1 Corinthians 10:11
“Now all these things happened to them (the Israelites) as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”
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(The Apostle, Paul.)
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1 Corinthians? I thought we were going to learn about Jesus in the book of Leviticus? Yes we are, and the opening scripture explains why we go study the Old Testament and books like Leviticus: To see Jesus!
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New Covenant Dispensation.
Paul wrote approximately 3/4 of the New Testament. During that time, the only scripture he could reference, of course, was the Old Testament. What else, right? It was from that Covenant he “Wrote” his letters.
I say, “Wrote” in quotation marks because, though it was his pen that put words on paper, the Holy Spirit is the Author. Paul was just another in a long line of Jewish secretaries. Holy men of God spoke…..and wrote….as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. You could say that the Old Covenant is the New Testament concealed and the New is the Old revealed!
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For Our Benefit.
In The opening passage, Paul said everything thing that happened to the Children of Israel, i.e. all the laws, all the stories, and all their history, were recorded for our benefit and instruction. We, however, are no longer under Law, he tells us, but under grace.
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Why? Because it is not our dispensation. The Law is past for us. It is Old Covenant. Otherwise you’d be hearing sermons about the right way to choose your lamb, how to offer right sacrifices, the importance of circumcision for your male family members, and so on. We now go to the Old Testament to bring out Jesus; to see Him in the Types, shadows, and stories recorded. He is there…EVERYWHERE! 😍
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“Feed My Sheep.”
If you remember nothing else, remember this: The law is most certainly NOT given to us so that modern-day “Pharisees” can use it to condemn God’s people, putting believers back under the yoke of bondage. Remember what Jesus said to Peter? “Feed My sheep.” He said it three times with specific intent because He doesn’t want under shepherds (pastors and teachers) beating His sheep.
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Jesus came to bring us life and that more abundantly, not to give us laws, laws, and more laws. AMEN! Christianity is not about laws and doctrines; it’s about relationship with a Person: Our Lord Jesus Christ. 😍
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Not LawLESS.
Does that mean we don’t have to obey the big Ten? OF COURSE NOT. No one is advocating lawLESSness. But we have a better Covenant based on better promises and better blood! God has written His new laws on our hearts. He gave us the Teacher, i.e. the Holy Spirit, Who directs from within.
Thankfully, we are not condemned and cursed when we fail. Who needs the map: The Law, when you have THE MAN: JESUS, Who wrote the map, living IN you!
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(For more on that topic, you may follow the link below:
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Living Examples.
Everything that happened to Israel serves as examples to us, like object lessons or a visual aids. They are recorded so that we can learn from their mistakes. Why suffer unnecessary pain, right?
These “Object lessons,” if you will, were directed in particular to those “upon whom the end of the ages have come.” That’s us…now…TODAY! We are, most assuredly, the generation that will see the rapture happen and the end of all the ages. We are the last generation.
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(For more on that topic, you may follow the link below:
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With all that in mind, let’s now go to the book of Leviticus. Believe it or not, we are going to examine the Law of Leprosy 😳 which beautifully illuminates the love of our dear Jesus! 😁
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Jesus Is The Key! 🔑
Maybe you’ve never really gotten a whole lot out of this book. Maybe those pages in your Bible are all stuck together (mine were ☺️). I never much liked reading that part of scripture either…..until I learned how to see Jesus in the Old Testament! He is THE KEY to opening up every book of the Bible. When you look at this Law of leprosy IN LIGHT OF HIS FINISHED WORK, I promise: It will give you goosebumps!
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(A leper in ancient Israel.)
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Law Of Leposy.
Leviticus 14:1-3
“1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 ‘This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest. 3 And the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him…..”
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In many circles leprosy is considered a typology of sin. But it also represents any kind of physical sickness or incurable disease. Back in ancient Israel, this disease was rampant, incurable, and quite the scourge. Fortunately for us today, thanks to modern medicine, leprosy has pretty much been eradicated.
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No Difference.
There are a couple of things about forgiveness we need to know. There is a correlation between sickness and forgiveness that is key to our understanding, and thereby receiving, what God desperately wants to give us, which is Complete and total healing!
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The Bible does not differentiate between the two, i.e., forgiveness and healing. God deals with them both in exactly the same way. You must understand that Jesus not only paid with His life to cleanse all of us from sin, He paid for all our sicknesses as well. The same word in Isaiah 63 used for when He “Carried” our sins is also used when it says He “Carried” our diseases.
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THE EXTENT TO WHICH WE DON’T UNDERSTAND THIS IS THE EXTENT TO WHICH WE SUFFER, and thereby don’t receive, OUR HEALING for which Jesus OVERPAID!
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More Healings.
