THE LEPER MESSIAH

Mark 1:40

  And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, "If you will, you can make me clean."

The Torah spends a considerable amount of time detailing a condition called leprosy. It tells us about people’s leprosy, but also about leprosy in beards, fabrics, and houses (Leviticus 13:18–59). Leprosy in the Bible seems to relate not only to the loathsome disease by that name, but also to all sorts of corruption and decay. The term seems to be used to refer to the advance of death and corruption in matter (Leviticus 13:4–8).

On a metaphorical level, Jewish sages referred to leprosy as the disease the snake inherited as part of the curse. Ritual contamination and mortality is part of the curse brought on man because of sin so the metaphor is certainly befitting.

Leprosy is also associated with one of the most important sin in the Bible, the one called lashon harah which literally means the evil tongue. The term refers to gossip and slander because after slandering Moses, her brother and divinely appointed leader of Israel, Miriam was afflicted by this leprosy (Numbers 12). Leprosy and the state of ritual impurity are irrelevant today because they technically only relates to the Temple in Jerusalem which does not exist at this present time.

At the time when religiosity accorded undue emphasis to ritual purity, Yeshua came to put it back in its proper perspective. In the days of the Master, Priests and Levites were so obsessed with ritual purity that they would ignore the commandments about mercy and helping those in need for fear of defiling themselves. We can see this in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:33). Yeshua on the other hand was not afraid of being defiled by leprosy. On some occasions he even voluntarily touched a leper to heal him (Matthew 8:2-3). He even entered the house of Simon the Leper to eat with him, and this is where he met Mary-Magdalene (Matthew 26:6-7).

The Talmud tells of one called, The Leper Messiah. It presents a supposed discourse between the great Rabbi Joshua ben Levi and the prophet Elijah. The rabbi asks "When will the Messiah come and by what sign may I recognize him?" Elijah tells the rabbi to go to the gate of the city where he will find the Messiah sitting among the poor lepers. The Messiah, says the prophet, sits bandaging his leprous sores one at a time, unlike the rest of the sufferers, who bandage them all at once. Why? Because he might be needed at any time and would not want to be delayed (Sanhedrin 98a). While this may seem to be a far-fetched story, it is not the only Jewish text which associates Messiah with leprosy. One of the names of the coming Messiah in the Talmud is:  ‘The Leper Scholar’.

Unlike the exclusive religious leaders of his days who stayed away, Yeshua came to us and voluntarily put on the decaying condition of mortality. He even contaminated himself by touching our leprosy. While were still in our mortal decaying condition, he entered our house to fellowship with us. But the story doesn't end here; the most wonderful part of it is that as he goes back to his Father and our God, he takes us with him to partake of his pure resurrected body. What a wonderful Messiah we have. Amen and Amen. May it be soon, even in our days!

P. Gabriel Lumbroso

www.thelumbrosos.com

For P. Gabriel Lumbroso's devotional UNDER THE FIG TREE in Kindle edition click here.

MARY DIDN'T HAVE A LITTLE LAMB ...

Luke 2:22

And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.

In the twelfth chapter of the Book of Leviticus we are told"

'If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. As at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean.  And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed’ (Leviticus 12:2-4).

Luke ties this verse to the birth of Messiah when he says, "And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to Adonai" (Luke 2:22). 

Miriam therefore came to make an offering at the end of the days of her purification as was prescribed by Moses and that is when she meets Simeon (Luke 2:25). Luke actually makes sure to tell us how Miriam and Joseph did everything according to the Levitical process.

It is important here to note that even though most English Biblical texts relate to Miriam’s post-natal state as unclean and therefore having to present an offering at the Temple; her condition has nothing to do with moral deficiency or spiritual unworthiness. A woman giving birth actually performs one of the highest of Hashem's commandments. She fulfills what she was created for. What the Torah refers to as the ritual unclean state is solely the reality of being human and therefore impure before. Ceremonial contamination is solely Temple related.

We are told in the Gospel of Luke that,

When the time came for their (Miriam and Joseph) purification according to the Law of Moses, they  brought him (Yeshua)  up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord") and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons." (Luke 2:22-24).

We see in Luke’s rendering of the story that Miriam and Joseph brought "a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons."’, and that is because they could not afford a lamb (Leviticus 12:6-8).

Little did young Miriam know, oh how little did she know that whereas she could not afford to bring Lamb to the Temple for her purification, she actually brought with her the ultimate Lamb, he  who would end up purifying not only her, but the whole world with her!

P. Gabriel Lumbroso

www.thelumbrosos.com

For P. Gabriel Lumbroso's devotional UNDER THE FIG TREE in Kindle edition click here.http://www.amazon.com/Under-Fig-Tree-Messianic-ebook/product-reviews/B00ANS40FK/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

THE SONG OF MIRIAM!

Revelations 15:3 

And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and amazing are your deeds.

 3,400 years ago the Children of Israel celebrated a great victory on the Eastern bank of the Gulf of Aqaba. Miraculously supplied with ‘bread from heaven (John 6:31)’, Pharaoh’s armies at their heels, they crossed the Sinai Desert. Later, they saw more of the majestic power of Hashem when the waters of the Red Sea stood as walls at their sides to give them passage. They then witnessed the same waters receding to swallow whole the army of their enemy dealing a deathly blow to the power that once was Egypt. The Biblical records tell us that of, all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained (Exodus 14:28). On the other side, in the Land called today Saudi Arabia then called Midian, under the leadership of Moses and Miriam the Children of Israel erupted into a song of praise that will echo through the centuries (Exodus 15). 

 Over a hundred years after the initial conquest of the Land, the song of Miriam already finds an echo. After Joshua’s death, Israel was left without central leadership. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 17:6), so, the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor (Judges 4:2). Eventually, when Israel was ready to amend his ways, Hashem allowed Judge/prophetess Deborah and military leader Barak to muster an army to challenge Jabin. As Sisera, Jabin’s general, positions his army to intercept Israel, El-Shaadai again works in Israel’s favor. He shows His great glory and power while unleashing from the sky a torrential storm thus flooding the Kishon waterway (Judges 4). The flood waters and muddy ground rendered Sisera’s chariots helpless and vulnerable to Israel’s army. The Biblical records tell us again that ‘all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left (Judges 4:16). Again, an army trying to trap Israel was rendered helpless through a flood of waters. Like with Moses and Miriam, Barak and Deborah celebrated with a song (Judges 5). 

 Will there be another echo? 

 Zechariah tells us of another war against Israel; a war where all nations will rise against Jerusalem (Zechariah 14). At that time it is a flood of blood that will render the armies of the enemy useless (Revelations 14:20). By the Mountain of Megiddo, at the same place where Sisera’s army fell, the armies of the Anti-Messiah will gather against Jerusalem and fall. Again, not a man will be left (Revelations 16:16; Revelations 19). At that time, Miriam’s song will echo in the mouth of the Children of God of all ages, through a spontaneous eruption of praise and adoration to our mighty God (Revelations 5:9; 14:3; 15:3). May it be soon Abba, even in our days!