I’ve Got You Under My Skiin
God desires His people to resist and reject their sin from getting under their skin.
Leviticus(23) (Part of the Leviticus(20) series)
by Marc Webb(158) on May 24, 2026 (Sunday Morning(432))
I’ve Got You Under My Sin
I've got you under my skin, I've got you, deep in the heart of me. So deep in my heart that you're really a part of me. I've got you under my skin. I'd tried so, not to give in. I said to myself this affair never will go so well. But why should I try to resist? When I was a baby, I know so well, I've got you under my skin. I would sacrifice anything come what might for the sake of having you nearby. Despite a warning voice that comes in the night and repeats how it yells in my ear. Don't you know, little fool You never can win. Why not use your mentality. Step up, wake up to reality. But each time I do just the thought of you Makes me stop just before I begin. Cause I've got you under my skin. Yes, I've got you under my skin. If you don’t know those are lyrics to the song I’ve Got You Under My Skin written by Cole Porter and famously popularized by Frank Sinatra. The song describes an overwhelming, obsessive love that is impossible to resist. The lyrics explore the tension between logical reasoning and uncontrollable romantic passion. There is an internal conflict as the song details the battle between the head and the heart. The singer tries to fight off the romance, reminding himself, "Use your mentality, wake up to reality," knowing the affair might not end well. But then ultimately there is a surrender to passion. Despite the warnings and a desire to be cautious, just the thought of the lover stops the singer from walking away. He admits he would "sacrifice anything" to keep this person nearby.
You may be wondering why I quoted from this song? What does this have to do with Leviticus 13? Leviticus 13 is about skin diseases, defiling skin diseases, diseases that made you unclean and less than whole. These defiling skin diseases that physically got under the skin of the Israelites are a parable of sin. Hear those lyrics again. “I’ve got you deep in the heart of me.” “I tried not to give in.” “I try to resist.” “I would sacrifice anything come what might for the sake of having you nearby. Despite a warning voice that comes in the night.” That song could be talking about surrendering to sin as much as surrendering to uncontrollable romantic passion. And Satan is right there whispering to us, “Don't you know, little fool You never can win.” “Because you’ve got sin under your skin.” God used these physical skin diseases as illustrations of the workings, developments, and effects of Israelite’s inborn depravity and sin. By using “defiling skin diseases” that were disgusting, corrupting and contagious, some there were no cure for, except by the grace of God, He was teaching them that sin is a disgusting, corrupting and contagious disease that kept the people from the presence of God.
Leviticus 13 is designed by God to teach us the same thing. Our sin is a “Leprosy of the Soul” and a “black plague of death.” It is disgusting, corrupting and contagious and if we don’t deal with it, then we will not enjoy the presence of God in our lives either. We are all spiritual lepers—whether we are a follower of Christ or not. The only way we can overcome our sin is with the help of the Holy Spirit as we call on Him to help us to reject and resist our sin from getting under our skin. This is what it takes to be holy as God is holy. It’s not easy as I said last week but if we are disgusted by our sin to the point that we cry out “cleanse me, O God, give me new skin”, He will hear and take our sins away from under our skin. That brings us to our big idea this morning which is God desires His people to resist and reject their sin from getting under their skin.
Let’s pray:
So far we have studied Leviticus 11 which was about what goes into you, and chapter 12 which was about what comes out of you, and this morning and next Sunday we will be studying chapters 13 and 14 which is about what is on you, and lastly chapter 15 will again be about what comes out of you. This morning, we are moving into the next section of the “Cleanliness Manual” that God gave to Moses and Aaron and who in turn taught it to the Israelites. The Israelites as God’s chosen people and who had the Lord, Yahweh, living in their midst, had to remain ritually clean to approach and worship Him. The way that God taught the Israelites about moral holiness was by using physical wholeness. The Israelites had to be physically whole and morally holy to come into His presence at the tabernacle.
Look at verses one and two of Leviticus 13 with me. This is what God’s Word says: “The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “When anyone has a swelling or a rash or a shiny spot on their skin that may be a defiling skin disease, they must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who is a priest.”
