back to indexWed Bible Study - Week 13
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So I want to start by sharing a passage in Deuteronomy 23, 13, 14. 00:00:15.000 |
It says, "Because the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and 00:00:19.560 |
to give up your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy so that he may not 00:00:25.020 |
see anything indecent among you and turn away from you." 00:00:28.800 |
So God made it very clear that he not only wanted the individuals in the camp to be holy, 00:00:37.440 |
So again, we see the same thing in the New Testament where God is rebuking the Corinthians 00:00:43.820 |
church and saying, "Do you not know that you are the temple of God?" 00:00:47.540 |
And whatever you do to defile the temple, it says that it is like you're defiling God 00:00:55.820 |
That's how sacred God sees the church, and that's how God saw the sacred assembly of 00:01:02.800 |
The reason why I share all of this is because leprosy was a disease that not only affected 00:01:10.160 |
that individual, but it affected the community. 00:01:14.040 |
So everything about how to deal with this skin disease was to protect not only that 00:01:20.680 |
person or to heal that person, but the community itself. 00:01:24.640 |
And ultimately, it's going to point to something very meaningful in the gospel. 00:01:30.360 |
So my approach today in chapter 13 is not to go into intricate details of the medical 00:01:37.000 |
Is this really this disease of leprosy, the Hansen disease, or is this pointing to something 00:01:43.080 |
We can get into all of these arguments, but in the end, I think that's an unfruitful discussion. 00:01:49.240 |
We can know all of that and then just say, "Oh, okay, that's what it means." 00:01:58.400 |
The Hebrew word that's translated leprosy in Leviticus 13-15, it's not specifically 00:02:05.440 |
just limited to what we know today about the disease of leprosy. 00:02:11.160 |
It definitely includes that disease, but it's not limited to that. 00:02:16.120 |
So it points to all kinds of various skin diseases. 00:02:19.720 |
Now if you're from the medical community and you know all the facts and all the biological 00:02:24.200 |
things that happens in leprosy, you may read all these things and maybe it would make more 00:02:29.680 |
But for most of us, all of these things are going to bleed in and we're not going to be 00:02:36.160 |
So just for our benefit, so that it would help us, I'm just going to be referring it 00:02:41.320 |
to leprosy, but the term leprosy doesn't really cover all of the things that they're mentioning. 00:02:48.520 |
Just in case there's any medical people in here saying, "Hey, that's not true." 00:02:52.320 |
So they already acknowledge that it covers more than that. 00:02:55.160 |
But for our study, I'm just going to be referring to all of it as just leprosy. 00:03:04.160 |
So among the 61 defilements of ancient Jewish law that is mentioned in the Old Testament, 00:03:10.000 |
leprosy was second only to the dead body in seriousness. 00:03:14.240 |
And you could clearly see that in chapter 13 and 14. 00:03:19.800 |
So if there's any one particular disease that really stood out among other diseases, like 00:03:26.440 |
if you caught this, it was the end to your life. 00:03:29.040 |
Like today, I think when you hear the word cancer, that's the word that most people are 00:03:36.080 |
You go to the doctor and they say it could be cancerous and automatically your heart 00:03:42.680 |
Well at that particular time, leprosy was cancerous and it was much more serious than 00:03:49.200 |
cancer because of all the ramifications before it led to the death. 00:03:53.640 |
So it was pretty much the worst thing, worst news that you can get. 00:04:00.680 |
And leper wasn't allowed to come within six feet of any other human being. 00:04:08.660 |
So imagine what that does to an individual, that if you get leprosy, you're not allowed 00:04:12.820 |
to have any contact with other human beings, including your own family members, because 00:04:17.060 |
the moment you came into contact with them, they became unclean. 00:04:25.780 |
This disease was considered so revolting that the leper wasn't permitted to come within 00:04:32.340 |
150 feet of anyone when the wind was blowing, just in case it was infectious. 00:04:39.340 |
So if there was any kind of wind, normally not even six feet, even among your family 00:04:43.620 |
members, but if there was any kind of wind blowing, you couldn't be anywhere near them, 00:04:52.900 |
The Jewish custom said that you should not even greet a leper. 00:04:56.980 |
