Podcast Introduction Today we’ll read  Leviticus 13-15. Afterwards, I’ll have some thoughts to share with you. I’m calling today’s episode “The Cleansing of the Leper.” Comments on Leviticus 14 Well, this was fun reading today, wasn’t it? How about no? I’m not going to go into any detail in my comments today. Not because I don’t think there is anything of value here, but because I personally find the find the details on how to deal with leprosy and bodily discharges somewhat distasteful for discussion on this podcast. It’s  not that I can’t handle this kind of subject matter. I have a degree in biology, and I worked in three different emergency medical fields for some time many years ago. I’ve seen a lot of gross stuff. I just don’t want to discuss the details here. I will say, though, that the Hebrew word that is translated as “leprosy” in our Bibles today could include a variety of different skin diseases, such as psoriasis or ringworm, including what is known  today as “Hansen’s disease”, commonly called leprosy. In addition, there are some diseases that at first manifest themselves on the skin, but are not strictly skin diseases, such as smallpox and measles. Something else I will comment on in a general sense is in regards to quarantine. Note that even though true leprosy is a horrible disease that ultimately causes death, quarantine was reserved for the person with the disease. The healthy population was not quarantined. Only the person suspected of having the disease was quarantined, or locked down.  I would like to share a bit with you from Leviticus 14:1-7 because it sounds a bit strange upon first blush.  Let’s read it again: 1The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2“This shall be the law of the leprous person for the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest, 3and the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall look. Then, if the case of leprous disease is healed in the leprous person, 4the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live clean birds and cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop. 5And the priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water. 6He shall take the live bird with the cedarwood and the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. 7And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird go into the open field. Leviticus 14:1-7 ESV Now you might wonder what this ritual has to do with anything. It sort of seems a bit random, doesn’t it? But it’s not.  Leprosy is thought by some to be a symbolic representation of sin. It begins with almost no visible symptoms and is painless in the early stages. It grows slowly. Sometimes it seems to go away, then comes back. The affected area becomes numb. It causes decay and deforms the person, to the point where they become repulsive. Eventually, the victim dies. So, this ritual has to do with the cleansing of the leper. Listen to this: In summarizing the ritual here is what happens: The ritual happens outside of the camp A being (a bird) from the heavens is sacrificed in an earthen vessel As the bird is killed, it is cleansed by the fresh water The death, which is asso