According to vocabulary.com, "Foreshadowing is an advance sign or warning of what is to come in the future."And this being true, Leviticus 14 provides us with an amazing foreshadowing of the Jewish Temple's destruction in 70 A.D.
God's prescription for houses infected by "leprosy" had three phases. Phase I: After the contents of the house had been removed, a priest would visit the house in question to examine it for disease (Lev. 14:36). Phase II: The priest would return to the house for a second inspection. If the disease remained, then the house would be scraped and stones removed from the house (Lev. 14:39-40). Phase III: The priest would return for a third examination and if the disease remained, the entire house would be destroyed "stones and timber and all the plaster of the house"(Lev. 14:43-45).
Fast forward 2000 years to the time of Jesus' first advent. Phase I: Jesus, who was a priest "according to the order of Melchizedek" (Heb. 7:17) visited God's "house" (the Temple) near the beginning of his ministry, examined it and removed certain diseased elements from it (John 2:13-22). Phase II: Jesus made a second inspection of the God's house near the end of his earthly ministry, found it diseased and once again forcibly removed some of the diseased elements (Matt. 21:12-13). Phase III: Jesus, just as he had promised the Council in Matt. 26:64, visited Jerusalem in a cloud of judgment (e.g. Isa. 19:1-2) determined that God's house was still diseased and leveled the Temple and the holy city "stones and timber and all the plaster" via the might of Titus and the Roman army.
Just as Jesus said in Luke 24, all of the Old Testament is about him. Even the hard to read passages about leprosy, open sores and the demolition of houses.
And, for what it's worth, Leviticus 13:40-41 are two of my all-time favorite verses in the Bible. And if you've ever seen my forehead (actually, more of a fivehead) you will understand why ;).
HT: James B. Jordan and Peter J. Leithart.
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