Actually this is not in scripture, but the Jewish community automatically equated that 00:05:06.460 |
So if somebody has leprosy, it must be because they've been cursed by God, so they were treated 00:05:12.100 |
Not only, they weren't treated with any kind of compassion. 00:05:15.180 |
So not only were they completely isolated, they were considered to be unclean, and they 00:05:21.420 |
And one rabbi actually bragged that he would not even buy an egg on a street where he saw 00:05:27.180 |
a leper, and another boasted that he threw rocks at lepers to keep them far from him. 00:05:32.460 |
So it just kind of gives you the prejudice and the kind of life a leper lived. 00:05:36.460 |
So think about all the situations in the New Testament where Jesus is healing a leper, 00:05:41.100 |
or a leper is coming and crying out to God, that the cultural circumstance behind that 00:05:45.400 |
particular individual and what he was experiencing. 00:05:48.140 |
So it gives us kind of a better understanding of Jesus' interaction with the leper, and 00:05:55.900 |
Everybody was so concerned that Jesus was hanging around with prostitutes and tax collectors, 00:06:00.180 |
but a leper among all of them would have been considered the filthiest. 00:06:05.220 |
So if they were shocked that Jesus was hanging around with tax collectors, imagine the shock 00:06:09.140 |
when Jesus actually encountered lepers, what they must have been thinking. 00:06:16.100 |
Lepers lived in a community with other lepers until they either got better or died, one 00:06:23.400 |
This was the only way that people knew to contain the spread of contagious forms of 00:06:31.160 |
They put them in isolation, and again, the only remedy that they had, there was no medicine, 00:06:37.820 |
there was nothing else they could do other than put them in isolation and see if this 00:06:43.780 |
is eventually going to lead them to die, which in most cases it did. 00:06:49.100 |
So the disease in itself was a horrible, horrible disease, where you would have all kinds of 00:06:55.580 |
boils and we're going to just lightly touch upon some of the things that chapter 13 says, 00:07:02.100 |
but beyond just that, there was absolutely no compassion. 00:07:06.960 |
Imagine if today, if somebody was diagnosed with cancer and the first thing that they 00:07:14.300 |
They clean up your bed, they pack up all your stuff, they burn everything that you owned, 00:07:18.860 |
and then you were thrown out and then you couldn't have contact with your family members. 00:07:22.940 |
That was the first thing that happened to a leper. 00:07:26.340 |
So it wasn't simply that they had to go through this physical ailment, this difficulty of 00:07:33.740 |
even just surviving and breathing, like socially. 00:07:37.100 |
Not only that socially, spiritually, they just automatically assumed you must have done 00:07:42.740 |
So it was like the worst condemnation, worst news that you can possibly get. 00:07:50.660 |
In chapter 13, God gives specific orders for the priests basically to function as doctors. 00:07:57.380 |
They don't have the cure, but they are called to be the people who diagnose whether they 00:08:05.220 |
So they function like a public health officer. 00:08:10.300 |
It wasn't just something that they looked and you determined for yourself. 00:08:13.020 |
That's why in chapter 13, there's detailed information. 00:08:16.620 |
So I'm guessing that if you were diligent that you read through it, or even if you did 00:08:23.460 |
read through it, you probably just remember portions of it, but I'm guessing that you 00:08:31.420 |
But you just kind of knew enough to actually, wow, this is horrendous. 00:08:39.500 |
The chapter is divided into two large portions. 00:08:43.180 |
The first portion is about diagnosing the abnormalities in the human skin, which is 00:08:51.660 |
And like I told you, my goal today is not to comb through the details of what God told 00:08:57.700 |
them to look for, but what it ultimately points to. 00:09:02.220 |
The second part of it is diagnostic against abnormalities in the clothing and similar 00:09:06.140 |
articles, which we would probably today call it molding. 00:09:13.040 |
But they were concerned about anything that was rotting and it was unclean, and if it 00:09:16.260 |
had any touch or came anywhere near leopard, they were so afraid of it, they said the only 00:09:21.400 |
way to deal with that is to completely burn it. 00:09:28.460 |
When we get to chapter 14, he's going to be talking about how to cleanse it, how does 00:09:36.080 |
