Our post is an addition to Notes on Leprosy and the Second Coming.  It is dedicated to our brother, Ralph, who was delivered into the presence of the Father, holy and blameless, with mighty shouts of everlasting joy on Father’s Day, June 20, 2010.  Praise you, Lord!

           According to all that I grant you to see, the pattern of the Dwelling and the pattern of all its implements, thus are you to make it.  Exodus 25:9

          While Moses was on the mountain, YHWH/Jesus showed him activities in the heavenlies which were to serve as patterns for the same activities upon earth.  The verse in Exodus 25:9 in particular relates to the construction of the tabernacle, but we do not believe it is unreasonable to conclude that the teachings and instructions of the various temple activities, including the sacrifices, were patterned upon God’s activities in the heavenlies and even in the earth.  Thus, each sacrifice is a foreshadow, an image, an incomplete picture of the reality of God’s doings.  It is important to understand that the ritual on earth was always intended to be an emulation of what God has done and is doing in the heavens and in the earth.  Unfortunately, none of the Hebrews except One, consistently said what He heard His Father saying, and consistently did what He saw His Father doing.  That Hebrew’s name, of course, is Jesus.

          Accordingly, when a leper was healed, the ritual sacrifice involving the two doves not only represented the circumstances of the person individually involved, it also bore witness of something comparable that God is doing as a witness in the earth.  And so we come to the martyrdom of Ralph.

          Those who knew Ralph must decide for themselves what happened to him; this decision will be made according to the individual’s particular belief in the sovereignty of God.  From a human standpoint, Ralph was 56 years of age, had been under a controlled weight loss program under a doctor’s supervision, and was feeling great.  He and a friend were cycling in a Texas coastal resort town, when the friend heard Ralph say “Passing out!” and looked around to see him go over the handlebars of his bicycle.  Although he was wearing a cycling helmet, he somehow sustained a bloody head injury in the fall.  The friend found no pulse when he got to Ralph seconds later and was unable to revive him using CPR.

          We do not believe Ralph’s passing was an accident, nor do we believe it was a matter of his choice.  Many have said, “He would not have chosen this for his family” and they are correct.  Either it was a “bad hap”, or God is the One responsible.  God accepts full responsibility at all times.

          We believe the Lord’s words when He said, “(E)veryone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”  John 11:26  And we believe Paul’s words, that when one is absent from the body, he is at home with the Lord.  2 Corinthians 5:8.  Not even a sparrow falls from the tree apart from the watchful eyes of Father, and Ralph was worth far more than many sparrows!  Therefore, we believe Ralph had concluded his race and crossed the finish line without disqualification, receiving an incorruptible crown of life.  Simply stated, Ralph was called.  The meaning of the Hebrew name for the book of Leviticus, quoted below, is taken from its first few words:  Now He called.  Ralph was carried instantaneously from this realm into realms of everlasting light.  This much we believe by the word of the Lord, but while in prayer, we asked, “Lord, what is up with the head wound?”  Father replied simply, “See the two doves!”

YHWH spoke to Moses, saying:  This is to be the Instruction for the one-with-zara’at (translated “leprosy”), on the day of his being-purified:  he is to be brought to the priest.  The priest is to go outside the camp; when the priest looks, and here: the affliction of zara’at (leprosy) has healed on the one-with-zara’at (leprosy), the priest is to command that they take for the one-to-be-purified two birds, live, pure, and wood of cedar and scarlet of the worm and hyssop.  Then the priest is to command that they slay the one bird in an earthen vessel, (held) above living water, and the live bird–he is to take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet of the worm and the hyssop, and is to dip them and the live bird in the blood of the slain bird, (held) above living water.  Then he is to sprinkle (it) over the one-to-be-purified of zara’at seven times, declaring-him-pure, and is to send-out the live bird into the open field.  Leviticus 14:1-7 Schocken Bible
          The Greek word for “witness” in the New Testament is marturia (Strong’s Concordance G3141) from which we derive our English word for “martyr”.  It is the same word used in Revelation 20:4–And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony (marturia) of Jesus and because of the word of God…  When one gives one’s life, voluntarily or involuntarily, as a witness for something, one can be called a martyr.  One does not take the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God.  Hebrews 5:4  The use of such a word is not to be taken or given lightly and it should always arrest our attention.  Such is the case in the matter at hand.
 
          Once the roles of the participants are identified, the pattern becomes clear and the witness is established.  First, the priest goes outside the camp and looks, and observes that the leprous man is healed.  The priest in this pattern is our high priest forever, Christ Jesus (Hebrews 7-8) and he has gone outside the heavenly camp to observe that the formerly leprous man is no longer leprous.  The two doves in the case at hand are Ralph and our sister, his wife.  The first dove “in an earthen vessel” is realized by a man who contains the treasure of living water in his heart, as Paul says.  2 Corinthians 4:7  The slaying of the first dove was by an injury to the head, since this is the only way to get blood in sufficient quantity in which to dip the remaining dove.  Leviticus 1:15  Thus, to fulfill the type, it was necessary that Ralph injure his head as he fell, no small feat considering he was wearing a helmet designed to prevent that very thing.
 
          His blood is symbolic of his life, because the “life of the flesh is in the blood.”  Leviticus 17:11  Our sister was certainly thoroughly immersed in Ralph’s life.  The live bird, too, is held above the living water, illustrating that our two doves contain the same treasure of salvation.  Our live dove is sent out into the open field, meaning the world.  For in the parable of the sower, we have learned from the Savior that “the field is the world.”  Matthew 13:38  Our live dove carries the testimony that the formerly leprous man has been healed.  Notice that he is declared to be pure.  This is a legal declaration that the man in question is no longer obligated under the law to comply with all the rules and regulations attendant with leprosy–but the main point is:  he is now welcomed back into the camp, whereas before he was excluded and was thus an outcast.  Leviticus 14:8  
 
          Our last participant remains to be identified.  Who is this “man” whose leprosy has been healed, and is now declared pure and welcome to return to the heavenly camp?  Recall that the “leprosy” is symbolic of a very curable condition:  not a skin condition, but in reality a sin condition. This symbolizes the wonderful good news that mankind is now conciliated to God, and the doors of heaven are open–that which separated man from God, which caused him to be an outcast from the fellowship of the redeemed, which excluded him from partaking of the divine life, has been removed by the blood of Jesus.
 
          Because this is a legal matter, we may be certain that one or more individuals in Ralph’s life and realm of influence will be adjudicated pure.  However, we have no revelation as to who it may be.  Furthermore, on a larger level, the “man” can be representative of mankind in general, whose trespasses are no longer being counted against them because of the death that Christ died for all.  2 Corinthian 5:19  In this respect, Ralph has joined in a great cloud of witnesses (martus,  Strong’s Concordance G3144) who continue to bear witness that exactly as in Adam all die, in just the exact same manner in Christ all will be made alive.  1 Corinthians 15:22 
 
          Way to go, brother!
 
          Blessed are You, O Lord, our wonderful God, for You have done all things according to the pattern shown on the mountain.  Your ways are just and true and You have given to faithful men the privilege of bearing witness of your beautiful ways. 

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