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THE UNCLEANNESS OF BODILY FUNCTIONS!
Quite frankly, I just can't believe it. I
mean Linda and I live in a pretty average ever-so-dull neighborhood. Our
home at the height of the recent buying craze would have gone for about $250,000
and, in our mind, that would have been $100,000 too much. So it just
doesn't make sense to us why someone would want to build a multi-million dollar
home right across the street from us.
Nevertheless, that appears to be the case. One
of the many realtors here at Bethany Community Church has confirmed it. Initially,
like us, he chalked the rumor up to nonsense. He figured that whoever
started the silly rumor was probably referring to the building of a multi-million
dollar home at Stellar Air Park a mile east of our very-average neighborhood. But
as he checked into he discovered that he was mistaken, someone is actually
going to put up a multi-million dollar home right across the street from us. I
can hardly believe it!
You know, as many times as you and I have been
around the block it is probably not possible for us to hear something as if
we had heard it for the very first time. That's too bad because that
is how we ought to be hearing a piece of news found in Exodus 25:1 - 8. We
read:
The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Tell the
people of Israel that everyone who wants to may bring me an offering. 3
Here is a list of items you may accept on my behalf: gold, silver, and bronze; 4
blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; fine linen; goat hair for cloth; 5 tanned
ram skins and fine goatskin leather; acacia wood; 6 olive oil for the
lamps; spices for the anointing oil and the fragrant incense; 7 onyx
stones, and other stones to be set in the ephod and the chestpiece.
"I want the people of Israel to build me
a sacred residence where I can live among them.
Unbelievable! But that is exactly what
happened in the Sinai desert a long time ago. God pitched his tent among
the Israelites and then, in Leviticus, paved the way for them to enter his
presence. He did this in two ways. He spelled out the various sacrifices
as well as the roles of the worshiper and the priest. Then, through Moses,
he ordained the priest and opened his gates wide for all to come into his holy
presence.1
But if you decided to walk across the street
and pop in for a visit you would be wise to make sure you're clean for that
which is unclean must never come into contact with that which is holy. This
is not so much a matter of hygiene as we normally think of hygiene, it is a
matter of theology. For your present condition and God's nature have
nothing in common. In practice, this means you will be uncomfortable
in his presence and in accordance with His nature you will be "cut off" from
enjoying his company.2
If you entered unclean it's as if someone entered
your home, a home that reflects who you are, and instantly polluted the atmosphere. Maybe
they walked into your smoke-free home smoking a cigar. Or perhaps they
habitually spoke in an unseemly manner. Their regular use of foul language
coupled with the fact that they demeaned others during the course of most conversations
left you with the urge to escort them out and tell them to never come back
until they've cleaned up their act.
Wisely, graciously, God told the Israelites
up front who was allowed to enter his presence and who needed to clean themselves
up before entering his home. In chapter 11 he reminded the Israelites
that some animals are permanently unclean and whoever eats their meat or touches
their carcasses become unclean; not permanently so but temporarily. Once
they have done what is necessary to become clean they are free to enter his
presence.
Whereas chapter 11 dealt with causes of pollution
that are external to man, the next chapter, as well as chapter 15, deal with
a source of pollution that arises simply due to the nature of men and women. In
chapter 12, which deals with women, we read:
The LORD said to Moses, "Give these instructions
to the Israelites: 2 When a woman becomes pregnant and gives birth to
a son, she will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is defiled
during her menstrual period. 3 On the eighth day, the boy must be circumcised. 4
Then the woman must wait for thirty-three days until the time of her purification
from the blood of childbirth is completed. During this time of purification,
she must not touch anything that is holy. And she must not go to the sanctuary
until her time of purification is over. 5 If a woman gives birth to a
daughter, she will be ceremonially defiled for two weeks, just as she is defiled
during her menstrual period. She must then wait another sixty-six days to be
purified from the blood of childbirth.
"When the time of purification is completed
for either a son or a daughter, the woman must bring a year-old lamb for a
whole burnt offering and a young pigeon or turtledove for a purification offering.
She must take her offerings to the priest at the entrance of the Tabernacle. 7
The priest will then present them to the LORD and make atonement for her. Then
she will be ceremonially clean again after her bleeding at childbirth. These
are the instructions to be followed after the birth of a son or a daughter.
"If a woman cannot afford to bring a sheep,
she must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons. One will be for the whole
burnt offering and the other for the purification offering. The priest will
sacrifice them, thus making atonement for her, and she will be ceremonially
clean."
This chapter, coupled with the previous chapter,
tells us that Israel's status as a holy nation faced challenges from within
and from without. In the latter it was the unclean nature of some animals,
here it is due to the very nature of men (as we'll see in chapter 15) and women. Uncleanness
is not simply a matter of living in a polluted environment but a matter of
our own nature.
Here the law is rather straightforward. When
a baby boy is born, the mother is contagiously unclean (see 15:19 - 23) for
a period of 40 days. However, if the baby was a girl, the woman was contagiously
unclean for 80 days. During this time she was not permitted to
enter the tabernacle. After the period of purification was over she was
required to bring a purification offering and a burnt offering.3
The NIV and perhaps other translations refer
to this purification offering as a sin offering. The problem with this
is that it makes it appear as if the woman did something wrong by bearing a
child. Aside from what she may or may not have said in the delivery
room, or what she and her husband might think down the road toward adolescents,
Scripture makes it clear that giving birth to a child is not sinful. In
fact, it can easily be shown that childbearing is seen as one of the great
blessings in life.