But today it's mostly about how to diagnose it and how to determine and what to do with 00:09:45.460 |
If a person who had these symptoms, leprous symptoms, and they weren't exactly sure if 00:09:51.380 |
they were clean, immediately they were isolated. 00:09:54.340 |
So even if you looked like you might have it, even if it wasn't full blown, that they 00:10:00.020 |
were concerned that they saw some kind of abnormality in your skin or some kind of boil 00:10:04.380 |
or whiteness on the tip of your hair, whatever it might be, immediately you went into isolation. 00:10:13.320 |
So the person being examined could be isolated for as long as two weeks, just because they 00:10:23.060 |
And I know that, again, today if somebody has a cold and we have a rule in our church, 00:10:27.700 |
if your child is sick, not to bring them into the nursery because you don't want this spreading. 00:10:34.180 |
But usually it's until you have medicine or you get better and they come back. 00:10:41.140 |
Again, even God said if there was even a chance that you might have it, they went immediately 00:10:46.780 |
into isolation, up to two weeks, to make sure that you didn't have it. 00:10:50.500 |
And if you did have it, then the full blown thing of what God tells them to do. 00:10:58.980 |
Now again, as I mentioned to you, I'm not going to be going through like verse 1 through 00:11:02.940 |
8, God says to look at this leprosy in this way and then, you know, that's not what I'm 00:11:08.740 |
I'm going to be looking at the broad picture of what this ultimately points to. 00:11:14.200 |
The Bible clearly points to this leprosy as an illustration of human sin. 00:11:23.700 |
And there's nothing that paints that picture more than what we see in chapter 13 and chapter 00:11:34.140 |
So what I'm going to be doing today is in what way does this point to sin? 00:11:38.460 |
What are some specific things God told them to do and how does that ultimately reveal 00:11:49.340 |
So leprosy has a symbolism that ultimately points to sin. 00:11:53.140 |
Again, there was nothing taught in the Old Testament law that symbolized the devastating 00:11:57.520 |
effect of sin more than the disease of leprosy. 00:12:04.620 |
If you remember in Jeremiah's day, God's condemnation against the prophets of Israel was that they 00:12:14.820 |
In Jeremiah 6, verse 14 says, "They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, 'Peace, 00:12:20.740 |
And that was the primary condemnation of God's prophets during that period in Jeremiah's 00:12:26.740 |
In other words, the way God saw sin and the way the prophets saw sin was not even close. 00:12:35.180 |
In fact, the whole point of the gospel, the whole point of the law was to bring us, remember, 00:12:48.900 |
It's at the whole point of all of these laws, not just about leprosy, but in particular 00:12:55.020 |
But everything that he was doing up to the coming of Christ is to reveal just how ugly 00:13:00.000 |
and deadly and devastating sin is, so that when Christ comes, that they would all recognize 00:13:09.420 |
So someone who does not see sin as God sees sin, their repentance is always going to be 00:13:20.380 |
But it doesn't bring them to a point of devastation where they're beating their chest like the 00:13:23.980 |
tax collector and can't even lift up their head because they see a holy, holy, holy God. 00:13:30.740 |
So the whole point of all the laws was to reveal to us just how devastating this sin 00:13:44.500 |
And nothing highlights that more than this particular disease of leprosy. 00:13:50.500 |
And so again, the sin of the prophets in the time of Jeremiah, the time of Isaiah, it wasn't 00:14:02.380 |
They just didn't think it was that big of a deal. 00:14:06.720 |
And that's the first mistake that any Christian makes is that we sin. 00:14:16.460 |
And next thing you know, the cross and Christ and our salvation also becomes trivial. 00:14:25.700 |
There are several things that this particular disease points to. 00:14:32.980 |
So what they recognize, whether it was the boils or whether it was the whiteness on their 00:14:37.420 |
hair and various things that God tells them to recognize, it ultimately points to a decaying 00:14:50.160 |
This rotting was taking place inwardly, but the symptoms were being shown outwardly. 00:14:58.180 |
The symptoms that he mentions in chapter 13, swelling in a rash, a whiteness, raw flesh, 00:15:09.580 |
And as disgusting as all of those things are, all of those things only pointed to the decay 00:15:18.740 |
So it wasn't simply a surface disease that if they found the right ointment and they 00:15:25.460 |
