Remember Miriam (Lepers)
We are continuing our study from last time: Jesus heals the lepers. In our last lesson we saw how the Lord struck Miriam with leprosy because of her egregious sin. She challenged the authority of her brother, the prophet Moses. And when the cloud lifted, she was covered in leprosy and white as snow. Her flesh was half eaten away and Moses cried for the Lord to heal his sister.
Then later in history Elisha’s servant Gehazi was struck with leprosy after he deceived Naaman and asked for some silver and clothing which Naaman had brought as a gift to Elisha.
And of course King Uzziah, who entered the Holy Place and burnt the incense which only the priests could do. He lived the rest of his life with leprosy.
Living Sermons [1:29]
Have you ever heard it said that some man’s life is a living sermon? Francis of Assisi said: “The deeds you do may be the only sermon some persons will hear today.”
Have you ever heard it said that you may be the only sermon some people ever hear?
A living sermon. A breathing, living sermon.
How would you like to be a living sermon?
Well––I don’t know. Maybe. What is the sermon about?
Remember Miriam [2:20]
When Miriam rebelled––when Miriam was judged––when Miriam was stricken with leprosy––Miriam became a living sermon.
There is a very interesting verse in Deuteronomy 24. There are a lot of commandments in this chapter and in the chapter before. How to treat foreigners (23:7). Laws about slaves (23:15), prostitution (23:17), and taking vows (23:21-23). Marriage and divorce (24:1-5). And a lot of other things.
And right in the middle of all of that, in Deut. 24:8, Moses has this to say about skin diseases. Be very careful to do exactly what the priests tell you to do.
And the very next verse says: Remember what the Lord you God did to Miriam along the way after you came out of Egypt. (NIV, Deut. 24:9)
Remember Miriam! Remember what the Lord did to Miriam.
Moses has given this commandment to lepers to exactly follow the instructions of the priests.
And it seems that giving this commandment about lepers made Moses remember Miriam.
Of course. She was his sister. She was struck with leprosy. Moses was there. Moses was terrified and pleaded for the Lord to heal her.
And so this commandment about leprosy makes Moses remember what happened to Miriam.
And so Moses uses Miriam as a warning. It may not be a warning that God will strike you with leprosy if you break these commands. It may be more general. Remember the Lord judged Miriam for her disobedience. And the Lord may judge you in some way if you are disobedient to these commandments.
Men Still Speak (Hebrews 11) [5:12]
There are sermons about righteousness. And sermons about wickedness. (Hebrews 11)
The blessings of the righteous. The sufferings of the wicked.
Abel was a sermon. God spoke well of his offerings. He was commended as righteous. And Hebrews says “he still speaks today.” (Heb. 11:4)
Abel is a sermon that is still being heard.
But Cain was a sermon about wickedness.
Enoch was a good sermon. Commended as one who pleased God.
Noah was good. Abraham and Moses. And a lot of other saints.
Their lives are sermons. Good sermons about righteousness.
And we can say that all of these men still speak today.
The good sermons. And the bad sermons.
Lepers a reflection of Miriam. [6:36]
Miriam was a sermon. Every Jew who saw a leper saw a reflection of Miriam.
Every leper was a walking, talking, sermon about sin. A very graphic illustration of what sin does to man.
How would you like to be a sermon like that? A walking, talking illustration of the Lord’s
judgment. A representation of sin for everyone to see. A warning to others. “See what can happen!”
Or maybe you are a sermon about the blessings that come upon the righteousness.
That would be alright.
Every Jew Miriam spoke to would remember her sin––her leprosy––and her judgment. And every leper was a reminder of Miriam. Miriam’s sin. Miriam’s judgment.
Miriam speaks of separation from the people. [8:13]
And Miriam speaks of separation from the camp. Separation from the people of God. And Gehazi. And King Uzziah (also called Azariah).
This is an easy sermon for us to understand. It is easy for us because of the church at Corinth. (1 Cor. 5:1-13) There was this case of incest: a man had his father’s wife. A case of incest. It was not his mother––it was his father’s wife. Paul said even pagans do not do this. Even pagans! Even idolaters do not do this!
