Leviticus 15:31
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.
Sermons
Personal PurityW. Clarkson Leviticus 15:1-33
Secret SinsR.M. Edgar Leviticus 15:1-33
UncleannessJ.A. Macdonald Leviticus 15:1-33
Atonement Required for Secret SinsA. A. Bonar.Leviticus 15:2-33
Beware of Contact with Sinful PersonsBiblioth. BiblLeviticus 15:2-33
Cleanliness a Religious DutC. Clemance, D. D.Leviticus 15:2-33
Human Nature UncleanC. H. Mackintosh.Leviticus 15:2-33
Impurity a Contagious EvilW. Clarkson.Leviticus 15:2-33
Plain Speaking on the Subject of PurityJ. M. Gibson, D. D.Leviticus 15:2-33
Purity RequiredJ. M. Gibson, D. D.Leviticus 15:2-33
Secret UncleannessJ. A. Seiss, D. D.Leviticus 15:2-33
The Secret Flow of Sin from the Natural HeartA. A. Bonar.Leviticus 15:2-33














Had sin never entered, there had been no disease. Diseases are consequences of sin; their symptoms are therefore taken as emblems of it. So when our Lord miraculously "healed all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease," he evinced ability to remove all corresponding moral evil. The examples specified in the Law are typical or representative, and are such as have symptoms pronounced and visible.

I. THOSE WHO HAD ISSUES IN THE FLESH WERE UNCLEAN.

1. Out of a pure heart are the issues of life (see Proverbs 4:23).

(1) The blood, which is the life of the flesh, issuing from the heart, passes along the arteries to the extremities of the body, and carries nourishment to every part.

(2) This is a fine emblem of the heart of the "good treasure," whose influence upon any corporation, whether domestic, civic, or ecclesiastic, is life-giving (Luke 6:45). But:

2. Out of a foul heart are the issues of death.

(1) If the blood is poisoned at its source, the poison is carried to the extremities, and will break out in ulcers and purulent issues.

(2) As these symptoms declare the boldness of the blood at the heart, which, if not purified, must terminate in mortification and death, so arc they appropriate emblems of moral impurity (see Matthew 12:34, 35; Mark 7:20-23; James 1:21).

(3) Or if the blood, which is the life, flow away from the body, that also is a fitting emblem of sin which is spiritual death. Therefore the woman who has an issue of blood is accounted unclean, as being in that condition in which the streams of the fountain of life are diverted from their uses of health and nourishment. Those who reject the life-giving efficacy of the gospel are morally dead, and must, if they remain so, rot in their iniquities (see Lamentations 1:9, 17; Ezekiel 36:17).

3. The Law enjoined the separation of the unclean.

(1) They must not come into the tabernacle. They are unfit to stand in God's presence or to mingle with his people. They must not eat of the holy things. They are in no moral condition to hold fellowship with God and his Church (see Psalm 24:4; Matthew 5:8).

(2) They have to remove outside the camp, like the leper (see Numbers 5:2, 3). There they must remain until they are healed and cleansed.

(3) They transgress these bounds at their peril. They may be stoned to death by the people, or God himself may deal with them (verse 31; Exodus 19:12, 13). The profane under the gospel have a "much sorer punishment" (see Hebrews 10:26-31).

II. THEY RENDERED UNCLEAN WHATEVER THEY TOUCHED.

1. This signified the contagion of sin.

(1) Persons were rendered unclean by contact with them (verses 7, 19, 26). We cannot have fellowship with sin and with God (1 Corinthians 5:11; 1 Corinthians 15:33; 2 Corinthians 6:15-18; Ephesians 4:29; James 4:4).

(2) Things touched by them were also rendered unclean. The bed, the chair, the saddle, etc. (verses 4, 12, 20). These things may represent men in their properties or attributes, or in their usages, which are all damaged by the influence of sin (1 Thessalonians 4:4).

(3) Those who touched things rendered unclean by contact, also became unclean (verses 5, 6, 21-23). What a picture of the spreading power of evil example! How careful should we be to save ourselves from the untoward generation!

