“The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ‘When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a case of leprous disease on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests, and the priest shall examine the diseased area on the skin of his body. And if the hair in the diseased area has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a case of leprous disease. When the priest has examined him, he shall pronounce him unclean.’” (Leviticus 13:1-3 ESV).

Throughout the Law of Moses we read about designations which may seem strange to us. People could become “unclean.” There were diseases which made you unclean, in particular skin diseases, including, but not limited to, what we know today as leprosy. Being in contact with certain animals and their dead carcasses, could also make a person”‘unclean.” And some foods were “unclean.” As we no longer use the designations of “clean” and “unclean,” these can be confusing to us when we read about them. Continue reading “Cleansed by blood”