Fungi
Doubtless, the law that governs the daily mechanics of human affairs should not be extremely esoteric and removed from the very terrestrial affairs of men who dwell on earth, which happens to be very terrestrial by nature. Though it may be of celestial origin, the law is - by virtue of relating to humanity and their or ordeals - very earthy. Perhaps that is why the exhortation and simultaneous correction of the common aphorism commends that “the most heavenly minded are, indeed, the most earthly good.” Nonetheless, something very particular that can go awry on the earth, or more properly, the soil is the unwanted growth of fungi. Now, though there may be a few varieties of fungi that are consumable, most are invasive species and inhibit the proper growth of more useful plants. Even more awry have the spores of fungi gone when they appear as growths on the walls of buildings and especially on human skin or mucosa. This is unnatural, unhealthy, and not very utilitarian for human flourishing. Modern scientific tools have allowed for the development of medicaments to combat such growth. But what was one to do in the pre-modern era of stone and bronze tools against such a formidable opponent? Conventional wisdom wouldn’t do. Special revelation and regulation would have been needed. But what deity would stoop so low as to give particular ordinances on dealing with fungal developments of the skin, let alone the walls of one’s dwelling? Could any god be so compassionate, merciful, detailed, precise, wise, and humble as to deal with fungal infections?
“If the defiling mold reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house scraped and plastered, he priest is to go and examine it and, if the mold has spread in the house, it is a persistent defiling mold; the house is unclean. It must be torn down—its stones, timbers and all the plaster—and taken out of the town to an unclean place.
Anyone who goes into the house while it is closed up will be unclean till evening. Anyone who sleeps or eats in the house must wash their clothes.” (Lev. 14:44-47)
