Leviticus 13:1-7

What I want you to notice is the terminology: clean, unclean, cleansing, wash, rinsed, running water, separate. Do you begin to get the drift that what we are looking at here are laws pertaining to sanitation, quarantine, containing disease?

The next thing to understand is this term "leprosy." It is a rather generic term. It should not be thought of leprosy as we think of leprosy today. The Hebrew word is a general word indicating any number of skin diseases. However, and this is interesting, besides that use as a skin disease, it is also used to indicate mold or mildew in a fabric, dry rot in buildings, and mineral eruptions on the walls of buildings. Leviticus 15 covers any number of discharges from the body.

The important element in terms of this sermon is not the specific disease, but rather God's intent in using general terms as an illustration indicating filthiness, or disease, or possible contagion when these outbreaks occurred on a person, a fabric, or a building. At the very least He is saying, "Be careful!" It is a warning that these things are potentially hazardous as a source of infection, something to be avoided and separated away from, or quarantined.