DIAGNOSIS OF ILLNESSES AND DISEASES

TUMORS, LICHENS AND SKIN SPOTS

1. Lev.13:2 When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling, a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes on the skin of his body like a leprous sore, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests. The priest shall examine the sore on the skin of the body; and if the hair on the sore has turned white, and the sore appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a leprous sore. Then the priest shall examine him, and pronounce him unclean. But if the bright spot is white on the skin of his body, and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and its hair has not turned white, then the priest shall isolate the one who has the sore seven days. And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day; and indeed if the sore appears to be as it was, and the sore has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall isolate him another seven days. Then the priest shall examine him again on the seventh day; and indeed if the sore has faded, and the sore has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only a scab, and he shall wash his clothes and be clean. But if the scab should at all spread over the skin, after he has been seen by the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen by the priest again. And if the priest sees that the scab has indeed spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is leprosy.

James 5:14 Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the Congregation; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of Yeshua: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and YHWH Elohim shall raise him up.

While studying this section of the commandments we can draw a comparison: that which the Priest did at that time can be called ‘a rehearsal’ of what Yeshua ended up doing.  This is why these commandments provide us with a clue, or an image of what would had to happen; they also help us recognize some diseases which are caused by certain sins or demonic influences, and help us to take certain steps for overcoming them, such as fruit worthy of repentance. It is obvious that nowadays there is no need for us to bring such offerings as birds, or young doves or others. Yeshua has already become an offering for our sins. It is recommended to study these commands in order to find a spiritual meaning in them and compare them to our lives and the life of the Holy Congregation (‘Ekklessia’) through the guidance of the Holy Spirit (‘Ruah HaKodesh’).

LEPROSY 

2. Lev.13:9 When the leprous sore is on a person, then he shall be brought to the priest. And the priest shall examine him; and indeed if the swelling on the skin is white, and it has turned the hair white, and there is a spot of raw flesh in the swelling, it is an old leprosy on the skin of his body. The priest shall pronounce him unclean, and shall not isolate him (because it is already clear that he is unclean), for he is unclean. And if leprosy breaks out all over the skin, and the leprosy covers all the skin of the one who has the sore, from his head to his foot, wherever the priest looks, then the priest shall consider; and indeed if the leprosy has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean who has the sore. It has all turned white. He is clean. But when raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean. And the priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him to be unclean; for the raw flesh is unclean. It is leprosy. Or if the raw flesh changes and turns white again, he shall come to the priest. And the priest shall examine him; and indeed if the sore has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him clean who has the sore. He is clean.

BOILS ON THE SKIN

3. Lev.13:18 If the body develops a boil in the skin, and it is healed, and in the place of the boil there comes a white swelling or a bright spot, reddish-white, then it shall be shown to the priest; and if, when the priest sees it, it indeed appears deeper than the skin, and its hair has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous sore which has broken out of the boil. But if the priest examines it, and indeed there are no white hairs in it, and it is not deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest shall isolate him seven days; and if it should at all spread over the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous sore. But if the bright spot stays in one place, and has not spread, it is the scar of the boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

BURNS ON THE SKIN

4. Lev.13:24 Or if the body receives a burn on its skin by fire, and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a bright spot, reddish-white or white, then the priest shall examine it; and indeed if the hair of the bright spot has turned white, and it appears deeper than the skin, it is leprosy broken out in the burn. Therefore the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous sore. But if the priest examines it, and indeed there are no white hairs in the bright spot, and it is not deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest shall isolate him seven days. And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day. If it has at all spread over the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous sore. But if the bright spot stays in one place, and has not spread on the skin, but has faded, it is a swelling from the burn. The priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is the scar from the burn.

SKIN WHITE SPOTS

5. Lev.13:38 If a man or a woman has bright spots on the skin of the body, specifically white bright spots, then the priest shall look; and indeed if the bright spots on the skin of the body are dull white, it is a white spot that grows on the skin. He is clean.

