Leviticus 15:1 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying,
Leviticus 15:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When any man hath a running issue out of his flesh, because of his issue he is unclean.
Leviticus 15:3 And this shall be his uncleanness in his issue: whether his flesh run with his issue, or his flesh be stopped from his issue, it is his uncleanness.
The subject continues to be differentiating between what is clean and unclean and how to maintain a ceremonially “clean” state of being before the LORD. The context of this chapter pertains to bodily discharges from the pelvic area.
Any man that develops an abnormal bodily discharge becomes unclean.
Leviticus 15:4 Every bed, whereon he lieth that hath the issue, is unclean: and every thing, whereon he sitteth, shall be unclean.
Leviticus 15:5 And whosoever toucheth his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:6 And he that sitteth on any thing whereon he sat that hath the issue shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:7 And he that toucheth the flesh of him that hath the issue shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:8 And if he that hath the issue spit upon him that is clean; then he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:9 And what saddle soever he rideth upon that hath the issue shall be unclean.
Leviticus 15:10 And whosoever toucheth any thing that was under him shall be unclean until the even: and he that beareth any of those things shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:11 And whomsoever he toucheth that hath the issue, and hath not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:12 And the vessel of earth, that he toucheth which hath the issue, shall be broken: and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.
This section basically states that everything and every person touched by the unclean man also becomes unclean. A person becomes unclean for even touching something that the man with the discharge has touched. The people that become unclean by association are to wash themselves and their clothes and remain unclean until the evening. Reminder—The Hebrew considered the day to be from evening to evening; in effect, one became ceremonially clean at the start of the new day.
Any earthen vessel that the person with the discharge touched must be broken; any wooden vessel he touched must be rinsed in water.
Leviticus 15:13 And when he that hath an issue is cleansed of his issue; then he shall number to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean.
Leviticus 15:14 And on the eighth day he shall take to him two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and come before the LORD unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and give them unto the priest:
Leviticus 15:15 And the priest shall offer them, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD for his issue.
Once the discharge has stopped, the man must take seven days to accomplish cleansing. He is to wash his clothes and bathe his body in running water; I couldn’t discern if this meant daily washing or a one-time washing at the end of that time period. On the eighth day he is to take two young turtledoves or pigeons to the priest at the door of the tabernacle to make a sin and burnt offering to make atonement for his discharge.
Leviticus 15:16 And if any man’s seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:17 And every garment, and every skin, whereon is the seed of copulation, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:18 The woman also with whom man shall lie with seed of copulation, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the even.
If a man ejaculates semen, he is to wash in water and remain unclean until the evening. Every garment touched by his semen is to be washed in water and considered unclean until the evening. Any woman who has lain with the man should also bathe in water and be considered unclean until the evening.
New Bible Commentary: “The most significant practical effect of 15:18, therefore, was to make it impossible for sexual rites and ‘sacred prostitution’ to be part of the worship of Yahweh.”
Leviticus 15:19 ¶ And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:20 And every thing that she lieth upon in her separation shall be unclean: every thing also that she sitteth upon shall be unclean.
Leviticus 15:21 And whosoever toucheth her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:22 And whosoever toucheth any thing that she sat upon shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:23 And if it be on her bed, or on any thing whereon she sitteth, when he toucheth it, he shall be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:24 And if any man lie with her at all, and her flowers be upon him, he shall be unclean seven days; and all the bed whereon he lieth shall be unclean.
This section addresses a woman’s normal menstrual cycle or other abnormal flow of blood; such flow makes her unclean. If it is due to her menstrual cycle, she is to be considered unclean for seven days. Any thing or any person that she touches also becomes unclean. The person affected must wash his clothes and bathe in water and remain unclean until the evening. If a man comes in contact with the woman’s menstrual flow, he (and any bed he rests on) is considered unclean for seven days. We learn from chapter 18 that sexual relations are prohibited during this time.
Leviticus 18:19 “Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.”
Leviticus 15:25 And if a woman have an issue of her blood many days out of the time of her separation, or if it run beyond the time of her separation; all the days of the issue of her uncleanness shall be as the days of her separation: she shall be unclean.
Leviticus 15:26 Every bed whereon she lieth all the days of her issue shall be unto her as the bed of her separation: and whatsoever she sitteth upon shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her separation.
Leviticus 15:27 And whosoever toucheth those things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:28 But if she be cleansed of her issue, then she shall number to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean.
Leviticus 15:29 And on the eighth day she shall take unto her two turtles, or two young pigeons, and bring them unto the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Leviticus 15:30 And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for her before the LORD for the issue of her uncleanness.
