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Cedar wood (cf. 1 Kings 4:33) signifies the honorable and uplifted humanity of Jesus, which enables Him to be our Savior; hyssop, being one of the smallest plants, signifies that the Lord Jesus was willing to become lowly in His "becoming in the likeness of men" (Phil. 2:7) that He might be near to man and become man's Savior (cf. Matt. 8:2-3); scarlet, a dark red color, signifies the shedding of blood and also implies kingship (27:28-29).
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All of this signifies that in order to cleanse us from our leprosy, the Lord lowered Himself to become a man of high standard but of low status that He might do the will of God and shed His blood on the cross for our redemption, thereby being glorified in His resurrection and becoming the honorable and high King (Phil. 2:5-11).
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The one who had been healed from leprosy (Lev. 14:3) still needed to seek to be cleansed before God, signifying that the one who is sick of the sin of leprosy, although he has been healed by the divine life within, still needs to have his shortcomings and defilement dealt with before God that he might be cleansed; our seeking to be cleansed is our cooperation with God's grace and love.
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The earthen vessel signifies the humanity of Jesus (cf. 2 Cor. 4:7), and the living water signifies the living and eternal Spirit of God (John 7:37-39; Rev. 22:1); the bird being killed in an earthen vessel over living water signifies that through His death in His humanity the Lord Jesus offered Himself to God through the eternal and living Spirit who was within Him (Heb. 9:14).
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The things recorded in Leviticus 14:6-7 signify that the Lord's perfect redemption not only causes man to be cleansed objectively in his position but also causes man to experience subjectively, in the Holy Spirit, the Lord's suffering in the shedding of His blood in His honorable, uplifted, and yet lowly humanity and to experience His death, resurrection, ascension, and glorification (Eph. 2:5-6; Phil. 3:10, 21; Col. 3:1-4); these things are all implied in the significances of the two birds, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet strands.
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The sprinkling of the blood of the slain bird on the leper who was to be cleansed signifies that the blood shed by Christ was sprinkled on us, the sinners (1 Pet. 1:2), and this sprinkling connects us to Christ, the Redeemer; the sprinkling of the blood seven times signifies the completeness of the cleansing of the Lord's blood (1 John 1:7, 9).
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Christ's ascension is signified by the living bird soaring in the air; letting the living bird go into the open field signifies that the living Christ causes the cleansed sinner to experience not only Christ's death and resurrection but also His ascension (2 Cor. 5:14-15; Eph. 2:5-6; Col. 3:1-4).
Morning Nourishment
Lev. 14:6-7 As for the living bird, he shall take it and the cedar wood and the scarlet strands and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the running water. And he shall sprinkle it on the one who is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times and shall pronounce him clean. Then he shall let the living bird go into the open field.Cedar wood (Lev. 14:4; cf. 1 Kings 4:33) signifies the honorable and high humanity of the Lord, which enables Him to be our Savior. In the Old Testament, plants are often types of the Lord's humanity. Wood, in particular, is such a type.
In 1 Kings 4:33 Solomon "discoursed about trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that shoots forth out of the wall." Hyssop was among the smallest of the plants. The hyssop in Leviticus 14:4 signifies that the Lord was willing to be lowly in becoming in the likeness of men that He might be nigh to man and become man's Savior. On the one hand, as typified by cedar wood, the Lord has the highest standard of humanity; on the other hand, as typified by the hyssop, He was willing to be lowly that He might be available to us. (Life-study of Leviticus, pp. 367-368)
Today's Reading
Scarlet (Lev. 14:4), a dark red color, implies much in typology. Scarlet here signifies that the Lord lowered Himself to become a man that He might do the will of God and shed His blood on the cross for our redemption, thus becoming the honorable and high King. The color scarlet signifies the shedding of blood. Thus it signifies Christ's redemption accomplished by His shedding His blood on the cross. Scarlet also implies kingship. Christ was slain, crucified, for redemption and through that redemption He became the King. The Savior has become the King not by fighting but by dying, by being crucified.Verse 5 says, "The priest shall command that one of the birds be slaughtered in an earthen vessel over running water." The Hebrew word translated "running" literally means "living." An earthenware vessel filled with living water over which one bird was to be killed signifies that through death in the flesh the Lord offered Himself to God through the eternal and living Spirit (cf. Heb. 9:13-14).
The earthen vessel signifies the Lord's humanity, and the living water signifies the living and eternal Spirit of God. Over an earthen vessel filled with living water a bird was to be killed. This signifies that Christ was killed in His humanity filled with the living, eternal Spirit. In Hebrews 9:14 we have the fulfillment of this type. This verse tells us that Christ through the eternal Spirit offered Himself to God. When He was dying on the cross, He offered Himself to God through the living water—the eternal, living Spirit of God—that filled Him. Christ was not alone when He was on the cross, for the eternal Spirit was in Him and with Him.
Without Paul's word in Hebrews 9:14 we could not understand the type in Leviticus 14:5. In the type a number of details are covered in a very simple way. Here we have an earthenware vessel, living water, and a bird that was slain. When we put this type together with Hebrews 9:14, we see that when Christ (the slain bird) was being crucified, He was in His humanity (the earthen vessel), yet within Him was the eternal Spirit, the living Spirit of God (the living water). Through the Spirit who filled Him, Christ offered Himself to God.
Leviticus 14:6-7a...signifies that the Lord's perfect redemption not only causes man to be cleansed objectively in his position, but also causes man to experience subjectively in the Holy Spirit the Lord's suffering in shedding His blood in His noble, high, and lowly humanity, and to experience His death, resurrection, ascension, and glorification. All these matters are implied in the type. (Life-study of Leviticus, pp. 368-369)
Further Reading: Life-study of Leviticus, msg. 42