Metzora, Cleansing the Leper
Vayiqra (Leviticus) 14:1 – 15:33
Melekim Bet (II Kings) 7:3-20
MattitYahu (Matthew) 9:20-26, 11:2-6; Mark 5:21-34; Luke 5:24-34; 8:42-48; 9:51 – 10:42; Kefa Alef (Peter) 1:13-16; Romans 5:6-21, 6:17-23; Ivriym (Hebrews) 13:1-5
A Hebrew Roots leader once told me he did not believe that there is ‘power in the blood.’ He just couldn’t find it in the Scriptures. Where are the witnesses to what the blood of the Lamb can powerfully accomplish in the heart and soul? Like with every doctrine, the foundation for what is claimed about the blood of the Messiah starts with the Torah.
The Common Thread of the Scarlet Thread
And the priest shall command, and he shall kill the one bird on an earthen vessel, over running water; he shall take the living bird, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the slain bird, over the running water. Leviticus 14:5-6
The common thread within the strangest ceremony in all the Torah is the scarlet thread. Could the scarlet thread picture the blood of the cross of Messiah? What does it teach about what the blood of the sacrifice of the Messiah can do for the soul?
Just taking the three Hebrew words translated as ‘and the scarlet thread’ – v’et sh’niy ha’tola’at, picture the work of Yeshua on the cross in amazing detail! (Lev 14:6)
In the first word ‘v’et’, the letter ‘wow (or vav)’ points to the Man nailed to join us to Him. The next two letters – Alef Tav – are the powerful sign of the covenant made by the cross.
The next two words – ‘sh’niy ha’tola’at’ – according to the Brown Drivers Briggs Lexicon – are from the dried body of the female insect, a grub, ‘coccus ilicis,’ yielding coloring matter. This dye is used for cloth to color it scarlet or crimson. The female, ready to reproduce her seed, crawls on the trunk of a tree in her last act of life, staining the wood red. On the stained wood are planted the mother worm’s eggs. Out of the crimson wood, they are born and come alive as newly reproduced creatures.
What a picture of Yeshua giving His life on the blood-stained tree so that those who would abide in Him would have new life after His own kind! When we apply His blood to the doorposts of our hearts, the crimson flow becomes a very part of our nature, like the stain of coccus ilicis on a tree. A tree, along with the two tavs in the phrase, emphasizes covenant relationship; the cross being a powerful sign of the New Covenant in His blood.
David prophesied that the worm of a man would picture the Messiah. He would take our load of guilt and shame, bearing reproach and being despised for us:
But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, “He trusted on YHWH that He would deliver Him: let him deliver Him, seeing He delighted in Him.” Psalm 22:6-8
Out of a heart of love for us, the humble Messiah fulfilled the scarlet thread in the Torah by becoming a worm of a man in our place, when He hung on the tree. There His blood stained the old rugged cross so that we might be born again as new creatures.
The Temptation to Come off the Cross
Those passing by were jeering at Him, shaking their heads and saying, “You Who are going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the stake!”
Likewise, the ruling priests, along with the Torah scholars and elders, were also mocking Him. “He saved others,” they were saying, “but He can’t save Himself? He’s the King of Israel! Let Him come down now from the stake, and we’ll believe in Him! He trusts in Elohim (God); let Elohim rescue Him now if He wants Him. For He said, ‘I Am Ben-Elohim (the Son of God).’” Matthew 27:39
That is exactly what the enemy of our souls tries to get us to do – come off the cross that we pick up to follow Him. The world entices us to allow the carnal nature, the evil inclination to live on. We are all tempted every day to not let the will of the Father consume our living sacrifice. We are all tempted to go the easier way and live for ourselves, and not for Him and others. We sometimes don’t yield to His Ruach HaQodesh (Holy Spirit) to burn bright within the heart of the soul. Choose this day who you will serve.
The Scarlet Throat
The main reason I love paleo-Hebrew so much is because I see Yeshua in the meanings of the letters so clearly. He especially shines through in a reference like this ceremonial one, in the context of His blood cleansing the tsarua, the leper.
Understanding that spiritual leprosy starts with an evil tongue, where is the scarlet thread in the cleansing of tsarua, the leper?
The root words for ‘sh’niy ha’tola’at ‘(scarlet thread) in paleo-Hebrew together derive a red color from the gums near the teeth. Teeth in Hebrew is the root word for ‘sh’niy.’ The throat with its crimson color is in the root word ‘tola’at’.
The message in the paleo Hebrew for the scarlet thread is that the Man nailed shed His red blood upon the tree and became a worm of a man. He died to cleanse us from the leprosy of sin that comes from our throat and out the mouth; in other words, from speaking evil. Here’s a foundation block in the Torah for what Yeshua said:
He said to them, “Hear and understand – it is not the thing entering into the mouth that defiles the man, but the thing coming forth out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” Matthew 15:10b-11
What’s the hardest thing to control in life? You got it – our tongues (Jacob/James 3:6-8). It’s harder than taming wild horses. The Good News is that the blood was shed to cleanse us of all sin, even the sin of evil speaking that causes a slow death like leprosy.
But if we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of His Son Yeshua Messiah cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7
The Good News is that when sin is cleansed and removed, the breaking of the Torah and separation go with it! We can now walk together in the newness of life. No longer are we like lepers put out of the camp, separated from His people. Speaking evil of each other drives us apart. With clean hearts, with genuine love, and with Body-building speech, we can return to His house to walk in the light of fellowship with one another.
The Blood Speaks
Let’s believe and follow the Messiah Who reviled not, nor spoke words of vengeance; Who went silent to the slaughter for our sakes out of His great love for us. Remember this also on Passover. One thing that did speak was that the blood He shed cried “Mercy!,” when sprinkled on the Mercy seat of the Throne of Heaven for you and me.
But you have drawn near Mount Zion, even the city of the living Elohim, to a heavenly Jerusalem, and to the innumerable multitude of cherubs, and Yeshua the Mediator of a renewed covenant, and to the sprinkling of His blood, which speaks better things than Abel did…Hebrews 12:22-24
Not only does He cleanse us of our evil speaking, but we sprinkle His blood by speaking about what He accomplished for us on the tree. The Gospel message:
is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16.
Having heard and believed the voice of mercy, let us speak of His blood which speaks better things than any other (Heb 12:24). May the blood empower our speech to cleanse others, build up others in love, and give Yah all the praise and glory!
Blessings in the Name of Yeshua the Messiah,
David Klug