CHAPTER XII.

This brief section reads out to us, after its own peculiar fashion, the double lesson of "man's ruin and God's remedy." But though the fashion is peculiar, the lesson is most distinct and impressive. It is, at once, deeply humbling and divinely comforting. The effect of all Scripture, when interpreted to one's own soul directly by the power of the Holy Ghost, is to lead us out of self to Christ. Wherever we see our fallen nature, at whatever stage of its history we contemplate it--whether in its conception, at its birth, or at any point along its whole career, from the womb to the coffin, it wears the double stamp of infirmity and defilement. This is sometimes forgotten amid the glitter and glare, the pomp and fashion, the wealth and splendor, of human life. The mind of man is fruitful in devices to cover his humiliation. In various ways he seeks to ornament and gild, and put on an appearance of strength and glory, but it is all vain. He has only to be seen as he enters this world, a poor helpless creature, or as he passes away from it, to take his place with the clod of the valley, in order to have a most convincing proof of the hollowness of all his pride, the vanity of all his glory. Those whose path through this world has been brightened by what man calls glory, have entered in nakedness and helplessness, and retreated amid disease and death.

Nor is this all. It is not merely helplessness that belongs to man--that characterizes him as he enters this life: there is defilement also. "Behold," says the Psalmist, "I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." (Ps. li. 5.) "How can he be clean that is born of a woman?" (Job xxv. 4.) In the chapter before us, we are taught that the conception and birth of "a man-child" involved "seven days" of ceremonial defilement to the mother, together with thirty-three days of separation from the sanctuary; and these periods were doubled in the case of "a maid-child." Has this no voice? Can we not read herein a humbling lesson? Does it not declare to us, in language not to be misunderstood, that man is "an unclean thing," and that he needs the blood of atonement to cleanse him? Truly so. Man may imagine that he can work out a righteousness of his own, he may vainly boast of the dignity of human nature, he may put on a lofty air and assume a haughty bearing as he moves across the stage of life; but if he would just retire for a few moments and ponder over the short section of our book which now lies open before us, his pride, pomp, dignity, and righteousness would speedily vanish, and instead thereof, he might find the solid basis of all true dignity, as well as the ground of divine righteousness, in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The shadow of this cross passes before us in a double way in our chapter; first, in the circumcision of the "man-child," whereby he became enrolled as a member of the Israel of God; and secondly, in the burnt-offering and sin-offering, whereby the mother was restored from every defiling influence, rendered fit once more to approach the sanctuary and to come in contact with holy things. "And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt-offering, and a young pigeon or a turtle-dove for a sin-offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest; who shall offer it before the Lord, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that hath born a male or a female." (Ver. 6, 7.) The death of Christ in its two grand aspects is here introduced to our thoughts as the only thing which could possibly meet and perfectly remove the defilement connected with man's natural birth. The burnt-offering presents the death of Christ according to the divine estimate thereof; the sin-offering, on the other hand, presents the death of Christ as bearing upon the sinner's need.

"And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for a burnt-offering and the other for a sin-offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean." Nothing but blood-shedding could impart cleanness. The cross is the only remedy for man's infirmity and man's defilement. Wherever that glorious work is apprehended, by faith, there is perfect cleanness enjoyed. Now, the apprehension may be feeble, the faith may be but wavering, the experience may be shallow; but let the reader remember, for his soul's joy and comfort, that it is not the depth of his experience, the stability of his faith, or the strength of his apprehension, but the divine value, the changeless efficacy, of the blood of Jesus. This gives great rest to the heart. The sacrifice of the cross is the same to every member of the Israel of God whatever be his _status_ in the assembly. The tender considerateness of our ever-gracious God is seen in the fact that the blood of a turtle-dove was as efficacious for the poor as the blood of a bullock for the rich. The full value of the atoning work was alike maintained and exhibited in each. Had it not been so, the humble Israelite, if involved in ceremonial defilement, might, as she gazed upon the well-stocked pastures of some wealthy neighbor, exclaim, Alas! what shall I do? how shall I be cleansed? how shall I get back to my place and privilege in the assembly? I have neither flock nor herd: I am poor and needy. But, blessed be God, the case of such an one was fully met. A pigeon or turtle-dove was quite sufficient. The same perfect and beautiful grace shines forth in the case of the leper in chapter xiv. of our book--"And _if he be poor and cannot get so much_, then he shall take, etc.... And he shall offer the one of the turtle-doves, or of the young pigeons, _such as he can get; even such as he is able to get_.... This is the law of him in whom is the plague of leprosy, _whose hand is not able to get_ that which pertaineth to his cleansing." (Ver. 21, 30-32.)

