Daily Devotion | Leviticus 13:1–28 | 2026 February 09

Title: Daily Devotion

Scripture: Leviticus 13:1–28 (ESV)

Date: 2026 February 09

Speaker: Rev. John Chen

Transcribed, translated & edited by: Joseph Wang (Yufan)

Dear brothers and sisters, peace to you. We thank God for His grace as we come to a new day to study the Daily Devotion together.

Today’s passage is Leviticus chapter 13. We are looking from verse 1 through verse 28. The reason we stop at verse 28 is not because this is a natural paragraph break. In fact, the chapter does not really divide until verse 46. But because the passage is long, we will explain it over two days.

The main question in today’s section is this: how is a person determined to be clean or unclean when it comes to skin diseases? What does this actually mean? I think we must explain this carefully and in detail, otherwise it is very easy to misunderstand the passage.

Among the Israelites, when a person developed what the text calls “leprosy,” we must be very clear: this is not the same thing as modern medical leprosy. Please remember this clearly. We should not speculate too much here.

Some people, when preaching this passage, will extend it and say that leprosy is a disease where the limbs lose sensation, slowly rot, and eventually decay. That description belongs to modern medicine. Applying that definition directly to the Old Testament is incorrect. Do not explain it that way. That interpretation is simply wrong.

The “leprosy” in Leviticus refers to visible skin conditions or skin abnormalities. This is the first thing we must establish. And the uncleanness connected to these conditions—the various forms of leprosy—is primarily ceremonial uncleanness. We must get this clear.

If you keep reading the chapter, which we will do tomorrow, you will see how a person with leprosy is to be treated. Verse 45 says that he must cover his upper lip, let his hair hang loose, cry out “Unclean, unclean,” and live alone outside the camp. That is what this uncleanness looks like in practice. This is ceremonial uncleanness.

So again, I want to say this clearly: this skin disease is certainly not modern medical leprosy. If you hear someone explain it as loss of sensation, fingers rotting, or skin becoming numb, you should know that this is an incorrect explanation. Do not repeat that kind of explanation. The text is talking about skin conditions.

This brings us to the second point. This uncleanness is ceremonial. It is not simply about hygiene. Of course, from a modern perspective, we might think about health and sanitation. Skin diseases can be contagious. Even people without medical training know that some skin conditions can spread, and isolating someone may help prevent infection in the community.

But please remember this: that is not the main reason the Israelites sent those with leprosy outside the camp. It was not primarily about sanitation or public health. It was because they were ceremonially unclean. This is the key point.

Objectively speaking, it may be true that isolating such individuals helped prevent disease from spreading. That could certainly happen. But the main reason given in Scripture is ceremonial uncleanness. That is the second thing we must understand.

Now the third question: why were people with skin diseases defined as ceremonially unclean in the first place?

Here we must be familiar with the ancient worldview reflected in the Pentateuch. In early Hebrew thought, there was a basic assumption that wealth indicated God’s blessing, while poverty indicated God’s curse. Physical health—being whole, without defects or disease—was understood as God’s blessing. On the other hand, visible diseases were understood as signs of God’s curse.

Now, this way of thinking is not always strongly or explicitly stated in the Old Testament, but it was indeed part of the early Hebrew mindset. We must acknowledge that honestly.

Of course, under the New Testament revelation, we no longer hold such views. We do not believe that rich people are necessarily blessed and poor people are necessarily cursed. We do not believe that someone with leprosy must be under God’s curse.

In fact, Jesus Christ Himself had no outward beauty or majesty that we should desire Him. So in the New Testament era, this way of thinking clearly does not hold. But just because it does not hold in the New Testament does not mean Old Testament people did not think this way. We must be clear about that, otherwise we will not understand the text.

In the Old Testament context, people really did think this way. If someone had leprosy, it was understood as God’s discipline or judgment. Otherwise, why would he have such a disease? Why would sores appear on his body? This was a very simple and intuitive way of explaining illness.

If we do not establish this background, we will struggle to understand the passage. From our modern perspective, when someone is sick, we tell them to go to the hospital and receive treatment. We do not automatically think illness means God’s judgment. But in the ancient Near Eastern worldview, visible diseases—especially skin diseases—were understood as signs of uncleanness.

Such a person had to be removed from the community, lest his ceremonial uncleanness spread to the whole group. God is holy. In a holy community, those who are unclean must be sent outside the camp in order to preserve the holiness of the community. This is essential background for understanding Leviticus 13.

Now let us look more closely at what “unclean” means in the passage itself. From a practical perspective, it is actually quite straightforward. If a person has a patch on the skin, a rash, or some kind of skin disease, and the color is deep and spreading, then it is considered unclean.

We can all understand this from experience. For example, if someone has eczema or a rash, when it is active, it becomes red, darker in color, and spreads. That indicates uncleanness. But after some time, if it stops spreading and begins to heal, then it is considered clean.

So the criteria are not complicated. The text explains them in great detail. If the hair in the affected area turns white, and the disease appears deeper than the skin, then it is a leprous disease and is unclean. If the spot is white but not deep, and the hair has not turned white, then the person is shut up for seven days for observation.