The first thing we notice is that the Lord speaks to both Moses and Aaron. This is unusual as Moses was usually the one God spoke to. Aaron was “need to know”, and since the priests were to distinguish between clean and unclean and pure and impure, Aaron needed to know the priest’s role when it came to defiling skin diseases and mold on clothing. The Israelites would have been ritually impure by eating an unclean animal or touching the dead carcass of animal or dead human body, or because of a woman’s bleeding after childbirth, or as a result of skin diseases on themselves or on their clothing. When they saw the beginnings of a skin disease themselves or even on someone else, they were commanded to be brought to Aaron or one of his sons. The wording “must be brought” gives us the idea that it wasn’t always the infected person that presented themselves willingly before the priests. They may have been brought by a family member or someone else in the community. The words “a defiling skin disease” has historically been translated as “lepra” which is where we get the word “leprosy.” Scholars are pretty sure that what is being talked about here was not leprosy or what we call “Hansen’s Disease” today. But defiling skin diseases are still contagious, infectious and common. When anyone had swelling, a rash, or a shiny spot on their skin, it was a cause for concern, and they had to be examined by the priests to see if it was only skin deep or if it was under the skin. Again, every single day, the Israelites would be on the lookout for these diseases. To be truly representative of God’s holiness, their physical blemishes were to be treated as seriously as its moral and spiritual ones. Van Meter says, “They would have been aware of the reality of living in a broken world as they reflected on their susceptibility to such illness.”
The priests were not to make rash and rushed decisions of clean and unclean. God told them exactly what to look for and so they were to take their time to make a diagnosis to not make the wrong one. God used different scenarios to teach the priests how to make the proper diagnosis. The first scenario seen in verses 2-8 dealt with a newly discovered skin disease. The priest would check to see if the hair in the sore had turned white and appeared to be more than skin deep. If the answer was, yes, it was an easy diagnosis of unclean. But not every case would be that easy. If the answer was, no, they were put in isolation for seven days to see if it became more serious. This isolation was probably in another tent somewhere, not in their family’s tent but also outside the camp. There were probably special tents set up near the outskirts of the camp for those who were isolated. On the seventh day the sore was checked again to see if it had faded and not spread in the skin. If the answer was, yes, they washed their clothes and were pronounced clean. Washing symbolized the removal of lingering ritual defilement, served as a practical hygienic measure to prevent the spread of lingering contagions, and restored physical and spiritual holiness required to re-enter the camp and approach God If the answer was no, and there was no change they would have been isolated again for seven days. They probably continued to be isolated for seven days at a time until there was a change one way or the other. There was also a contingency plan. If after being pronounced clean by the priest, the rash spread, they were examined again and if indeed the rash had spread, they were pronounced unclean.
Let me pause here and make some observations. First, the priest had to check the infected person on the seventh day. The number seven in the Bible signified “spiritual perfection” and “completion” and the eighth day signified “new beginnings.” Second, we have the same need today. Remember we are to be a “kingdom of priests” to the world and to each other. If we are carrying dangerous spiritual diseases around, we need trusted accountability partners who can diagnose and point us to the cure, Jesus Christ, so we can grow to be more like Him. We should be wise and caring priests to one another in the body of Christ, giving guidance and counsel, praying for each other spiritually and physically, being quick to listen and slow to speak. That brings us to our first next step which is I will be a priest to my fellow Christ-followers and allow them to be a priest to me.
The second scenario seen in verses 9-17 dealt with chronic skin diseases. The priest would check to see if there was white swelling in the skin, if the hair in it had turned white and if there was raw flesh in the swelling. If the answer was yes, they were pronounced unclean, bypassing any isolation. If the disease seemed to cover the affected person from head to toe, the priest would examine them. If they had turned white over their whole body, they were pronounced clean. In this instance, white skin all over meant new, healthy skin had already formed. But if raw flesh appeared at any time they were to be pronounced unclean. Once the raw flesh turned white, they were to go to the priest. The priest would examine them and if the sores had all turned white, they were pronounced clean.
The third scenario seen in verses 18-28 dealt with secondary infections that arose from previous sores. The first infection arose from a boil. Once the boil healed, if white swelling or a reddish-white spot appeared, they were to present themselves to the priest. If it appeared to be more than skin deep and the hair in it had turned white, they were pronounced unclean. But if there was no white hair in it, it was not more than skin deep and had faded, they are to be isolated for seven days. On the seventh day if it had spread in the skin, they are pronounced unclean. But if the spot was unchanged and not spread, they are pronounced clean. The second infection arose from a burn. If a white or reddish-white spot appeared in raw flesh the priest was to examine the spot. If the hair in it had turned white and appeared to be more than skin deep, they were pronounced as unclean. But if there was no white hair in the spot, it was not more than skin deep and had faded, they were to be isolated for seven days.
