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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
Heb. 9:14 How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
As New Testament believers, we enjoy the Lord's cleansing. However, if we simply read and understand the New Testament, we shall not have a clear, detailed picture of what is involved in this cleansing. For this we need the types in Leviticus 14. From the types we see that to cleanse us of our leprosy the Lord had to be incarnated, to become a human being. As typified by the cedar wood, His humanity was high and honorable. As typified by the hyssop, He was willing to be lowly in becoming in the likeness of men. On the one hand, His standard was high; on the other hand, His status was very low. Both were for the producing of the scarlet thread. Furthermore, the two birds typify Christ in two other aspects, with the slain bird signifying Christ in His crucifixion and the live bird signifying Christ in His resurrection. Without Christ in all these aspects, we could not be cleansed of our leprosy, of our sin. (Life-study of Leviticus, p. 375)
Today's Reading
I do not believe that the ancient Israelites understood the significance of the two birds, the cedar, the hyssop, the killing of one bird over an earthenware vessel filled with living water, binding together the live bird, the cedar, the hyssop, and the scarlet thread and dipping this bundle into the blood of the killed bird that this blood might be sprinkled seven times on the one who was to be cleansed....However, we today do understand these types. Now we can see that for our cleansing we need a Christ of many aspects, a Christ who has gone through a number of processes. The blood shed by Him has been sprinkled upon us, and this sprinkling connects us, the sinners, to Christ, the Redeemer.The Lord's redemption, His noble, high, and lowly humanity, and His resurrection, ascension, and glorification are all implied in this type. We have seen that the cedar wood typifies Christ's noble and high humanity, and the hyssop, His lowly humanity. The slain bird, of course, signifies His redemption....His resurrection is signified by the other bird, the live bird. These two birds signify Christ in two aspects—in His death and resurrection. On the one hand, as signified by the killed bird, He was killed. On the other hand, as signified by the live bird, He was resurrected. The dying Christ became the living Christ through resurrection. Christ's ascension is signified by the live bird's flying, soaring, in the air. The Lord's glorification is signified by the scarlet, which implies kingship. Christ is glorified in His kingship. Christ was humbled in His incarnation, shamed in His crucifixion, and glorified in His kingship. Therefore in this one type we see the all-inclusive Christ, for here we have His humanity, which is both high and lowly, His redemption, and His resurrection, ascension, and glorification.
"He shall let the living bird go into the open field" (Lev. 14:7). This signifies that the living Christ causes the cleansed sinner not only to die and resurrect but also to experience His ascension. These have all been accomplished for us by Christ, and we only need to experience and enjoy them. In the crucified Christ, the killed bird, we died. Now in the resurrected Christ, the live bird, we are soaring in ascension. We have been freed, and there are no frustrations.
To expound this type we need the knowledge of the entire Bible....Biblical theology has much to do with the leprosy in Leviticus 13 and 14. If this theology were not involved with our leprosy, we would be altogether separated from God. He would be God, having nothing to do with us, and we would be lepers, having nothing to do with Him....In this type we see the Lord's redemption and the saving power in His resurrection. We have been redeemed by the crucified Christ, and now we are in the resurrected Christ, soaring in the air with Him. (Life-study of Leviticus, pp. 375-376, 370-371)
Further Reading: Life-study of Leviticus, msg. 43