Handling the Leper

After verses about what is leprosy and what is not, now God talks about things that are not leprosy such as white spots on the skin. Just because something is different, does not mean that it is unclean. We need to rejoice in the differences in the body since all the parts of the body are necessary and wisely placed. Then, he speaks about baldness not being leprosy. Signs associated with age are not signs of being unclean, but the signs of leprosy in those who are aged is handled differently. There is not the isolation for fourteen days to determine if it is really leprosy. If it appears on the bald portion of the head and it looks like leprosy, there is no need to see if it is deeper than the skin or that there is a white hair in it, it is leprosy. What is questionable behavior in a young professed Christian that needs to be checked if it goes to the heart, when it appears on a mature professed Christian is a testimony that they are really unclean. This is about the efficacy of the Holy Spirit. Finally, the passage concludes with how lepers are to be treated and how they are to behave. They are to have a testimony that they are mourning over their sin and not find comfort in that sin. Their clothes are to be torn and their head uncovered. They have to announce themselves as unclean and they have to dwell outside the camp. These passages about leprosy are about making what is unacceptable to God in those who profess faith obvious to those around.