On the seventh day the priest would examine them again and if it had spread in the skin, they were pronounced as unclean. But if the spot had not changed and had not spread in the skin but faded, they were pronounced clean. The fourth scenario seen in verses 29-37 dealt with sores on the head and or chin of men and women. This would have included sores under a man’s beard. The priest would examine the sore and if it appeared more than skin deep and had a yellow thin hair in it, they were pronounced as unclean. If it did not appear to be more than skin deep but there is no black hair in it, they were to be isolated for seven days. On the seventh day the priest would examine the sore. If it had not spread, had no yellow hair in it and did not appear to be more than skin deep, they were to shave themselves except for the affected area and were isolated again for seven days. On the seventh day they were examined by the priest and if it had not spread and appeared to be no more than skin deep, they washed their clothes and were clean. If the sore would happen to spread after being pronounced clean, they were to be examined again. If it had spread, they were unclear whether or not there was yellow hair in it. If the sore was unchanged and black hair had grown in it, they were pronounced clean. Black was their normal healthy hair color.
The fifth scenario seen in verses 38-39 dealt with white spots on the skin of a man or woman. The priest would examine them and if the spots were dull white it was a harmless rash and they were clean. If they were dull white, they were pronounced as unclean. The sixth scenario seen in verses 40-44 dealt with a man who had lost his hair. If their baldness came from normal hair loss, they were clean. But if a reddish-white sore broke out on his bald head or forehead, the priest was to examine him. If in fact the swollen sore was reddish white they were pronounced unclean. If it wasn’t they were pronounced clean. In verses 45 and 46, we see four things that a person was required to do once they pronounced unclean. First, they were to tear their clothes. They would have pulled the garment apart at the seams so that when they were healed later, they could resew the garments together without too much trouble.
Tearing the garment was not a sign to others that they were unclean. It was a sign that the person was in mourning. Who were they in mourning for? They were in mourning for themselves because there was no guarantee they would ever be healed, pronounced clean and allowed back in the camp. They were considered living dead. If you remember from last week anything having to do with death made a person unclean and were not allowed to approach the tabernacle. There was still hope, but in their mind, this was sign that they were as good as dead. Second, they were to let their hair down and be unkempt. This was a sign that the person was ashamed for some reason. For instance, a woman who committed adultery had to bare her head and this was the way a prostitute was forced to always wear her hair. A man would no longer wear his cap and would let his hair hang down loose and be disheveled. Third, they were to cover the lower part of their face or their mouth with their hand whenever anyone approached them and cry out, “Unclean! Unclean! These last two were signs that they were unclean and a warning to others to stay far away from them.
What we see here is personal mourning, shame, and loss of wholeness and holiness. The worst part was being put outside the camp. They would either be alone or possibly with others who were also pronounced unclean. If the priest determined they were unclean they remained outside the community and away from their family, friends and the presence of God in the tabernacle. Once they were healed and declared clean by the priest, they would be allowed to reenter the camp and return to their family. But there was also the possibility that the person was never healed and could never return to their camp, their family or the tabernacle. This seems harsh to us but to be holy as God was holy, they had to be whole, and a defiling skin disease made the person incomplete. This was heartbreaking but it had to be done for at least two physical reasons. One, it kept others from catching the contagious defiling skin disease and spreading it all over the camp. The isolation was done to protect everyone else. Second, if the person would have been allowed to come to the tabernacle in an unclean state they would have been struck down by God and possibly others may have been struck down, as well. Disobedience to the ritual cleanness laws set down by God would have had damaging ramifications.
