DCLM Daily Manna 8 October 2023 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Handling Leprosy
TOPIC: Handling Leprosy (DCLM Daily Manna 8 October 2023)
KEY VERSE: “Then the priest shall come and look, and, behold, if the plague be spread in the house, it is a fretting leprosy in the house: it is unclean” (Leviticus 14:44).
TEXT: Leviticus 14:33-57
33 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
34 When ye be come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession;
35 And he that owneth the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, It seemeth to me there is as it were a plague in the house:
36 Then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest go into it to see the plague, that all that is in the house be not made unclean: and afterward the priest shall go in to see the house:
37 And he shall look on the plague, and, behold, if the plague be in the walls of the house with hollow strakes, greenish or reddish, which in sight are lower than the wall;
38 Then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days:
39 And the priest shall come again the seventh day, and shall look: and, behold, if the plague be spread in the walls of the house;
40 Then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which the plague is, and they shall cast them into an unclean place without the city:
41 And he shall cause the house to be scraped within round about, and they shall pour out the dust that they scrape off without the city into an unclean place:
42 And they shall take other stones, and put them in the place of those stones; and he shall take other morter, and shall plaister the house.
43 And if the plague come again, and break out in the house, after that he hath taken away the stones, and after he hath scraped the house, and after it is plaistered;
44 Then the priest shall come and look, and, behold, if the plague be spread in the house, it is a fretting leprosy in the house; it is unclean.
45 And he shall break down the house, the stones of it, and the timber thereof, and all the morter of the house; and he shall carry them forth out of the city into an unclean place.
46 Moreover he that goeth into the house all the while that it is shut up shall be unclean until the even.
47 And he that lieth in the house shall wash his clothes; and he that eateth in the house shall wash his clothes.
48 And if the priest shall come in, and look upon it, and, behold, the plague hath not spread in the house, after the house was plaistered: then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed.
49 And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:
50 And he shall kill the one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water:
51 And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times:
52 And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet:
53 But he shall let go the living bird out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house: and it shall be clean.
54 This is the law for all manner of plague of leprosy, and scall,
55 And for the leprosy of a garment, and of a house,
56 And for a rising, and for a scab, and for a bright spot:
57 To teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean: this is the law of leprosy.
MESSAGE:
Almost every age has had its social outcasts, people barred from society, whether through physical illness or national origin. One person who stepped across these barriers in India was pioneer missionary Mary Reed. Already working in India, Mary visited a leper colony and was deeply moved by the people’s plight. Later Mary contracted leprosy herself and went to work with the lepers, eager to tell them that she knew firsthand their pain and trauma. She became head of the leper colony she had visited and in the years following, many were saved and a church built. Mary retired at the age of eighty-four after many years of faithful service to these social outcasts (Today in the word, January 1990).
Today’s passage deals with the management of leprosy in the house by the Old Testament priests. First, the case of suspected leprosy outbreak in the house was reported to the priest. He goes in for an assessment. If after changing the affected blocks or stones and replacing the plaster, the plague stops, then the house is declared clean and a mandatory cleansing ceremony that involved the use of two birds, cedar wood, scarlet and hyssop is done. Should evidence of the plague return after the initial action taken, the whole house will be demolished to prevent leprosy from spreading into other houses in the community; and all in the house will be cleansed according to the requirement of the law.
The Lord had to commit the task of dealing with lepers to the priests, His ministers, because they are consecrated to care for the needy with love while taking their needs to God in prayers.
As believers, we are to visit the outcasts, take care of the poor and the widows in their afflictions while keeping ourselves unspotted from the world (James 1:27). We should avoid getting contaminated with sins regarded as spiritual leprosy.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Preach to sinners, care for the sick but avoid any defilement.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Isaiah 9 – 12
Deeper Life Daily Manna was written by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
