YAHWEH’S RELIGIOUS LAWS AND DISEASE OF THE EXODUS
Real and Fake Leprosy
The religious laws were so numerous people could not remember them. Living conditions were so harsh that many people complained. Both situations were viewed as sins. When sickness entered the camps Yahweh stated it was punishment for the sins of the people. When the sickness abated, Yahweh stated it was because he had forgiven the sins, and charged a head tax on the tribes.
Leprosy was the most dreaded disease of all. It was a disease of incurable disfigurement and mutilation of the human body. Infected people were rejected and excluded from society, and in the wilderness of the Sinai, this meant death by starvation. However, it should be noted, when the tribes exited Egypt they took their lepers with them. This is a sign of a truly compassionate people.
Yahweh not only used the threat of inflicting leprosy on people who displeased him; he used a ruse to make the people believe he had the power to inflict the dreaded disease. But Yahweh himself, or those Lords acting as Yahweh, had a secret. He, or they, also had a fear of contracting the disease. To prove this assertion we need to examine some of the characteristics of the disease.
Leprosy results from acid-fast bacilli, which cause skin lesions. It is a chronic, infectious disease and the onset is insidious. There are two distinct types, lepromatous and tuberculoid. The lepromatous type occurs in people with defective immune systems. The course of the disease is progressive and malignant. It produces skin lesions that usually appear as pale trophic ulcers. The disease attacks the skin, superficial nerves, nose, pharynx, eyes, and testicles. It also causes bone resorption and disfigurement. When the disease spreads to the eyes, the victim becomes blind.
The characteristics of leprosy should lead you back to the beginning of this chapter. There was a discussion based on Leviticus Chapter 21 verses 16-23. The discussion stated there was a second reason or a secret to why Yahweh did not allow disfigured people, or persons who were blind, or with blemishes to offer at the tabernacle. That reason was that the majority of the people described had the symptoms of leprosy. Here is the Biblical text again, simply compare the verses to the characteristics of leprosy.
Leviticus Chapter 21 vs. 16-23
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer bread of his God. For whatsoever Man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind Man or lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, Or a Man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, Or crookbacked, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken; No Man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God. He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy. Only he shall not go in unto the veil, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the Lord do sanctify them.
The term hath his stones broken refers to a man’s testicles. The term the offering made by fire refers to cooked foods. If you continue to follow this avenue of thought to its end, you can come to another conclusion. The men cooking the offering were wearing clothing, and Yahweh could only see their face, arms, and hands, and part of the legs and the feet. If a person had a blemish on any of these body parts, it was possible he had other more definite signs of leprosy hidden by his clothing. If he had a leprous hand, he could wrap it in cloth and simply state he had broken his hand. Therefore Yahweh did not take any chances of receiving food from a leper. He banned people with physical imperfections from the tabernacle. The conclusion from these clothing rules is, he could not see through clothing. That is really a shortcoming for a person who is selling himself as God.
Yahweh did use the disease as a resource for the embellishment of his power over the tribes. The first thing he did was to have the various tribal priests inspect suspected people for the symptoms or signs of the disease. The entire Chapter 13 of Leviticus pertains to this inspection. Following the inspection of the priests, Yahweh instructed Moses to have every leper put out of the camp.
Numbers Chapter 5 vs. 1-3
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead: Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell.
After Yahweh rid the general population of lepers, he devised a ritual, which would cure the disease. Tribal priests, through the power of Yahweh, would perform the ritual on members who exhibited the symptoms. After the ritual, the person would be shut up seven days to completely heal.
To understand this performance, you must envision the total terror a suspected leper would have. If the ritual failed to cleanse the person, the result was loss of your family, coupled with tribal banishment, and death in the wilderness. With the ritual you were miraculously healed by the power of Yahweh, after seven days of terror. Now, what would your attitude be? The answer is simple; you would be shouting the joys of being saved by Yahweh. After being saved from a horrible death, your loyalty would be absolute.
The total performance would be an astounding exhibition of power to all members of the tribes. Of course, you probably would not consider why Yahweh previously had all the lepers expelled from the tribes. Or, you probably would not consider why Yahweh did not use the ritual to cure them. The secret to Yahweh’s power to cure leprosy lies in the world of reality. The reality is he could not cure the disease, not in seven days, or seven months, or seven years.
Therefore, how did he pull of such a performance? Actually it was fairly simple and Biblical text provides the clues to the answer. First, you need to sift through the maze of rituals and Yahweh’s instructions pertaining to the inspections for the symptoms of leprosy. The entire Chapter 13 of Leviticus specifically dictates how the inspections were to be made.
To begin, the priests’ instructions would separate a real case of leprosy from that of a chemical burn, which produced very similar symptoms of the disease. The Biblical verses indicate the finding, and the result of real leprosy.
Leviticus Chapter 13 vs. 42-46
And if there be in the bald head, or bald forehead, a white reddish sore; it is a leprosy sprung up in his bald head, or his bald forehead. Then the priest shall look upon it: and behold if the rising of the sore be white reddish in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, as the leprosy appeareth in the skin of the flesh; He is a leprous Man, he is unclean: the priest shall pronounce him utterly unclean; his plague is in his head. And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plagues shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.