There would be many more supernatural healings if Christians in general understood that Jesus carried both our sin AND our sicknesses in His body on the cross. Any time you hear preaching about how Jesus has cleansed you of “all sin,” just say to yourself, “And all my sicknesses,” and you’ll be right! If your sin has been dealt with then your sicknesses have been dealt with as well.
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Now you understand why Jesus told the paralytic that his sins were forgiven. He knew that the man would not be able to receive his healing until he was fully assured that he was right with God.
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Partial vs. Complete Forgiveness.
Most of the Church does not understand complete forgiveness because most pastors do not preach about it. What they actually teach is partial forgiveness.” The truth is ALL OUR SINS FOR OUR ENTIRE LIVES ARE CLEANSED. That is total forgiveness.
What most of us hear is a **forgiveness-as-you-go, “gospel.” They are telling you that only those in the past up to your latest confession are cleansed. That is partial forgiveness. It is not THE Gospel. It is the devil’s counterfeit.
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Jesus spoke with Simon the Pharisee about this very topic. He had the same misconception about forgiveness that many in the Church today have. You may follow the link below if you’d like to read all about it:
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**This is the #1 reason why we only see SOME OF OUR SICKNESSES are healed. Partial teaching = partial healing; some healed, some not. We have this kind of thing in many Churches today, this DOUBLE TALK. Well, are you cleansed of all or not? You cannot have it both ways.
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Headships And Leaderships.
👉🏻Pastors and leaders,👈🏻 you need to get this right because your people cannot rise higher than the preaching they hear from you.
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You see, God deals with all of us through headships and leaderships. This is why it’s so critical for pastors and teachers to understand correctly, to teach right things to the people, and to rightly divide the word of God. It affects them in every way, whether good or ill.
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Rightly Dividing.
Too many–yes, even theologians with PhD’s–jumble the whole Bible together. They do not know how to rightly divide the covenants…..and there are several, though the two main ones are the Old (the Big Ten) and the New, recorded in Hebrews 8.
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When you don’t rightly divide the covenants, you can apply to the church things that are not meant for our dispensation, which is the New Covenant of Grace.
While it’s true, the whole Bible is profitable “FOR” teaching and learning, YES, it is not all is written “TO” us. Some is written TO Jewish people–not TO the church, some TO unbelievers, and some specifically written TO the Church. It may sound strange but it is true nonetheless.
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If this concept is confusing to you, you may follow the link below for an in-depth study on how to rightly divide the word of God:
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Think of it this way: A good friend receives a letter from a mutual friend. It contains many things that are uplifting and encouraging to you both, so your friend lets you read it. But contained in the letter is a message to your friend to remind him or her of the $20 he or she owes the author of the letter.
Now, you can read the whole letter if you want and receive what was of encouragement to you. But…..you understand, of course, that the part about the money owed does not apply to you. It apples TO your friend. So, though the letter is not written “TO” you it has still been of benefit “FOR” you.
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A Two-Edged Sword.
When it comes to understanding scripture, we must not either spiritualize everything or naturalize everything. God’s wisdom is two-fold; a two-edged sword, both natural AND spiritual. (See Hebrews 4:12.)
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For example: Jesus didn’t only heal people spiritually; He healed their physical bodies, too. Unless there is correct teaching on healing, the people will not have their faith activated, or energized, to receive healing because “faith comes by hearing the word of God.”
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As I said, God handles sickness exactly the same way He handles sin. Just as salvation does not come by works but by faith in the blood of Christ, so healing does not come by works either but BY FAITH IN THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. No difference. What God has put together let not man divide.
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Now, let’s go see Jesus in the Law of Leprosy in Leviticus.
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The Unclean Person.
Anyone in ancient Israel infected with leprosy had to live outside the camp, away from any and all human contact. All non-infected persons who happened to come in contact with a leper were considered to be unclean. They were required to go through a very detailed, carefully prescribed cleansing process.
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Chapter 14 begins by saying that the leper “Must be BROUGHT to the priest.” Notice he cannot go to the priest by himself; he must be brought by someone else. The UN-named person is a picture of the Holy Spirit, Who never draws attention to Himself, but always points to Jesus.
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This is a depiction of evangelizing. Anyone who comes to faith in Christ must be led to Him by someone who is already saved. In other words, a “clean person,” whose sins have been totally cleansed by the blood, must bring the UNclean person.
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THIS COMPLETELY PUTS TO REST THE MYTH OF UNIVERSAL SALVATION.
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Notice also that the unclean person also cannot clean himself but no one in Israel can clean him either. Only the high priest can come and bring him through the process outlined here and afterward pronounce him clean. That’s Jesus to us!
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Holiness Is Contagious.
In the Old Testament when someone touched an unclean person they became UNclean. But under the New Covenant, the UNclean becomes clean when he touched a clean person. HOLINESS IS CONTAGIOUS. You see, Church. Contrary to what you may have been taught, sin doesn’t bring us down; we raise the sinner UP because we have Jesus living in us!
