Leviticus 13 Devotional

Waiting Outside the Camp

“As long as he has the infection, he remains unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp.”Leviticus 13:46 (BSB)

The priest in this chapter works like a careful examiner. He looks closely at each swelling, rash, or spot. If he is unsure, he isolates the person and looks again after seven days, sometimes twice (13:3-6). Many cases end with the person declared clean: a faded rash, a healed scar, a bald head (13:6, 23, 40). The process is slow on purpose. No one is to be put out of the camp on a guess.

When the disease is confirmed, though, the cost is heavy. The person wears torn clothes, covers his mouth, calls out that he is unclean, and lives alone outside the camp as long as the disease lasts (13:45-46). Uncleanness meant distance from the community gathered around God's dwelling. Luke tells of ten men with leprosy who stood at a distance and called to Jesus for mercy, and on their way to the priests they were cleansed (Luke 17:12-14). Whatever has left you on the outside, you can still call to him.

To think about: What makes you feel on the outside, and what would it look like to call out to Jesus from right where you are?