“When there is an outbreak of tzara‘at, be careful to observe and do just what the cohanim, who are L’vi’im, teach you. Take care to do as I ordered them.”-Deuteronomy 24:8
There’s one interesting thing the Rabbis said I wanted to share with you.
The Rabbis pointed out that…
…the TORAH existed in heaven loooooooong before it made its first appearance on earth at Creation AND…
…way looooooong before Moses ever came on the scene.
Is this true?
Well, we’re going to find out because…
…from today, bite by bite and inch by inch, we’re going to be traveling back in time to several hundred years ago and revisit the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) to…
…see how the God-patterns and principles that were the basis of the Mosaic law played out in the earliest Bible stories.
Alrighty, let’s jump into our text study from verse 8.
“When there is an outbreak of tzara‘at,
be careful to observe and
do just what the cohanim,
who are L’vi’im, teach you.”
This is one of those verses where it is to our advantage to use the Complete Jewish Bible compared to a good majority of other English Bibles out there.
For example, let’s take a look at the same verse in the King James version.
“Take heed in the plague of leprosy,
that thou observe diligently,
and do according to all that the
priests the Levites shall teach you:
as I commanded them,
so ye shall observe to do.”
Now contrast that with the NIV rendering:
“In cases of defiling skin diseases,
be very careful to do exactly
as the Levitical priests instruct you.
You must follow carefully what
I have commanded them.”
Yup, the NIV is spot on…
…because the Hebrew word TZARAAT which is usually translated into “leprosy” does NOT mean leprosy.
Rather TZARAAT refers to not only a variety of abnormal conditions on the skin but…
..can also refer to impurities that have sprung up on clothing, furniture and even on the walls of a house.
Notice how we’re told that the person suffering from TZARAAT must to go to the priesthood.
Isn’t that interesting?
Somebody suffering from a skin condition isn’t told to go to a doctor or a dermatologist but instead he’s told to go to a priest.
Why do you think that might be?
Well, if you recall from our studies in Leviticus chapters 13 and 14, we learned that suffering from TZARAAT was much more a spiritual issue than it was a medical problem.
That’s right.
In ancient Israel, TZARAAT was considered an EXTERNAL manifestation of one’s INTERNAL state of ritual defilement.
It was an outward reflection of the diseased, corrupt and unclean inner spiritual condition of the person suffering from this condition.
Hence, after being checked out by the priests, if it was determined that a person had indeed come down with TZARAAT, he was forced to leave the camp and be separated from the rest of Israel.
And once outside the camp, that individual remained separated until their condition completely cleared up.
Unfortunately, for some that never happened and some Israelites spent the rest of their lives ostracized from society.
We’ll continue this discussion the next time we meet.
Leave a Reply