2. Ever, when cured they must be cleansed.

(1) Genuine repentance may cure sinful habits, but does not cancel guilt nor purify from sin. The utmost it could do is to prevent accumulations of guilt; the old score remains to be dealt with It does not touch the depravity of the heart (see Matthew 23:25).

(2) Time is given to test the cure. Where the disease was rooted, "seven days" of quarantine were required (see verses 13, 24, 28). The repentance of a moment after a life of evil habits may prove illusive.

(3) Where no disease existed, but uncleanness was contracted by contact, the quarantine was "until the even." The time here indicated was that of the evening sacrifice, which pointed significantly to the evening of the Jewish day, otherwise called the "end of the world" or age, viz. when Jesus "appeared to put away sin [sacrifices] by the sacrifice of himself," and remove ritual obligations.

3. Observe the ceremonies of cleansing.

(1) Some who were made clean by contact had to wash their hands (verse 11; comp. Luke 11:38-41). This was when they were passive when the contact was inflicted. But if they neglected to rinse their hands, then they were as though they were active, so they had to wash their flesh and their clothes, and be unclean until the even. No special sacrifices were prescribed. They availed themselves of the daily sacrifice ever on the altar. So in our contact with the moral filth of this world, which is often unavoidable, we have the fountain of the house of David ever flowing, to enable us, almost without an interruption, to walk in the light (see 2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 John 1:7; comp. John 13:10).

(2) The person healed of an issue had to bathe his flesh and wash his clothes on the seventh day, when he became "clean." So far he cleansed himself. The spirit of the Law was fulfilled thus far if he put away all his evil ways (see Isaiah 1:16; Matthew 15:20; James 4:8). He was clean so far as repentance could make him so, which was externally only, or before his fellow-men.

(3) He still needed the removal of sin from his soul. He had, therefore, now on the eighth day, to bring his sin offering and burnt offering, that with these the priest should "make an atonement for him before the Lord for his issue" (verses l4, 15, 29, 30). Christ is the Healer and Cleanser (comp. Matthew 8:16, 17, with Isaiah 53:4, 5). - J.A.M.

Because of his issue he is unclean.
1. We learn, in a very striking manner, the intense holiness of the Divine presence. Not a soil, not a stain, not a speck can be tolerated for a moment in that thrice-hallowed region.

2. Again, we learn that human nature is the ever-flowing fountain of uncleanness. It is hopelessly defiled and defiling.

3. Finally, we learn, afresh, the expiatory value of the blood of Christ, and the cleansing, sanctifying virtues of the precious Word of God. When we think of the unsullied purity of the sanctuary, and then reflect upon nature's irremediable defilement, and ask the question, "However can we enter and dwell there?" the answer is found in "the blood and water" which flowed from the side of a crucified Christ — a Christ who gave up His life unto death for us, that we might live by Him.

(C. H. Mackintosh.)

All the uncleannesses here enumerated are such as were, for the most part, unknown except to the individual alone. They must, therefore, refer to sins of solitude and secrecy. The lesson is here taught that we may be great sinners without anybody else knowing anything about it. There may be a very correct exterior life, and yet a secret cherishing of pride, and lust, and unbelief, and a secret painting of the walls with imagery, as much unfitting us for the society of the pure and good as any open and outbreaking wickedness. "The lively imagination of a gay, poetic mind is not less sinful when it scatters forth its luscious images, than the dull, brutal feelings of the stupid, ignorant boor." Even the quiet and involuntary exudations of natural feeling are often to be numbered with the uncleanest things. It is amazing how deep-seated the contaminations of sin are. A man may be truly penitent. He may be set to be a good servant of God; and yet, every now and then, he will find the disgusting uncleanness of sin quietly and unintentionally escaping from him, contaminating himself and those who come in contact with him or touch what he has touched. His whole nature is yet so full of remaining corruption that the least agitation causes it to trickle over. He lies down to sleep, and presently he finds it in his dreams. He puts forth his hand to welcome a friend, and the very touch sometimes awakes wrong echoes in the soul. He is accidentally thrown into the mere neighbourhood of sin, and the very atmosphere about him seems at times to be laden with excitations of impurity. His depravity cleaves to him like an old sore. Nor are these secret and involuntary outflowings of corruption mere trifles, unworthy of notice. They are here set forth under images and types among the most offensive and disgusting. They are too loathsome for public recital — too hideous even for the mind to dwell upon. God intends thus to signify His deep abhorrence of our inherent corruptions. He means to intimate to us that we have reason to be ashamed and confounded at the secret disorder which still works in us. Nay, He yet adds to these defilements a judicial sentence. They were uncleannesses which excluded from the sanctuary and everything holy. They brought condemnation with them. And some of them were so bad as to need atonement by blood. We need, therefore, to be on our guard against the beginnings of evil. It is indeed melancholy that we, as Christians, still have so much impurity cleaving to us. But still it is not without its good effects. We need something to keep us humble, to drive us continually to the throne of grace, and to keep us ever mindful of our dependence upon the mercy of God. It helps to soften us towards the failings of others, and to make us charitable in our judgments of offenders. It helps greatly to reconcile us to the idea of dying. It contributes to make our dying day a blessed day, because it will put an everlasting end to these vexations. Then we shall be delivered. "from the body of this death."

