Have you ever been reading through verses in the Bible that you have read over and over and suddenly a word or a phrase jumps off the page and seems to speak directly to you? This happened to me recently while I was reading through the book of Leviticus chapter 14, I came across a verse that seemed to jump off of the page at me. The verse was Leviticus 14:35 (TLV): “Then the one who owns the house shall come and tell the kohen, saying: ‘Something like a mark has appeared in my house.'”
For context, this section of the Torah is providing instruction for Israel as they prepared to enter the Promised Land. These particular instructions or commandments were covering the issue of tza’arat which was a kind of illness that not only infected people but would spread to clothing, houses and so forth. Tza’arat was considered to be a physical symptom of a spiritual infection. The part of the text that jumped out at me were the words “something like a mark.”
Notice that the person whose home was possibly infected with tza’arat was to go to the priest and tell him “I’m not positive, but I think my home might be infected.” These words made me think about how difficult it is sometimes for the homeowner to know for sure if there is a problem in their own house. Sometimes we simply get used to the things that are there even if they are unhealthy or unclean. They become our normal, our regular, so they seem to be what should be because they are how they are. Sometimes we need to have an outsider take a look and evaluate for us.
In the case in Leviticus, the man noticed something but simply wasn’t sure if it was a problem or not, so he went to the priest and asked him to come and see if it was tza’arat. I believe this same concept is a spiritual necessity in our lives. Sometimes we get so used to unclean things in our lives and homes that we need to request an outside authority to inspect our homes and lives with us. Just as we read in Leviticus 14, we should go directly to our priest, Yeshua (Jesus) and say to him, “I have found something like a mark in my house.”
Open the doors of your life, your tabernacle and your home to Him. Sometimes it is the only way we can know for sure if our house is clean or not. {eoa}
Eric Tokajer is author of With Me in Paradise, Transient Singularity, OY! How Did I Get Here?: Thirty-One Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before Entering Ministry, #ManWisdom: With Eric Tokajer and Jesus is to Christianity as Pasta is to Italians.