cleansed themselves, that somehow this disease was going to go away. 00:15:31.300 |
So all the external things that it points to was ultimately pointing to something that 00:15:37.500 |
In Jeremiah 17, 9, it says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately 00:15:48.020 |
It is an act that follows a heart that has already fallen and decayed. 00:15:54.700 |
Again, as you know, Jesus told us that sin comes from the corruption of the heart. 00:16:03.820 |
The act of sinning is simply an expression of the sinful decay within. 00:16:08.380 |
So when we talk about sanctification and discipleship, we can get somebody who's not reading the 00:16:15.460 |
We can get somebody who's not evangelizing to evangelize. 00:16:17.860 |
We can get somebody who's not giving to give. 00:16:20.340 |
But it doesn't deal with what's happening inside. 00:16:24.460 |
Somebody who's corrupt in nature can go through all of that and have no change in their life. 00:16:30.860 |
It just becomes—they just become more disciplined. 00:16:33.900 |
They become better at acting out their righteousness without actually being righteous. 00:16:40.360 |
So this particular disease, again, the surface thing only points to the outside, but the 00:16:45.420 |
real decay was happening inside, just like sin. 00:16:50.820 |
So until there is an encounter with God, where God opens our eyes to see the glory of who 00:16:56.020 |
he is, and there is no change happening inwardly, all that stuff that we do on the outside, 00:17:06.380 |
It's just like putting Band-Aid on somebody who has leprosy. 00:17:09.160 |
So the first thing that the disease of leprosy points to is that it goes in. 00:17:13.900 |
The outer things are only a symptom of what is happening inside. 00:17:24.980 |
So all those passages that I listed there in chapter 13 and on, every part of that examination 00:17:32.940 |
The reason why they are in isolation is to watch them carefully to see if all the skin 00:17:39.980 |
If there wasn't a hand, does it eventually show up? 00:17:44.900 |
First thing that they notice to see how serious this cancer is, is the cancer spreading? 00:17:49.860 |
That's exactly what they were watching for this disease. 00:17:52.820 |
So all of these passages that I noted here was instructions to carefully watch to see 00:18:01.220 |
So again, the purpose of the close examination and time that they needed to observe these 00:18:06.120 |
symptoms on the skin was to see if it is going to spread. 00:18:09.460 |
Leprosy was not a dormant disease, but one that eventually spread throughout the rest 00:18:15.300 |
And that's exactly how sin is described in James chapter 1, 14 to 15. 00:18:20.060 |
When each person is tempted, when he is lured and enticed by his own desire, then desire 00:18:24.820 |
when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth 00:18:32.460 |
So whenever we compromise a little bit, that little bit usually grows. 00:18:38.420 |
Whether it is lost, whether it is lying, whether it is compromise, whether it's bitterness, 00:18:43.540 |
whether it's slander, it never stays dormant. 00:18:46.420 |
You never decide and say, "I'm going to do this much." 00:18:49.460 |
But when you give room for sin, that sin has a tendency to spread. 00:18:54.340 |
And not only spreads within us, it spreads around to whoever we are with. 00:19:00.040 |
And that's why the Bible describes somebody who is divisive and somebody who is teaching 00:19:08.060 |
In other words, they have a corrupting quality about them because they're embracing sin. 00:19:15.460 |
And so that's how sin is described in the scripture. 00:19:19.980 |
It not only points to something deeper, but sin has a way of spreading. 00:19:27.140 |
And it spreads to the people who are the closest to us. 00:19:31.380 |
So if you're a husband and you compromise in sin, it affects your wife. 00:19:39.940 |
And if it's a husband and wife that's compromising, it affects your children. 00:19:45.540 |
No matter how much we try to disciple our kids, they're going to model whatever they 00:19:51.120 |
So if slandering is a part of the environment, if compromising is a part of the environment 00:19:57.380 |
at home, no matter how much you try to send them to VBS and teach them scripture, they're 00:20:10.860 |
If you had true leprosy, they isolated them to watch to see if it was going to grow. 00:20:26.360 |
The word "unclean" is used 54 times in Leviticus. 00:20:30.140 |
It describes a ceremonial defilement that makes the victim unfit for social life or 00:20:34.680 |
