Notes on the Book of Leviticus

by Charles Henry Mackintosh

"But it shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off; and he shall wash his clothes, also he shall wash his flesh in water, and he shall be clean." (Ver. 9.) Now, it is clear that the leper was just as clean, in God's judgment, on the first day, when the blood was sprinkled upon him in its sevenfold or perfect efficacy, as he was on the seventh day. Wherein, then, was the difference? Not in his actual standing and condition, but in his personal intelligence and communion. On the seventh day he was called to enter into the full and complete abolition of all that pertained to nature. He was called to apprehend that not merely was nature's leprosy to be put away, but nature's ornaments—yea, all that was natural—all that belonged to the old condition.

It is one thing to know, as a doctrine, that God sees my nature to be dead, and it is quite another thing for me to "reckon" myself as dead—to put off, practically, the old man and his deeds—to mortify my members which are on the earth. This, probably, is what many godly persons mean when they speak of progressive sanctification. They mean a right thing, though they do not put it exactly as the Scriptures do. The leper was pronounced clean the moment the blood was sprinkled upon him, and yet he had to cleanse himself. How was this? In the former case, he was clean in the judgment of God; in the latter, he was to be clean practically, in his own personal intelligence, and in his manifested character. Thus it is with the believer. He is, as one with Christ, "washed, sanctified, and justified"—"accepted"—"complete." (1 Cor. vi. 11; Eph. i. 6; Col. ii. 10.) Such is his unalterable standing and condition before God. He is as perfectly sanctified as he is justified, for Christ is the measure of both the one and the other, according to God's judgment and view of the case. But then the believer's apprehension of all this in his own soul, and his exhibition thereof in his habits and ways, open up quite another line of things. Hence it is we read, "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." (2 Cor. vii. 1.) It is because Christ has cleansed us by His precious blood that therefore we are called to "cleanse ourselves" by the application of the Word, through the Spirit. "This is He that came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three agree in one." (1 John v. 6, 8.) Here we have atonement by the blood, cleansing by the Word, and power by the Spirit—all founded upon the death of Christ, and all vividly foreshadowed in the ordinances connected with the cleansing of the leper.

"And on the eighth day he shall take two he lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, and three tenth deals of fine flour for a meat-offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil. And the priest that maketh him clean shall present the man that is to be made clean, and those things, before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And the priest shall take one he lamb, and offer him for a trespass-offering, and the log of oil, and wave them for a wave-offering before the Lord." (Ver. 10-12.) The entire range of offerings is here introduced; but it is the trespass-offering which is first killed, inasmuch as the leper is viewed as an actual trespasser. This is true in every case. As those who have trespassed against God, we need Christ as the One who atoned, on the cross, for those trespasses. "Himself bare our sins in His own body on the tree." The first view which the sinner gets of Christ is as the Antitype of the trespass-offering.

"And the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass-offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot." "The ear,"—that guilty member which had so frequently proved a channel of communication for vanity, folly, and even uncleanness—that ear must be cleansed by the blood of the trespass-offering. Thus all the guilt which I have ever contracted by that member is forgiven according to God's estimate of the blood of Christ. "The right hand," which had so frequently been stretched forth for the execution of deeds of vanity, folly, and even uncleanness, must be cleansed by the blood of the trespass-offering. Thus all the guilt which I have ever contracted by that member is forgiven according to God's estimate of the blood of Christ. "The foot," which had so often run in the way of vanity, folly, and even uncleanness, must now be cleansed by the blood of the trespass-offering, so that all the guilt which I have ever contracted by that member is forgiven according to God's estimate of the blood of Christ. Yes; all, all, all is forgiven—all is canceled—all forgotten—all sunk as lead in the mighty waters of eternal oblivion. Who shall bring it up again? Shall angel, man, or devil be able to plunge into those unfathomed and unfathomable waters, to bring up from thence those trespasses of "foot," "hand," or "ear," which redeeming love has cast thereinto? Oh, no; blessed be God, they are gone, and gone forever! I am better off, by far, than if Adam had never sinned. Precious truth! To be washed in the blood is better far than to be clothed in innocency.

But God could not rest satisfied with the mere blotting out of trespasses by the atoning blood of Jesus. This in itself is a great thing, but there is something greater still.

"And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand: and the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. And of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass-offering; and the remnant of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed; and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord." (Ver. 15-18.) Thus, not only are our members cleansed by the blood of Christ, but also consecrated to God in the power of the Spirit. God's work is not only negative, but positive. The ear is no longer to be the vehicle for communicating defilement, but to be "swift to hear" the voice of the Good Shepherd; the hand is no longer to be used as the instrument of unrighteousness, but to be stretched forth in acts of righteousness, grace, and true holiness; the foot is no longer to tread in folly's paths, but to run in the way of God's holy commandments: and, finally, the whole man is to be dedicated to God in the energy of the Holy Ghost.

It is deeply interesting to see that "the oil" was put "upon the blood of the trespass-offering." The blood of Christ is the divine basis of the operations of the Holy Ghost. The blood and the oil go together. As sinners, we could know nothing of the latter save on the ground of the former. The oil could not have been put upon the leper until the blood of the trespass-offering had first been applied. "In whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise." The divine accuracy of the type evokes the admiration of the renewed mind. The more closely we scrutinize it—the more of the light of Scripture we concentrate upon it, the more its beauty, force, and precision are perceived and enjoyed. All, as might justly be expected, is in the most lovely harmony with the entire analogy of the Word of God. There is no need for any effort of the mind. Take Christ as the key to unlock the rich treasury of the types; explore the precious contents by the light of Inspiration's heavenly lamp; let the Holy Ghost be your Interpreter; and you cannot fail to be edified, enlightened, and blessed.

"And the priest shall offer the sin-offering, and make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed from his uncleanness." Here we have a type of Christ, not only as the Bearer of our trespasses, but also as the One who made an end of sin, root and branch; the One who destroyed the entire system of sin—"the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world"—"the propitiation for the whole world." As the Trespass-offering, Christ put away all my trespasses; as the Sin-offering, He met the great root from whence those trespasses emanated. He met all; but it is as the Trespass-offering I first know Him, because it is as such I first need Him. It is the "conscience of sins" that first troubles me. This is divinely met by my precious Trespass-offering. Then, as I get on, I find that all these sins had a root, a parent stem, and that root or stem I find within me. This, likewise, is divinely met by my precious Sin-offering. The order, as presented in the leper's case, is perfect. It is precisely the order which we can trace in the actual experience of every soul. The trespass-offering comes first, and then the sin-offering.

"And afterward he shall kill the burnt-offering." This offering presents the highest possible aspect of the death of Christ. It is Christ offering Himself without spot to God, without special reference to either trespasses or sin: it is Christ, in voluntary devotedness, walking to the cross, and there offering Himself as a sweet savor to God.

"And the priest shall offer the burnt-offering and the meat-offering upon the altar; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and he shall be clean." (Ver. 20.) The meat-offering typifies "the Man Christ Jesus" in His perfect human life. It is intimately associated, in the case of the cleansed leper, with the burnt-offering; and so it is in the experience of every saved sinner. It is when we know our trespasses are forgiven, and the root or principle of sin judged, that we can, according to our measure, by the power of the Spirit, enjoy communion with God about that blessed One who lived a perfect human life down here and then offered Himself without spot to God on the cross. Thus the four classes of offerings are brought before us in their divine order in the cleansing of the leper, namely, the trespass-offering, the sin-offering, the burnt-offering, and the meat-offering, each exhibiting its own specific aspect of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ.