Unclean and Outside the Camp

A holy camp. God's tent stood in the middle of Israel's camp. Leviticus teaches that everything near God's presence must be clean, ready to come near Him. A hard rule. A person with this disease had to tear his clothes, cover his mouth and “cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’” (13:45). Everyone would know to stay back. Alone. “He shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp” (13:46). He was cut off from his family, his friends and the place of worship. Not a punishment. Being sick was not a sin. Jesus once said about a blind man, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned” (John 9:3). A picture. Even so, uncleanness was a picture of what sin does. Sin spreads, it spoils, and it keeps people away from God. Isaiah said, “we are all like an unclean thing” (Isaiah 64:6). Lonely. He had to call out “Unclean!” wherever he went. That was very lonely. People today can feel left out like that too. What we learn. Sin separates us from God the way this disease separated people from the camp. And God cares about people who are left outside.

Clean and unclean. Leviticus 11-15 sorts life into clean and unclean. These words are not about being dirty or bad. They describe whether a person or thing could come near the sanctuary. The Hebrew tamei (say: tah-MAY) means unclean in this sense. The disease. The NKJV says “leper.” The Hebrew tsara'at (say: tsah-RAH-aht) covered several skin conditions, and even mildew in cloth and houses (13:47; 14:34). It was not only the illness we call leprosy today. Outward signs (13:45). Torn clothes, uncovered head and covered lip were signs of mourning. The person lived like someone grieving. His cry protected others. Exclusion (13:46). “He shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.” Being outside the camp meant being outside the community gathered around God's presence. It was like a living death. Not a verdict on the person. This disease did not mean the person had sinned more than others. Jesus rejects that idea in John 9:2-3. Uncleanness pictures the effect of sin on the human race, not the guilt of one sufferer. The deeper problem. Isaiah 64:6 uses the same language for the whole nation: “we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.” Everyone needs cleansing.

God's Holy Tent was in the middle of the camp. Everything near it had to be clean. Clean did not just mean washed with soap. It meant ready to come near God. Some things made a person unclean for a while. One of them was a bad skin disease. A person with this disease had to live outside the camp. He had to warn people by calling, “Unclean!” Being sick was not his fault. He was not being punished for a sin. But being unclean was a picture of what sin does. Sin keeps us away from God. Sin can make us feel alone too. Jesus came for people who feel far away.

The sick person had to live alone. He could not come near God's tent. But he was not bad. God still loved him.

Healed, but still outside. “This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing” (14:2). The person had gotten well, but he still could not come home until a priest said he was clean. The priest goes out. “And the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him” (14:3). The priest left the clean camp and walked out to where the unclean person lived. God goes first. This shows something about God. He does not wait for people to fix themselves and come back. He sends help to them. Checking carefully. The priest examined the skin “if the leprosy is healed in the leper” (14:3). Only then could the cleansing begin. Jesus came out to us. A man with this disease said to Jesus, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Jesus “stretched out His hand and touched him” (Mark 1:40-41). A touch. No one touched people with this disease. Jesus did. He was not made unclean. Instead, the man was made clean. What we learn. God comes to people who are far away. Jesus is willing to make us clean.

Healing and cleansing. Leviticus 14 does not tell the priest how to heal anyone. God heals. The priest's work is to confirm the healing and bring the person back into the community. Healing and cleansing are two different things. Going out (14:3). “The priest shall go out of the camp.” The holy priest goes to the unclean person, not the other way around. That is what God's grace is like. The ritual begins outside the camp. Jesus and the leper. Mark 1:40-42 shows a man with this disease kneeling before Jesus. Jesus, “moved with compassion,” touched him. Under the law, touching would make the toucher unclean. With Jesus, the opposite happens: cleanness flows outward. Back to the priest. Jesus then said, “show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded” (Mark 1:44). Jesus honored Leviticus 14. The healed man would be officially restored. Ten men. In Luke 17:12-14 ten men with the disease “stood afar off,” as Leviticus required. Jesus told them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests,” and as they went, they were cleansed. The pattern. In Leviticus the priest goes out of the camp. In the Gospels the Son of God comes all the way into our world. Hebrews 13:12 adds that Jesus “suffered outside the gate.”

Sometimes the sick person got better. But he could not just walk back into camp. Someone had to say he was clean. That was the priest's job. God said the priest must go out of the camp. The priest went to the person, not the other way around. He looked carefully at the person's skin. If the disease was gone, he could start helping. This shows us what God is like. God goes out to find people. He does not wait for us to fix ourselves. Jesus did this too. He went to people no one else would touch. Jesus comes to us when we are far away.