for participation in worship at the house of God. 00:20:38.100 |
Because of this corruption, they weren't able to participate in worship. 00:20:51.100 |
So if you read Psalm 51, let's turn our Bibles to Psalm 51. 00:21:02.300 |
And I want you guys to, I've already written it down for you, but if you can look at Psalm 00:21:06.940 |
51, he describes how his sin has defiled his eyes, his mind, his ears, his bones, his heart, 00:21:25.140 |
So it didn't just affect his heart, it didn't just affect his mind. 00:21:28.100 |
He says, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your 00:21:32.500 |
Blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 00:21:36.300 |
For I know my transgressions, that my sin is ever before me. 00:21:42.100 |
And against you and you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that 00:21:46.300 |
you may be justified in your word and blameless in your judgment." 00:21:50.420 |
Verse 6, "Behold, you delight in truth and inward being, and you teach me wisdom in secret 00:21:55.940 |
So over and over again, it describes all the different parts. 00:21:59.200 |
He basically goes through every different part of his being, and he describes how sin 00:22:08.940 |
So sin in our lives, a lot of times we think it affects our heart, but it affects our ability 00:22:17.220 |
So to be able to understand even the Bible logically, there has to be a regeneration. 00:22:23.540 |
To be able to discern truth and what is right and what is wrong. 00:22:27.060 |
You can say, "Well, I don't trust my heart, but I trust my intellect. 00:22:46.340 |
Sometimes people say, "Maybe these movies are inappropriate." 00:22:50.740 |
And every once in a while, somebody will say, "Well, it doesn't bother me." 00:22:58.500 |
So the way that leprosy is described in scripture, it has a corrupting nature of every part of 00:23:10.580 |
Only the blood of Jesus Christ can wash away that defilement. 00:23:14.380 |
That's not something that we just will ourselves away from. 00:23:17.220 |
Once you become defiled by sin, the only way that we can be cleansed from that, according 00:23:32.740 |
In Leviticus 13, 45-46, "The leper's person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes 00:23:42.940 |
and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, 00:23:49.460 |
He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. 00:24:02.220 |
If you were suspected of having this disease, there was no treatment, there was no doctors, 00:24:12.060 |
The first reaction that you got from the priest was, "Get all his clothes and put it in 00:24:22.060 |
The second thing is to inform his parents and take whatever necessities and send them 00:24:35.460 |
Do you remember what happens in Adam and Eve, the first thing that happens when they sin? 00:24:43.500 |
They're not physically gone, but they're together, but they cover themselves. 00:24:49.220 |
So they're emotionally, socially, spiritually, they're completely isolated. 00:24:51.980 |
They're isolated from God, and they're isolated from each other. 00:24:57.020 |
The peace offering is a reversal of that curse where you're united with God and you're united 00:25:03.220 |
So this particular sin or disease of leprosy pointed to the isolation which we see in the 00:25:13.020 |
book of Genesis, chapter 3, when sin comes in, they immediately become isolated. 00:25:17.280 |
Not only are they isolated and have to live alone, just in case somebody may come into 00:25:21.860 |
contact, they have to constantly yell out, "Unclean, unclean." 00:25:26.220 |
Now you have to understand, when we say unclean, we don't have this emotional baggage that's 00:25:31.700 |
attached because we don't live in that culture. 00:25:36.820 |
To say you're an unclean and yelling out to everybody else, basically it's a self-condemnation. 00:25:43.780 |
It's just like walking around and displaying the ugliest part of who you are everywhere 00:25:50.540 |
Because to be unclean in the Jewish community meant you can't be with people. 00:25:54.460 |
You can't come to worship, you can't give sacrifice, you can't live with your family. 00:25:59.180 |
And you have, just by being close to somebody, you would corrupt them. 00:26:05.140 |
So remember when you guys were young kids, kids would play around and say, "Oh, he or 00:26:12.880 |
And they would play tag and whoever has cooties, you have to stay as far away from them as 00:26:17.980 |
And it was a game that the kids played, but imagine if that was real. 00:26:22.620 |
Some kid is labeled to have cooties and nobody can sit next to them. 00:26:25.960 |
