Unclean and Clean

Lev 14-17 In reading these chapters, we are profoundly impacted by the word “unclean.” To be considered unclean, one had to be in some way infectious to the rest of the population. We are well aware of this today with the pandemic we have been facing.  If we are exposed to someone who has the CORONA virus, we isolate ourselves, and people have gone to great lengths to do just that. Some have even found themselves hospitalized because the infection has caused them to be “unclean” and  infectious to the population. So in some sense, we are experiencing a tad of what the Israelites faced daily. It helps us to be more compassionate when we also face these quarantines.

The priest had to go outside the camp to the “unclean” and make that determination. Today it is our physicians that make those diagnoses. Either way, the ‘unclean’ are separated from their loved ones and life in general. In times like this, we gain a preview of what the unbeliever will face when they are eternally separated from God who cannot tolerate sin. It also helps us see how we can minister to those who are isolated even though we cannot physically touch them. Like the lepers of the NT, we can minister as Jesus did with a heart of compassion.

Where has God opened a door for you to minister to the “least of these?”