Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 13:24-28

24 Or if there be any flesh, in the skin whereof there is a hot burning, and the quick flesh that burneth have a white bright spot, somewhat reddish, or white;

25 Then the priest shall look upon it: and, behold, if the hair in the bright spot be turned white, and it be in sight deeper than the skin; it is a leprosy broken out of the burning: wherefore the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy.

26 But if the priest look on it, and, behold, there be no white hair in the bright spot, and it be no lower than the other skin, but be somewhat dark; then the priest shall shut him up seven days:

27 And the priest shall look upon him the seventh day: and if it be spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy.

28 And if the bright spot stay in his place, and spread not in the skin, but it be somewhat dark; it is a rising of the burning, and the priest shall pronounce him clean: for it is an inflammation of the burning.

We have heard how the priest would examine a simple spot in the skin, a boil, and today’s verses talk about a “burn” in the skin. At first I thought by “burn” it meant some feverish heat in the skin, but apparently the Hebrew word used, מִכְוָה (mikvah), means that the flesh had literally been burned by fire or hot metal or a smoldering stick or something like that. These verses are talking about burn wounds that become corrupted afterward.

This continues the pattern of leprosy that grows out of trauma to the body. With the simple spot, the disease developed by unknown means within the body. With the boil, a foreign agent got lodged in the skin and became an inflamed abscess. Now we have a scorching heat that burned the flesh and leaves it vulnerable other afflications.

The priest examining wounds in the skin for infection is a microcosm of what it means to live in a fallen world. We have a good system, with a clear order of how it should work, where if everything worked perfectly it would be able to sustain, grow, and repair itself in perpetuity. But inevitably, something goes wrong. Not only does something bad happen to the system, but the bad thing inevitably disrupts the function of a part of that system and causes it to not perfectly sustain, grow, and repair itself. In a word, corruption. A system that can be harmed, wounded, even killed, but then can restore itself is incorruptible. But we as individuals and societies are systems that are harmed, wounded, even killed, and left permanently dysfunctional and broken as a result. Corruptible. It is true for our bodies. It is true for our societies. It is true for our governments.

As with the leprosy, sometimes corruption in the system can be eradicated. Other good systems in the body/society/government can correct it or even cut the bad part out. Indeed, the system may overcome many corruptions, but gradually the acquisition of corruption will outstrip the ability to remove it, the system will become less effective at healing itself, and one day a corruption will come that is never removed. We will require a Savior to refresh us out of the fallen world entirely then.

Posted on by Abe Austin

The Captive Heart- Romans 5:12, 15; Revelation 21:4

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

COMMENTARY

By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men
Previously we discussed how each of us have come to recognize that our world is harsh and unfair. The way of this earth is that we come to misfortune, even when it is not our fault, even when it is no one’s fault. We don’t have to succumb to sin or be abused by others to already know sorrow. It comes and finds us where we are, and no amount of doing good will prevent it.

For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain
Yet in all this there yet remains grace. For though we suffer undeserved sorrows, through Jesus we also receive undeserved joy. Today we are given rewards that we do not have the merit for, and in the next life all the agonies of this life, even the ones we did deserve, will be purged away by God, Himself. And then dismay will be counterbalanced with joy until the scales have been made right and order restored. But even then the blessings will still continue, tipping forever further into the good.

Posted on by Abe Austin

The Captive Heart- Ecclesiastes 2:11, 15-18

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.
For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.
Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.

COMMENTARY

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever.
I hated all my labour: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.
Ecclesiastes is a most interesting book. There is not another volume in all of scripture that is so pessimistic and fatalistic. The Preacher describes a world where consequence does not match behavior, where the good and the evil meet the same fate, where the lazy prosper and the hardworking remain desolate.
And quite frankly, the world he sees is not inaccurate. For while we have some level of control over our fate, it is minimal at best. So much is left to chance and whim. At some point or another we all come to the same realization: “life isn’t fair!”
And that is correct. Life is not fair. How could it be? We live in a fallen world, where injustice and imbalance will forever hold sway. This is a very hard pill for us to swallow, for it is in our nature to believe in order and balance. It takes a breaking for us to finally accept that the world does not match what our hearts know it should be.
And this is the entire point of Ecclesiastes, to show the hopelessness of the material world. If there was no God, if there was no heaven, if there was no measuring of justice and recompense in the hereafter, if this world were truly all that there was…then things would be very bleak indeed.