Lev. xiii. 45, 46. And 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, Un- clean. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled ; he is unclean : he shall dwell alone ; with- out the camp shall his habitation be.
AMONG the various disorders with which the Jews were afflicted, the leprosy was marked as the most odious and disgraceful ; and the rules for dis- tinguishing it from all similar disorders were laid
down by God himself with very extraordinary accu- racy and precision. As existing in garments and in houses, it seems to have been peculiar to the Jews ; and to have entirely vanished with their dispensation. But there doubtless was some important end for which God visited them with this disorder: and what that was, may be gathered from the various ordi- nances relating to it. In all the differences which God commanded to be put between things clean and unclean, he designed to teach us the evil and bitter- ness of sin : but from the leprosy more particularly may these things be learned. We may learn, I say,
I. The evil of sin —
Whatever resemblance the leprosy might bear to some other disorders, it differed materially from all others. It was,
1. Universally judicial —
[This disorder was not, as some have thought, acquired by contagion ; for it was not at all infectious : but it proceeded immediately from the hand of God ; and was always considered as a punishment for sin. Miriam was smitten with it for her rebellion against Moses3: and Gehazi, for his covetous and dishonest conduct towards Naaman the Syrian b.
In this light also should sin be viewed. True, it first entered through the device of Satan : but from that time has it been, more or less, judicially inflicted by God, on those who have disregarded the divine commands. Frequently is God said to "blind the eyes," and "harden the hearts" of men. We must not indeed suppose, that he ever does this by a posi- tive infusion of sin into the soul : this would not consist with his own glorious perfections : but he abandons men to the evil of their own hearts, and withholds from them that grace whereby alone they can overcome their corruptions. Multi- tudes are " given up by him to a reprobate mind, because they like not to retain him in their knowledge0." And he tells us plainly, that this punishment shall be inflicted on us, if we do not guard against sin in its first beginnings : " The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways ; he shall eat of the fruit of his own ways, and be filled with his own devices'1." Who indeed has not found the truth of these declarations? Who does not see, that, if we harbour pride, covetousness,
a Numb. xii. 10 — 15. b 2 Kings v. 27. c Rom. i. 28.
d Prov. i. 30, 31. and xiv. 14.