Grace meets the needy one just where he is and as he is. The atoning blood is brought within the reach of the very lowest, the very poorest, the very feeblest. All who need it can have it. "If he be poor"--what then? Let him be cast aside? Ah, no; Israel's God could never so deal with the poor and needy. There is ample provision for all such in the gracious expression, "Such as he can get; even such as he is able to get." Most exquisite grace! "To the poor the gospel is preached." None can say, The blood of Jesus was beyond me. Each can be challenged with the inquiry, How near would you have it brought to you? "I bring _near_ My righteousness." How "near"? So near, that it is "to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly." (Rom. iv. 5.) Again, "The Word is _nigh_ thee." How "nigh"? So nigh, "that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Rom. x. 9.) So also that most touching and beautiful invitation, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and _he that hath no money_." (Is. lv. 1.)

What matchless grace shines in the expressions, "To him that _worketh not_," and, "He that hath _no money_"! They are as like God as they are unlike man. Salvation is as free as the air we breathe. Did we create the air? did we mingle its component parts? No; but we enjoy it, and, by enjoying it, get power to live and act for Him who made it. So is it in the matter of salvation. We get it without a fraction, without an effort. We feed upon the wealth of another, we rest in the work finished by another; and, moreover, it is by so feeding and resting that we are enabled to work for Him on whose wealth we feed and in whose work we rest. This is a grand gospel paradox, perfectly inexplicable to legality, but beautifully plain to faith. Divine grace delights in making provision for those who are "not able" to make provision for themselves.

But there is another invaluable lesson furnished by this twelfth chapter of Leviticus. We not only read herein the grace of God to the poor, but, by comparing its closing verse with Luke ii. 24, we learn the amazing depth to which God stooped in order to manifest that grace. The Lord Jesus Christ--God manifest in the flesh--the pure and spotless Lamb--the Holy One, who knew no sin, was "made of a woman," and that woman (wondrous mystery!), having borne in her womb, and brought forth, that pure and perfect, that holy and spotless, human body, had to undergo the usual ceremonial, and accomplish the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses. And not only do we read divine grace in the fact of her having thus to purify herself, but also the mode in which this was accomplished.--"And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, _a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons_." From this simple circumstance we learn that the reputed parents of our blessed Lord Jesus were so poor as to be obliged to take advantage of the gracious provision made for those whose means did not afford "a lamb for a burnt-offering." What a thought! The Lord of glory, the most high God, Possessor of heaven and earth, the One to whom pertained "the cattle upon a thousand hills"--yea, the wealth of the universe, appeared in the world which His hands had made, in the narrow circumstances of humble life. The Levitical economy had made provision for the poor, and the mother of Jesus availed herself thereof. Truly there is a profound lesson in this for the human heart. The Lord Jesus did not make His appearance in this world in connection with the great or the noble. He was pre-eminently a poor man. He took His place with the poor.--"For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich." (2 Cor. viii. 9.)

May it ever be our joy to feed upon this precious grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which we have been made rich for time and for eternity. He emptied Himself of all that love could give, that we might be filled; He stripped Himself that we might be clothed; He died that we might live. He, in the greatness of His grace, traveled down from the height of divine wealth into the depth of human poverty, in order that we might be raised from the dunghill of nature's ruin, to take our place amid the princes of His people forever. Oh that the sense of this grace, wrought in our hearts by the power of the Holy Ghost, may constrain us to a more unreserved surrender of ourselves to Him, to whom we owe our present and everlasting felicity, our riches, our life, our all!

CHAPTERS XIII. & XIV.

Of all the functions which, according to the Mosaic ritual, the priest had to discharge, none demanded more patient attention or more strict adherence to the divine guide-book than the discernment and proper treatment of leprosy. This fact must be obvious to every one who studies, with any measure of care, the very extensive and important section of our book at which we have now arrived.

There were two things which claimed the priest's vigilant care, namely, the purity of the assembly, and the grace which could not admit of the exclusion of any member save on the most clearly established grounds. Holiness could not permit any one to remain in who ought to be out; and on the other hand, grace would not have any one out who ought to be in. Hence, therefore, there was the most urgent need, on the part of the priest, of watchfulness, calmness, wisdom, patience, tenderness, and enlarged experience. Things might seem trifling which in reality were serious, and things might look like leprosy which were not it at all. The greatest care and coolness were needed. A judgment rashly formed, a conclusion hastily arrived at, might involve the most serious consequences, either as regards the assembly or some individual member thereof.