This indicates a “Shanty Town” following of Lepers and other disease carriers, close but without the camp. They would have survived on the leavings of the main camp. The next set of verses contains the first clues to the chemical that produces a burn, which appears to be leprosy. Keep in mind this disease does not grow in clothing. This is not to say a leper’s clothing does not carry the bacteria. However, the bacteria do not proliferate to change the color of garments. But, a chemical induced into or upon clothing could cause a change in the color of the material.
Leviticus Chapter 13 vs. 49-50
And if the plague be greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; it is a plague of leprosy, and shall be shewed unto the priest: And the priest shall look upon the plague, and shut up it that hath the plague seven days:
Leviticus Chapter 13 vs. 53
And if the priest shall look, and, behold, the plague be not spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin;
The verses continue with a series of inspections of the clothing, and subsequent washing to remove the imposed colors. If the colors of greenish or reddish can be washed out, then the garment is saved. But if the material is of such, that the colors cannot be removed, then the clothing is burned. The reason so much attention is paid to the clothing is, that after a person has gone through ritual cleansing, they will want their clothes back. If the clothing still contained the chemicals, it was very possible for the person’s body to again react to them.
After seven days, the clothing was either cleaned or burned, and the priest would again inspect the person to see of they had healed. If the person appeared to be healed, the priest would begin a very lengthy ritual that culminated at the front of the tabernacle, in full view of the tribes. Before being allowed near the tabernacle, part of the ritual ensured that he would be absolutely free of the chemicals.
Leviticus Chapter 14 vs. 8-9
And he is that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that he shall come into the camp, and tarry abroad out of his tent seven days. But it shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off: and he shall wash his clothes, also he shall wash his flesh in water, and he shall be clean.
To reinforce the assertion that chemicals were used to induce the symptoms of leprosy, the final verses are provided.
Leviticus Chapter 14 vs. 33-38
And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying, When ye come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession; And he that owneth the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, It seemeth to me there is as it were a plague in the house: Then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest go into it to see the plague, that all that is in the house be not made unclean: and afterward the priest shall go in to see the house: And he shall look on the plague, and behold, if the plague be in the walls of the house with hollow strakes, greenish or reddish, which in sight are lower than the wall; Then the priest shall go out of the house, and shut up the house seven days:
These verses are followed by instructions to scrape the walls, remove stones, and carry all the mortar and dust to outside any city limits. The important thing to remember is the colors of the chemicals and the instructions to clean the house. The instructions were a physical remedy to a problem, not a spiritual remedy. If you disregard the pagan ritual involved in the cleansing of the person near the tabernacle, the remedies to both situations are exactly the same. Get rid of the chemicals by cleaning.
Last, from the world of reality, leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by the acid-fast rod Mycobacterium leprae. The mode of transmission probably is respiratory and involves prolonged exposure in childhood. Only rarely have adults become infected. Because of the tendency for relapse, treatment must be continued for years.
The previous examples of suspected cases of leprosy were given to lead into a final example of the dreaded disease. This example demonstrates how Yahweh employed the fear of the disease to quell problems that threatened his authority.
Sometime after the completion of the tabernacle, Aaron decided to establish himself as a religious leader, equal to Moses. He had recovered from seeing his two sons fried in the holy courtyard by Yahweh. His wife, Miriam, aided him in this venture. To rise to this position of equal religious authority, Aaron and Miriam began to speak against Moses. They used the marriage of Moses to an Ethiopian woman as a basis to address complaints against him.
Under the customs of the Hebrew tribes it was only socially correct to take a wife from within the various tribes. Therefore, based on custom, Aaron had a valid complaint against Moses as a religious leader. To further his argument, Aaron stressed that Yahweh also spoke to him.
Inside the tabernacle, Moses, Aaron, and his wife addressed the problem of Moses’ marriage to Yahweh. After hearing the problem, Yahweh instructs the three to move to the tabernacle of the congregation. This area was the walled curtained courtyard of the tabernacle. It was located directly in front of the entrance to the tent. From the entrance of the tent, in a pillar of smoke, Yahweh commanded Aaron and Miriam to come near the entrance. After giving them an angry verbal rebuke for their attitude and comments, Miriam appeared to become leprous.
Numbers Chapter 12 vs. 4-5
And the Lord spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out. And the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.
Numbers Chapter 12 vs. 9-10
And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them; and he departed. And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.
Aaron then pleaded with Moses to have Miriam restored to her normal self. Aaron was successful, and seven days later Miriam was fully healed. With this event, the terror of the disease quelled any further challenges to Moses’ authority.
The weapon that was used was never seen. We can conclude that because Aaron and Miriam were called forward to the entrance of tabernacle, they were in close proximity to the smoke pouring out of the tent. The weapon, therefore, had a very limited range. From behind the smoke, Miriam received a potent dose of a dry chemical spray. It had an immediate effect upon her skin, which turned white.
Aaron did not make any further challenges to the position Moses held. However, his exhibition of self worth was recognized by Yahweh as a subdued current of dissatisfaction. Whatever Aaron’s future aspirations were, he had sealed his fate. Before entering Canaan, on the orders of Yahweh, he was taken to a mountaintop, stripped of his priestly garments, and killed.