BALDNESS

6. Lev.13:40 As for the man whose hair has fallen from his head, he is bald, but he is clean. He whose hair has fallen from his forehead, he is bald on the forehead, but he is clean.

7. Lev.13:42 And if there is on the bald head or bald forehead a reddish-white sore, it is leprosy breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead. Then the priest shall examine it; and indeed if the swelling of the sore is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, as the appearance of leprosy on the skin of the body, he is a leprous man. He is unclean. The priest shall surely pronounce him unclean; his sore is on his head.

SORES ON THE HEAD OR THE BEARD

8. Lev.13:29 If a man or woman has a sore on the head or the beard, then the priest shall examine the sore; and indeed if it appears deeper than the skin, and there is in it thin yellow hair, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a scaly leprosy of the head or beard. But if the priest examines the scaly sore, and indeed it does not appear deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall isolate the one who has the scale seven days. And on the seventh day the priest shall examine the sore; and indeed if the scale has not spread, and there is no yellow hair in it, and the scale does not appear deeper than the skin, he shall shave himself, but the scale he shall not shave. And the priest shall isolate the one who has the scale another seven days. On the seventh day the priest shall examine the scale; and indeed if the scale has not spread over the skin, and does not appear deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. He shall wash his clothes and be clean. But if the scale should at all spread over the skin after his cleansing, then the priest shall examine him; and indeed if the scale has spread over the skin, the priest need not seek for yellow hair. He is unclean. But if the scale appears to be at a standstill, and there is black hair grown up in it, the scale has healed. He is clean, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

LEPROUS PLAGUE ON THE GARMENTS

9. Lev.13:47 Also, if a garment has a leprous plague in it, whether it is a woolen garment or a linen garment, whether it is in the warp or woof of linen or wool, whether in leather or in anything made of leather, and if the plague is greenish or reddish in the garment or in the leather, whether in the warp or in the woof, or in anything made of leather, it is a leprous plague and shall be shown to the priest. The priest shall examine the plague and isolate that which has the plague seven days. And he shall examine the plague on the seventh day. If the plague has spread in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, in the leather or in anything made of leather, the plague is an active leprosy. It is unclean. He shall therefore burn that garment in which is the plague, whether warp or woof, in wool or in linen, or anything of leather, for it is an active leprosy; the garment shall be burned in the fire. “But if the priest examines it, and indeed the plague has not spread in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, or in anything made of leather, then the priest shall command that they wash the thing in which is the plague; and he shall isolate it another seven days. Then the priest shall examine the plague after it has been washed; and indeed if the plague has not changed its color, though the plague has not spread, it is unclean, and you shall burn it in the fire; it continues eating away, whether the damage is outside or inside. If the priest examines it, and indeed the plague has faded after washing it, then he shall tear it out of the garment, whether out of the warp or out of the woof, or out of the leather. But if it appears again in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, or in anything made of leather, it is a spreading plague; you shall burn with fire that in which is the plague. And if you wash the garment, either warp or woof, or whatever is made of leather, if the plague has disappeared from it, then it shall be washed a second time, and shall be clean.

LEPROUS PLAGUE IN A HOUSE

10. Lev.14:34 When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give you as a possession, and I put the leprous plague in a house* in the land of your possession, and he who owns the house comes and tells the priest, saying, “It seems to me that there is some plague in the house,” then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest goes into it to examine the plague, that all that is in the house may not be made unclean. And afterward the priest shall go in to examine the house. And he shall examine the plague; and indeed if the plague is on the walls of the house with ingrained streaks, greenish or reddish, which appear to be deep in the wall, then the priest shall go out of the house, to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days. And the priest shall come again on the seventh day and look. And indeed if the plague has spread on the walls of the house, then the priest shall command that they take away the stones** in which is the plague, and they shall cast them into an unclean place outside the city. And he shall cause the house to be scraped inside, all around, and the dust that they scrape off they shall pour out in an unclean place outside the city. Then they shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones, and he shall take other mortar and plaster the house. “Now if the plague comes back and breaks out in the house, after he has taken away the stones, after he has scraped the house, and after it is plastered, then the priest shall come and look; and indeed if the plague has spread in the house, it is an active leprosy in the house. It is unclean. And he shall break down the house, its stones, its timber, and all the plaster of the house, and he shall carry them outside the city to an unclean place. Moreover he who goes into the house at all while it is shut up shall be unclean until evening. And he who lies down in the house shall wash his clothes, and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes. But if the priest comes in and examines it, and indeed the plague has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed.

