Leviticus 15: 1 – 33
Unmentionables
15 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean. 3 And this shall be his uncleanness in regard to his discharge—whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body is stopped up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness. 4 Every bed is unclean on which he who has the discharge lies, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean. 5 And whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 6 He who sits on anything on which he who has the discharge sat shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 7 And he who touches the body of him who has the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 8 If he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 9 Any saddle on which he who has the discharge rides shall be unclean. 10 Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until evening. He who carries any of those things shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 11 And whomever the one who has the discharge touches, and has not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 12 The vessel of earth that he who has the discharge touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water. 13‘And when he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe his body in running water; then he shall be clean. 14 On the eighth day he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and come before the LORD, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and give them to the priest. 15 Then the priest shall offer them, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD because of his discharge. 16 ‘If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall wash all his body in water, and be unclean until evening. 17 And any garment and any leather on which there is semen, it shall be washed with water, and be unclean until evening. 18 Also, when a woman lies with a man, and there is an emission of semen, they shall bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 19 ‘If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she shall be set apart seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. 20 Everything that she lies on during her impurity shall be unclean; also everything that she sits on shall be unclean. 21 Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 22 And whoever touches anything that she sat on shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 23 If anything is on her bed or on anything on which she sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening. 24 And if any man lies with her at all, so that her impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean. 25 ‘If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, other than at the time of her customary impurity, or if it runs beyond her usual time of impurity, all the days of her unclean discharge shall be as the days of her customary impurity. She shall be unclean. 26 Every bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed of her impurity; and whatever she sits on shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her impurity. 27 Whoever touches those things shall be unclean; he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 28 ‘But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. 29 And on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 30 Then the priest shall offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for her before the LORD for the discharge of her uncleanness. 31 ‘Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness when they defile My tabernacle that is among them. 32 This is the law for one who has a discharge, and for him who emits semen and is unclean thereby, 33 and for her who is indisposed because of her customary impurity, and for one who has a discharge, either man or woman, and for him who lies with her who is unclean.’”
Okay let’s get through this chapter quickly, right? As the title highlights, things that we like not to mention our Precious Holy Spirit mentions. If you are in the ministry serving have you ever been challenged that what is taught in the bible is too harsh, offensive, horrible, scary, and evil for certain children and youth to hear?
When I was overseeing the children ministry I put into effect that we begin to teach our children beginning at age 2. That policy might shock some people. Yet to accomplish this I refrained from buying the published children teaching material and wrote the weekly lessons for 8000 kids myself. I felt you do not have to be a Rhodes Scholar in order to teach kids the entire Bible chapter by chapter. People would tell me that you can’t teach the whole bible to kids. I tell them, ‘sure you can for you see that in each chapter our Precious Holy Spirit gives us certain truths that we can highlight’. For example probably the first on the list of doubts is from the book of Genesis dealing with Sodom and Gomorrah.
I inform the doubters that in order to reach children you need to know what reaches a child. You are not going to stand up and lecture the kids like you do with the adults. All kids have different levels of learning that are affective for their ages. In covering the scriptures dealing with Sodomites you do not go into the nitty-gritty of their behavior. If you are writing for young children you can pick biblical truths about this area, For example you can point out the truth of not hurting anyone. How about not being selfish? For older kids you can say that these people were wicked and were out to hurt other people. You are giving the truth of this controversial chapter without going into some details.
We dealt with women having babies in chapter 12. Would any Sunday school be so evil to give lessons on the birds and the bees to the kids to give them some background information on how a woman gets pregnant? Not only would that be taking from parents a right that belongs only to them but a teacher who would just do what they want to teach I would want to personally speak to that teacher and I I want to know the motive of that particular teacher for doing so.
