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In Leviticus 14:33-57, the house typifies the church as our real home, and the leprosy in the house signifies the sins and evils in the church; the priest signifies the Lord or His deputy authority, and the examining of the house is not for condemnation but is a grace for healing (1 Cor. 1:11):
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The removing of the infected stones after seven days (Lev. 14:40) signifies that after the observation of a complete period of time, if the problem of the church is still spreading, the believer or believers involved in the problem should be removed from the fellowship of the church and be considered unclean, like the outsiders; this is done to stop the spread of the disease and to eliminate the disease (Rom. 16:17; Titus 3:10).
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Putting other stones in the place of the removed stones (Lev. 14:42a) signifies using other believers (1 Pet. 2:5) to fill in the gap; the replastering of the house with other plaster (Lev. 14:42b) signifies the renewing of the church with new experiences of the Lord's gracious works; this is needed for a new start in the church life.
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The breaking down of the house after the infection of leprosy returns (v. 45) signifies that if the situation of the church reaches the point where it cannot be cured, healed, that church should be terminated (cf. Rev. 2:5).
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If no sin is spreading after the renewing of the church with the new experiences of the Lord's gracious works, the church is clean and has no problem; the whole church needs to be cleansed with the eternally efficacious blood of Christ and His eternal and living Spirit so that the church is fully clean to be the mutual dwelling of God and man (Lev. 14:48-53; Heb. 9:14; 10:22; 1 John 1:9; Titus 3:5; John 14:2, 23).
Morning Nourishment
Lev. 14:36 And the priest shall command that they empty the house before the priest goes in to look at the infection...39-40 ...The priest shall return on the seventh day and inspect it....If the infection has spread in the walls of the house, then the priest shall command that they take out the stones on which the infection is and throw them away outside the city into an unclean place.
The house in Leviticus 14...typifies the church as our house, our home, and the leprosy in a house signifies sins and evils in the church (vv. 33-48)....[Verse 36b] signifies that the Lord or the apostle comes to examine. This kind of examination is not a matter of condemnation; rather, it is a kind of grace for healing....[Leviticus 14:39-40] signifies that after the observation of a complete period of time, if the problem of the church is still spreading, the believer or believers involved in the problem should be removed from the fellowship of the church and be considered unclean, like the outsiders (cf. 1 Cor. 5). This means that when the church is sick of a certain disease, the elders should first observe the situation. If the problem is becoming worse, the source of the problem—the believer or believers who have become involved in the disease—should be removed from the fellowship, the communication, of the church in order to stop the spread of the disease and to eliminate the disease. (Life-study of Leviticus, pp. 385, 387-388)
Today's Reading
Putting other stones in the place of the removed stones signifies the using of other believers to fill up the gap [Lev. 14:42a]. When the church becomes sick with leprosy, it often becomes necessary to remove from the fellowship of the church the saints who are involved in the problem. This will create a gap, and we should seek to fill this gap with other believers.[The replastering of the house (v. 42b)] signifies the renewing of the church with new experiences of the Lord's gracious works.
We need to have a new start in the church life, that is, to renew the church with new experiences of the Lord's gracious works...[by] bringing in the riches of Christ in a new way. If we...simply do something in a legal way to remove certain persons and replace them with others, this will make the church empty, and in this emptiness the church will suffer even more. Therefore, the leading ones need to pray, perhaps with fasting, that the church will receive something new in the experiences of Christ's gracious works. Then the church life will be renewed, replastered with new mortar, and all the members will be happy about the renewed church life.
"If the infection returns and breaks out in the house after he has taken out the stones and after he has scraped the house and after it has been replastered, then the priest shall come in and look; and if the infection has spread in the house, it is a malignant leprosy in the house; it is unclean. And he shall break down the house, its stones and its timber and all the plaster of the house, and he shall bring them outside the city into an unclean place" (vv. 43-45). This signifies that after the dealing, if additional serious sins break out, the whole church should be torn down. This is most pitiful. If the situation of a church reaches the point where it cannot be cured, healed, then it will be necessary for that church to be terminated.
"But if...the priest comes in and looks, and if the infection has not spread in the house after the house has been replastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean because the infection has been healed" (v. 48). This signifies that if no sin is spreading after the renewing of the church with the new experiences of the Lord's gracious works, the church is clean and has no problem.
Leviticus 14:49-51 reveals the leprosy in a house is cleansed in the same way as the cleansing of leprosy in a man....[Verse 52] signifies that the whole church needs to be cleansed with the eternally efficacious blood of Christ and His eternal and living Spirit....The house being clean signifies that the church is fully clean to be the mutual dwelling of God and man. (Life-study of Leviticus, pp. 388-389, 391-393)
Further Reading: Life-study of Leviticus, msg. 44