We have examined the procedures for the rite of cleansing lepers in Leviticus 14 and the associated atonement symbolism. Two birds were used—one for a sacrifice and the other bird to be set free. The sacrificial bird was killed in an “earthen vessel over running water.” The body of Jesus was placed in an earthen tomb awaiting His resurrection. Jesus provides “living (or running) water” (see John 4:10).
The other elements used in the ritual were cedarwood, scarlet, and hyssop. Cedarwood represents the wooden cross, which was transformed into a Tree of Life with the Crucifixion of the Savior. Scarlet was one of the colors of the ephod, worn by the ancient high priest and matched the colors of the veil. Jesus was the Great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14). Scarlet dye was made from the mother scarlet worm, who attached herself to a tree remaining there until she died, upon which the scarlet color covered her and ran down the tree. Scarlet symbolizes the blood of the Lamb of God. Hyssop was used to paint the doorframes with the blood of the paschal lambs during Passover (Exodus 12:22), and a branch of hyssop was used to raise a sponge of vinegar to the mouth of Jesus during the Crucifixion (John 19:29).
In 2 Kings 5, we have the story of Naaman, the captain of the host of the king of Syria, but also, he is a leper. Typical of women in the scriptures, we have an unnamed hero in the form of a “little maid” taken captive during a Syrian raid, who waits on Naaman’s wife. (Sorry to get on my feminist soapbox again. Actually, not sorry.) Despite her dire circumstances as a captive slave, she comes to the aid of Naaman saying, “Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.”
There are some lessons here. The king of Syria wants to help his commander, so he sends a royal letter of introduction to the king of Israel requesting help. Naaman departs for Israel with ten talents of silver, six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment, perhaps thinking this miracle can be bought. When the king of Israel read the letter, he rent his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.” When Elisha hears of this, he invites Naaman to come to him to see that there is a prophet in Israel.
Naaman shows up at the door of Elisha with his horses and chariots. “Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, ‘Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.’” Naaman is insulted that Elisha does not come out himself and “strike his hand” to recover him. Also, is he really supposed to wash in that muddy River Jordan? The rivers back home are better. This sounds like me sometimes. I want the Lord to heal me, but please, let me do it on my terms.
“And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?”
How often do we overlook simple solutions because they look too easy? I used to wonder how a little piece of bread and a sip of water could change my life. Now I feel empowered by my Savior as I partake of the sacrament. Sometimes I think of this when I go to the temple to receive saving ordinances for my ancestors in the spirit world. They had eighty or ninety years of life experiences, yet they are saved by a handful of days when these salvific ordinances are performed, so “they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit” (1 Peter 4:6).
Despite obstacles of pride and misunderstanding, Naaman finally submits to the counsel of a prophet of God. He went down and dipped himself seven times in Jordan and “his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.” We see a symbolic washing ordinance in this act. The repetition of “seven times” represents completion, wholeness, and eventual perfection.
According to the Mosaic Law, lepers were sprinkled seven times and then “pronounced clean.” The living bird used in the cleansing is then let loose into an open field and becomes a “free bird” (Leviticus 14:7). Leprosy is a physical disease, but the cleansing of lepers has a spiritual counterpart. We are cleansed from sin through the atonement of Jesus Christ as we receive gospel ordinances.
Doctrine and Covenants Section 88, verses 138-39 speaks of those received into the School of the Prophets by the ordinance of the washing of feet:
“And ye shall not receive any among you into this school save he is clean from the blood of this generation;
“And he shall be received by the ordinance of the washing of feet, for unto this end was the ordinance of the washing of feet instituted.”
