Wednesday, December 28, 2011

If the Leprosy Be Healed

Leviticus 14:3 KJV
And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper;

If the plague of leprosy be healed

I cannot imagine the relief a person must have experienced if their leprosy healed. It was such a devastating illness, requiring complete separation from the camp.
• Your family
• Your friends
• Your livelihood Your companionship
All of it was gone.

The priest, who had no cure, could only diagnose the disease and condemn the victims of its grip to isolation for the remainder of their lives. He could afford them no mercy. Leprosy was too dangerous. He had to do the hard thing and make the diagnosis and demand the infected be removed outside of the camp and to constantly pronounce to those who might come near that he was unclean. And then, to discover one day that the leprosy is gone! It must have seemed to the victim to be the greatest of all miracles; God given indeed.

Leprosy is not handled in the same way today and is, as I understand it, a very manageable disease. But I can see why God's Word uses it as a type of sin and why God includes chapters thirteen and fourteen in the preserved Word of God; because this is the same type of relief and miracle those whose sins are forgiven in Christ should experience.

The worst of all afflictions is sin. The disease is spread so thoroughly that there is none righteous, no not one. It infects our loved ones, our friends and every person we meet. There is no cure on this earth, the best that anyone can do is pronounce the disease and condemn the afflicted. And we must not be gentle with sinners because sin, when it is finished, it bringeth forth death.

But many have been set free of their affliction.

Not because of any righteousness they have done, but by the goodness of God, Christ came into this world
• He paid the penalty of sin
• He met the righteous demands of God
• He offers healing to all who trust in Him

That is a miracle of God indeed.

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