Metzora (“leper,” Leviticus 14–15) because to focus on its spiritual causation would make us very uncomfortable. This study looks into the prophecy of the Leper Messiah that Yeshua (Jesus) fulfilled. That that we can dig into this discomfort on this subject, and in the process grow in repentance and humility before God and in compassion and love towards those around us.
Birth and “the walking dead,” aka lepers. The two couldn’t be more different different. The first brings life into the world, and the latter is a mark of life that is headed out of the world. Yet in human body’s sometimes gross processes of fostering the new, we see similarities with the indeed gross processes that unravel the body, making it waste away.
The Torah readings תזריע Tazria (“she will conceive,” Leviticus 12–13) and מְּצֹרָע Metzora (“leper,” Leviticus 14–15) weave a thread of Heaven’s wisdom between the realms of life and death, showing us in stark imagery how Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ) indeed is making this happen: “The last enemy that will be abolished is death” (1Corinthians 15:26–27 NASB).
How did God deal with those who slander Him personally? Can such a person receive a pardon? The Torah defines the unpardonable sin as speaking evil against God. How does one speak evil against God? When one says that there is something that God doesn’t have the strength and power to do, that is speaking […]