The Word of The Priest (Leviticus 13)

They say Leviticus is a really difficult book to speak from because it’s hard for the audience to understand and it doesn’t have a vivid storyline like other books in the bible. Leviticus becomes consumable when you read it with the Holy Spirit. Also, I think you’re smart and I like to tussle with religious people who like to act like you should put limits on the power of the Holy Spirit. I’m speaking from Leviticus 13 today, I’ll cover a couple of verses but what God showed me is important.

The first time I read Leviticus, I fell asleep four different times, and every time I fell asleep I forced myself to start over from the place I last remembered reading. I’m not gonna lie, I was bored and I was reading something that I thought didn’t apply to me. But the more time I spent in God’s word the more I found that it wasn’t about applying the word by the letter and putting yourself under the law but about the revelation of the word and how the finished work of Jesus applies to our lives.

I committed to God that I would read the whole bible. After a few years of walking with God and a lot of learning from the Holy Spirit, lots of books, and preachers, I went back to reading Leviticus with a clear understanding that Leviticus was God’s way of telling Isreal that they couldn’t do it on their own. Leviticus also shows us that God has always wanted to be in communion with his people. We need a savior in order to stay in God’s presence. According to the Levitical law, almost everything made the people of Isreal unclean even their own bodies. The law shows us that, we are unclean beings by nature because we can defile ourselves. 

Though we’re so easily made unclean, we see that God had a plan in progress from Genesis to the book of Revelation. The plan was Christ it always has been and it always will be. Leviticus is no different it testifies of Christ. 

God shows us how easily Israel was made unclean by everything from the things they touched to the foods they chose. God made certain to make the law so intricate that Israel couldn’t follow every single part of it at the same time. God showed Israel that they needed a savior. They couldn’t stay in a relationship with God the way they were under a law that was given to expose their sin and imperfections. They needed someone to vouch for them and that is where we see Aaron and his sons come in. God called them to be priests so they could help people both get right with God and stay right with God. 

I grew up in New York and I used to go to clubs when I was younger. If you went with the right group of girls it was pretty easy to just go wherever you wanted to go. But then I moved down to North Carolina and didn’t know anyone, I was in college and I met this guy at work who was also a promoter on the side. Every weekend he would have a party at some club and when it was time to get in I’d pull up with a couple of people, he would come outside and then he would walk me and my friends past the line and the cashier. 

He would tell them she was with me and every single time we walked through they would make way, they’d open doors, and step aside to let us in. His word held weight at every party he threw. I loved it, it was fun and I was getting into parties and having the time of my life for free, it wasn’t because of who I was but because of who I was associated with. His word was the reason I gained access to these parties every weekend without fail.  

And as I read Leviticus, and watched how God called the priests to act, it reminded me a lot of that time in my life when I had access to the parties. I was reading Leviticus 13. I’ll let you read it yourself but throughout Leviticus 13 God gives the priests the parameters for different types of sores and how the priests would tell if a sore was Leprosy or just a regular injury. 

The Bible says in Leviticus 13:28:

But if the bright spot stays in one place, and has not spread on the skin, but has faded, it is a swelling from the burn. The priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is the scar from the burn.

And later in Leviticus 13:44, the Bible says:

he is a leprous man. He is unclean. The priest shall surely pronounce him unclean; his sore is on his head.

In the bible when people would get Leprosy, it would start as a sore. The people who fell ill would have to be taken to the priest who would determine if the sore was leprosy or just a regular injury or growth. 

In the book of Leviticus God allows us to see the tight parameters that the priest would use to determine if the sore was leprous. But when people were diagnosed with leprosy they would have to live outside of the camp. They couldn’t live with their family and friends, they couldn’t go to work and they couldn’t interact with people because they were deemed unclean. 

When we look at how the priests treated Leprocy and the separation it caused from the community it mirrors how sin works in our lives. Sin cuts us off from God’s presence and hinders our ability to have a relationship with him. Sin makes us unclean the same way leprosy made the people of Isreal unclean. But Jesus changes us, he cleans us and he washes us, he brings us back into communion with God. Jesus cleans us up and we stay there. When God looks at us he sees his people who should have access to us, he sees Jesus!

When declaring things clean or unclean God gave authority to the priests. Jesus is our high priest and he advocates for us as the devil accuses us. His word is the only one that matters. Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. God uses our words to bring forth this reality. When God gives his word, that is the true reality. Sometimes, what we see with our own eyes doesn’t look like what God spoke, God shows us that we need to speak those things that are not as if they are. We are little mirrors of Christ and if Christ can call it down so can we!

So when God calls you rich and you see a negative account, know that you need to start speaking increase. When God calls you healed and you’re on your way to your third chemo appointment just know you need to start speaking health and healing. When God says let no man pull apart what God has put together, but you’ve been presented with divorce papers, you need to start speaking unity. 