We live in a world where certain unmentionables have to be dealt with. In fact we tend to down play this quite subject in order to get across advertising that deals with the whispered subject. How about the toilet paper commercial that has red or blue bears loving the softness of the paper? How about the unique promotions for aerosol or perfumed sprays? What do you think they are highlighting? Now a question I want to ask you is how would you explain chapter 15 to children? Remember, you have just read the chapter. So what would be your thoughts? Before I give you my ideas stop and think for yourselves? What truth can you glean out of this chapter that is suitable for children?
Okay, here it what I would pursue. I would ask the kids what the word embarrassed mean. They might respond that they do not like other kids laughing or making fun of them. Then I would ask if they ever felt embarrassed? Has anything ever happen to them that they got embarrassed? Here are some ideas they might say or they can be asked of them;
. You tripped and fell down
. You weren’t feeling well and had an accident (threw up, etc.)
. You struck out or missed a ball playing baseball
. You were doing a dance in front of others and made a mistake
. You fell off your bike
. You were corrected by your parents or teacher
I would then center the conversation about how does our Holy Father Jesus feel about when we get embarrassed? He loves us and knows that all will be okay.
Now let’s get back to our study. Remember, we are talking about millions of God’s people camping out in the wilderness. There are issues that many might not want to talk about but they have to be covered because they are part of our lives. We have certain subjects that are important and need to be covered in order to avoid disease and other issues.
So, are you ready for chapter 14? I believe that our Holy God will teach us in His usual kind and informative way. Thank you Lord.
This chapter concentrates on the fact that emissions from the body result in uncleanness. This meant that those who had in one way or another been in contact with or had emitted flows were unable to approach God direct because they were unclean. They were also unable to enter the tabernacle court that day.
As far as Israel was concerned it is probable that they saw all male emissions as life implanting, without recognizing the difference between semen and the emissions from other diseases. (Please note that we just completed a study on dealing with skin diseases). It was God’s laws of uncleanness, in this case unique in the ancient world, which saved them from the worst results of such a belief by preventing excessive contact with infectious flows on the grounds that they would make a man ‘unclean’.
15 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean. And this shall be his uncleanness in regard to his discharge—whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body is stopped up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness.
Those who lived at this time had their own way of disguising sexual language. Bald openness in such matters was seen as indecent. Thus here the reference to ‘discharge’ was a disguise for what caused the discharge.
4 Every bed is unclean on which he who has the discharge lies, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean.
When a man has such an issue fairly constantly any bed he lies on is unclean and everything on which he sits is unclean. This would, of course, at first only be known to those who knew him well enough to be aware of it. But it would help to prevent his family, apart from his wife, from possibly catching the disease. However, no doubt he had to inform the priest and others in order to explain why he could not go into the court of the tabernacle and partake of peace offerings, and why he must not even be touched. Thus it would become gradually known.
5 And whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 6 He who sits on anything on which he who has the discharge sat shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 7 And he who touches the body of him who has the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
All who come in contact with anything that might have been affected by his emission become unclean and must wash their clothes and themselves and be unclean until the evening.
8 If he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 9 Any saddle on which he who has the discharge rides shall be unclean. 10 Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until evening. He who carries any of those things shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 11 And whomever the one who has the discharge touches, and has not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
Spitting was a way of conveying a deliberate insult. But if the man spits on someone who is clean that person must follow the usual cleansing procedures. It may also result from a man coughing accidentally and excessively.
We note especially here the idea that the infection can be passed on through the spittle, and the fact that washing the hands helps to prevent the spread of the infection, both matters of only comparatively recent medical knowledge. Yet it is here, over three thousand years ago, specifically mentioned. It is true of course that an element of avoiding ‘uncleanness’ is involved, but it would not really seem necessary to have mentioned it for any other reason than hygiene, especially the washing of hands. This must be considered quite remarkable.
12 The vessel of earth that he who has the discharge touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.
It is quite clear from all this how ‘unclean’ the emission was seen to be. It was an emission that produced life which would result in death, and weakened the one from whom it came. To touch it was possibly especially unclean because it might be seen as partaking of someone else’s life force.