Nobody can touch them, you can't eat with them, you can't share with them. 00:26:30.140 |
Basically you can't have friends because if you get near that person, you get cooties. 00:26:35.380 |
Well that's exactly how this particular thing is described. 00:26:39.420 |
The sin spreads, sin defiles, sin is ultimately pointing to the deep corruption inside. 00:26:51.920 |
But I think the most painful thing, I mean if you were a leper and you had the disease 00:26:56.280 |
of leprosy, I can imagine the only thing that you wanted was to die. 00:27:02.500 |
Can you imagine the pain that this person must have gone through? 00:27:08.240 |
You can't have a conversation with your family members, you're outside the city, and you 00:27:13.000 |
can't even think about like, "What did I do wrong? 00:27:15.760 |
What could I have possibly done wrong for me to deserve this?" 00:27:20.720 |
And then finally, in Luke chapter 17, then through 19, you know that encounter that Jesus 00:27:26.480 |
has with the 10 lepers, and I think understanding the background, it gives us a better idea, 00:27:33.600 |
So it says, "On the way to Jerusalem, he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee, 00:27:38.000 |
and as he entered a village, he was met by 10 lepers who stood at a distance." 00:27:41.800 |
So you can understand why they were standing at a distance, because by law. 00:27:45.400 |
And if they didn't stay at a distance, they could have been stoned. 00:27:50.640 |
Beyond scripture, they were bragging about throwing rocks at lepers to keep them at a 00:27:56.280 |
So imagine what would have happened if they drew near. 00:28:00.720 |
They can only be with other lepers, and the fact that they even tried to make contact 00:28:06.080 |
with Jesus would have been enough for them to get stoned. 00:28:11.560 |
If you were a leper, and the only chance that you could possibly have a normal life is Jesus, 00:28:16.880 |
because you heard about him walking on water, you heard about healing the blind and raising 00:28:24.040 |
those who couldn't walk, who were lame, and he's coming to town, that even if you get 00:28:29.120 |
stoned, it would be better than the situation that they were in. 00:28:33.400 |
So you can understand why they would come yelling at Jesus, "Jesus, Master, have mercy 00:28:40.120 |
So again, it really highlights when they say, "Have mercy on us," considering knowing everything 00:28:46.600 |
"When he saw them, he said to them, 'Go and show yourself to the priest.'" 00:28:51.600 |
Because it says in the book of Leviticus, because the priest had the power to determine 00:28:58.800 |
So in order for them to enter back into the camp and to be able to have any human contact, 00:29:07.840 |
And so that's why Jesus says, "If you want to be healed, when he says, 'Go show the priest,'" 00:29:11.480 |
in other words, this was promised from Jesus saying, "You're going to be cleansed." 00:29:16.000 |
Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud 00:29:22.680 |
Because as soon as he was healed, you know, the first thing that you would think, humanly 00:29:28.400 |
speaking, because you want the approval of the priest, because that means that everything 00:29:33.560 |
that caused pain in your life was going to be cleared by the priest. 00:29:41.520 |
But only one person recognized that the real gift, the real gift was not the leprosy in 00:29:54.120 |
The others were eager to get back into their normal life. 00:29:59.000 |
The only one who turns around is that when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising 00:30:04.520 |
And he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. 00:30:11.280 |
Now, again, understanding the cultural and the legal background behind what they were 00:30:16.600 |
suffering and all that, we can understand why they were so eager to go and get cleansed 00:30:23.880 |
But the point of everything that Jesus did, the point of every part of the law was ultimately 00:30:32.520 |
They could be healed, but in the end, eventually, if you don't meet God, eventually you're going 00:30:39.720 |
You're superficially healed, right, of your leprosy, but the healing, the real sickness 00:30:45.840 |
in mankind is the disease of sin, the corrupt nature inside. 00:30:51.960 |
And so, this we see even in our culture where people who are desperate, they come to God 00:30:57.980 |
if they're poor, if they have family issues or you're hurt by something. 00:31:03.960 |
And I see so many people coming to God when they're desperate, but as soon as their desperation 00:31:12.980 |
