And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: "Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that has an issue, and whoever is defiled by the dead: Both male and female shall you put out, without the camp shall you put them; that they defile not their camps, in the middle whereof I dwell.” (vv.1-3)
Chapter 5 deals with purifying both the camp and the people. As Israel prepared to march to the Promised Land, God commanded that they must separate those considered to be ceremonially unclean. This included the leper (Leviticus 13; actually, describing a broad range of skin diseases), those with a discharge (Leviticus 15), and any priest who would touch a dead body, except that of a close relative (Leviticus 21:1). The laws spoken of here for ridding the encampment of certain impurities were not because they were physically contagious nor because they could lead to disease, it was more about God dwelling in the midst of them.
It wasn’t that any of these things made a person or proved them to be a notorious sinner (though that was often wrongly assumed). Rather, it was that leprosy, unclean discharges, and dead bodies were reminders of the effects of sin – from which Israel must separate as they prepared to march towards the Promised Land. This vigilant care to maintain external cleanliness in the people was typically designed to teach them the practice of moral purity, or cleansing themselves from all filthiness of the flesh. These regulations made for ensuring cleanliness in the camp suggest the adoption of similar means for maintaining purity in the church.
This does not, of course, mean they were left behind to perish, but that they were not allowed to march in their proper place with the tribes of their people. The great reason for this commanded separation was because God lived in the camp of Israel, so there had to be an effort to separate from sin and its effects.
Today this might look like removing known sin from the church (for a time) in love. This becomes just as necessary to the moral purity of the body, as the exclusion of the leper was, to the physical health and ceremonial purity in the Jewish church.
However, remember upon cleansing the people were always allowed to return to the body. Sin does separate us from fellowship with God but, “with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10) making restoration into the body possible. Jesus is all about restoration, not condemnation.
The Truth : “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.” (Galatians 6:1)
