UNROLL
Evening in a granite wadi: a clear spring spilling over pale stones, a clay water jar on a flat rock beside it, under a deepening blue dusk sky.

The Book of

Leviticus 15

Nothing in daily life was too ordinary for God’s notice. Water, evening, and a way back to clean.

33 verses≈ 7 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

  1. 1–7The offeringsHow sinners draw near
  2. 8–10The priestsOrdained, and a warning
  3. 11–15Clean and uncleanLife before a holy GodChapter 15
  4. 16The Day of AtonementSins carried away
  5. 17–27A holy peopleBe holy, for I am holy

The Uncleanness of Men

And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Say to the Israelites, ‘When any man has a bodily discharge, the discharge is unclean. This uncleanness is from his discharge, whether his body allows the discharge to flow or blocks it. So his discharge will bring about uncleanness.

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At evening outside a black goat-hair tent: a plain wool garment soaking in a wide clay basin of water, another wrung out and hung over a tent rope, a clay pitcher beside them.

The law

What it touches

  1. Unclean

    His bed and his seat

    Any bed on which the man with the discharge lies will be unclean, and any furniture on which he sits will be unclean.

  2. Wash, bathe

    Touching his bed

    Anyone who touches his bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.

  3. Sitting where he sat

    Whoever sits on furniture on which the man with the discharge was sitting must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.

  4. Touching his body

    Whoever touches the body of the man with a discharge must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.

  5. If he spits on someone clean

    If the man with the discharge spits on one who is clean, that person must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.

  6. Unclean

    A saddle he rides

    Any saddle on which the man with the discharge rides will be unclean.

  7. Until evening

    Touching or carrying what was under him

    Whoever touches anything that was under him will be unclean until evening, and whoever carries such things must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.

  8. Wash, bathe

    Touched by unrinsed hands

    If the man with the discharge touches anyone without first rinsing his hands with water, the one who was touched must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.

Any clay pot that the man with the discharge touches must be broken, and any wooden utensil must be rinsed with water.

Reflect

Nothing too ordinary

A bed, a chair, a saddle, a clay pot, a wooden spoon. God’s law reached into the plainest corners of Israel’s day, and none of it was hidden from Him. He cared how His people lived because He lived among them. What ordinary part of your life do you keep to yourself, as if God had no interest in it? Write it down, and invite Him into it today.

The Cleansing of Men

Dawn in a wadi: clean wool garments spread to dry on pale rocks beside a flowing stream, the granite walls catching first light.

When the man has been cleansed from his discharge, he must count off seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe himself in fresh water, and he shall be clean. On the eighth day he is to take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, come before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the priest. The priest is to sacrifice them, one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for the man before the LORD because of his discharge.

0:27

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean until evening. Any clothing or leather on which there is an emission of semen must be washed with water, and it will remain unclean until evening. If a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, both must bathe with water, and they will remain unclean until evening.

The Uncleanness of Women

The law

A woman’s monthly period

  1. Seven days

    Her period; anyone touching her

    When a woman has a discharge consisting of blood from her body, she will be unclean due to her menstruation for seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening.

  2. Unclean

    Where she lies or sits

    Anything on which she lies or sits during her menstruation will be unclean,

  3. Wash, bathe

    Touching her bed

    and anyone who touches her bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.

  4. Touching where she sat

    Whoever touches any furniture on which she was sitting must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.

  5. Until evening

    Bed or seat touched

    And whether it is a bed or furniture on which she was sitting, whoever touches it will be unclean until evening.

  6. Seven days

    A man who lies with her

    If a man lies with her and her menstrual flow touches him, he will be unclean for seven days, and any bed on which he lies will become unclean.

When a woman has a discharge of her blood for many days at a time other than her menstrual period, or if it continues beyond her period, she will be unclean all the days of her unclean discharge, just as she is during the days of her menstruation. Any bed on which she lies or any furniture on which she sits during the days of her discharge will be unclean, like her bed during her menstrual period. Anyone who touches these things will be unclean; he must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.

Pray

For anyone who feels shut out

Under this law a woman with a long illness could be unclean “all the days of her unclean discharge,” month after month. Centuries later one such woman reached out and touched Jesus. His holiness was not spoiled by her. It healed her. Pray for anyone you know who feels shut out, ashamed or worn down by a long trouble. Thank Jesus that no one who comes to Him in faith is too unclean for His touch.

The Cleansing of Women

God

You must keep the children of Israel separate from their uncleanness, so that they do not die by defiling My tabernacle, which is among them.

Leviticus 15:31

This is the law of him who has a discharge, of the man who has an emission of semen whereby he is unclean, of a woman in her menstrual period, of any male or female who has a discharge, and of a man who lies with an unclean woman.’”

Question

Quick question

Beds, saddles, clay pots, seven days and the eighth. Verse 31 gives the reason for all of it.

Why did God tell Israel to keep separate from their uncleanness?

A chapter like a mirror

the same way backA man’sdischarge2–15: seven days,two birdsAn emission16–17: until eveningHusband andwife18: both bathe; untileveningA monthlyperiod19–24: seven daysA longdischarge25–30: seven days,two birds

Whiteboard

The chapter is built like a mirror. A man’s long discharge and a woman’s long discharge stand at the two ends, and each is cleansed the same way: seven days, then two birds on the eighth. The ordinary flows of the body come next: an emission ends with water and evening, a monthly period after seven days. At the center is a husband and wife: “both must bathe with water.” Men and women stood alike before the holy God, and He gave both the same way back.

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Leviticus 15

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A verse to carry with you

You must keep the children of Israel separate from their uncleanness, so that they do not die by defiling My tabernacle, which is among them.

Leviticus 15:31

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