And so, it's almost like we're waiting for another disaster to happen to bring revival. 00:31:21.920 |
And that's why, like if you go to a persecuted church, there's a fire in them because of 00:31:29.480 |
But remember what Jesus said to Thomas when Jesus was resurrected and he said, "Well, 00:31:36.160 |
And then he sees Jesus and puts his fingers inside of his scars and Jesus says, "You believe 00:31:42.600 |
because you saw, but blessed are those who do not see and yet they believe." 00:31:47.880 |
In other words, if revival is dependent upon your circumstance, your love for God will 00:31:57.880 |
And as soon as the fire is gone in your life, so is the fire for Christ. 00:32:05.060 |
They were healed of their leprosy, but they were never healed of their sin because they 00:32:15.080 |
And so our churches, if we're not careful, can be filled with people who are coming to 00:32:20.000 |
Christ because of the gift, not recognizing Christ himself is the gift. 00:32:26.400 |
Because only Christ can forgive us and only Christ can cleanse us of our sins. 00:32:30.240 |
And the whole reason why this law is even in here is to ultimately point us to Christ. 00:32:36.440 |
Jesus is, yes, he could heal us of leprosy, but even if you are healed of leprosy, it 00:32:48.200 |
In the end, he says, "We're not ten cleansed. 00:32:53.720 |
Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 00:33:01.360 |
Of course, you would say, "Well, nine of them was made well. 00:33:04.520 |
So what does it mean when Jesus says, 'Your faith has made well?'" 00:33:11.040 |
There's only one person out of these ten who was truly made well, the one whose sins were 00:33:17.640 |
And that's the thing that, again, we can, if we're not careful, make Christianity about 00:33:24.220 |
answered prayers, about getting a good job, and about being healthy and living long lives, 00:33:29.560 |
and being able to have enough money to take care of our children, and all of these things 00:33:35.040 |
are and can be a blessing, but they're all superficial. 00:33:44.160 |
You can have children who are raised in a good home, well-protected, well-provided. 00:33:49.480 |
They are A-plus students, get to the best colleges, and yet they don't know Christ. 00:33:56.640 |
And all of that that you did to help them actually ends up hurting them if they don't 00:34:04.080 |
So ultimately, everything that God does, whether it's wealth, or whether it's pain, whether 00:34:10.600 |
it's good, or whether it's bad, if it doesn't lead us to Christ, it actually ends up hurting 00:34:18.760 |
And then finally, sin is ultimately only fit for fire. 00:34:23.880 |
And the final thing that he says about the garments is, "A defiled garment was to be 00:34:35.360 |
Sinners are redeemed, but sin in and of itself, it says, is to be burned. 00:34:41.840 |
So when Jesus spoke about hell, he used the word Gehenna. 00:34:44.640 |
And the word Gehenna was a literal place outside of Jerusalem where it was a trash dump, and 00:34:49.840 |
Israelites would have been very familiar with that site, with the trash being burned all 00:34:56.240 |
And it was described in Mark 9 45 as unquenchable fire. 00:35:00.800 |
And the Bible describes the very reason why Christ came was because of this. 00:35:05.840 |
So as hideous as this particular disease was, all of that points to the hideousness of our 00:35:14.040 |
And as I started this Bible study reminding us, until sin becomes utterly sinful, our 00:35:27.000 |
And until our salvation is utterly glorious, our passion, our love, our obedience will 00:35:36.520 |
Because Christianity ultimately is about drawing near to Christ. 00:35:39.360 |
But if drawing near to Christ isn't the source of your joy, and it just becomes homework, 00:35:47.880 |
it just becomes something that you have to do, because you don't recognize what it is 00:35:54.480 |
And the reason we don't recognize what it is that we have in Christ is because we have 00:36:05.640 |
A lot of people, sin is looked upon as a mistake. 00:36:13.280 |
We should have gotten an A, but we got a C. Some people get Fs. 00:36:18.640 |
We don't see the devastation of this sin, even though it is happening even in our own 00:36:23.400 |
That sin that is dormant in our lives is having an effect on your relationship, it's having 00:36:28.600 |
an effect on your marriage, it's having an effect on your heart, it's having an effect 00:36:32.680 |
on your worship, it's having an effect on our children. 00:36:39.200 |
But when we don't recognize this, when we don't recognize the devastation of sin, we 00:36:50.040 |
