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Lepers and the ‘Leper Messiah’
The parashas this Shabbat are Tazria and Metzora, meaning “when she gives birth” and “concerning lepers”, covering Leviticus 12-15. The larger theme is separation – distinguishing clean from unclean. It’s a bit ironic that this parasha occurs while we find ourselves in a time of mandated isolation, not just of the sick – but of everybody! In context, the necessary temporary isolation of individuals who were unclean had to do with the presence of a Holy God in the midst of the camp of Israel.
This would include a woman having given birth. Her time of impurity would last seven days if she gave birth to a boy, and fourteen days if a girl. The time for her purification would be thirty-three days for a boy and sixty-six for a girl. This doesn’t mean boys were more valuable than girls. It has only to do with the time of purification. The equal worth of boys and girls is evident in that when her purification was complete, her offering at the Tent of Meeting was the same for a boy or a girl: a one-year old lamb for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering.
Most of the parasha concerns leprosy, how it was distinguished from lesser skin blemishes, and laws about isolating those with leprosy from the community. Even articles of clothing, the fabric of tents, or the walls of a house could be leprous! It was a chronic condition, which is why leprosy was associated with sin, and explains why isolation from the community was necessary. We have already seen the principle of separation, or holiness, in several forms in Leviticus. Holiness – sacredness – things and people marked out by God for special purposes.
But rather than focus on the details about tests for and cleansing from leprosy, let me highlight a few individuals in Scripture who had leprosy. Some were struck with leprosy as divine punishment, while others were healed from leprosy in acts of divine grace.
Miriam
In Numbers 12, Miriam and Aaron complained about Moses marrying an Ethiopian woman. Was that really so scandalous, or was something else at work – perhaps envy? Many scholars suggest that Aaron and Miriam had long harbored bitterness over their brother’s greater stature.
It isn’t unusual for resentment to grow when one sibling’s accomplishments surpass another’s. Regardless the reason, their actions were inexcusable. God summoned the three of them out to the Tent of Meeting, rebuked Aaron and Miriam, and struck Miriam with leprosy.
Aaron urged Moses to intercede for her, which Moses did. God answered that she should be isolated outside the camp for seven days. Mercifully, that was the extent of her leprosy. Had Moses not interceded, Miriam might well have spent the rest of her days as a leper! Why only Miriam and not Aaron also? She appears to have been the instigator. In one very unusual biblical construction, her name appears before Aaron’s, which lends support to this supposition. But the lesson is clear: God detests gossip.
Na’aman
In the days of Israel’s divided monarchy, during the reign of Yoram in the north and the ministry of the prophet Elisha, tensions were high between Israel and Syria. Syria made frequent incursions into Israel. In 2 Kings 5 we meet a powerful Syrian military captain named Na’aman. In paradoxical contrast to the king of Israel, whom the biblical writer regarded as unworthy, Na’aman is described in illustrious terms. But he was a leper.
During one of Syria’s many invasions, they captured a little Israeli girl, and she became a servant in Na’aman’s household. At one point she tells them that the prophet in Israel could cure Na’aman of his leprosy. Na’aman, who’d prayed and, in vain, offered countless sacrifices to the false gods of Syria, takes the girl at her word, and goes to Israel to seek healing. Eventually he comes to Elisha, who instructs him to dip himself seven times in the Jordan River. Though he initially balks at the suggestion, Na’aman obeys Elisha, dips himself seven times in the Jordan, and is instantaneously and marvelously healed! He returns to Elisha to express thanks, declaring that for the rest of his life he will worship only the God of Israel. He returned to Syria a changed man (all, by the way, thanks to a little Israeli girl who was able to love her enemy!)
King Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26)
One of the signs of a good king in ancient Israel was the length of his reign. Stability was considered a sign of divine favor. Usually, wicked kings didn’t rule long. The northern kingdom, Israel suffered frequent conspiracies and assassinations.
Things were somewhat better in Judah, as evidenced by King Uzziah’s fifty-two year reign. Scripture says Uzziah sought God diligently during the days of the prophet Zechariah, and grew powerful and famous. He successfully subdued enemies, fortified the walls of Jerusalem, and improved conditions throughout the country. His army was huge, and well-equipped.
But pride got the better of him. One day Uzziah decided to go into the Temple, bypass the priests and offer incense on the altar himself. He was a powerful king, but not a priest. The priesthood was a God-ordained boundary that was not to be crossed. God struck Uzziah on the forehead with leprosy. The priests rushed him out of there. King Uzziah had to live out the rest of his days in isolation as a leper. His son Jotham reigned in his father’s stead. The lesson is clear: don’t cross God-given boundaries of holiness.
Leprosy was considered a living death! To be a leper meant to be isolated from the community. Sometimes our people were hasty in presuming that someone with leprosy was under God’s disfavor. We should be careful not to presume like that. Disease is a fact of life in a fallen world, not necessarily an indication of sin or a “generational curse”.
People went out of their way to avoid lepers in those days. In fact, lepers were required to call out “Unclean! Unclean!” as they walked, so that people would not find themselves downwind from them and become unclean too.
It is important to bear this in mind when we discover in Matthew, chapter 8, that Yeshua cleansed a leper by actually reaching out and touching him. He needn’t have done that. Messiah could just as easily have performed that miracle with merely a word! But He intentionally touched the man. Had it been anyone else, the act of touching a leper would have rendered them unclean. But when Yeshua touched lepers, He didn’t become unclean; they became clean!
On another occasion, a group of ten lepers pleaded for Yeshua to have mercy on them. He granted their request, telling them to go show themselves to the priest (in accordance with the Torah). As they went, they were all instantaneously healed! Nine of them kept going. One – just one of them – came back and fell at Yeshua’s feet in gratitude, glorifying God. That one man was a Samaritan. Yeshua marveled at the ingratitude of the nine.
But concerning Yeshua Himself, Isaiah wrote, He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, which is why one of the names the rabbis assigned the Messiah was “the Leprous One.” And just as lepers, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Yeshua was treated by Israel’s leaders, and to this very day by most of our Jewish people with the kind of contempt reserved for lepers and outcasts. Yet for the joy set before Him Yeshua willingly endured the ridicule and brutality heaped upon Him. That joy was seeing human beings forever reconciled to their Creator.
The question for you is: are you willing to be identified with the One whom Israel still despises? Are you willing to be an outcast along with Him – to be treated like a leper, yet remain steadfastly loyal to this ‘Leper Messiah’? It requires courage to openly identify with One so hated. But if you confess Him before men, He will confess you before Adonai – His Father; and your reward in Heaven will be great.