This will account for the frequent occurrence of such expressions as the following; namely, "The priest shall look"--"The priest shall shut up him that hath the plague _seven days_"--"And the priest shall look on him the seventh day"--"Then the priest shall shut him up _seven days more_"--"And the priest shall _look on him again_ the seventh day"--"And the priest shall _see him_"--"Then the priest shall _consider_." No case was to be hastily judged or rashly decided. No opinion was to be formed from mere hearsay. Personal observation, priestly discernment, calm reflection, strict adherence to the written Word--the holy, infallible guide-book--all these things were imperatively demanded of the priest if he would form a sound judgment of each case. He was not to be guided by his own thoughts, his own feelings, his own wisdom, in any thing. He had ample guidance in the Word, if only he was subject thereto. Every point, every feature, every movement, every variation, every shade and character, every peculiar symptom and affection--all was provided for, with divine fullness and forethought, so that the priest only needed to be acquainted with and subject to the Word in all things, in order to be preserved from ten thousand mistakes.

Thus much as to the priest and his holy responsibilities.

We shall now consider the disease of leprosy, as developed in a person, in a garment, or in a house.

Looking at this disease in a physical point of view, nothing can possibly be more loathsome; and being, so far as man is concerned, totally incurable, it furnishes a most vivid and appalling picture of sin--sin in one's nature, sin in his circumstances, sin in an assembly. What a lesson for the soul in the fact that such a vile and humiliating disease should be used as a type of moral evil, whether in a member of God's assembly, in the circumstances of any member, or in the assembly itself!

I. And first, then, as to leprosy in a person; or in other words, the working of moral evil, or of that which might seem to be evil, in any member of the assembly. This is a matter of grave and solemn import--a matter demanding the utmost vigilance and care on the part of all who are concerned in the good of souls and in the glory of God, as involved in the well-being and purity of His assembly as a whole or of each individual member thereof.

It is important to see that while the broad principles of leprosy and its cleansing apply in a secondary sense to any sinner, yet in the scripture now before us, the matter is presented in connection with those who were God's recognized people. The person who is here seen as the subject of priestly examination is a member of the assembly of God. It is well to apprehend this. God's assembly must be kept pure, because it is His dwelling-place. No leper can be allowed to remain within the hallowed precincts of Jehovah's habitation.

But then, mark the care, the vigilance, the perfect patience, inculcated upon the priest, lest aught that was not leprosy might be treated as such, or lest aught that really was leprosy might be suffered to escape. Many things might appear "in the skin"--the place of manifestation--"like the plague of leprosy," which, upon patient, priestly investigation, would be found to be merely superficial. This was to be carefully attended to. Some blemish might make its appearance upon the surface, which, though demanding the jealous care of the one who had to act for God, was not, in reality, defiling. And yet, that which seemed but a superficial blemish might prove to be something deeper than the skin, something below the surface, something affecting the hidden springs of the constitution. All this claimed the most intense care on the part of the priest. (See ver. 2-11.) Some slight neglect, some trifling oversight, might lead to disastrous consequences. It might lead to the defilement of the assembly, by the presence of a confirmed leper, or to the expulsion, for some superficial blemish, of a genuine member of the Israel of God.

Now, there is a rich fund of instruction in all this for the people of God. There is a difference between personal infirmity and the positive energy of evil--between mere defects and blemishes in the outward character, and the activity of sin in the members. No doubt it is important to watch against our infirmities; for, if not watched, judged, and guarded against, they may become the source of positive evil. (See ver. 14-28.) Every thing of nature must be judged and kept down. We must not make any allowance for personal infirmity _in ourselves_, though we should make ample allowance for it _in others_. Take, for example, the matter of an irritable temper. I should judge it in myself; I should make allowance for it in another. It may, like "the burning boil" in the case of an Israelite (ver. 19, 20.), prove the source of real defilement--the ground of exclusion from the assembly. Every form of weakness must be watched, lest it become an occasion of sin. "A bald forehead" was not leprosy, but it was that in which leprosy might appear, and hence it had to be watched. There may be a hundred things which are not in themselves sinful, but which may become the occasion of sin if not diligently looked after. Nor is it merely a question of what, in our estimation, may be termed blots, blemishes, and personal infirmities, but even of what our hearts might feel disposed to boast of. Wit, humor, vivacity of spirit and temper--all these may become the source and centre of defilement. Each one has something to guard against--something to keep him ever upon the watch-tower. How happy it is that we have a Father's heart to come to and count on with respect to all such things! We have the precious privilege of coming, at all times, into the presence of unrebuking, unupbraiding love, there to tell out all, and obtain grace to help in all, and full victory over all. We need not be discouraged so long as we see such a motto inscribed on the door of our Father's treasury--"He giveth more grace." Precious motto! It has no limit: it is bottomless and boundless.