So what is the problem here? The problem
is not in the delivery room. Nor is the problem with the child. The
problem is in the discharge that follows childbirth, this is what makes the
woman unclean. Three times, in vv. 4, 5, & 7 her discharge
of blood is mentioned as the reason for the woman being unclean. This
discharge can last, or so I understand, from two to six weeks.4
We see a similar state of affairs in chapter
15 in regards to man. We read:
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 2 "Give
these further instructions to the Israelites: Any man who has a genital discharge
is ceremonially unclean because of it. 3 This defilement applies whether
the discharge continues or is stopped up. In either case the man is unclean. 4
Any bedding on which he lies and anything on which he sits will be defiled.
"So if you touch the man's bedding, you
will be required to wash your clothes and bathe in water, and you will remain
ceremonially defiled until evening. 6 If you sit where the man with
the discharge has sat, you will be required to wash your clothes and bathe
in water. You will then remain defiled until evening. 7 The same instructions
apply if you touch the man who has the unclean discharge. 8 And if he
spits on you, you must undergo the same procedure. 9 Any blanket on which
the man rides will be defiled. 10 If you touch or carry anything that
was under him, you will be required to wash your clothes and bathe in water,
and you will remain defiled until evening. 11 If the man touches you
without first rinsing his hands, then you will be required to wash your clothes
and bathe in water, and you will remain defiled until evening. 12 Any
clay pot touched by the man with the discharge must be broken, and every wooden
utensil he touches must be rinsed with water.
"When the man's discharge heals, he must
count off a period of seven days. During that time, he must wash his clothes
and bathe in fresh springwater. Then he will be ceremonially clean. 14
On the eighth day he must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons and present
himself to the LORD at the entrance of the Tabernacle and give his offerings
to the priest. 15 The priest will present the offerings there, one for
a sin offering and the other for a whole burnt offering. In this way, the priest
will make atonement for the man before the LORD for his discharge.
"Whenever a man has an emission of semen,
he must wash his entire body, and he will remain ceremonially defiled until
evening. 17 Any clothing or leather that comes in contact with the semen
must be washed, and it will remain defiled until evening. 18 After having
sexual intercourse, both the man and the woman must bathe, and they will remain
defiled until evening.
Now you would think that these two chapters
would be grouped together as both are associated with the reproductive process
- i.e. sex. But these chapters dealing with what is unclean begin with
those animals that are permanently unclean. They then deal with childbirth
which may result in a woman being unclean for up to 80 days.
Next, in chapters 13 and 14, the author deals
with skin diseases where someone could be unclean for an indefinite period
of time. Finally, chapter 15 looks at the bodily discharges of men which
could affect a man's ability to enter the tabernacle for at most a week. So
it appears the five chapters are arranged in order of the duration of the unclean
period of time.
Now let me show how all of this played itself
out in the lives of two people. The first is Kid Samson. Here
was a guy set apart from birth to be a Nazirite; someone set apart for service
to God. As such he could not go near a dead body. He could not
drink wine or strong drink. And he was to let his hair grow long as a
sign to others that had been set apart for a special assignment.
But Kid Samson broke every rule in the book
and while God used him greatly we never see him actually seeking help from
God. That is, until he was placed in prison. In prison he was forced
to "clean" up his act and at long last in Judges 16:28 he entered
God's presence and asked for help. To serve well, to give God the glory,
he needed to be clean and do his part in sanctifying himself for God's work.5
For our second example look at Mark 5:24 - 34. We
read:
Jesus went with him (Jairus), and the crowd
thronged behind. 25 And there was a woman in the crowd who had had a
hemorrhage for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal from many
doctors through the years and had spent everything she had to pay them, but
she had gotten no better. In fact, she was worse. 27 She had heard about
Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched the fringe of
his robe. 28 For she thought to herself, "If I can just touch his
clothing, I will be healed." 29 Immediately the bleeding stopped,
and she could feel that she had been healed!
Jesus realized at once that healing power had
gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched
my clothes?"
His disciples said to him, "All this crowd
is pressing around you. How can you ask, 'Who touched me?'"
But he kept on looking around to see who had
done it. 33 Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of
what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and told him what she had
done. 34 And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you
well. Go in peace. You have been healed."
In light of Leviticus 12 and 15:19 - 27, it
is easy to see why this woman longed to be clean. For unlike Kid Samson
she longed to enter into God's presence. But for twelve long years
she had been unable to enter the tabernacle due to being"unclean." So
when Jesus walked by she took the chance of a lifetime, touched his clothing,
and instantly found herself cleansed, healed. She also found
that she could enter into God's presence and receive his blessings.
1 The sacrifices and the roles played by the worshiper
and priest are spelled out in chapters 1 - 7. The priest were ordained
in chapters 8 - 10.
2 See Leviticus 22:3 as well as Numbers 19:11 - 22.
3 Scholars have attempted to explain why a baby
girl should require twice as long a period of uncleanness as a boy but as of
this date no satisfactory answer has been suggested.
4 On the one hand blood atones for sin and the shed blood
of Christ cleanses you and I, but when blood is in the wrong place it pollutes
whatever it touches. This is profound, our greatest woes result from
the corruption of our highest good, e.g. speech, sex, and our individual giftedness.
5 Yes, I know that sanctification is God's work. But
man also plays a part in the process by doing those things that allow God to
do his good work within us - like praying and listening to God.
LEVITICUS - GOD'S GUIDEBOOK TO WORSHIP 4/09/06 1
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