After seven days, if the disease has not spread, the person is shut up for another seven days. After fourteen days, if the disease has faded and healed, then the person is declared clean. This is not hard to understand. The key issue is whether the color fades and whether the disease spreads.

This is the content of the first section of Leviticus 13. The seven-day confinement is especially interesting. Even in modern medicine, observation periods often revolve around seven days.

From the perspective of Leviticus, seven days form a complete cycle—a full week. God works and orders creation in cycles of seven. So one week, or two weeks, becomes a natural period for observation.

Interestingly, modern medicine also observes that many illnesses stabilize or resolve within such time frames. This is not something medicine can fully explain. It can only observe the pattern. Ultimately, this reflects the order God established in creation, where He renews and orders the world in cycles of seven. This is quite interesting to observe.

When determining cleanness or uncleanness, the process is very careful. Who examines the person? At that time, there were no doctors. It was the priests—Moses, Aaron, and the priests after them—who made the judgment. This shows us again that the issue is ceremonial, not medical treatment.

If the disease has healed, then the person is clean. Beginning in verse 9, the passage describes another situation: a white swelling with raw, red flesh. This is easy to understand. If there is raw, red flesh, that indicates uncleanness.

Verse 12 is especially interesting. If leprosy breaks out over the entire body, from head to foot, covering all the skin, the person is actually declared clean. What does this mean? It means the disease has fully run its course. It cannot continue spreading. In that sense, it is finished.

However, if raw, red flesh appears again, then the person is unclean. That redness shows the disease is active again. The same principle applies to boils and burns. If the redness spreads, the person is unclean. If the redness fades and darkens, the person is clean.

This brings us to verse 28, which concludes today’s section. As for how uncleanness is handled in practice, we will look at that tomorrow.

Now we must ask how to apply this passage today. When we see someone with a skin disease or dermatitis, do we declare them unclean and drive them out of the church? Of course not. That is not the meaning.

We must return to the underlying principle. Among the Israelites, there was a belief that sin against God would manifest outwardly, even on the body. Uncleanness had to be separated from the community.

The central principle of Leviticus is the separation of the clean and the unclean. The whole book asks this question: how can a people be clean before a holy God?

Applied to the New Testament church, this principle teaches us that the church must deal seriously with sin. The church must pursue holiness and cannot tolerate sin.

This is why the church has discipline. Sin spreads just like skin disease spreads. If sin is not addressed, it will infect healthy believers. Over time, the entire church becomes unclean.

We do not have a natural immunity to sin. When sin appears and is left untreated, it spreads. Healthy believers are easily influenced, while believers living in sin rarely improve others.

Let me give a simple example. If someone comes to church early and with enthusiasm, but sees that other brothers and sisters are always late, what will happen? Very quickly, he will begin to arrive late as well. Lateness spreads easily. People think, “Everyone is late, so it must be fine.” But it is not fine.

The same is true of worldliness, love of money, and obsession with worldly gain. These are sins. In the Old Testament, they are called uncleanness. In the New Testament, they are still sins. If these things are not dealt with early, they will spread.

This is why Leviticus 13 and 14 spend so much time on these details. Every passage of Scripture is meaningful. We must not read these chapters and think they are irrelevant or uninteresting.

The church must pursue holiness. Sin must be dealt with early, while it is still small. If we wait until it grows large, it becomes very difficult to address.

We must be especially careful with sins like love of the world and greed. These things must be examined carefully from the beginning. Uncleanness must be dealt with. It should not be quickly welcomed into full fellowship or leadership. If we ignore these things, the church will quickly become unclean.

Do not tell yourself, “He has problems, but I will be fine. I can keep myself clean.” That will not work. It is not possible. This is why the church must maintain holiness.

At the same time, we remember that Jesus Christ truly bore our uncleanness. All our uncleanness fell upon Him. He was taken outside the camp and crucified, bearing our sin.

In Christ, we are declared clean. But we must not stop there. In Christ, we are also called to become clean in our lives. We must not take only the first step and refuse the second step.

In this life, none of us will be perfectly clean. We all still have sin. But that is not an excuse for the church to ignore obvious sin.

Clear and serious sins must be addressed. If sins such as greed, corruption, or even things like abortion are ignored, the church becomes a church that violates God’s law. Such a church cannot be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Do not think that because this is Old Testament teaching, it no longer matters. The principles of Leviticus still apply. We must do our best to pursue holiness, both individually and as a church.

Church discipline is not meant to abandon people. It is meant to restore them in love, so that they may repent, be cleansed, and return to the community.

Leviticus has great significance for the church today. Genesis and Exodus emphasize redemption. Leviticus emphasizes holiness. It teaches us how to live a holy life after redemption.

The modern church often neglects Leviticus, saying it is difficult or irrelevant. That should not be the case. A holy church is what truly attracts people.

When sin is active—when it is “red,” so to speak—it must be dealt with and separated. But when there is repentance and healing, the person must be welcomed back. Here there is both grace and discipline, so that the church may be holy.

Please do not ignore the teaching of Leviticus. Every passage of Scripture has meaning. This passage still speaks powerfully to us today.

That is all for today. Thank you, everyone.