And so Paul commanded: Expel the wicked person from among you. (NIV, 1 Cor. 5:13) And Paul expands it: the sexually immoral, greedy, the idolater, the slanderer, the drunkard, the swindler. Do not eat with such people. (5:11)
A little leaven leavens the whole lump––so move the leaven away from the people––outside the camp. (Not a Bible verse)
The Lepers’ Burden [9:58]
I am sure you already know the life of a leper. Moses said anyone with a defiling skin disease had to wear torn clothes. He must cover the lower part of his face. His hair cannot be combed or cared for. He must cry out “Unclean. Unclean.” (Lev. 13:45, 46)
So others would not come near! You see if you touched a leper––or a leper touched you––then you were unclean. You were defiled.
The leper was ceremonially unclean. We talk about Miriam and the others and the sins they committed. But you do realize––you have got to know this––lepers had some kind of skin disease. Lepers were lepers because they were sick! Not because of some terrible sin, as was true in the case of Miriam and Gehazi and King Uzziah. They were just sick.
But because they had leprosy they were symbols of sin and judgment. And if they touched anyone or anyone touched them then that person was ceremonially unclean. And he had to be cleansed. But it was all symbolic to teach some very important lessons. Sin brings judgment. Sin separates people from people. Sin separates from God.
What a burden upon a sick man! All to teach others some lessons.
Miriam speaks of separation from the Lord. [12:21]
Miriam and lepers speak of separation from the dwelling place of the Lord. The tabernacle was in the center of the camp. Lepers were excluded from the tabernacle and the temple. Unclean people could not enter.
That is not hard for us to see. Back to Paul in Corinthians: Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor. 6:9)
The kingdom of God! Heaven! His dwelling place. Shut out from the Lord. No fellowship with God in heaven––his holy temple. No fellowship with God’s people in heaven. Shut out from the Lord and shut out from the Lord’s people.
So lepers had a lot to deal with. They had the disease and they were ceremonially unclean, representing sin. But their big concern was not the skin disease! The big concern was being separated was being separated from the people and the temple.
That was even more important than the disease. After all, Moses did not command them to cry out, “Sick! Sick!” They cried out “Unclean. Unclean.” It was this symbolic, spiritual uncleanliness representing sin that kept them isolated from society and and excluded from the temple. It was all symbolic to teach the Jews some lessons! But they did not know it was symbolic! They thought it was real.
Preaching Hell Fire [15:13]
I can remember some preaching from when I was young. Things were a lot different back then. Preachers would climb in the pulpit some Sunday and preach hell fire and damnation. You knew the preacher was going to really get wound up. And you knew it was coming. When the preacher stepped into the pulpit and he was wearing a red tie or a red shirt–or a red jacket–you knew it was going to be a long day. You knew this was going to be a hell fire and damnation sermon.
“Oh, boy we are going to get it today!” he is wearing his red tie.”
Or, “He is mad about something––he is wearing his red shirt.”
This is no joke. It was really that way.
One preacher got wound up really tight and started preaching about the lepers. “The lepers were separated from God! Shut out of the dwelling place of God. There is no place for the leper. No place of the unclean. God’s people need to repent!
And I used to think, “How unfair!” I could not understand for the life of me how a man could die and be excluded from heaven. Is it his fault that he is sick? And so the poor lepers live a life of suffering on earth and then die and go straight to hell because they were sick! That is what I thought!
No one every told me it was a symbolic separation. No one told me the leper was excluded from the symbolic dwelling place of God in the temple––but in the spiritual reality he might be a man after God’s own heart. As righteous as Abel or Enoch or Noah. No one told me that the leper was excluded from the dwelling place of the God in the temple––but could die and enter His dwelling place in heaven. Separation from God meant separation from God.
No one ever told me that on earth it was symbolic. No one told me, so I did not know. But I know now. The symbolic, temporary exclusion of lepers from the symbolic dwelling place of God in Jerusalem, taught the spiritual truth that sin will exclude men and women from God’s dwelling place in heaven.
Do not be deceived. Remember the lepers. And remember Miriam.
The Vinekeeper Bible Podcast
Rick Walker. rickthewalker@gmail.com
