But then, mark the care, the vigilance, the perfect patience, inculcated upon the priest, lest aught that was not leprosy might be treated as such, or lest aught that really was leprosy might be suffered to escape. Many things might appear "in the skin"--the place of manifestation--"like the plague of leprosy," which, upon patient, priestly investigation, would be found to be merely superficial. This was to be carefully attended to. Some blemish might make its appearance upon the surface, which, though demanding the jealous care of the one who had to act for God, was not, in reality, defiling. And yet, that which seemed but a superficial blemish might prove to be something deeper than the skin, something below the surface, something affecting the hidden springs of the constitution. All this claimed the most intense care on the part of the priest. (See ver. 2-11.) Some slight neglect, some trifling oversight, might lead to disastrous consequences. It might lead to the defilement of the assembly, by the presence of a confirmed leper, or to the expulsion, for some superficial blemish, of a genuine member of the Israel of God.
Now, there is a rich fund of instruction in all this for the people of God. There is a difference between personal infirmity and the positive energy of evil--between mere defects and blemishes in the outward character, and the activity of sin in the members. No doubt it is important to watch against our infirmities; for, if not watched, judged, and guarded against, they may become the source of positive evil. (See ver. 14-28.) Every thing of nature must be judged and kept down. We must not make any allowance for personal infirmity _in ourselves_, though we should make ample allowance for it _in others_. Take, for example, the matter of an irritable temper. I should judge it in myself; I should make allowance for it in another. It may, like "the burning boil" in the case of an Israelite (ver. 19, 20.), prove the source of real defilement--the ground of exclusion from the assembly. Every form of weakness must be watched, lest it become an occasion of sin. "A bald forehead" was not leprosy, but it was that in which leprosy might appear, and hence it had to be watched. There may be a hundred things which are not in themselves sinful, but which may become the occasion of sin if not diligently looked after. Nor is it merely a question of what, in our estimation, may be termed blots, blemishes, and personal infirmities, but even of what our hearts might feel disposed to boast of. Wit, humor, vivacity of spirit and temper--all these may become the source and centre of defilement. Each one has something to guard against--something to keep him ever upon the watch-tower. How happy it is that we have a Father's heart to come to and count on with respect to all such things! We have the precious privilege of coming, at all times, into the presence of unrebuking, unupbraiding love, there to tell out all, and obtain grace to help in all, and full victory over all. We need not be discouraged so long as we see such a motto inscribed on the door of our Father's treasury--"He giveth more grace." Precious motto! It has no limit: it is bottomless and boundless.
We shall now proceed to inquire what was done in every case in which the plague of leprosy was unquestionably and unmistakably defined. The God of Israel could bear with infirmity, blemish, and failure; but the moment it became a case of defilement, whether in the head, the beard, the forehead, or any other part, it could not be tolerated in the holy assembly. "The leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be." (Ver. 45, 46.) Here was the leper's condition, the leper's occupation, the leper's place. With rent garments, bare head, and covered lip; crying, "Unclean, unclean;" and dwelling outside, in the dreary solitude--the dismal desert waste. What could be more humiliating, what more depressing, than this? "He shall dwell alone." He was unfit for communion or companionship. He was excluded from the only spot in all the world in which Jehovah's presence was known or enjoyed.