We shall now proceed to inquire what was done in every case in which the plague of leprosy was unquestionably and unmistakably defined. The God of Israel could bear with infirmity, blemish, and failure; but the moment it became a case of defilement, whether in the head, the beard, the forehead, or any other part, it could not be tolerated in the holy assembly. "The leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be." (Ver. 45, 46.) Here was the leper's condition, the leper's occupation, the leper's place. With rent garments, bare head, and covered lip; crying, "Unclean, unclean;" and dwelling outside, in the dreary solitude--the dismal desert waste. What could be more humiliating, what more depressing, than this? "He shall dwell alone." He was unfit for communion or companionship. He was excluded from the only spot in all the world in which Jehovah's presence was known or enjoyed.

Reader, behold, in the poor, solitary leper, a vivid type of one in whom sin is working. This is really what it means. It is not, as we shall see presently, a helpless, ruined, guilty, convicted sinner, whose guilt and misery have come thoroughly out, and who is, therefore, a fit subject for the love of God and the blood of Christ. No; we see in the excluded leper one in whom sin is actually working--one in whom there is the positive energy of evil. This is what defiles and shuts out from the enjoyment of the divine presence and the communion of saints. So long as sin is working, there can be no fellowship with God or with His people. "He shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be." How long? "All the days wherein _the plague_ shall be in him." This is a great practical truth. The energy of evil is the death-blow to communion. There may be the outward appearance--the mere form--the hollow profession, but communion there can be none so long as the energy of evil is there. It matters not what the character or amount of the evil may be--if it were but the weight of a feather--if it were but some foolish thought, so long as it continues to work, it must hinder communion--it must cause a suspension of fellowship. It is when it rises to a head--when it comes to the surface--when it is brought thoroughly out that it can be perfectly met and put away by the grace of God and by the blood of the Lamb.

This leads us to a deeply interesting point in connection with the leper--a point which must prove a complete paradox to all save those who understand God's mode of dealing with sinners. "And if a leprosy break out abroad in the skin, and the leprosy cover all the skin of him that hath the plague, from his head even to his foot, wheresoever the priest looketh; then the priest shall consider; and, behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague: it is all turned white: he is clean." (Chap. xiii. 12, 13.) The moment a sinner is in his true place before God, the whole question is settled: directly his real character is fully brought out, there is no further difficulty. He may have to pass through much painful exercise ere he reaches this point--exercise consequent upon his refusal to take his true place--to bring out "all the truth" with respect to what he is; but the moment he is brought to say, from his heart, "_Just as I am_," the free grace of God flows down to him. "When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer." (Ps. xxxii. 3, 4.) How long did this painful exercise continue? Until the whole truth was brought out--until all that which was working inwardly came fully to the surface.--"I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord,' and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin." (Ver. 5.)

It is deeply interesting to mark the progress of the Lord's dealing with the leprous man, from the moment that the suspicion is raised, by certain features in the place of manifestation, until the disease covers the whole man, "from the crown of the head unto the sole of the foot." There was no haste and no indifference. God ever enters the place of judgment with a slow and measured pace; but when He does enter, He must act according to the claims of His nature. He can patiently investigate. He can wait for "seven days;" and should there be the slightest variation in the symptoms, He can wait "seven days more;" but the moment it is found to be the positive working of leprosy, there can be no toleration. "Without the camp shall his habitation be." How long? Until the disease comes fully to the surface. "If the leprosy have covered _all_ his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean." This is a most precious and interesting point. The very smallest speck of leprosy was intolerable to God; and yet when the whole man was covered, from head to foot, he was pronounced clean--that is, he was a proper subject for the grace of God and the blood of atonement.

