You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean. (Leviticus 15:31)This is, I'm afraid, another rather difficult reading pertaining to infectious skin diseases, mildew and... discharges. Let's bring it into the 21st century.
Some people I know are quarantined in their apartment because of viral pneumonia… complete with a sign on their door and everything. The health department hasn't yet gotten a handle on the infection and doesn't want it spread to the schools where the kids attend.
When's the last time you heard about meningitis spreading through a college dormitory? With all those kids living in close contact, that's one of the health scares of the 21st century… a fertile breeding ground for germs and illness.
Here we have the account of a million or more people traveling through the wilderness in close community (anything infecting one member could easily and quickly spread to the rest). Two things which scared any Ancient Near East people were leprosy and mildew. Infected people could not cohabit with healthy people, and infected homes could not be inhabited at all. So in a sense, once these two things got rooted in a group of people, they very effectively broke community. God's all about community.
What other infections could break their God-given community? The worship of false gods? Immorality? Gossip? Resenting those in leadership?
That was then; this is now.
What infections can break our worshiping community? Should we be any less careful in preventing their spread today?
What I found fascinating about these passages was how very precise they are in their teaching how to recognize and treat things. Priests had to be doctors and building inspectors on top of the rest of their duties! Living here in Mildew City I almost find the mildew instructions a bit ludicrous, but it was obviously pretty serious and damaging for them.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I see your parallel into other 'spreading diseases' - gossip and rebellious attitudes certainly come to mind as community-splitters (but hey, that's why He gave out instruction on those *too*!) - Amy
I too was amazed about the way the priests had to be "doctors" recognizing disease. And yet the question you pose about what can destroy our community of faith would have to also include apathy, envy, mistrust, disregard for rules, complacency and the like.
ReplyDeleteOn another note I have seen God working in mysterious ways this week, as I have stepped out of my comfort zone and responded out of love and concern only.