From verse 47 to the end of the chapter, God gave Moses and Aaron regulations about defiling mold on fabrics in the Israelite camp. The articles mentioned were any woven or knitted material made of linen, wool or leather. If the affected area of the article was spoiled and had greenish or reddish mold on it, it had to be shown to the priest. The priest would automatically isolate it for seven days. On the seventh day, he would examine it to see if the mold had spread in the fabric. If the mold had spread, it was considered a persistent mold. The fabric was unclean and had to be burned. If the mold had not spread, the spoiled article was to be washed and isolated another seven days. After seven days, if the mold had not changed appearance, it was to be burned even if it had not spread. If the mold had faded after the article was washed, the priest was to tear the spoiled part out of the fabric. Then all the person had to do was patch it and it could be worn again. If the mold reappeared later, it was considered a spreading mold and had to be burned. Lastly, if after being washed and isolated for seven days the mold was gone, the clothing had to be washed again and was clean. Then the last verse is a summary statement for the regulations concerning defiling molds in clothing.
In conclusion, I want to read this illustration from Peyton Jones. He says, “Years ago a news anchor from CNN shared her secret struggle with psoriasis. In a report she heartbreakingly chronicles the struggle she went through. She writes I have fishlike scales, tiny red islands floating on the surface of my skin. They combine creating continents with jagged surfaces. They turn black and start to smell; there is blood and pus. My face is flawless, not a blemish, not a mark and compliments are endless. But I am acutely aware that a horror film unfolds in secret beneath my clothes. I am effervescent and radiant on the outside and rot on the inside. Which is the real me? The cameras fire up; the red lights turn on. I am splendidly made-up. I lose myself in the moment, I am energized, I am focused. It's only my face, it is floating. It's all that exists and it gives me confidence. No one has it all. I fight my body and myself all my life. I’ve hit rock bottom many times because of my disease. It seems futile to even try anymore. Whoever wants me like this, I cry hysterically. I write a letter to my psoriasis describing how it causes me pain, how it hurts my relationships, how it makes me weak. I blame it for not allowing me to be free. I blame it for my rage, my violence, and my inability to feel love and from my need to have praise and constant reassurance. I berate and belittle it. I coax and cajole it. I’m reminded of my sexless life. I beg and plead for it to go away. Then I thank my psoriasis. It has taught me to have no vanity; more compassion and withhold judgment.
That's the effect that sin should have on all of us. Your skin may look OK on the outside but there's something more insidious on the inside. God used defiling skin diseases and moldy fabrics to teach the Israelites and us some lessons about sin. One, sin is deeper than your skin. Two, sin spreads like a virus. There, sin destroys you and over time make you gross. Four, sin will eventually kill you. Because sin is spread, because it is icky and it kills and destroys you, it should be isolated, either washed and cleansed or burned and destroyed. These are the only two options given in this passage. But there is hope: God is saying I want to cleanse and wash you, I love you no matter how disgusting the ravages of sin upon you and I want to cleanse and forgive you. Our souls and minds and hearts are diseased, and we need Jesus to examine, diagnose, treat and cure us or we're dead.
Maybe you’re sitting here today or at home and you’re being drawn by the Holy Spirit. He is speaking to you and convicting you of your “leprosy of the soul.” Maybe you have never asked Jesus to examine, diagnose, treat and cure you from your sin that is beneath your skin. Today can be the day. All you need to do is ask Jesus into your heart. He wants to cleanse and wash you. He loves you no matter how disgusting the ravages of sin are upon you. And He wants to cleanse and forgive you today. So, if you are being drawn to salvation in Jesus for the first time, this morning, the second next step is for you. I will ask Jesus to examine, diagnose, treat and cure the leprosy of my soul.
Maybe you are already a child of God, but you know your sin problem is hard to control. It has a mind of its own. Maybe you’ve been trying to deal with it on your own and you realize this morning that you can no longer do it alone. Ask the Lord to search your heart today and as Psalm 103 says, “forget not all His benefits - who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.” Then ask the Holy Spirit who is inside of you to help you to not let your sin take up residence inside you. That is the Holy Spirit’s domain. The only way we can defeat our sin is with the Holy Spirit’s help. There is no other way. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you not to let your sin get under your skin, fester and become infected. We need to resist and reject our sin from getting under our skin (Big Idea). That brings us to our third next step which is I will not let my sin get under my skin, fester and become infected. As the praise team comes to lead us in a final song and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let’s pray:
Opening: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27ve_Got_You_Under_My_Skin
Closing: Leviticus Explained, You Version app, “Through the Word”, Peyton Jones