(J. A. Seiss, D. D.)

In tins chapter the defilement of sin is the leading thought. Here again there can be no doubt that there was a sanitary element in the regulations. "Cleanliness is next to godliness" is not, as some suppose, a Bible sentence, but it is beyond all question a Bible sentiment. The first all-embracing law of the Mosaic economy is, "Be holy." And the second is like unto it, "Be clean": clean in person, clean in garments, clean in house, clean in camp, clean everywhere. Who can tell how much the world owes to these "health laws of Moses"? "It is certainly a curious thing," writes one who is an authority on the subject, "worthy the notice of every student of the progress of the human race, whether his standpoint be religious or purely scientific, that the moving camp in the wilderness was governed by as strict and perfect a sanitary code as any sanitary commission could now devise." But in the Mosaic institutes the purity of the soul was ever kept before the mind as the main thing to be desired and secured. "Our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience," was always the first thing; "our bodies washed with pure water" was the second (Hebrews 10:22); and throughout the book of the law these two have been by God so joined together that no candid mind can put them asunder.

(J. M. Gibson, D. D.)

y: — We get here an illustration of that which so often occurs in the law of Moses, viz., that duties of the lowest, humblest order are urged on the people by the highest and noblest sanctions. Common work may be dignified by great motives. It will be regarded by a wise Christian man as a part of his duty which is by no means to be neglected, to maintain order and unsullied cleanliness in person and home.

(C. Clemance, D. D.)

We are here taught the disgusting constancy with which our original, deep-seated corruption will naturally discover itself. In all situations, towards all persons, at all seasons, this filthiness of the secret soul may be traced. In ver. 4 the man is represented as unclean when he lieth down to sleep, or even to rest at noon. Ah! yonder lies a sinner, and the very ground under him is accursed. His very pillow may shortly become a spear under his throat; just as Jonah's rest soon became a tempestuous sea. A friend comes to see him and gently wakes him, but touches his couch in so doing, and becomes thereby unclean (ver. 5); for the man is all polluted. However amiable the friend you visit, yet, if still in his unhealed corruption, your intercourse with him spreads its baleful influence over you. You have insensibly been injured by the contact. Oh, how we should watch our souls in mingling with a world lying in wickedness l Oh, how holy, how marvellously strong in holiness was Jesus, who breathed this polluted air and remained as holy as when He came! If the man leave the spot, and another occupy it, that other has seated himself in the sinner's place (ver. 6), and the memory of his sin is not gone. He is in contact with a polluted thing. As when one of us now reads the details of a sinner's career, and our mind rests thereon, we are involved in this sin. If a physician (ver. 7) or an attendant touch the sick man's flesh, he is in contact with sin, and becomes polluted. This legal consequence of any actual contact with the defiled shows us, no doubt, the danger and hazard of even attempting to aid the polluted. It is at the risk of being ourselves involved in their sin. Therefore it must be watchfully done, not boldly and adventurously. You breathe an impure atmosphere: proceed with caution. If (ver. 8) any even accidental touch occur — as if the diseased man spit or sneeze, so as anything from him reaches the bystander, pollution is spread. An accidental word, a casual expression, an unexpected look, may suggest sin; and if it does, forthwith wash it all away ere evening comes. "Let not the sun go down upon thy wrath." Leave no stain for a moment upon thy conscience. When the man rides forth, lo! yonder is a sinner; and his saddle is polluted; and the mattress he spread on the floor of his tent for a temporary rest in his journey (ver. 10) is so polluted that the attendant who lifts it is defiled. Oh! sad, sad estate of man! In going out or coming in, in the house or by the way, his inward fountain of sin flows on unceasingly, and the Holy One of Israel follows him with His eye to mark him as a sinner. Nay, if he put his hand forth (ver. 11) to touch any one-to give him a friendly welcome, or aid him in any work, he conveys pollution, unless he have first "rinsed his hands in water." The sinner, whose natural heart is still unhealed, cannot do even a kind act without sin — his only mode of doing so would be "washing in clean water." And the vessels he uses (ver. 12)must be broken or rinsed in water; even as the earth, on which the sinner has stood as his theatre for committing evil shall be broken in pieces by the fire of the last day ("All these things shall be dissolved," 2 Peter 3:11), the trial by water being already past.

