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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
"If any clothing is contaminated with mildew—any woolen or linen clothing, any woven or knitted material of linen or wool, any leather or anything made of leather- and if the contamination in the clothing, or leather, or woven or knitted material, or any leather article, is greenish or reddish, it is a spreading mildew and must be shown to the priest. The priest is to examine the mildew and isolate the affected article for seven days. On the seventh day, he is to examine it, and if the mildew has spread in the clothing, or the woven or knitted material, or the leather, whatever its use, it is a destructive mildew; the article is unclean. He must burn up the clothing, or the woven or knitted material of wool or linen, or any leather article that has the contamination in it, because the mildew is destructive; the article must be burned up.”
"But if, when the priest examines it, the mildew has not spread in the clothing, or the woven or knitted material, or the leather article, he shall order that the contaminated article be washed. Then he is to isolate it for another seven days. After the affected article has been washed, the priest is to examine it, and if the mildew has not changed its appearance, even though it has not spread, it is unclean. Burn it with fire, whether the mildew has affected one side or the other. If, when the priest examines it, the mildew has faded after the article has been washed, he is to tear the contaminated part out of the clothing, or the leather, or the woven or knitted material. But if it reappears in the clothing, or in the woven or knitted material, or in the leather article, it is spreading, and whatever has the mildew must be burned with fire. The clothing, or the woven or knitted material, or any leather article that has been washed and is rid of the mildew, must be washed again, and it will be clean."
“These are the regulations concerning contamination by mildew in woolen or linen clothing, woven or knitted material, or any leather article, for pronouncing them clean or unclean."
Leviticus 13:47-59
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a spreading mildew in a house in that land, the owner of the house must go and tell the priest, 'I have seen something that looks like mildew in my house.' The priest is to order the house to be emptied before he goes in to examine the mildew, so that nothing in the house will be pronounced unclean. After this the priest is to go in and inspect the house. He is to examine the mildew on the walls, and if it has greenish or reddish depressions that appear to be deeper than the surface of the wall, the priest shall go out the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days. On the seventh day, the priest shall return to inspect the house. If the mildew has spread on the walls, he is to order that the contaminated stones be torn out and thrown into an unclean place outside the town. He must have all the inside walls of the house scraped and the material that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the town. Then they are to take other stones to replace these and take new clay and plaster the house.”
"If the mildew reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house scraped and plastered, the priest is to go and examine it and, if the mildew has spread in the house, it is a destructive mildew; the house is unclean. It must be torn down—its stones, timbers and all the plaster—and taken out of the town to an unclean place.”
"Anyone who goes into the house while it is closed up will be unclean till evening. Anyone who sleeps or eats in the house must wash his clothes.”
"But if the priest comes to examine it and the mildew has not spread after the house has been plastered, he shall pronounce the house clean, because the mildew is gone. To purify the house he is to take two birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop. He shall kill one of the birds over fresh water in a clay pot. Then he is to take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn and the live bird, dip them into the blood of the dead bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. He shall purify the house with the bird's blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop and the scarlet yarn. Then he is to release the live bird in the open fields outside the town. In this way, he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean."
“These are the regulations for any infectious skin disease, for an itch, for mildew in clothing or in a house, and for a swelling, a rash or a bright spot, to determine when something is clean or unclean. These are the regulations for infectious skin diseases and mildew."
Leviticus 14:33-57
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In today’s message, we again look at two passages in Leviticus, chapters 13 and 14, this time dealing with the matter of mildew.
What is mildew?
Essentially, it is a mold fungi that is always present in the air by way of spores. When these spores come in contact with something that is wet or damp, they begin to grow, becoming the mildew or mold we dread to see on clothing or in our homes.
Unchecked, mildew and mold fungus will spread and result in rotting over time, something that was a big problem in Old Testament days since many ancient Israelite writings were done on leather or papyrus parchment, both highly susceptible to being impacted by the mold fungi spores once wet or damp. This could easily happen with the humidity of the rainy season in Israel which would run from October through March.
Now, one thing to keep in mind was that living conditions were quite different back then than they are today. We have to remember that the Israelite people were often exposed to the elements and living in tents before they reached Canaan where they would finally be able to build and settle into homes of their own. And since there weren’t dehumidifiers or dryers or disinfectant cleaners present then to combat the mildew/mold problem, the Lord had to provide firm guidance on dealing with the issue.
