when God sends mildew ...

the other day i was reminded of a passage in leviticus 14 about mildew. in the middle of several chapters labeled ‘instructions for the people’ about cleanliness are two whole passages on regulations for & cleansing from mildew. apparently this was kind of a big deal to God.

“you must keep the israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place, which is among them.”  - leviticus 15:31

the part of particular interest to me was about the presence of ‘spreading mildew’ in their homes. it says, “when you arrive in canaan, the land I am giving you as your own possession, i may contaminate some of the houses in your land with mildew.” (leviticus 14:34) my thought when i first stumbled across these words, and again as i read them today, is that seemingly God sometimes causes mildew to see how diligent we will be about cleaning.

i know the prevailing school of thought is that a good God would never cause anything bad to happen. but may i remind you that He sent His one and only Son first and foremost to earth as a human, which we all know is hard enough in and of itself, and then to die on a cross, which is about as bad as you can get. romans 8:28 does not promise that God DOES only good. it promises “that God causes everything to work together FOR the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” does He want anything bad to happen to us? of course not. but if a little mildew is what we need to accomplish His good purposes in us and others, then that might be what He will bring.

first off, the people had to tell the priest, “i have seen something that looks like mildew in my house.” (v. 35) they didn’t try to figure it out on their own. they didn’t wait to see if the problem would go away. they were to go directly to the priest. how much grief could we save ourselves if we handled problems in the same way? if, instead of trying to figure it out on our own or hoping that a problem will go away, we took our concerns directly to God or trusted friend or mentor. 

next, the priest emptied out the house before examining the suspected mildew. there was no messing around. the mildew had not even been confirmed, but they didn’t want to run the risk of anything else being contaminated. then, if they thought it was mildew, they would close the house up for 7 days before coming back to check again. if there’s something in our lives that has even the smallest potential of becoming a major problem, we need to cut it off at the pass. clear out. put ourselves in time out and wait to see what God has to say about it.

then, if the mildew had spread, the priest ordered for the contaminated stones to be removed and walls scraped, the waste discarded outside of town, and new stones be put in their place with fresh clay and plaster. once a problem area has been clearly revealed in our lives, we need to be thorough about removing it. not just the larger, more obvious portions, but also the smaller, hidden pieces that have held the big pieces together. in truth, that is often where the problem originates. 

and once the contamination has been removed, we can’t just leave a gaping hole. this seems obvious when you’re talking about a home, but how often do we do this in our own lives? we can’t just clean out. we must replace what has been removed with fresh, new material so that the problem is permitted to return with even greater fury.

“when an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. then it says, ‘i will return to the person i came from.’ so it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. and so that person is worse off than before.” - matthew 12:43-45

after the mildew has been removed and repairs made, and upon examination the priest finds that it has not returned, then he will pronounce the house clean and make atonement. if, however, the mildew reappears, then it is not just a ‘spreading’ mildew, but a ‘destructive’ one. the house will be declared unclean and must be completely torn down. greater sins - ones that do not merely creep but threaten to destroy - require an outright disassembly. 

“surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth.” - amos 9:8

the beautiful thing is that which He dismantles, He also promises to rebuild. 

“in that day I will restore david’s fallen tent. I will repair its broken places, restore its ruins, and build it as it used to be.” - amos 9:11

we need only submit our lives to Him. because of Jesus we are thankfully no longer bound by the old system of cleansing and purification. however, we must recognize that in keeping our own ‘homes’ clean, we also keep His dwelling place - not the temple, but our hearts - pure.

who can you turn to in helping you examine any areas of concern in your life? is there any mildew needs to be cleaned out? is it simply the ‘spreading’ variety, or a more ‘destructive’ form? do not fail to carry out all that He has called you to do.

“therefore tell the people: this is what the LORD Almighty says: 'return to me,' declares the LORD Almighty, 'and I will return to you,' says the LORD Almighty.” - zechariah 1:3