(A. A. Bonar.)

A full atonement is required for our inward, secret sins, as much as for open and flagrant sins. The sinful vision that our fancy spread out before us for a moment must be washed away by blood. The tendency which our soul felt to sympathise in that act of resentment or revenge must be washed away by blood. The hour, or minutes, we spent in brooding over our supposed hard lot must be redeemed by blood. The selfish wish we cherished for special prosperity in some undertaking that was to reflect its credit on us only, is to be washed away by blood. The proud aspiration, the sensual impulse, the world-loving eye or soul cast on earth's glories, must be washed away by blood. The darkness, ignorance, suspicion, and misconception we entertain toward God and His salvation, retest be washed in blood. "Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part (hidden region of the soul) Thou shalt make me to know wisdom" (Psalm 51:6).

(A. A. Bonar.)

All those details of Divine precept, by which every person and article anywise brought into contact with the unclean man or woman became unclean, bring out the truth that impurity is an essentially communicable evil. It is so physically; "let sinners look to it." It is so spiritually. How guilty in the very last degree are those who drive a nefarious trade in corrupt literature! How shameful to put indecent thought into print to pollute the young! How demoralising to the soul, how displeasing to God, how scrupulously to be avoided, the questionable conversation that borders on the indelicate and impure! (see Ephesians 5:3, 4, 12; Colossians 3:8).

(W. Clarkson.)

Biblioth. Bibl.
All this mystically teaches us to beware of courting or choosing the conversation of those that have received any tincture of vice, and not to contract acquaintance with any persons who we have reason to believe are not on good terms with God. There is such a venomous contagion in vice and immorality that familiarity with sinners does, of itself, make a man an associate in their practices: so saith the son of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus 13:1), and thus the apostle commands (1 Timothy 5:22).

(Biblioth. Bibl.)

That plain speaking and plain dealing, such as we find here, was necessary, is amply proved by the history of the ancient world, and of the modern world too. The Bible is the only book that has exercised any considerable effect in keeping men and women pure. There are many books, where everything offensive to the ear is studiously avoided, which nevertheless are very poison to the soul. In the Bible, on the other hand, while there is not a little that is offensive to the ear, there is absolutely nothing that is poisonous to the spirit, unless the spirit has been poisoned already; for we must remember that while "to the pure all things are pure," "unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is m thing pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled." There is absolutely nothing in the entire Bible that will not exert a holy and purifying influence on those who read it in the right spirit. And as a historical fact, such has been the result among those who have made these Scriptures their companion and counsellor. The Jews alone among the nations of antiquity had even the conception of purity as we understand it now. Consider for a moment whence we derive those exalted notions of purity which are widely prevalent in modern society, especially among Christian people. Even the purest and the best of Greek philosophers, those who in other respects have come nearest to Bible ethics, are wofully behind in regard to personal purity of heart and life, some of them tolerating and others approving that which enlightened Christian sentiment utterly condemns. Let any one fairly investigate the genesis and "evolution" of our modern ideas of chastity and purity and he will find that they are traceable chiefly to the Hebrew Scriptures as their source. And so the remarkable fact will present itself that to these very Scriptures, and largely to those parts of them which the corrupt imagination of certain cavillers finds an indecency which is all its own, we owe that very sentiment of delicacy which makes it impossible for us to read them aloud in public or in the family.

