As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp.

Lev. 13:46 NIV

Why does the person affected by the disease have to live alone?

The Scriptures teach that one of the most relevant causes of the plague of tzaraat is criticizing, lashon harah, the evil tongue. A person needs another one to whom transmit his criticism. To prevent this person who has been affected by this plague from harming with his tongue, not only must he live outside the camp but he must also live alone. The reason is so that he learns to stop criticizing, thus creating a treatment for the root of his problem.

There is hope of restoration in this text. While he has the infection he will remain ritually impure and he'll have to live alone. But as soon as the infection disappears he can be cleansed and restored into society and will also have access to the tabernacle again.

Scriptures reveal that many diseases are caused by sin. This doesn't mean necessarily that the person affected by the disease is guilty. It could be so, and then he needs to review his life and ask himself in which area he is failing the Eternal which produced the disease.

On the other hand, there are collective consequences upon groups who live in disobedience to the Eternal's commandments and that brings a curse upon the whole group. Then, the curse may cause disease in one or more members of the group, without these people being more sinners than the others. The fact of being part of that group makes one prone to disease. Some bodies are more sensitive than others and the sick person is not necessarily directly responsible for his disease.

We have an example of this when Achan, in Joshua chapter 7, stole from the devoted/accursed things. Due to his transgression, the whole people suffered a defeat and many died. They weren't guilty, but they belonged to a group of people who were under a curse due to one of its member's sin.

The truth is that the Eternal promises to protect the people of Israel from all disease when they keep the commandments (Ex. 15:26; Deut. 7:15) and he promises to send plagues and diseases when the people break his commandments (Lev. 26; Deut. 28).

This teaches us, on the one hand, that there is healing for all our diseases in the Eternal (Ps. 103:3), especially through the redemptive work of Messiah Yeshua (Is. 53:4-5), while on the other hand, it teaches us that we must seek the causes of diseases in ourselves and in the group of people with whom we belong to be able to go to the Eternal in prayer and receive healing. If we treat the roots and seek the cause of disease we'll be able to live healthy lives thus fulfilling the purpose of our lives with healthy bodies.

May the Eternal pour out revelation so that we can see the root of the problems and may he give us grace to be able to repent of personal and collective sins, so that we can receive healing, both in soul and body, by the merits of the Sacred and Righteous One, Messiah Yeshua.

Kol tuv,

Ketriel