Lev 14.1-59 will tell us about the purification ceremony for a Metzora (leper); and Tzaraat found in a house.
Holiness is…
v 1…Then the Lord spoke to Moses (to tell Aaron and his sons), saying,
v 2…”This shall be the law (torah/instruction) of the metzora (leper) in the day of his cleansing (meaning to be put back in place). Now he shall be brought to the priest.
v 3…And the priest shall go out to the outside of the camp. Thus the priest shall look, and if the affliction of tzaraat has been healed in the leper;
v 4…then the priest shall give orders to take two live clean birds (why birds? because they “chirp” and fly around like people do when they gossip and slander, and we should “fly” away from them when we hear the chirping gossip of the first bird) and cedar wood (it is red inside, like blood) and a scarlet string (blood red) and hyssop (called the striking plant and used in sprinkling) for the one who is to be cleansed (same items as with the Parah Adumah, the Red Heifer).
v 5…The priest shall also give orders to slay one bird in an earthenware (humanity-2 Cor 4.7, 5.1) vessel (a type of Yeshua from heaven being slain) over running water (the washing of the word-Eph 5.26).
v 6…As for the live bird, he shall take it, together with the cedar wood and the scarlet string and the hyssop and shall dip them and the bird in the blood of the bird that was slain over the running water (Yeshua’s death was according to the word).
v 7…He shall then sprinkle seven times (completely clean) the one who is to be cleansed from the tzaraat, and shall pronounce him clean (“tahor” or in place), and shall let the live bird go free over the open field (the metzora is now free to go anywhere in the world; this is also a type of the resurrection of Yeshua who took his blood to heaven to set us free).
v 8…The one to be cleansed shall wash his clothes (alludes to the change in garments believers receive when cleansed) and shave off all his hair (on his head, beard and eyebrows-v 9; alludes the weakening of the strength of sin; nothing covered or hidden) and wash himself in water (a change in status) and be clean (in place). Now afterward, he mat enter the camp, but he shall stay outside his tent for seven days.
v 9…And it shall be on the seventh day that he shall shave off all his hair; he shall shave his head (the area of pride and haughtiness) and his beard (covers the mouth and lips that slandered and gossiped) and his eyebrows (around the eyes that coveted and were jealous), even all his hair (on the rest of his body, to prepare him for his consecration, even as the Levites were shaven before their consecration in Num 8.7). He shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in water and be clean (a change of status).
v 10…Now on the eighth day (a new beginning) he is to take two male lambs (one for a guilt offering and the other for a burnt offering) without defect, and a yearling ewe lamb without defect (for a sin offering; speaks of submission like Messiah), and three-tenths of an ephah (a bushel) of fine flour (solet) mixed with oil for a grain (minchah) offering, and one log of oil (half a liter);
v 11…and the priest who pronounces him clean shall present the man to be cleansed and the aforesaid things before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting (this would be the north wicket at the Nicanor Gate in the Temple).
v 12…Then the priest shall take the one male lamb and bring it for a guilt offering with the log of oil, and present them as a wave offering (tenufa, alluding to the fact that the person is a recipient of God’s mercy) before the Lord.
v 13…Next he shall slaughter the male lamb in the place where they slaughter the sin offering and then burnt offering (north of the altar-Lev 1.11), at the place of the sanctuary-for the guilt offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest; it is most holy (kodshai kodeshim and can only be eaten in the sanctuary).
v 14…The priest shall then take some of the blood of the guilt offering (in the left palm), and the priest shall put it on the lobe of the right ear (to hear the word) of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand (to do the word), and on the big toe of his right foot (to walk in the word; same ritual as with the priests).
v 15…The priest shall also take some of the log of oil and pour it into his left palm;
v 16…The priest shall then dip his right hand finger into the oil that is in his left palm, and with his finger sprinkle (like with a whip) some of the oil seven times (dipping each time) before the Lord (westward towards the Holy of Holies).
v 17…And the remaining oil which is in his palm, the priest shall put some on the right lobe of the the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the guilt offering (“asham”-there must be a cleansing in the blood of Yeshua before there is an anointing with the Ruach Ha Kodesh);
v 18…while the rest of the oil that is in the priest’s palm, he shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed. So the priest shall make atonement (restore a covering) on his behalf before the Lord.
v 19…The priest shall next offer the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness. Then afterward, he shall slaughter the burnt offering (olah).
v 20…And the priest shall offer up the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. Thus the priest shall make atonement (restore a covering) for him, and he shall be clean (tahor or “in place”).
v 21…But if he is poor, and his means are insufficient (the literal poverty of an Israelite alludes to the spiritual poverty of a believer, one who is weak spiritually in comparison to the strong in comprehension; the guilt offering must still be a lamb because God will accept nothing less; one must understand that Yeshua died for his sins according to the Scriptures), then he is to take one male lamb for a guilt offering as a wave offering to make atonement for him, one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering and a log of oil,
v 22…and two turtledoves or two young pigeons which are within his means (instead of the two other lambs), the one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.
v 23…Then on the eighth day (a new beginning) he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest at the doorway of the tent of meeting, before the Lord .
v 24…And the priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering, and the log of oil, and the priest shall offer them for a wave offering (tenufa-toward the altar and then back again showing we received from the Lord) before the Lord.
