Leviticus 15:16–18

Chapters 13 and 14 dealt with the worst form of defilement. It usually lasted a lifetime. It shut a person out completely from the camp of Israel — the camp where God was pleased to dwell. Leviticus 15 deals with a range of lesser defilements. These meant a temporary separation, and careful washing, before a person could return to the camp and its privileges. These defilements sprang from the weakness of human nature, and from conditions as they exist today, as a result of the fall.

Leprosy speaks of sin breaking out, so it needed strict treatment. Chapter 15 points to nothing like that. It points to the frailty of the human body as it suffers the effects of the contamination of sin through Adam, our first father. We are not in any way responsible for the sinful nature we have inherited by birth. But we are responsible if we let that nature show itself in sinful actions.

Actions we can hold back from defile us. So do workings of nature that we cannot help. Both defile in such a way, and to such a degree, that they need what deliberate acts of sin need: the cleansing of water and the atoning blood of a sin offering. Nobody could avoid many of the defilements in this chapter. That made no difference; he was unclean.

Jehovah would make His people feel this: He takes account of more than sin in its most destructive shape, or the very bringing of a child into the world, boy or girl. He also takes account of impurities of a more ordinary kind, which happen often. They come from men and women as they are, and are tied to what is lawful and necessary.

What came from an Israelite's flesh defiled that person. What comes from the heart of man, the working of the evil nature within him, defiles the man (Mark 7:21). The Israelite's nature did not defile him, but the outflow of it did. So the flesh within us does not defile us, though its workings do. And God is holy. So He can never compromise with uncleanness.

But a holy God will have us face the humbling truth. The uncleanness may flow out or stay inside. It may come by night or by day. It may touch things or people. Every case needed purifying. For the Jew it was water. For us it is the washing of water by the word — the water that flowed from Christ in death.

This will account for the fact that atonement is here pictured, not by a bull or a lamb, but by the lowest order of sacrifice — two turtledoves. But on the other hand, the cleansing power of the Word is continually brought in, through the ceremonial actions of washing, bathing, and rinsing.

Even things that looked to man like unavoidable weaknesses had a defiling effect, and needed cleansing, because Jehovah was in the camp. Nothing offensive, nothing ugly, nothing improper in any way had a place inside the pure, unstained and sacred space where the God of Israel was present.

To someone outside God's people this would have been an unbearable burden. Think of a God of infinite holiness beside his path by day and beside his bed by night. For such a man that would mean more restraint than he could bear. But to a true lover of holiness, a lover of God, nothing could be more delightful.

This weakness is why we pick up defilement so easily. The more spiritual a believer's mind is, the more he feels it. So we all need the "feet-washing" that John 13 speaks of.

This chapter deals with a variety of ceremonial uncleannesses far less serious than leprosy. Leprosy seems to be presented as the expression of the deep-seated energy of nature's evil. Chapter 15 lists many things that are only unavoidable weaknesses. But they are in some measure the outflow of nature, so they were defiling, and they needed the provisions of divine grace.

We are not in any way responsible for the sinful nature we have inherited by birth. But we are responsible for allowing that nature to show itself in sinful actions. The discharges spoken of here were not avoidable. They are meant as a reminder that we have inherited a sinful nature from Adam.

The discharges mentioned are evidence of the presence of sin in man's nature, with the curse upon it, and they make man and woman unclean in the sight of God. Not only actions, which we can avoid, but workings of nature which we cannot help, defile alike. They defile in such a way and to such a degree that they need the same cleansing as voluntary acts of sin: the cleansing of water and the expiatory blood of a sin offering.

What came from an Israelite's flesh defiled that person. What comes from the heart of man, the working of the evil nature within him, defiles the man (Mark 7:21). The Israelite's nature did not defile him, but the outflow of it did. So the flesh within us does not defile us, though the acting of it does. And God is holy. He cannot compromise with uncleanness. So He made the cleansing of the defiled one the subject of divine revelation, in both the Old and New Testaments.