* ‘a house’ – can be seen as an image of the Holy Congregation (‘Ekklessia’).

** ‘the stones’ – it is interesting to note that Peter is comparing the believers in Yeshua with the living stones: 1Pet.2:5 You yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be cohanim (priesthood) set apart for YHWH to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to him through Yeshua the Messiah.

PREVENTATIVE MEASURES

11. Lev.13:45 Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare. And he shall cover his mustache, and cry, “Unclean! Unclean!” He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.

After such a description one might imagine a completely mad and scary person. Nowadays it is difficult for us to understand the way people behaved in those ancient times. The main point of this commandment is that a person has to be responsible and has to take all preventative measures in order to stop his diseases from spreading onto others. We can also apply this principle in our daily lives: if we know that we are sick we should stay home and not go to work thereby taking on the responsibility of preventing the spreading of the diseases to others if we REALLY love them.

CLEANSING WITH WATER ON THE THIRD AND SEVENTH DAY

12. Lev.14:2 This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest. And the priest shall go out of the camp*, and the priest shall examine him; and indeed, if the leprosy is healed in the leper, 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. And he shall sprinkle it 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. 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***. 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. 

* ‘go out of the camp’ – interesting parallel: Yeshua also came out of the camp (to the place called Calvary) because of all the unclean lepers in order to make them clean. He gave His soul (image of the bird) for all of us and ‘pronounced us clean’.

** ‘wash his clothes’ – note what the leper did after he was pronounced clean. After the washing (‘first cleansing’) he ‘shall be clean’.

*** ‘stay outside his tent seven days’ – after the ‘first cleansing’, which took place outside of the camp, he had to undergo the ‘second cleansing’: to wash his body and clothes with water again in order to be made clean for the second time. This is a great example of us being ‘outside the camp’ (or on earth) after we have already undergone the ‘first cleaning’.

The process of cleansing – the third day and the seventh day is here not by accident. An interesting observation is that a regular cold or flu usually lasts three to seven days and a heavy one could last for two weeks. These are a few examples of cleansing: Three day cleansing at Mount Sinai – preparation: (Ex.19:10), Seven day cleansing prior to being made a priest: (Ex.29:35, 37; Lev.8:33), The Feast of Unleavened bread lasts seven days: (Ex.13:6). It is also interesting to note that the days of cleansing (the third and the seventh) are directly connected to the actions of Yeshua. These numbers are not accidental and they can be found all over Tanakh. For instance, Yeshua was out in the tomb on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. On the third day of this Feast He resurrected. On this basis it can be concluded that: the World will be judged and all people will be judged. If people don’t believe in Yeshua, Who resurrected from the dead and came to cleanse people from sin, they will stay forever ‘outside the camp’ since they have not undergone the ‘first cleansing’ (according to the ‘third day’ type). For those who believe in Yeshua the time of His return for His bride (who is supposed to keep herself pure) will be the end of times according to the ‘seventh day’ type of cleansing. This means that they have undergone their first cleansing (or the ‘third day’ one) but they did not want to go through the second cleansing (or the ‘seventh day’ one). Therefore, they will also stay ‘out of the camp’ since ‘nothing unclean can enter the sanctuary of  YHWH’. Only after undergoing these two types of cleansing (believing in Yeshua HaMashiach and living according to the commandments of  YHWH Elohim) a man could enter the sanctuary and to dwell in the presence of the Most High for eternity.