“When
anyone has a swelling or a rash or a shiny spot on their skin that may be a
defiling skin disease, they must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of
his sons who is a priest. The priest is to examine the sore on the skin, and if the hair in the
sore has turned white and the sore appears to be more than skin deep, it is a
defiling skin disease. When the priest examines that person, he shall pronounce
them ceremonially unclean.” Leviticus
13:2-3
“Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their
hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean!
Unclean!’ As long
as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must
live outside the camp.” Leviticus 13:45-46
God is concerned about our health and with a community
like the Israelites wandering the desert in such close proximity, the threat of
an epidemic breaking out was real. God
gave very detailed advice about how to diagnose these medical threats.
Skin disease symbolically represented sin and God wanted
the people to be “clean.” Since the
cleansing us of our sins was His primary goal, God replicated that concern by
diagnosing and healing skin diseases.