The Loving Law for the Leper...

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “This shall be the law of the leprous person 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 look. Then, if the case of leprous disease is healed in the leprous person, the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live clean birds and cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop. And the priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water. He shall take the live bird with the cedarwood and the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird go into the open field. And he who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes and shave off all his hair and bathe himself in water, and he shall be clean. And after that he may come into the camp, but live outside his tent seven days. And on the seventh day he shall shave off all his hair from his head, his beard, and his eyebrows. He shall shave off all his hair, and then he shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and he shall be clean. (Leviticus 14:1-9 ESV) Often times when we come across accounts about lepers in the Bible, we grieve that they were put outside the camp, the mainstream of daily life; they had to cry out unclean as they came near others; they missed out on the celebrations of Passover and other Holy days. To be sure, these laws were given to protect the other people from contagious disease, but were they not heartless towards this afflicted people? No, they were loving and hopeful. Not only did God provide a way and a hope that they could be pronounced clean once again, He also was protecting them. As Jews, they were expected, yes commanded to take part in these celebrations. There was a heavy penalty for them not doing so. But they were in a quandary - how could they obey God and NOT go to these crowded commemorations? By being declared "unclean" they were given an excuse to not attend. That helps explain why a Jew would every go to the priest to be examined instead of trying to hide it; he realized it was the loving thing to do for his fellow Jews, and his means of protection for not attending the festival. God is loving and merciful in all His ways.