Vv 2-12: "Not only a leper, but any man having a running issue
out of his flesh, was to be regarded as unclean till he was cured -- unclean in
himself and defiling to others. All contact with him in any way was forbidden.
Everything he used or touched was to be considered as defiling, whether saddle,
crockery ware, chair, or bed; and any one touching any of these, was to be
considered unclean for the whole day, and compelled to wash, both himself and
clothing. The advantage of such a law as a hygienic protection, is
self-manifest, but it is the spiritual significance we are in search of. There
are moral lepers and men whose mouths are a fountain of uncleanness -- men
comparable only to running sores in the community. 'Avoid them' [Rom 16:17],
says Paul: 'turn away' [2Ti 3:5] -- 'Have no fellowship with the unfruitful
works of darkness but rather reprove them' [Eph 5:11]. Their company -- their
very touch -- is defiling. Men of God may be thrown into contact with them, as
the Mosaic type contemplates: but they have a resort for cleansing which is also
figured in the type: they bathe themselves in the water of the living word, and
wait with a sense of contracted uncleanness till the next day, when sleep and
prayer will bring a return of the purity that is native to the mind in which God
dwells" (LM 260).
Lev 15:4
Vv 4-11: "A basic requirement of the prevention of
cross-infection is the safe disposal of contaminated dressings, and the
decontamination of laundry and other items that have come into contact with
infected patients... In the UK today it is reckoned that about 1 in 9 patients
admitted to hospital develops an infection acquired whilst in hospital. Much of
this is the direct result of the failure of staff to wash their hands after
handling infected people or materials" (SP, Tes 71:203,204).
Lev 15:13
The principle in the LM of cleansing of all discharges, by
washing -- one of the fundamental principles of public health and
sanitation.