In Leviticus 11 through 15, a section of five chapters, four troubling things are covered: our contact with people, the uncleanness of our birth, leprosy, and our discharges. In this message on 15:1-31 we shall cover the matter of the cleansing of the discharges from man’s and woman’s body.
We have pointed out that chapters eleven through twenty-seven of Leviticus intend to give us the way to live a holy life as God’s holy people. If we would live such a life, we need to realize that we are involved with four things. First, we are involved with the common matter of the contact with people. Second, we must recognize the uncleanness of our birth. The source, the origin, of our being is unclean. Third, we have the problem of our leprosy. Our condition is one of being filled with leprosy. Fourth, we have the problem of discharges. No matter what kind of person we may be, we all have discharges, and, as chapter fifteen shows us, these discharges are altogether unclean. Furthermore, the uncleanness of our discharges is contagious.
Leviticus indicates strongly that whatever comes out of our being is unclean. For this reason, chapter fifteen tells us to stay away from any discharge that issues from the human body and from the contagion of uncleanness.
Because we were born uncleanness and are a totality of uncleanness, whatever comes out of us is unclean. Also, the uncleanness of what issues from us is contagious and therefore causes others to be unclean. This is the crucial point in chapter fifteen.
Chapter sixteen of Leviticus is actually a continuation of chapter ten. The intention of God’s revelation in the five chapters that come between chapters ten and sixteen is to show us four basic troubling factors. The first of these factors is our contact with people. We should not consider this an insignificant thing. On the contrary, our contact with people is of great importance. Contacting the wrong kinds of persons can cause us to be defiled and thus discredit us in the matter of a holy living as God’s holy people. The second troubling factor is the uncleanness of our birth. We need to realize that our source, our origin, is uncleanness. We are uncleanness itself. Our birth, source, and constitution are all uncleanness. The third factor is our leprous condition. Inwardly and outwardly we are leprous. The fourth factor is our discharge with its uncleanness and contagion. All the discharges, all the things that issue from our body, are unclean and contagious.
According to the Bible, our body is our embodiment. Our body is our being, our constitution. Whatever comes out of our body, out of our constitution, as a discharge is unclean and contagious.
In 15:1-13 we see that the one who has a discharge is unclean and anything or anyone he touches becomes unclean. As we consider these verses, we realize that there is uncleanness everywhere. Everything has been dirtied by human discharges, by that which comes out of our being. The more we realize this, the more we shall treasure those verses in chapter fifteen which indicate that Christ is the factor of our cleansing.
We need to be deeply impressed with the fact that whatever issues from us is unclean and should be condemned and eliminated. After reading 15:1-13, we may wonder where we can stay without being defiled by the uncleanness of human discharges. Everywhere there is the uncleanness that issues from us human beings. If we realize this, we shall not want to remain on earth but desire to be raptured.
After studying the four troubling factors in chapters eleven through fifteen, I have come to realize fully that we are unclean, corrupt, and contagious. The things that come out of us are uncleanness, and this uncleanness is contagious.
These five chapters on the four negative things show us that we all are a heap of corruption. The entire world, all of humanity, is a heap of corruption. Apart from Christ, there is no place for us to be. We must be in Christ. Only the Lord Jesus can cleanse us. He alone is the cleansing factor.
The title of this message is “The Cleansing of the Discharges from Man’s and Woman’s Body.” Here “body” means our being, our constitution. Thus, the discharges from our body are the discharges from our being or from our constitution.
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