““He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.”” Leviticus 13:46 (NKJV)
While our lives are disrupted so dramatically by the isolation imposed upon us by this “Corona virus”, we might benefit from reading the Levitical laws concerning uncleanness, that of Leprosy in particular, and from other causes in general.
In our verse above we find several points to be considered; while he has the “sore” he is unclean, and he shall dwell alone, outside the camp. In the midst of this current crisis we find that these words written by Moses some 3500 years ago, are exactly the right words for us today. We need only substitute “symptoms” (of the virus) for sore; the rest is exactly what is necessary to prevent the spread of sickness.
Lepers were required to live in isolation for the duration of their sickness; to cover their mustache (sounds to me a lot like wearing a mask) and to cry out “unclean, unclean” to all who came near them (verse 45). The priests, were responsible for determining the extent of the disease, and for determining when they were healed. Today of course we have Medical Doctors and others, who are able to diagnose and treat sickness so that it does not run rampant among the population. The treatment begins, much as it did then, with isolation from the healthy community (usually in a hospital); though the science of medicine has grown exponentially since Moses’ time, this “quarantine” of those contagious and infected is still the first step in preventing an outbreak from becoming a pandemic.
There will undoubtedly be those who say that we need not look 3500 years in the past for help with this virus; if Malachi 3:6 is to be believed, then God’s wisdom conveyed by Moses is just as relevant to us today as it was in 1450BC. The God Who changeth not has spoken timeless words of wisdom that will always be relevant in our time, regardless of when, or by whom they were written.
I find a sense of peace and comfort from knowing that God has already spoken to the issues which trouble us today. After all, did not Jesus say in John 14:18 “I will not leave you orphans”?