In yesterday’s message, you’ll remember that the priest was the one conducting examinations and making assessments when any Israelite was dealing with a skin disorder. Here, we find they also are the ones entrusted to make proper evaluations and decisions regarding whether mildew was controllable or not once it was present. To aid them, we find the Lord providing the following guidance on clothing or other woven, knitted, or leather items:
"If any clothing is contaminated with mildew—any woolen or linen clothing, any woven or knitted material of linen or wool, any leather or anything made of leather- and if the contamination in the clothing, or leather, or woven or knitted material, or any leather article, is greenish or reddish, it is a spreading mildew and must be shown to the priest."
If the priest saw mildew contamination, he would "examine” it and then “isolate the affected article for seven days" after which time he would reexamine it. If the mildew had "spread in the clothing, or the woven or knitted material, or the leather, whatever its use", the mildew was considered destructive and the article was considered unclean. The priest was directed to burn up the article to destroy the mildew and prevent any further spreading.
Of course, if the examination revealed that the mildew wasn’t spreading then the article was to be washed and then examined after yet another 7 days. If the mildew had not "changed its appearance", it was still deemed unclean and was to be burned. However, if the mildew had faded, the priest was ordered to tear out the affected area and the article could still be used unless the mildew reappeared at which time the article was to be burned.
Moving to Leviticus, chapter 14, we find the Lord extending the mildew regulations to the home. At the time of these commands, the people of Israel were about a year away from finally entering Canaan where they would be finally able to settle down into residences instead of living the nomadic tent life experienced during the exodus from Egypt. Once in the homes, mildew was a potential problem if damp conditions existed inside.
As we read in the passage from Leviticus 14, any appearance of mildew within an Israelite home would render it unclean and note that it just wasn’t the structure impacted but everything within it as well. This is why the Lord gives clear direction to first take everything out of the home before contacting the priest who would enter the home to conduct his assessment. The scriptures tell us that the priest was to "examine the mildew on the walls" and if it had "greenish or reddish depressions that appear to be deeper than the surface of the wall", he was to "go out the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days."
On the seventh day, the priest was to return to reinspect the home and if the mildew had "spread on the walls", the priest was to "order that the contaminated stones be torn out and thrown into an unclean place outside the town." The "inside walls of the house" were then to be scraped and the material that was scraped off was to be dumped into an unclean place outside the town. Then repairs to the home were to begin with "other stones" brought in to replace those removed and "new clay and plaster" applied to replace the old.
Once all this was done, the priest was required to recheck the home to see if mildew "reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house scraped and plastered." If it did, then the mildew was considered "destructive" and the house was to be completely “torn down—its stones, timbers and all the plaster—and taken out of the town to an unclean place."
Such was the destructive nature of mildew. It could lead to complete destruction.
You know, the same thing can be said about sin and its impact on a man or woman. For like the mildew, it is an affliction that can be kept in check as long as it is given attention and treated. But unchecked, it can grow out of control, spread, and bring a person to the point of destruction.
Thankfully, our Lord has given us scriptures dealing with sin, just as He did the Israelites for mildew. Consider these:
"See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God." Hebrews 3:12
"When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; He took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." Colossians 2:13-15
"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." 1 John 2:15-17
"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want." Galatians 5:16-17
"He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God." 1 John 3:8-9
Brothers and sisters, thanks be to God for His Word because through it, we learn that sin can be overcome, not by our own strength but by His as long as we remain yoked to the “living God" and His will for our lives, led and guided by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In other words, we can find righteousness and holiness spreading throughout us instead wickedness and evil as long as we stay connected to our Lord. And when we do this, the scriptures assure us we "cannot go on sinning" because we are “born of God” and are "alive with Christ". We also gain the guarantee that we can "live forever" as long as we do "God’s will", a commitment that will ensure we don’t "gratify the desires of the sinful nature" because we are carrying out the desires of the Holy Spirit instead.
Friends, is this not good news that can lead us to where the Lord wants us to be, clean and pure and useful, people who reflect His goodness and holiness?
The bottom line is that sin has lost its sting (1 Corinthians 15:55-57) because Jesus has already conquered it on the cross of Calvary while serving as the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world (John 1:29). And so if we find sin trying to get started because Satan isn’t going to give up coming after any believer, all we need to do is deny the temptation in the name of Jesus. For when we do, we’ll find the enemy flee so we can continue to live the life the Lord intends for us, a life of abundant joy and peace while carrying out the work that He has called us to do.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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