Bereans Online eNews http://www.bereansonline.org B"H Parashat Metzora - 'Leper' (Leviticus 14:1-15:33) The name 'Metzora', the second portion for this week, comes from the second verse of Leviticus 14: Vayedaber HaShem el-Moshe lemor. zot tihye torat ha-metzora b'yom tahorato v'huva el-ha-kohen Then HaShem spoke to Moses, saying, "This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest." Leviticus 14:1-2 Previously, in Parashat Tazria we are given some detailed instructions regarding what our English BiBles call "a leper." Continuing in Parashat Metzora, the topic of "leprosy" continues. If you ever hope to unravel these passages, and the passages in the Gospel accounts you must learn to look Beyond this English word. The people in Scripture who are afflicted with tza'arat do not have "Hanson's Disease" or what is known as "leprosy" In fact, if one examines the use of this HeBrew word in Scripture you will find that it is not even a physical disease in the normal sense. Yes, it has physical attriButes, which make it appear that the person who is afflicted is a "dead man walking" - But it is not the disease that is Being addressed in these passages. A common misunderstanding of those reading these passages (and the Gospels) is that the person with tza'arat has a communicable disease, and hence G-d is mandating Quarantine for medical reasons. Nothing could Be further from the truth. We read in last week's parasha that a priest was to examine a person who suspected they had tza'arat, and determine if the person had tza'arat or not [were "unclean" or not]. If they had tza'arat, they had to withdraw from the community and were forBidden to approach G-d in the Mish'kan or the Temple. However, if tza'arat were only a disease, the following would make no sense: And if tza'arat breaks out all over the skin, and the tza'arat covers all the skin of the one who has the sore, from his head to his foot, wherever the priest looks, then the priest shall consider; and indeed if the tza'arat has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean who has the sore. It has all turned white. He is clean. Leviticus 13:12-13 So, someone with a "little" Bit of tza'arat was considered unclean, But someone with it covering their whole Body, was welcomed Back into the community and could approach the altar in the Mish'kan. Beloved, there is more to this "leper" stuff than meets the eye. Much more. For instance, the Talmud has some interesting titles for Messiah. One of them is "Leper Messiah," which draws from Isaiah 53 (yes, many of the Sages did consider Isaiah 53 to Be a Messianic passage, no matter what you have Been told [b.Sanhedrin 98a]). If we revere every word that G-d has spoken, these chapters regarding "leprosy" are worthy of some deeper investigation. There is much here, and like all things that "make no sense" in Scripture... it is all Messianic. We can learning something from the word tza'arat itself. The root is tzara (tza'arat is a grammatical variation of "tzara"). Your handy Strong's will Be of little help. It simply says, "leprous, having a skin disease". A Better approach is to examine context, and every usage. Some very interesting things will come from that. First though, let's look at the pictograph that the ancient HeBrew makes for us. Tzara is spelled tzadi-resh-ayin. The letter tzadi looks like a man kneeling in humility. The word for "righteous one" comes from this letter/word. The letter resh represents a head of a man and most often represents pride. The letter ayin looks like an eye. In fact, that is the HeBrew word for "eye"= ayin. The pictograph tells us, "whether a man (or woman) is humBle or proud will Be seen". Tza'arat is about taking what is unseen, and inside a person, and making it visiBle. A metzora [incorrectly translated "leper"] is a person in the process of having what is inside Brought to the surface, or their skin. Let's see if a look at context Bears this out. The first usage of tzara is found in Exodus 4:6-7. This is where Moses is Being sent By G-d to the elders of the Children of Israel to tell them that G-d is going to redeem them from slavery. Moses protests that they will not hear his voice; so G-d gives him three signs that he can show the elders: 1. His rod into a serpent. 2. His hand turns leprous and then Back. 3. Water to Blood when poured on dry land. Now Because the first and the last sign were used with Pharaoh, you may not have caught that these three signs were to Be shown to the elders of Israel. What are these three signs? They all relate to the Garden and they are all related to tamei [unclean]. 1. The Serpent in the Garden = the serpent, an unclean animal. 2. The day they ate of the Fruit, they "died" = Tza'arat, the walking death. 3. Blood of the animal that died to clothe them, poured out on the ground = water turned to Blood, poured out on the ground. What you see is the Beginning of a hint that this whole tamei tahor thing is related to the Garden of Eden Because it is related to the Mish'kan, the Tabernacle. The Garden is the last place where man and the Holy One, Blessed is He, walked together - where man could approach G-d and not Be consumed. The serpent has an interesting connection to tza'arat. It sheds its skin. Essentially, tza'arat is the worse form of tamei that a person can come into contact with. It is only outdone By a dead human Being. It is why tza'arat is considered a picture of death. The next place after these passages in Leviticus that we see tza'arat is in Numbers 12:1-16. This is where Moses' sister Miriam spoke against Moses Being 'G-d's spokesman'. Miriam was a prophetess, had spoken G-d's words - and yet she spoke against Moses Because she did not consider the fact that G-d spoke to Moses in an entirely different way: face to face. Listen how this passage descriBes Moses: Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth. Numbers 12:3 But Miriam was the opposite in this instance (Bitterly prideful). She was struck with tza'arat. Aaron immediately cries out: Please do not let her be as one dead, whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother's womb! Numbers 12:12 Moses also pleads for Miriam and after seven days she is clean and permitted Back into the camp. From these and other instances, the Sages derived their position that internal Bitterness, expressed often By Bitter words against a Brother, is the source of tza'arat. It is an interesting position. When one examines the instructions for Being removed from the community and then returning to the community it does seem to indicate that tza'arat provides a time for "what is inside" to get out. Tza'arat, is one reason that lashona hara [gossip, and complaining against a Brother] is so strongly spoken against in Judaism and some Messianic communities. Hmm, a peek into the Apostolic Scriptures will reveal the same seriousness regarding Bitterness and evil-speaking against one another. Apparently we all need a little caution Before we "share a prayer reQuest" about a Brother or sister in Messiah. So, now that we have a framework for tza'arat, what is this process we are reading about in Leviticus 14 regarding how a metzora [one afflicted with tza'arat] is to Be declared tahor [clean] and able to return to the community and approach G-d in the Mish'kan? It is about the "Leper Messiah." There were three main periods of tza'arat in Israel's history. There was the time around the coming out of Egypt and slavery. There was the time around the ministries of Elijah and Elisha; and there was the First Century during the three year ministry of Yeshua. During each of those periods, there was a Mish'kan or a Temple. Since the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, there have not Been significant instances of tza'arat. Tza'arat was an affliction that the metzora had to experience outside the community - essentially cut off from the people, But more importantly: cut off from the manifest Presence of G-d in the Mish'kan or the Temple. That is why the following account is so precious: And behold, a metzora [leper] came and worshiped Him, saying, 'L-rd, if You are willing, You can make me tahor [clean].' Then Yeshua put out His hand and touched him, saying, 'I am willing; be tahor.' Immediately his tza'arat was tahor. And Yeshua said to him, 'See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.' Matthew 8:2-4 The metzora could not go into the Temple... so the "Temple" came to him. The "Leper Messiah" - One who heals and cares for metzorim.