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How many times did Jesus touch lepers or the unclean? COUNTLESS! Did they defile Him? No. Did He cleanse and heal them? YES!. HE CLEANSED AND HEALED THEM ALL!
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Outside The Camp.
“And the priest shall go OUT OF THE CAMP, and the priest shall examine him…..”
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This is the part that has me reaching for kleenex. In order for the leper to be ministered to by the priest, he had to go outside the camp to examine the person, like a visiting physician.
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In the same way, when you and I were defiled by sin, we couldn’t get into heaven. But Jesus, our High Priest, left heaven–His “Camp”–and came down to where we were. HALLELUJAH!
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Cleansing Process.
Next, the leper had to go through a cleansing process which went like this:
Leviticus 14:4-6
“…then the priest shall command to take for him who is to be cleansed two living and clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop. And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water. As for the living bird, he shall take it, the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water.”
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Typologies.
The cedar tree and the hyssop plant are the greatest and the smallest of trees mentioned in the Bible, respectively. Trees, being made of wood, are a picture of humanity so these two trees represent everyone from the greatest to the smallest person.
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Scarlet dye in Biblical times came from the death of the scarlet worm. The word in Hebrew is “Tola [תּוֹלָע].” It must be CRUSHED to make the red dye, depicting how Jesus was crushed for our benefit.
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Scarlet to the Jews, rather than purple, was indicative of royalty. You remember when Jesus was brought before the whole Roman praetorium? They stripped Him and put on Him a “SCARLET ROBE,” knowing full well it was a sign of royalty to the Jews…and He was CRUSHED for our iniquities.
(Another box of tissues, please!)
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When Adam and Eve fell, what literally happened was they stripped themselves of the glory of God. In similar fashion, Jesus was stripped of His clothing and gave up everything He had so that we could be clothed with His robe of righteousness and give us what He rightfully deserves.
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Death And Resurrection.
They took two cleans birds, either doves or pigeons. One was killed in an earthen vessel over running water, the other sprinkled seven times with the blood of the bird that was killed. It was then set free. As it flew away, of course, there was blood visible on it it’s wings.
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The earthen vessel is a picture of our Lord Jesus. He came to earth and became a human being and was physically born of a Virgin. Running water always typifies the Holy Spirit. The two birds represent two aspects of Jesus: His death and His resurrection. Just like the bird that was dipped in the blood of the bird that was killed and sprinkled with blood, so Jesus died, rose again and returned to Heaven in PHYSICAL FORM, like the real bird that flew away, with all the marks of the death of the cross in His body.
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Next…..Leviticus 14:7-9
“7 he {the priest} shall sprinkle it {the water} seven times on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose in the open field. 8 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. After that he shall come into the camp, and shall stay outside his tent seven days. 9 But on the seventh day he shall shave all the hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows—all his hair he shall shave off. He shall wash his clothes and wash his body in water, and he shall be clean.”
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Sinner Saved By Grace?
The water is sprinkled SEVEN TIMES on the person who is to be cleansed. 7 = perfect cleansing. Then, THE PRIEST SHALL PRONOUNCE HIM CLEAN. It’s the same with us today. Just like the leper who was pronounced clean, we who were once UNclean with sin have been pronounced “clean” of all our sins FOREVER. WHAT JESUS HAS PRONOUNCED CLEAN, LET NO ONE PRONOUNCE UNCLEAN. To do so dishonors the blood He shed.
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Still, incredibly, many Christians go around saying, “I’m just a sinner saved by grace.”
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NO YOU’RE NOT!
You WERE A SINNER. Now you ARE a child of God. You are NO MORE UNclean.
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Stop saying you are UNclean when our High Priest, Jesus, has pronounced you clean. Remember what Jesus said to Peter in his rooftop vision? Acts 10:15 “What God has cleansed you must not call common.”
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“Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” (Amos 3:3 NKJV). IF YOU DON’T AGREE TOGETHER WITH JESUS THAT YOU ARE, INDEED, CLEANSED OF ALL YOUR SIN FIR YOUR ENTIRE LIFE, YOU’LL FIND YOU ARE NOT WALKING IN SYNC WITH GOD. No, that does not mean you lost your salvation. It simply means you are out of step.
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If God pronounces you clean but you still insist call yourself a sinner: UNclean. ONE OF YOU IS LYING…..and it isn’t God. 🤨
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Once upon a time you and I were white with leprosy (sin) from head to toe. Then Jesus came! He took all our sin and all our sicknesses in His body on the cross. He FULLY RESRESTORED US!
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Agree with Him!…..PLEASE. See His love for you in the Law of leprosy in the Book of Leviticus!
Emmaus Road Ministries 
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