13‘And when he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe his body in running water; then he shall be clean.
When the disease has run its course, which may take some time, even years, and the man appears to be healed, then he must wait seven days, after which he must wash his clothes, and himself in running water, at which point he will be ‘clean’, that is no longer seen as ‘unclean’. He can now enter the tabernacle court to make his offerings.
The seven day wait is probably so as to ensure that his hope is not premature, although it may simply be a time of waiting on God in gratitude. The washing of his clothes will remove past stains (clothes were not necessarily washed all that often). Washing himself in running water will ensure that anything left on his flesh is removed, and that the water will not be touched by anyone else. After this he is no longer ‘unclean’. All traces of the uncleanness have been removed.
14 On the eighth day he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and come before the LORD, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and give them to the priest. 15 Then the priest shall offer them, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD because of his discharge.
The unusual nature of the emissions will have drawn attention to the fact that these were no ordinary emissions. They are thus recognized as being connected with sin and requiring spiritual purification. That is why he has to make purification for sin offering, and a whole burnt offering, of two turtle doves or two young pigeons. He has to be fully atoned for, reconciled to God and purified. But with all this it is noteworthy that the man is not excluded from the camp. While this probably indicated an infectious disease the purpose was to contain it, not to fully quarantine him.
16 ‘If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall wash all his body in water, and be unclean until evening. 17 And any garment and any leather on which there is semen, it shall be washed with water, and be unclean until evening.
More remarkably a man’s natural emissions are seen as rendering the man unclean for they too are seen as producing imperfect life, life which will die, and as reducing his strength and his ‘perfection’. There is no way here that a man’s sexual relationship with a woman can be seen as anything but secular. Far from connecting him with God, it is seen to keep him at a distance. He cannot enter the tabernacle court, nor can he partake of peace offerings on the same day as he engages in sexual relations. So whatever else it is sex is not an aid to spirituality. It is therefore significant that the angels in Heaven do not engage in it, they ‘neither marry nor are given in marriage’ (Matthew 22.30).
And as a result of his emission he must wash himself thoroughly and will be unclean until the evening. Note that as ever it is the passage of time that finally cleanses. The washing removed the earthiness and the semen, the passage of time makes clean.
18 Also, when a woman lies with a man, and there is an emission of semen, they shall bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
The same is true for the woman. Once she has had contact with the man’s semen she too is unclean until the evening.
It should, however, be noted that these things are not seen as especially unclean. The requirement for their removal is at the lower level, even in the case of the necessary offerings for the unusual emission. We should note here that no offerings are required in respect of normal emissions. They were not seen as sinful in themselves, only as a men and women losing something of their wholeness.
The next aspect of uncleanness is a woman’s menstrual period. We can imagine how strange and even alarming this monthly flow of blood would have seemed to be in ancient times. But at least in Israel they could connect it with the fall of man. It would seem like a flowing out of life, and a period when the woman was losing some of her wholeness. It was thus a time of ‘uncleanness’, a coming short of God’s perfections. Furthermore to come in contact with the blood would be to come in contact with the woman’s life force, and God wanted it to be known that this was disapproved of. That is the second reason why the blood was therefore declared ‘unclean’.
19 ‘If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she shall be set apart seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening.
When a woman is having her monthly period and blood flows she is to be seen as ‘in her impurity’ for seven days. Thus anyone who touches her becomes unclean until the evening. This would, at least to some extent, result in her not being pressed into work among others who might be affected by becoming unclean, and would protect her from the attentions of her husband. It would also assist with the problem of protecting herself against the problem of losing blood and how to cope with it.
20 Everything that she lies on during her impurity shall be unclean; also everything that she sits on shall be unclean.21 Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 22 And whoever touches anything that she sat on shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
Thus anyone who touches her bed and anything she sits on becomes unclean. Those who touch either must wash their clothes, wash themselves thoroughly with water, and be unclean until the evening. The very nuisance of this would form an envelope of protection around the woman.
