Last month, I stopped at Leviticus 13:45 which stated that the person with leprosy will have his clothes torn while his head is made bare and his mustache needs to be covered and then he will cry "Unclean! Unclean!" Verse 46 says that he's going to be unclean for as long as he has the sore. As a result of the disease, he becomes isolated and is supposed to live alone. Leprosy must have been such a big deal back then because there was really no cure for it, from the medicine not having been quite as developed as today. In the New Testament, Jesus goes around curing people with leprosy and that must have been an amazing testimony for those who were healed.
Verses 47-59 talk about the law concerning garments that are infected with the bacteria. In today's America, leprosy is classified as a rare disease where there were 56 reported incidents in 2014 (Mayo Clinic). It is now an infectious, but curable disease that spreads by skin-to-skin contact while mainly causing skin lesions and nerve damage. Despite it not being so much of occurrence in this day and age, the part that still gets me is that for back then, the ones who had it were isolated and treated as outcasts. I guess it's depressing and can be seen as unfair for some people. I know I would want to avoid a person who had it too during its infectious stages.
Verses 47-49 note that an infected garment will be noticeable by looking for a greenish or reddish colorization and interestingly, being on leather won't also prevent it from spreading. It must be shown to the priest. Verse 50-51 states that the priest isolates it for seven days and looks to see afterwards, if it spread. If it did, then it's unclean. Verse 52 states that the priest burns the unclean garment in fire. Briefly, I'm getting the impression that God really loves us because He chose to still preserve us in His law that He gave to Moses from being unclean. God doesn't really value materialistic things because He wants His ultimate creation (us) to be about having a relationship with Him through His Son Jesus!
Verse 53-54 states that if the greenish or reddish looking bacteria hasn't spread then the priest commands it to be washed and isolated another seven days. Verse 55 states if the color has not got back to normal then it's unclean and gets burned. "It continues eating away, whether the damage is outside or inside." I quoted that portion because I thought it had some spiritual meaning to reflect on, but it just looks like a keen physical observation made for science!
Verse 56 states that if the priest notices that the color faded then he must do the dirty job (haha) of tearing it out. Verse 57 states if it spreads again, then the garment gets burned. Verse 58 states if the bacteria managed to disappear then it needs to be washed a second time and then becomes made clean. Verse 59 concludes this section about how God wants the priests to deal with the infected garments. It is part of God's law.
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