Lev 13:58 | KingComments | STEP | Leprosy can occur not only in people, as described so far, but also in a garment. The next chapter also mentions leprosy on houses ( ). Leprosy in a garment speaks of sin in behavior, in attitude, in what is seen of someone. People are what is present in someone, a garment is what is seen to or from someone. In this sense Jude also uses it in his letter when he writes: “Hating even the garment polluted by the flesh” ( ). Jude writes that in connection with helping others who have come under the power of sin to be delivered from it. He warns that this help will not result in the care provider himself being affected by the defilement in which the others find themselves. He must hate every touch, every influence of uncleanness on his behavior – presented in “the garment polluted by the flesh” – and keep far away from him. The importance of a garment is the meaning it has. Thus is the tunic of the Lord Jesus “seamless, woven in one piece” ( ). This is a symbolic indication of Who He Himself is. His conduct, His way of acting, His whole revelation is perfect, from His coming from above, from heaven, to His return to heaven. There is never any wrong or contradiction in what He says or does. We may have ‘leprosy’ in our habits, in our behavior, in the profession we exercise, in the places we go to. It concerns everything that the people around us perceive of us. They do not hear what we have to say in the first place, but they see how we live. If the mark of leprosy in a garment has spread after seven days of quarantine, it must be burned. If there is no spreading, it must be washed and quarantined again for seven days. If it turns out that the disease has spread anyway, it still has to be burned with fire. The water of cleansing did not help. If there is no spread, the marked area must be torn out of the garment. This treatment of a garment on which the mark is seen shows in picture that the Word of God must be applied to our external behavior, our habits, and not just to our hearts. There are professions that a believer cannot exercise. Think of the owner of a bar or dealer in slot machines and all kinds of other professions that incite people to sin. When a person comes to faith, he will change his profession in these cases. There are also professions of which certain sub-parts can be sinful, for example, to declare an amount in excess of the actual costs. These can be ‘torn out’. The rest is preserved. The Word of God is indispensable as a guideline in this. The danger is not the garment itself, but that it affects the person. I can live in an environment that is not good. Then I have to ‘burn’ it, which for me means that I have to leave and live somewhere else. I can work in an environment that poses a special danger to me, for example, that a Christian must behave in a worldly way as a hostess and because of that must give up her Christian identity. Perhaps that part of the work could be ‘torn out’ by asking if she does not need to perform that task. If that is not possible, it may become necessary to change jobs.

‏ Leviticus 13:58

Leprosy on Fabrics

Leprosy can occur not only in people, as described so far, but also in a garment. The next chapter also mentions leprosy on houses (Lev 14:33-53). Leprosy in a garment speaks of sin in behavior, in attitude, in what is seen of someone. People are what is present in someone, a garment is what is seen to or from someone.

In this sense Jude also uses it in his letter when he writes: “Hating even the garment polluted by the flesh” (Jude 1:23). Jude writes that in connection with helping others who have come under the power of sin to be delivered from it. He warns that this help will not result in the care provider himself being affected by the defilement in which the others find themselves. He must hate every touch, every influence of uncleanness on his behavior – presented in “the garment polluted by the flesh” – and keep far away from him.

The importance of a garment is the meaning it has. Thus is the tunic of the Lord Jesus “seamless, woven in one piece” (Jn 19:23). This is a symbolic indication of Who He Himself is. His conduct, His way of acting, His whole revelation is perfect, from His coming from above, from heaven, to His return to heaven. There is never any wrong or contradiction in what He says or does.

We may have ‘leprosy’ in our habits, in our behavior, in the profession we exercise, in the places we go to. It concerns everything that the people around us perceive of us. They do not hear what we have to say in the first place, but they see how we live.

If the mark of leprosy in a garment has spread after seven days of quarantine, it must be burned. If there is no spreading, it must be washed and quarantined again for seven days. If it turns out that the disease has spread anyway, it still has to be burned with fire. The water of cleansing did not help. If there is no spread, the marked area must be torn out of the garment.

This treatment of a garment on which the mark is seen shows in picture that the Word of God must be applied to our external behavior, our habits, and not just to our hearts. There are professions that a believer cannot exercise. Think of the owner of a bar or dealer in slot machines and all kinds of other professions that incite people to sin. When a person comes to faith, he will change his profession in these cases. There are also professions of which certain sub-parts can be sinful, for example, to declare an amount in excess of the actual costs. These can be ‘torn out’. The rest is preserved. The Word of God is indispensable as a guideline in this.

The danger is not the garment itself, but that it affects the person. I can live in an environment that is not good. Then I have to ‘burn’ it, which for me means that I have to leave and live somewhere else. I can work in an environment that poses a special danger to me, for example, that a Christian must behave in a worldly way as a hostess and because of that must give up her Christian identity. Perhaps that part of the work could be ‘torn out’ by asking if she does not need to perform that task. If that is not possible, it may become necessary to change jobs.