The clothes tell us of what touches us — our associations. They stand for what we have to do with, and what the world around sees as connected with us. All these associations and ways must be "washed." How do we wash our ways and associations? Psalm 119:9 answers it for us: "How can a young man keep his way pure?" Here is God's own answer: "By guarding it according to your word."

Every case demanded purifying. For the Jew it was water. For us it is the washing of water by the word — the water that flowed from Christ in death. The apostle who saw it bears witness to it in his Gospel and his Epistle.

Here the reader need only remember the two different ways of cleansing. One was for those from whom the defilement came. The other was for those made unclean only by contact. The first called for washing, and for sacrifices as well: a sin offering and a burnt offering. The second called only for washing with water. So God maintained His own holiness, whatever the cause of the Israelite's uncleanness. Yet the gracious Lord also cared for His defiled creatures. He made full provision, so that they might in righteousness enjoy fellowship with Him again.

Sin entered the relation of the sexes, and there it has polluted and poisoned the race at its very source, and corrupted all the sweetest natural affections into impurity. A large part of the law in Leviticus is the necessary reminder of this. God's Word must reach into the secret holds of sin. There the "shame" that came in with the fall shows itself most of all and bears witness of corruption. If we cannot say much to one another about such things, may His Word still have its place and show its power!

God's wisdom did not hesitate to notice this larger group of uncleannesses, however humbling to men and women. The Lord would make His people feel that He takes account of more than sin in its most destructive form, or the very bringing of a child into the world. He also takes account of impurities of a more ordinary kind, which happen often. They come from men and women as they are, and they are connected with what is lawful and necessary. This was for the earthly people, but Christians may read these outward rules in the spirit. To the pure all things are pure; but to the defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure — both their minds and their consciences are defiled.

God Himself made the sexes. They show us that we depend on each other. They build special bonds between people. And they open the way to the closest spiritual fellowship — spirit meeting spirit. Sin entered at just this point. It has done such destructive work that it pollutes and poisons the race at its very source, and turns the sweetest natural affections into impurity.

There are other cases that come from the weakness of nature. They show that, since sin came in, everything belonging to nature, to the flesh, defiles. That holds whatever excuse people make about weakness, or about the thing being unavoidable. If it cannot be avoided, it still displays what is shameful, or at least proves that it is there. This is because the nature is fallen and sinful.

Because leprosy speaks of the outbreak of positive sin, it required rigorous treatment. Chapter 15 suggests nothing like this. Here we have the frailty of the human body. It suffers the effects of the contamination of sin through Adam, our first father. We are not in any way responsible for the sinful nature we inherit at birth. We are responsible if we let that nature show itself in sinful actions... Therefore the cleansing process was not as involved as in the case of leprosy.

The divine presence in the assembly demanded a high order of holiness and moral purity. Every movement of nature had to be counteracted. Even things that looked to man like unavoidable weaknesses still defiled and needed cleansing. The reason was simple: the Lord was in the camp... The nations around them would have understood nothing of such holy rules. But the Lord would have Israel holy, because He was Israel's God.

But blessed be the grace that has made such full provision for nature's defilement! Through the whole book of God, and through this section in particular, that provision comes in two forms: water and blood. Both rest on the death of Christ. The blood that makes atonement and the water that cleanses flowed from the pierced side of a crucified Christ... So we are kept fit for communion and worship. We pass through a scene where everything defiles. We carry a nature whose every movement leaves a stain behind.

Some are shocked that a divine revelation should record the Lord's notice of the vile and offensive workings of our fallen nature. Those who read Christ in these rules can pity and regret such unbelief. Here was at least a testimony to man's inborn evil, though by no means a complete and final one. Israel stood in a relationship to the Lord that required an honest acknowledgment of these sad facts. But the Lord also gave a provision that cleansed them for that time, until grace and truth came in perfection.