THE SALVATION OF JESUS CHRIST AS SHOWN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ has been presented in many versions. We thank God for that but, there is only one way which the Father wants it to be demonstrated. The apostle Paul said that we should compare spiritual things with spiritual things. Hence the most logical thing for us to be sure when we are preaching the everlasting gospel or is the true gospel of our Lord Jesus we need to have both the Old Testament and the New Testament bearing witness to our tenets. Then if also the Holy Spirit bears witness that we are on the right track we shall be truly be in harmony with the whole Bible.
I have tried to gather many fragments of truth from various brethren in order to come up with the above glorious message. It has been a mighty blessing where I have preached it with the Holy Spirit bearing witness with great signs and wonders to the glory of Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. So desperate seeker, may the Father open your eyes of understanding that you may behold wondrous things out of His Holy Word.

The Teaching is Based on Leviticus Chapter 14.

It would be good for you to start by reading the whole of the Leviticus chapter 14. For the whole chapter speaks of the doctrine of justification, sanctification, anointing and glorification. I am in this issue going to deal with the doctrine of justification by faith and a bit of sanctification. Hence I will read Leviticus 14:1-9. Which are just three sentences!

And the LORD spake unto Moses saying, This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing:
He shall be brought unto the priest: And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed the leper; 
Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: 
And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water:
And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field. 
And he 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.

THE MYSTERY  OF LEPROSY       

The disease of leprosy was a figure in the Old Testament to show WHAT ACTUALLY happens to a person with sins  in the New Testament. Any time you see leprosy in the Old Testament should all the time trigger us to see how to effectively deal with sins. Only Jesus could touch a leprous man and remain clean. He is the only Saviour from leprosy (sins).                              
The puzzle
The effects of leprosy to the body is accurately related to to the effects of sin to the soul. Study the Table below.

In brief we see that leprosy and sin are directly related. They both do the following to man:   

1. They Kill .
2. They are both more contagious to those who are nearest to them.
3. They both progress and spread to the whole society.
4. The contaminate the whole individual personality
5. They cause great and tormenting loneliness to those who have them.

THE STUDY

Verse One. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying.

Application. This is God speaking to us as a redeemer. That is why the Name Jehovah (LORD)  is used. The Name of Jehovah is used only in connection with the mercy of God to save man from his sins. The Lord is speaking to us. This command is coming directly from the mouth of God. Remember this is one of the Word which man must live upon. “Man shall not live on bread alone but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God”  ( Matt. 4:4)

Verse two. This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest.

Application. This  shall be… the Law of the leper. In the word of God we see that the so called  laws are consistent principles which do not and will not change. Hence this shall evidently be the only way for sinners to be cleansed. I am not being too extreme, this is because the Mouth of the Lord is the one speaking. And He says that the leper was to be brought to the priest. A priest is a man who represents another man before God. In other words the Lord has committed the preaching of the word of the gospel to men. Even angels have to look on to men in order to understand the mystery of salvation. No wonder when Cornelius wanted to know the salvation of God he did not receive it from the angel, but from Peter whom the angel said,  “will tell him what he ought to do”. (Acts 10.6) Do not despise the men who have been entrusted with this word of reconciliation. For they are for sure the ambassadors of Christ.(II Cor 5:18-21).

Verse Three: and the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper;

Application; The priest shall go forth out of the camp. This camp is the heavenly camp where we are seated with Christ at the right hand of God. We always approach the world in that position. Because it is the only angle from which the priest can look at a plague of sin in a sinner. The extend or the direction to which the disease is progressing is extremely important. This is representing repentance. Only those who have repented can be allowed to enter into the fullness of salvation. One has to change his thinking, speech and deeds by trusting in the power of God to be enabled to do so through him. Only such a trust is recognised as faith. Only the grace of God can make a human being to completely rely on His power. The danger is that religion can step in and give a false hope of the idea of being saved is gradual without a starting point. The look of the priest will definitely be the look of the Holy Spirit. Remember the penetrating look of Jesus to Peter, it caused him to repent his sins. Actually this looking is what is calledPreaching. God has chosen the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe.

Verse four: Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:
And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water:

The command is to take five objects. Ie 
1.Two Clean and live Birds, 
2. cedar wood,
3. Scarlet.
4. Hyssop
5. Earthen vessel

After the above objects were collected the former leper and the priest were to go and stand on a flowing stream of water. Oh the meaning of the above objects is overwhelming. Let us see. The two clean birds. This were to show the life of the Lord Jesus Christ . It can be summarised as following; The Lord Jesus Christ came in the flesh. That is why one bird was to be put into the  earthen vessel. The Lord was to die on the cross and shed his blood to make an everlasting covenant with God.. That is why the cedar wood was to be put in the earthen vessel and one of the birds killed inside. I tend to believe that  the type of tree which made the cross was cedar. The scarlet thread was to signify the blood of Christ. The Lord Jesus then resurrected and took the Blood to the Father. That is the reason why the other bird was dipped into the blood of the killed bird in the vessel and released to the atmosphere with blood. The leper must see the events and trust that God has ordained that as the only way of cleansing. The sinner must believe that Jesus died on the cross  shed his blood to clean us and has resurrected for us to be justified. The priest was then to take the hyssop branches and dip them into the blood and sprinkle the leper seven times. The hyssop speaks of faith. One has to take and apply the blood of Christ on the sinful life and it will clean completely. The number seven is the number of completeness. The blood sprinkled leper was then to dip himself into the water and wash himself. The water speaks of the word of God. A justified man should emerge himself into the word of God for the cleansing of the mind from all filthiness. You must be a man or a woman of the Word if you are to part with the nature and power of  sin. ( Eph 4:25-27, John 8:31).

SHAVING OF HAIR

The blood sprinkled, Water washed leper was to go home and shave every hair in his or her body. Appearance of hair in the body speaks of entry points of sin in the body of a person. For example, the head hair, speaks of thought life. Our minds should be renewed by the word of God.  (Rom. 12:1-4). The hair around the eyes speaks of sins through the eyes. The hair around the mouth (especially men) speaks of sins of eating. Hair at the arm pits speaks of sin of handling things. Hairs around the sexual organs speak of sexual sins. Hairs all over the body talks of emotionality. The leper was to value holiness like never before. By making a quality decision not to sin any more.

SEE YOU FOR THE NEXT STEP OF SANCTIFICATION