Until we can't pay our bills, until we get sick, until something physically goes wrong, 00:36:58.760 |
Urgency is always there if we recognize just how devastating sin is, because sin is always 00:37:08.240 |
Sin is always wanting to creep into our lives. 00:37:12.420 |
And how vulnerable we are to deception until we come to Christ. 00:37:17.420 |
So all of this ultimately points to that, because the Day of Atonement, like all of 00:37:27.280 |
So imagine how it would change our spiritual lives if we saw our sins like we see leprosy. 00:37:38.400 |
Imagine how desperate we were, imagine like the ten lepers were crying out to Jesus, "Have 00:37:47.080 |
We would be in that same position if we saw sin the way God saw sin. 00:37:52.060 |
We would be the tax collector up on the hill beating our chest, not being able to lift 00:37:57.160 |
If we saw sin as it is described here, as leprosy. 00:38:03.300 |
And that was the whole point of Leviticus, the whole point of the sacrificial laws. 00:38:07.800 |
The whole point of the law is to get us to get to a point, like the lepers, to cry out 00:38:15.200 |
to God, to look to the cross in desperation and tears. 00:38:24.320 |
I looked at Google to look up pictures of leprosy, and it was so hideous I didn't even 00:38:36.440 |
I showed you like beheaded lambs and blood, and I showed you all of that because God showed 00:38:42.720 |
like this is what the Israelites saw on a daily basis. 00:38:45.600 |
But I looked at the picture of these people who had leprosy, and there's pictures of them, 00:38:51.600 |
And I don't want to show it to you because it is that grotesque. 00:38:57.400 |
And that image that is described in Leviticus 13 and 14 was ultimately meant to show us 00:39:09.320 |
So again, as we continue to study the book of Leviticus, like that our reality, not to 00:39:17.400 |
be formed by the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. 00:39:23.000 |
And these things ought to be renewing our mind to see sin from God's perspective, and 00:39:28.320 |
see redemption from his perspective, so that we would live our lives as he desires. 00:39:36.280 |
The three discussion questions for today, in what ways have you seen or experienced 00:39:41.800 |
sin spreading when not dealt with in repentance? 00:39:45.080 |
Secondly, how has sin defiled something precious in your life? 00:39:49.240 |
For example, relationships, family, worship, et cetera. 00:39:51.600 |
I'll just give you some examples, but in what specific way have you noticed or seen in your 00:39:56.800 |
life and maybe in something that you've observed, and how sin has a way of corrupting? 00:40:05.100 |
What does sin leading to isolation teach us about true fellowship? 00:40:10.480 |
And I'm just going to explain that right now, just in case, you know, I don't want you guys 00:40:14.600 |
What I mean by that is, if sin isolates, righteousness brings us together, correct? 00:40:22.620 |
So oftentimes when we talk about fellowship, it's about people who are compromising in 00:40:31.960 |
Because if the core nature of sin is isolation, righteousness leads to communion. 00:40:41.120 |
So how does that play out in the life of a Christian and in the church? 00:40:45.640 |
So let me pray for us, and then I'll let you guys take time in your small group. 00:40:51.560 |
Gracious Father, we thank you for your living word. 00:40:56.760 |
Lord, these are heavy truths, Lord God, that we need to really meditate and contemplate, 00:41:06.840 |
And at times, many times, Lord God, it's not in our hearts. 00:41:11.840 |
Help us, Lord God, to sympathize with those who have experienced this devastating disease 00:41:18.460 |
in one form or another, that we may recognize what you've been trying for many years to 00:41:25.440 |
show the nation of Israel, just how desperate and sick we are when we allow sin in our lives. 00:41:36.720 |
What it is that you have saved us from, that we would naturally need to worship in view 00:41:43.640 |
of this mercy, that we would joyfully offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. 00:41:50.800 |
Lord, we approach you humbled, desperate, crying out for mercy. 00:42:02.960 |
I pray that the truth and the power of the gospel would have a deep impact on us, that 00:42:09.760 |
we would not just coast along from day to day, from event to event, from Sunday to Sunday. 00:42:17.080 |
Devastate us in our sins, that we may be delivered and live a life truly glorious for your name. 00:42:25.280 |
Bless the time that we have in our discussion. 00:42:27.080 |
Help us to be open and honest, and that we may sharpen one another as we have this time.