23 If anything is on her bed or on anything on which she sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening.
Also to touch any blood that falls on the bed or on a seat will mean to be rendered ‘unclean’ until the evening.
24 And if any man lies with her at all, so that her impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.
To lie with a woman so that her blood comes on him will render a man unclean for seven days, and this will result in any bed on which he lies becoming unclean.
The final case deals with a woman’s unusual emissions of blood. These would indicate that she was ill, and could often lead to death.
25 ‘If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, other than at the time of her customary impurity, or if it runs beyond her usual time of impurity, all the days of her unclean discharge shall be as the days of her customary impurity. She shall be unclean.
Whenever a woman’s blood is flowing for an unusual period she is to be unclean over the whole of that period. We note that they were not unaware of the difference between the time of her impurity and the unusual flow.
26 Every bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed of her impurity; and whatever she sits on shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her impurity. 27 Whoever touches those things shall be unclean; he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
The same rules apply as for her usual menstrual period. What she lies on and what she sits on becomes unclean, and anyone who touches these things must wash their clothes, wash themselves in water and be unclean until the evening. This would help to protect against any infection she might have. But the ritual purpose was the avoidance of contact with her life force, and the indication of a period of ‘imperfection’.
28 ‘But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean.
Once the flow of blood permanently stops the woman can begin the period of restoration to ‘cleanness’. She must wait seven days, and then she will be clean. It is interesting that in her case no washing is required, either of clothes or body. It may be that it is assumed.
29 And on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 30 Then the priest shall offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for her before the LORD for the discharge of her uncleanness.
At that point she must make atonement, a necessity for restoration to normal worship. As in much else a sin element is seen in what has happened. As is common in the Old Testament her disease is related to sin. She needs to be purified from sin and rededicated to God. Suffering came into the world because of sin, and the disease of mankind as a whole is the result of the sin of mankind as a whole. But the disease and the sin are not necessarily present in the same proportions. Those who are most diseased are not always the most sinful. But all need atonement.
This atonement is again achieved by the offering of two turtle doves or two young pigeons. We are reminded in all this of the woman with the abnormal issue of blood who came up behind Jesus in the crowd and touched his robe (Mark 5.25-34). She should not have been in the crowd, far less have touched Jesus, but it would seem that she believed that His holiness would be sufficient to cancel out her uncleanness. She knew His power to heal and hoped that somehow it might help her. When power went out of Him and she was healed she was overjoyed. But her joy turned to fear when Jesus turned in the thronging, pressing crowd and asked who had touched Him. But she need not have feared. It was not in order to rebuke her but to commend her faith, for He recognized in her touch an acknowledgement by her of Who He was.
31 ‘Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness when they defile My tabernacle that is among them.
The purpose of these laws was in order to continually separate the people of Israel from their uncleanness. God wanted them to be as wholly clean as possible, given the limitations. They were also in order to prevent Israel defiling the tabernacle by anyone from the High Priest downwards entering its court in a ritually unclean state. Limited uncleanness was allowed in the holy camp, but not in the holy sanctuary precincts, for the sanctuary was of a superior holiness. This would result in the people regulating their lives in such a way that this was prevented. The whole camp would regulate matters so that men and women could avoid uncleanness as far as possible.
This would ‘incidentally’ prevent much spreading of disease, and ensure the respectful treatment of women at difficult times. It made men and women constantly in mind of the fall, and of their own sinfulness, and in mind that death, which the pouring out of blood pointed to, was ever at hand. But the possibility of restoration to cleanness, and the resulting worship of God that could result, was a reminder that in their sin God had provided a way back to Himself, and that they could be restored into His favor.
32 This is the law for one who has a discharge, and for him who emits semen and is unclean thereby, 33 and for her who is indisposed because of her customary impurity, and for one who has a discharge, either man or woman, and for him who lies with her who is unclean.’”
Any questions? Somehow I didn’t think there would be any.