v 25…Next he shall slaughter the lamb of the guilt offering; and the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right (the side of strength) ear (to hear the word) of the one to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand (do the word) and on the big toe of his right foot (walk in the word).
v 26…The priest shall also pour some of the oil into his left palm (the side of love and affection);
v 27…and with his right-hand finger the priest shall sprinkle some of the oil that is in his left palm seven times before the Lord (like wielding a whip, seven times separately).
v 28…The priest shall then put some of the oil that is in his left palm on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the guilt offering (our sin must be covered in the blood of Yeshua first before we can be anointed by the Ruach Ha Kodesh).
v 29…Moreover, the rest of the oil that is in the priest’s palm he shall put on the head (a renewed mind) of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement on his behalf before the Lord.
v 30…He shall then offer one of the turtledoves or young pigeons, which are within his means.
v 31…He shall offer what he can afford, the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, together with the grain offering. So the priest shall make atonement before the Lord on behalf of the one to be cleansed.
v 32…This is the law (torah/instruction) for him in whom there is an affliction of tzaraat, whose means are limited for his cleansing.”
v 33…And the Lord further spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
v 34…When you enter the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a mark of tzaraat (notice it is God who does it) on a house in the land of your possession (the tzaraat on a house will allude to the Temple and the people of Israel that will eventually become full of tzaraat and be destroyed and scattered twice-Isa 1.11),
v 35…then the one who owns the house (spiritually God in the case of the people/Temple) shall come and tell the priest (the leaders, prophets) saying, ‘Something like a mark of tzaraat has become visible to me (God) in the house (God will tell the prophets-Ezek 8.14 through 9.11 for instance).’
v 36…The priest shall then order that they empty the house before the priest goes in to look at the mark, so that everything in the house need not become unclean; and afterward the priest shall go in to look at the house (Jeremiah, Isaiah and the prophets spoke about what was happening before the first Temple was destroyed; and Yeshua did this when he cleansed the Temple twice, one at the beginning of his ministry, and rechecked it at the end-John 2.13; Mark 11.15-17, 13.1-2).
v 37…So he shall look at the mark, and if the mark on the walls of the house is greenish (sin is alive and vigorous) or reddish (“adam dam”-earthy; speaks of sin-Isa 1.18) depressions, and appears deeper than the surface (not superficial),
v 38…then the priest shall come out of the house to the doorway, and quarantine the house for seven days (the Temple was examined when Jeremiah, Isaiah and other prophets spoke against what was happening).
v 39…And the priest shall return on the seventh day and make an inspection (like Jeremiah and the prophets did). If the mark has indeed spread in the walls of the house,
v 40…then the priest shall order them to tear out the stones with the mark in them and throw them away at an unclean place outside the city (Jeremiah announced that sin was present and announced that the Temple would be torn down and the people scattered).
v 41…And he shall have the house scraped all around inside and they shall dump the plaster that they scrape off at an unclean place outside the city.
v 42…Then they shall take other stones and replace those stones and he shall take other plaster and replaster the house (this alludes to the rebuilding of the Temple with Zerubbabel after the return from Babylon from exile).
v 43…If, however, the mark breaks out again (as it did in the days leading up to 70 AD) in the house, after he has torn out the stones and scraped the house, and after it has been replastered,
v 44…then the priest (Yeshua) shall come and make an inspection (his two inspection/cleansings in John 2.13 and Mark 11.15-17). If he sees that the mark has indeed spread in the house, it is a malignant mark in the house; it is unclean.
v 45…He (the owner of the house; God will do this) shall therefore tear down the house, it’s stones (people in 1 Pet 2.4-5) and its timbers, and all the plaster of the house and he shall take them outside the city to an unclean place (this was alluded to in Matt 24.1-2; Israel has been in the world for 2000 years).
v 46…Moreover, whoever goes into the house during the time that he has isolated it, becomes unclean until evening.
v 47…Likewise, whoever lies down in the house shall wash bis clothes and whoever eats in the house shall wash his clothes.
v 48…If, on the other hand, the priest comes in and makes an inspection and the mark has not indeed spread in the house after it has been replastered, then the priest shall announce the house clean because the the mark has not reappeared.
v 49…To cleanse the house then, he shall take two birds and cedar wood and a scarlet string and hyssop (see 14.1-7 for meanings on this ceremony on the following verses),
v 50…and he shall slaughter the one bird in an earthenware vessel over running water.
v 51…Then he shall take the cedar wood and hyssop and the scarlet string with the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird as well as in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times (complete cleansing).
v 52…He shall thus cleanse the house with the blood of the bird (Israel will be cleansed in Zech 12.10; 13.1) and with the running water, along with the bird and the cedar wood and with the hyssop and with the scarlet string (all alluding to the death of Yeshua).
v 53…However, he shall let the live bird go free outside the city (Yeshua was resurrected and ascended outside the city) into the open field. So he shall make atonement for the house (of Israel) and it shall be clean.
v 54…This is the law (Torah/instruction) for any mark of tzaraat-even for a scale (on the skin),
v 55…and for the the leprous garment or house;
v 56…and for a swelling , and for a scab, and for a bright spot,
v 57…to teach when it is unclean (out of place), and when they are clean (in place). This is the law (torah/instruction) of tzaraat.”
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