Tim Maas Supporter Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

Christ is the fulfillment of the two birds. He is a being whose home is in Heaven. Despite that, He emptied Himself and lived in an earthenware vessel (a human body). Not only that, but He was obedient to the point of death. His blood cleanses us. When He died, the proof was in the blood and water (John 19:34). His death was also associated with wood and hyssop (John 19:29).

He is also the second bird, the living bird through whom the blood of the dead one is applied. Jesus did not just die, He rose again. And it is through His resurrection that we have victory and salvation (1 Cor. 15:17). Even in His resurrection, Jesus bore the marks of His death, just as the second bird bore the marks of the first one’s death. And just as the second bird applied the blood of the first to the cleansed leper, so Christ’s resurrection applies to us the atoning blood of His death. (This was done by sprinkling seven times, marking a complete cleansing through the symbolism of the number seven.)

Finally, the second bird was let free to ascend into the sky. In like manner, Christ ascended into Heaven to take His throne at the right hand of God after His resurrection. Even now, He stands there interceding for us, bearing the marks of His death.

Not only does the second bird represent Christ, it also points to the freedom we have in Christ. We are set free because of the blood that covers us.

See also my prior response to a similar question on this passage at https://ebible.com/questions/19908-what-s-the-meaning-of-this-odd-ritual-for-cleansing-a-leper-leviticus-14-4-7

June 20 2024 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report