"God speaks to Moses and Aaron telling them about bodily discharges and how they make you unclean. Also, the things a man sits on, lays on, and uses will be unclean if he has a discharge. These things need to be washed or burned. The man with a discharge, after he has been cured of it, is to count seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and take a bath. Also, he must make a sin offering and a burnt offering to the Lord. The priest will make atonement for him to the Lord. The Lord also tells Moses and Aaron what to do with a man who has an emission of semen, a woman in her menstrual period, anyone who has a discharge, and a man who sleeps with an unclean woman."
15 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When any man has a bodily discharge, his discharge is unclean. 3 This shall be [the law concerning] his uncleanness in his discharge: whether his body allows its discharge to flow or obstructs its flow; it is uncleanness in him. 4 Every bed on which the one who has the discharge lies becomes unclean, and everything on which he sits becomes unclean. 5 Whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening; 6 and whoever sits on anything on which the man with the discharge has been sitting shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 7 Also whoever touches the man with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 8 And if he who has the discharge spits on one who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 9 Any saddle on which the man with the discharge rides becomes unclean. 10 Whoever touches anything that has been under him shall be unclean until evening; and whoever carries those things shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 11 Whomever the one with the discharge touches without rinsing his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 12 An earthenware container that the one with the discharge touches shall be broken, and every wooden container shall be rinsed in water.
13 ‘When the man with the discharge becomes cleansed from his discharge, he shall count off seven days for his purification; he shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in running water and will become clean. 14 On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and come before the Lord to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the priest; 15 and the priest shall offer them, one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement for the man before the Lord because of his discharge.
16 ‘Now if any man has a seminal emission, he shall wash all his body in water, and be unclean until evening. 17 Every garment and every leather on which there is semen shall be washed with water, and shall be unclean until evening. 18 If a man lies with a woman so that there is a seminal emission, they shall both bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
19 ‘When a woman has a discharge, if her bodily discharge is blood, she shall continue in her menstrual impurity for seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. 20 Everything on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean; and everything on which she sits shall be unclean. 21 Anyone who touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 22 Whoever touches anything on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 23 And if it is on her bed or on the thing on which she is sitting, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening. 24 If a man actually lies with her so that her menstrual impurity is on him, he shall be unclean for seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.
25 ‘Now if a woman has a flow of blood for many days, not during the time of her menstruation, or if she has a discharge beyond that period, as long as the impure discharge continues she shall be as she is in the days of her [normal] menstrual impurity; she is unclean. 26 Every bed on which she lies during the time of her discharge shall be to her like the bed of her menstrual impurity, and whatever she sits on shall be unclean, like the uncleanness of her monthly period. 27 And whoever touches those things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 28 When she is cleansed from her discharge, then she shall count off for herself seven days, and after that she will be clean. 29 Then on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting; 30 and the priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering; and he shall make atonement for her before the Lord for her unclean discharge.’
31 “Thus you shall [a]separate the Israelites from their uncleanness, so that they do not die in their uncleanness by their defiling My tabernacle that is among them.” 32 This is the law for the one who has a discharge and for the one who has a seminal emission, so that he is unclean by it; 33 and for the woman who is ill because of her monthly period, and for the one who has a discharge, whether man or woman, or for a man who lies with a woman who is [ceremonially] unclean.
Footnotes: Leviticus 15:31 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain; another possibility is caution...about their.
- CREATOR GOD. This Chapter proves to me how God cared for every little detail of our lives. He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth and the Author of our lives. Here, God established protocols and commandments regarding bodily problems or natural processes, such as having an abnormal 'discharge', men's seminal emissions, and women's menstrual cycle (which happens monthly and essential for human reproduction.)
"For You formed my innermost parts;
You knit me [together] in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was being formed in secret,
And intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were appointed for me,
When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape].
You knit me [together] in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was being formed in secret,
And intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were appointed for me,
When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape].
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I could count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You." Psalm 139:13-18
How vast is the sum of them!
If I could count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You." Psalm 139:13-18
- BEING GOOD STEWARDS. It's not just about being 'ceremonially' unclean or clean. To me, it's basic proper hygiene as well. It's safety precautions that is even applicable today, even more so in Moses' time where there were really no doctors, hospitals or medical experts. God was the Expert, He was the Physician and the Healer.
"Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." 2 Corinthians 7:1
After reading, I always check out the Study Guide Commentary from David Guzik (very helpful!):
a. When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean: The idea is of some obviously abnormal genital discharge, indicating some type of disease. When this occurs, the man was to be somewhat isolated in order not to pass on the infection to anyone else.
a. When they defile my tabernacle: None of these discharges made a man or a woman sinful, only ceremonially unclean. This did promote hygiene in ancient Israel, yet discharges of semen and menstruation were so regarded, not because there was anything inherently wrong with them, but because the two are connected with symbols of life and redemption, blood and seed.
b. My tabernacle that is among them: This made an obvious separation between sex and the worship of God. To the modern world this seems normal, but in the ancient world it was common to worship the gods by having sex with temple prostitutes. God did not want this association in His worship.
i. It is important for us to regard these laws of cleanliness in a New Testament perspective. In Mark 7:1-9 Jesus criticized the Pharisees for their over-emphasis on ceremonial cleanliness and their lack of regard for internal cleanliness. These laws were meant to have both hygienic reasons and spiritual applications; they were never intended as the way to be right with God.
ii. In Acts 15, the early Christian community properly discerned the work and will of God in the New Covenant: that under the New Covenant, the believer was not bound to these laws of ritual purity. One could be a follower of Jesus without the ritual conformity to the Mosaic Law.
iii. Yet we need to remember that spiritual cleanliness in worship is important today. We also remember that Jesus is the One who makes us clean and fit for fellowship: You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you (John 15:3). As we receive from the Word of God, we are being cleansed.
iv. Our cleanliness is complete as we abide in Jesus: 1 John 1:7-9 - But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Reference and credits to https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-Lev/Lev-15.cfm © 2004 David Guzik
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