Thus is it, in every case, with the sinner. God is "of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look upon iniquity" (Hab. i. 13.); and yet the moment a sinner takes his true place, as one thoroughly lost, guilty, and undone--as one in whom there is not so much as a single point on which the eye of Infinite Holiness can rest with complacency--as one who is so bad that he cannot possibly be worse, there is an immediate, a perfect, a divine settlement of the entire matter. The grace of God deals with sinners, and when I know myself to be a sinner, I know myself to be one whom Christ came to save. The more clearly any one can prove me to be a sinner, the more clearly he establishes my title to the love of God and the work of Christ. "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." (1 Pet. iii. 18.) Now, if I am "unjust," I am one of those very people for whom Christ died, and I am entitled to all the benefits of His death. "There is not a just man upon earth;" and inasmuch as I am "upon earth," it is plain that I am "unjust," and it is equally plain that Christ died for me--that He suffered for my sins. Since, therefore, Christ died for me, it is my happy privilege to enter into the immediate enjoyment of the fruits of His sacrifice. This is as plain as plainness itself. It demands no effort whatsoever. I am not called to be any thing but just what I am. I am not called to feel, to experience, to realize any thing. The Word of God assures me that Christ died for me just as I am; and if He died for me, I am as safe as He is Himself. There is nothing against me: Christ met all. He not only suffered for my "_sins_," but He "made an end of _sin_." He abolished the entire system in which, as a child of the first Adam, I stood, and He has introduced me into a new position, in association with Himself, and there I stand before God, free from all charge of sin and all fear of judgment.

"Just as I am--without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come!"

How do I know that His blood was shed for me? By the Scriptures. Blessed, solid, eternal ground of knowledge! Christ suffered for sins: I have gotten sins. Christ died, "the just for the unjust:" I am unjust. Wherefore the death of Christ appropriates itself to me as fully, as immediately, and as divinely as though I were the only sinner upon earth. It is not a question of my appropriation, realization, or experience. Many souls harass themselves about this. How often has one heard such language as the following: "Oh, I believe that Christ died for sinners, but I cannot _realize_ that my sins are forgiven. I cannot apply, I cannot appropriate, I do not experience the benefit of Christ's death"! All this is self, and not Christ; it is feeling, and not Scripture. If we search from cover to cover of the blessed volume, we shall not find a syllable about being saved by realization, experience, or appropriation. The gospel applies itself to all who are on the ground of being lost. Christ died for sinners. That is just what I am; wherefore He died for me. How do I know this? is it because I feel it? By no means. How then? By the Word of God. "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; He was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." (1 Cor. xv. 3, 4.) Thus it is all "according to the Scriptures." If it were according to our feelings, we should be in a deplorable way, for our feelings are hardly the same for the length of a day, but the Scriptures are ever the same. "Forever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven."--"Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy name."

No doubt it is a very happy thing to realize, to feel, and to experience; but if we put these things in the place of Christ, we shall neither have them nor the Christ that yields them. If I am occupied with Christ, I shall realize; but if I put my realization in place of Christ, I shall have neither the one nor the other. This is the sad condition of thousands. Instead of resting on the stable authority of "the Scriptures," they are ever looking into their own hearts, and hence they are always uncertain and, as a consequence, always unhappy. A condition of doubt is a condition of torture; but how can I get rid of my doubt? Simply by relying on the divine authority of "the Scriptures." Of what do the Scriptures testify? Of Christ. (John v.) They declare that Christ died for our sins, and that He was raised again for our justification. (Rom. iv.) This settles every thing. The self-same authority that tells me I am unjust tells me also that Christ died for me. Nothing can be plainer than this. If I were aught else than unjust, the death of Christ would not be for me at all; but being unjust, it is divinely fitted, divinely intended, and divinely applied to me. If I am occupied with any thing in, of, or about myself, it is plain I have not entered into the full spiritual application of Leviticus xiii. 12, 13--I have not come to the Lamb of God "_just as I am_." It is when the leper is covered from head to foot that he is on the true ground. It is there and there alone that grace can meet him. "Then the priest shall consider; and, behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague: it is all turned white: he is clean." Precious truth! "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." So long as I think there is a single spot which is not covered with the direful disease, I have not come to the end of myself. It is when my true condition is fully disclosed to my view that I really understand the meaning of salvation by grace.

The force of all this will be more fully apprehended when we come to consider the ordinances connected with the cleansing of the leper, in