The priest went out to him. He did not wait. God cares about people who are far away. Jesus does too!

Two birds. The priest commanded “two living and clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop” (14:4). Scarlet is bright red cloth. Hyssop is a small plant used for sprinkling. One bird died. “One of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water” (14:5). An earthen vessel is a clay bowl. Running water means fresh water. The living bird. The priest dipped “the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed” (14:6). Sprinkled and declared clean. He sprinkled the blood seven times on the person, “and shall pronounce him clean” (14:7). The priest's words made it official. Set free. Then he “shall let the living bird loose in the open field” (14:7). The bird flew away, free. A picture of Jesus. Many Christians see Jesus pictured here. One bird died, and the other, marked with its blood, was set free. Jesus died for us, and then He rose from the dead to set us free. Hyssop again. David prayed, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean” (Psalm 51:7). What we learn. Cleansing came through a death. And it ended in freedom.

The materials (14:4). Cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop appear together again in Numbers 19:6. They were tools of purification, used whenever God's people needed to be made clean. Hyssop is a small, bushy plant that was used for sprinkling. Death over living water (14:5). The Hebrew for “running water” is literally living water, mayim chayyim (say: MY-eem khai-YEEM). The bird is killed over fresh water in a clay bowl, mixing blood and water. The declaration (14:7). The priest “shall pronounce him clean.” The person did not declare himself clean. Someone with authority did. Cleansing is something received. The released bird. The second bird, dipped in the blood of the first, is released “in the open field.” It is as if the uncleanness is carried far away. Leviticus 16 uses the same pattern with two goats on the Day of Atonement. A picture of Christ. Since early times Christians have seen Christ in the two birds: one dies, and the other, marked by that death, rises into freedom. Jesus died for our sins and rose again, and everyone marked by His blood is set free. Hyssop and the cross. The New Testament does mention hyssop at the cross. When Jesus was thirsty, a sponge of sour wine was put on hyssop and raised to His mouth (John 19:29).

The priest asked for two clean birds. He also asked for cedar wood, red cloth and hyssop. Hyssop is a small plant. One bird was killed over fresh water. Its blood went into a clay bowl. Then the priest dipped the living bird in that blood. He sprinkled some on the healed person seven times. Then he said out loud that the person was clean. He let the living bird fly away. That was a happy moment! The bird was free, and the person was free too. Many Christians see a picture of Jesus here. Jesus died, and then He came back to life. Because of Him, we can be clean and free. God loves to set people free.

The priest used two birds. One bird died. The other bird was set free. God made the person clean.

Washing. “He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean” (14:8). It was like starting fresh. Back in the camp. “After that he shall come into the camp” (14:8). He could live among God's people again. Waiting a week. He stayed “outside his tent seven days” (14:8). On the seventh day he washed again, “and he shall be clean” (14:9). Back to worship. On the eighth day he brought offerings to the door of the tabernacle (14:10-11). The priest made “atonement for him, and he shall be clean” (14:20). All the way home. Step by step, the person went from outside the camp, to inside the camp, to his own tent, to the door of God's house. Clean in Jesus. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). A new start. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). What we learn. God does not want anyone left outside. Through Jesus, God makes us clean and brings us home.

Stages of return (14:8-9). The cleansing moves inward in stages: outside the camp, into the camp but outside the tent, then fully home. Each stage is marked by washing. Restoration is a process, not a moment only. Shaving and washing. Removing all hair and washing body and clothes marked a clean break with the old condition. It looks like a new beginning. The eighth day (14:10-20). Sacrifices complete the process: a trespass offering, a sin offering, a burnt offering and a grain offering. Blood and oil are placed on the right ear, thumb and big toe (14:14, 17), the same places used at the priests' ordination (8:23-24). The restored person is dedicated to God from head to foot. Atonement and cleanness. The cleansing ends, “So the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean” (14:20). Physical healing came first, but full restoration needed atonement too. Brought all the way home. Titus 3:5 says God saved us “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy… through the washing of regeneration.” Ephesians 2:13 says those “who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” The outsider is brought all the way home.

The healed person had more to do. He washed his clothes. He shaved off his hair. He took a bath in water. Then he could come back into the camp! First he stayed outside his own tent for seven days. On the seventh day he washed again. Then he was clean. The next day he brought offerings to God. He could go to God's tent again. He could hug his family again. God did not want him left outside. God wants us home with Him. Jesus washes away our sin and brings us home.

The person took a bath. He came back home! God made a way back. Jesus makes us clean too.