Jesus gave us the power to make our reality match God’s reality. Jesus said on earth as it is in heaven. So when you pray, when you speak, and when you go through your day, declare the things of God. 

I might be on my way to my manager’s office but God your word says I’m favored, I might have been laid off but God your word says I am provided for. I might not feel well but God you said all things are well. 

The fastest way to disrupt the enemy is to speak against him. As the devil stands in the courts of heaven and accuses you every word Jesus speaks is a disruption to him. Imagine being in a courtroom while the devil is prosecuting you and here you are screaming in the middle of his accusation. Lord I know I did wrong, but Jesus you paid for it! Lord, I know I deserve what’s happening, but Jesus I dont get what I deserve, I get what you deserve. And when the devil has done his work in accusing you the King of Kings stands up as your defense and with fire in his eyes and a sword in his hand he declares you innocent. 

Your words matter. Did you know that God has his own reality? Jesus knew it that’s why he prayed on Earth as it is in Heaven. God’s reality is the one he’s trying to bring to earth through us. God’s reality has an order to it. God’s reality offers peace, rest, and community and causes your soul to prosper. You can tell if you believe the world or God based on how you speak. Do you believe what God said based on his word and his reality or do you believe the lie that what you see is what you get?

 As Christians, we have to learn to remove ourselves from the world. Jesus died for us to have a different reality than the world. That’s partly why he says to be in the world but not of it. 

Jesus set us apart, walking in his power is the differentiator. Jesus changes our nature and rids us of our sin root. As Christians, we listen differently that’s why the bible says he who has ears let him hear. As God’s people we see differently, that’s why the bible says we walk by faith and not by sight. When this life ends we dont die because Jesus has secured an eternity for us. Our reality is different. If your reality is different from what you see in front of you leave a comment, type My reality is different! 

When we speak the truth of the gospel by the power of Christ, we’re wielding God’s power. When you speak you’re putting things into order! God’s reality that we have yet to see has an order to it and it’s guaranteed and secured by his word. Davar is Hebrew for “word” (Strongs 1697) it has the root word Dr which means “order” according to the blue letter bible. Another word that’s derived from the Hebrew word Dr is “wilderness”. The wilderness is a place of order and harmony. There is balance in the wilderness because there is order there. Things are working together as they should uninterrupted. 

So when you look at your reality and it’s chaotic and confused and out of order, you have to speak to it, and given proper words coupled with obedience to God’s instruction you will literally be putting your reality in order. 

The words you speak decide the order that your reality follows. If you align with the world your reality will be in the order of the world, which looks like lack, suffering, sickness, illness, pain, and death. When you start to speak the promises that Jesus died for you to have, you start to order your reality so it looks like heaven. All of a sudden your reality starts to look like peace, health, healing, access, promotion favor, love wholeness, and prosperity. We have to decide what reality we want to live in and once you decide, do your best to align with God’s will. 

Some of us need to repent for word curses we spoke over ourselves when we were loose-lipped and careless. Jesus I repent, I take it back, I cancel the words  I spoke that were against your will. 

Because sometimes it’s not other people who are the issue sometimes it’s me, I’m the problem. I’m the one delaying my future because I wasn’t careful with my words. Lord, I repent, and going forward I choose to speak what you said, and walk in your reality I want to see Earth look like heaven. Jesus help us to guard our mouths!

In Leviticus, the priest declares people clean or unclean and Jesus is our high priest he wants you to be cleaned, and in community. Before we meet Jesus we’re all constantly searching for a connection, a missing puzzle piece, an empty space that we try to fill with the things of the world. But Jesus sent me to give you the gospel, I’m here to tell you that there is healing in him. He died and rose again because that thing you’ve been missing is in him. You are his family and he wants to be connected to you. The only problem is you’re leprous, you’re sick you had to be exiled and you need a healer. You need a priest who can pronounce you clean. Your need to repent and turn from your sin. Jesus is the healer and priest and his blood is the payment for your sin. There’s a promise in him. When all you want to do is get back home Jesus is the cure and the connection and he wants you to come home.

If you feel the pull of the Lord calling you to walk by his word in a new reality with his power,  to move from a Leprous exile to being healed, renewed, and delivered all you need to do is accept Jesus into your heart and invite him into your life. Pray this prayer:

Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins and surrender my life. Wash me clean. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That he died on the cross for my sins and rose again on the third day for my Victory, I believe that in my heart and make confession with my mouth, that Jesus is my Savior and Lord. I receive eternal life, in Jesus name, Amen. 

For the believers who are already saved, I need you to do something choose 1 day this week and do your best to only say what God said. We need to start giving God access to more than Sunday. If you’re going to try this out, leave a comment saying “I Choose to speak my day!”