Leviticus chapter 15. Does it mean having a discharge is a sin?

[buster]

I have seen Leviticus Chapter 15 recently and am a bit worried and confused. It appears to say that all bodily fluid discharges are unclean, and my mind tells me that anything that is unclean must be a sin.

But at the same time, cuts, scrapes, and wounds discharge blood, which is a bodily fluid, even those caused by accidents, someone else's aggression, and sometimes even animal attacks.

Does this mean that anyone who dies from getting shot, being in a car crash, a fall, or an animal attack goes to the Lake of Fire because they had a bodily fluid discharge?

[jayne]

I have seen Leviticus Chapter 15 recently and am a bit worried and confused. It appears to say that all bodily fluid discharges are unclean, and my mind tells me that anything that is unclean must be a sin.

But at the same time, cuts, scrapes, and wounds discharge blood, which is a bodily fluid, even those caused by accidents, someone else's aggression, and sometimes even animal attacks.

Does this mean that anyone who dies from getting shot, being in a car crash, a fall, or an animal attack goes to the Lake of Fire because they had a bodily fluid discharge?

I'm not sure why you think being ceremonially unclean in terms of normal bodily functions such as ejaculation or menstruation means sinful. It just meant unclean - one could not [a] be around others and/or [b] be around the tabernacle/Temple until they purified themselves and/or offered a small sacrifice. This had nothing to do with sin.

Let me give you a brief rundown on what David Guzik has to say about Leviticus 15. (And pay attention, because he is right.)

"None of these discharges would make a man or a woman "sinful," only ceremonially unclean. But why? Beyond whatever hygienic reasons, discharges of semen and menstruation are included, not because there is anything inherently wrong with them, but the two are connected with symbols of life and redemption, blood and seed. There was a separation between sex and the worship of God; this might seem obvious, but in the ancient world, it was common to worship the gods by having sex with temple prostitutes."

"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 meant to be the way to be right with God."

"Are we bound by these laws? The issue was settled in Acts 15; when it was determined that one could be a follower of Jesus without the ritual conformity to the Mosaic law.

"Most of all, we must remember 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 you receive from the Word of God, you are being cleansed!"

"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.'"

[Lily]

I'm with Jayne on this - These things are meant to teach us spiritual lessons. God is not so concerned about our physical well being as He is our spiritual health. Consider Jarius' daughter and the woman with the issue of blood (she had a discharge of blood for 12 years and would have been considered unclean for all that time [Mark 5:22-43]). These were real miracles of physical healing and a physical raising of the dead by a commpassionate Christ. But the lesson we're to learn is a spiritual one:

On the surface it’s pretty straight forward, but the symbolism is striking. Jairus’ daughter symbolizes Israel. The woman is the the gentile church.

The Messiah had come to heal God’s people who were spiritually sick to the point of death. While on the way He is accosted by gentiles who have to force their way past Judaism into His presence. Gentiles have had a terminal disease of the blood for as long as Israel had been alive, because the same revealing of the Law at Mt. Sinai that created the nation Israel, also exposed the sin nature of the gentiles.
Reaching out to Him, the gentiles are saved (healed) by faith in His atoning sacrifice. But before He can “reach” Israel, the nation dies and is no more. Undeterred, the Messiah continues on His way and someday soon will arrive to raise her from her spiritual death.

Read the full (though brief) articles at the links below.

https://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bib...the-dead-girl/
https://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bib...the-dead-girl/

While it's certainly a good idea to avoid other peoples body fluids, and separating people who were bleeding kept them from infecting others, nobody will go to hell for being physically "unclean." It's our spiritual well being that we need to be concerned about.

[BroRog]

I have seen Leviticus Chapter 15 recently and am a bit worried and confused. It appears to say that all bodily fluid discharges are unclean, and my mind tells me that anything that is unclean must be a sin.

No, that is not right. Unclean doesn't necessarily mean "sinful". The term "clean" and "unclean" more often than not refer to a person's ability to participate in the religious ceremonies of Israel. There might be exceptions that I'm forgetting, but in general, if a person was "clean" he was allowed to participate in religious ceremonies. If he was "unclean", he needed to clean himself before being allowed to participate. Most of the time all you had to do was wash your clothes and take a bath and then you were okay. Sometimes it was more serious as in the case of leprosy or whatever, but most of the time it was simply a matter of washing and bathing and being "unclean" wasn't being sinful; it was just being unclean.

[Walls]

I have seen Leviticus Chapter 15 recently and am a bit worried and confused. It appears to say that all bodily fluid discharges are unclean, and my mind tells me that anything that is unclean must be a sin.

But at the same time, cuts, scrapes, and wounds discharge blood, which is a bodily fluid, even those caused by accidents, someone else's aggression, and sometimes even animal attacks.

Does this mean that anyone who dies from getting shot, being in a car crash, a fall, or an animal attack goes to the Lake of Fire because they had a bodily fluid discharge?

God chose Israel among all nations to be a special people for His name (Ex.19:5; Duet.14:2). The thing that made Israel special above all other nations was that God lived “among them” (Ex.25:8). The service of the Tabernacle was planned by God to be given to all Israel until the Golden Calf. Notice in Exodus 19 that all Israel was to be a “kingdom of Priests”, it was “all” the people that were sanctified and “all” were to assemble before the mount. Then came the Golden Calf and only the Levites may do this duty thereafter. The Levites were subject to special washings for Tabernacle, and later, the Temple service. Nevertheless, all Israel had God dwelling in their midst (the twelve tribes encamped around the Tabernacle). So God instituted a code of cleanliness for Israel. The main offender of this code of cleanliness was death and dead blood. These two top the list for offending a holy and living God. Notice how even the nations, which do not have the Law of Moses, still have a restriction on blood (Gen.9:4), and the Church, which is not subject to the Law of Moses, has a restriction on “things strangled and blood.” That is, animal food where the blood has not been let (Act.15:20, 29, 21:25).

Male sperm is a product of the blood and its rightful place is inside a woman. Sperm spilt outside a woman is “dead blood”. Likewise the woman’s menstruation. It is actually for “life” – for procreating, but once it is not used, it is ejected from her body as “dead blood”. Cuts and scrapes do not constitute “dead blood.” But an “issue” of blood or puss from a decaying wound is another thing. Leviticus 15 speaks of this, not blood shed from a wound.

Leviticus chapter 15 speaks of what constitutes uncleanness in that which “issues” from the body and gives the reason in verse 31. “Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness; that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.”

[Mark F]

I have seen Leviticus Chapter 15 recently and am a bit worried and confused. It appears to say that all bodily fluid discharges are unclean, and my mind tells me that anything that is unclean must be a sin.

But at the same time, cuts, scrapes, and wounds discharge blood, which is a bodily fluid, even those caused by accidents, someone else's aggression, and sometimes even animal attacks.

Does this mean that anyone who dies from getting shot, being in a car crash, a fall, or an animal attack goes to the Lake of Fire because they had a bodily fluid discharge?

The reason for all these washings and procedures was to show that you cannot just approach God any old way or time you want. God is to be approached a certain way and upon His terms. The law and ceremony were to demonstrate how impossible it is to "do" everything right which is the point, you can't.

That's why Jesus is so superior to the law and ceremony, He did do it all for us and God said all we need to do is believe that (you cant, Jesus did) to be saved.