(J. M. Gibson, D. D.).

People
Aaron, Israelites, Moses
Places
Teman
Topics
Conditions, Death, Defile, Defiling, Die, Dwelling, Free, Holy, Israelites, Lest, Midst, Overtake, Separate, Separated, Sons, Sorts, Tabernacle, Thus, Unclean, Uncleanness
Outline
1. The uncleanness of men in their issues
13. The cleansing of them
19. The uncleanness of women in their issues
28. Their cleansing

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Leviticus 15:31

     6213   participation, in sin
     7348   defilement
     7525   exclusiveness
     8269   holiness, separation from worldly
     8341   separation

Leviticus 15:1-33

     5298   doctors

Library
The Cavils of the Pharisees Concerning Purification, and the Teaching of the Lord Concerning Purity - the Traditions Concerning Hand-Washing' and Vows. '
As we follow the narrative, confirmatory evidence of what had preceded springs up at almost every step. It is quite in accordance with the abrupt departure of Jesus from Capernaum, and its motives, that when, so far from finding rest and privacy at Bethsaida (east of the Jordan), a greater multitude than ever had there gathered around Him, which would fain have proclaimed Him King, He resolved on immediate return to the western shore, with the view of seeking a quieter retreat, even though it were
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Jairus' Daughter and the Invalid Woman.
(Capernaum, Same Day as Last.) ^A Matt. IX. 18-26; ^B Mark V. 22-43; ^C Luke VIII. 41-56. ^c 41 And ^a 18 While he spake these things unto them [while he talked about fasting at Matthew's table], behold, there came, { ^b cometh} ^c a man named Jairus, { ^b Jairus by name;} ^c and he was a ruler { ^b one of the rulers} of the synagogue [He was one of the board of elders which governed the synagogue at Capernaum. These elders were not necessarily old men--Matt. xix. 16-22; Luke xviii. 18-23], and seeing
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

That the Ruler Should be Discreet in Keeping Silence, Profitable in Speech.
The ruler should be discreet in keeping silence, profitable in speech; lest he either utter what ought to be suppressed or suppress what he ought to utter. For, as incautious speaking leads into error, so indiscreet silence leaves in error those who might have been instructed. For often improvident rulers, fearing to lose human favour, shrink timidly from speaking freely the things that are right; and, according to the voice of the Truth (Joh. x. 12), serve unto the custody of the flock by no means
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Memoir of John Bunyan
THE FIRST PERIOD. THIS GREAT MAN DESCENDED FROM IGNOBLE PARENTS--BORN IN POVERTY--HIS EDUCATION AND EVIL HABITS--FOLLOWS HIS FATHER'S BUSINESS AS A BRAZIER--ENLISTS FOR A SOLDIER--RETURNS FROM THE WARS AND OBTAINS AN AMIABLE, RELIGIOUS WIFE--HER DOWER. 'We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.'--2 Cor 4:7 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.'--Isaiah 55:8. 'Though ye have lien among the
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

John the Baptist's Person and Preaching.
(in the Wilderness of Judæa, and on the Banks of the Jordan, Occupying Several Months, Probably a.d. 25 or 26.) ^A Matt. III. 1-12; ^B Mark I. 1-8; ^C Luke III. 1-18. ^b 1 The beginning of the gospel [John begins his Gospel from eternity, where the Word is found coexistent with God. Matthew begins with Jesus, the humanly generated son of Abraham and David, born in the days of Herod the king. Luke begins with the birth of John the Baptist, the Messiah's herald; and Mark begins with the ministry
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Leviticus
The emphasis which modern criticism has very properly laid on the prophetic books and the prophetic element generally in the Old Testament, has had the effect of somewhat diverting popular attention from the priestly contributions to the literature and religion of Israel. From this neglect Leviticus has suffered most. Yet for many reasons it is worthy of close attention; it is the deliberate expression of the priestly mind of Israel at its best, and it thus forms a welcome foil to the unattractive
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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