If the flow of blood comes unexpectedly or lasts longer than usual, the woman will remain unclean for the entire period of the time of bleeding. Once the abnormal flow of blood ceases, she is to be considered clean after seven more days. On the eighth day she is to take two young turtledoves or pigeons to the priest at the door of the tabernacle to offer as sin and burnt offering to make atonement for the cause of her uncleanness.
Leviticus 15:31 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.
Leviticus 15:32 This is the law of him that hath an issue, and of him whose seed goeth from him, and is defiled therewith;
Leviticus 15:33 And of her that is sick of her flowers, and of him that hath an issue, of the man, and of the woman, and of him that lieth with her that is unclean.
It is significant that God is declaring a principle (verse 31); we should be careful to honor God by how we present ourselves in His house of worship.
Jewish Study Bible: “The ‘death’ is the collective destruction of Israel by defiling My Tabernacle which is among them. Failing to eradicate defilement causes it to collect in the divine abode, leading to its abandonment by the deity.”
David Guzik makes the following important point: “None of these discharges made a man or a woman sinful, only ceremonially unclean. This did promote hygiene in ancient Israel, yet discharges of semen and menstruation were so regarded, not because there was anything inherently wrong with them, but because the two are connected with symbols of life and redemption, blood and seed.”
I think it is important to be reminded that Christians today are not under the law. This was made clear in a letter to the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia from the recognized leaders of the church who met in Jerusalem regarding this very issue.
Acts 15:22–29 “Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren: And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment: It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.”
However, the law has many spiritual principles and applications to the Christian life.
As I was doing some reading in preparation for starting this chapter, I ran across some thoughts from Ray Stedman that I would like to use to introduce this chapter.
“As we have gone through this book together God has taught us, first of all, the need for a substitute. Despite all the accumulation of human knowledge we cannot handle life adequately by ourselves. The offerings taught us that. We need a substitute beyond humanity, a divine substitute, one who took our place. And this we find in Jesus Christ. And then, because we don't understand the mysteries of our existence apart from someone who can explain them and apply them to us, we need a great high priest. That too is met in Christ. Then we need a standard, something to measure life by, to tell us the difference between what will hurt us and what will help us, what will advance us and what will destroy us. We need God's gracious word to understand what confronts us in life and thus to be able to distinguish between right and wrong and good and evil. That is not easy to do, but God has provided a standard.”
Leviticus 16:1 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died;
Leviticus 16:2 And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.
After the death of Nadab and Abihu, the LORD instructed Moses to tell Aaron that he was not free to come into the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle at will. (This seems to imply that Nadab and Abihu had done just that.) It was set apart as the place of the presence of God as represented by the cloud on the mercy seat. To go in at any other time than on the Day of Atonement as instructed by God would result in death.
We who have trusted in the LORD as our Savior are privileged to have access to God’s presence at all times because of the shed blood of Jesus that has redeemed us and allowed us to become part of His family. When Jesus died, the veil prohibiting access to the Holy of Holies was torn from top to bottom—a miracle in itself. God was basically declaring that the temple practices were no longer acceptable and that access to His presence could only be provided through faith in Jesus, His only begotten Son. Jesus fulfilled everything that the temple and its rituals represented.
Romans 5:1–2 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
Hebrews 4:14–16 “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
Hebrews 10:19–22 “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”
Leviticus 16:3 Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.
Leviticus 16:4 He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on.
The rest of this chapter sets forth instructions for the sacrifices and offerings to be made once a year on the Day of Atonement.
As the High Priest, Aaron was instructed to wash himself and dress according to God’s instructions before entering His presence. So too must we be washed and properly clothed before entering God’s presence.
Revelation 1:5 “… Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood….”
Revelation 3:5 “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment…”
2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
Aaron was also to bring a bullock for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering for his own use in preparation for making the required offerings.
Leviticus 16:5 ¶ And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
Leviticus 16:6 And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.
Aaron was to have ready two kids of the goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering on behalf of the people. He was to present the bull as a sin offering for himself and the rest of the priesthood.
In Jesus the Christ we now have a sinless High Priest as declared by the writer of Hebrews.
Hebrews 7:26–27 “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.”
Leviticus 16:7 And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Leviticus 16:8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat.
Leviticus 16:9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
Leviticus 16:10 But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.
Aaron was then to take the two goats brought on behalf of the people to the door of the tabernacle. He was then to cast lots upon the two goats—one was designated for the LORD and the other designated the scapegoat. The LORD’s goat was to be offered as a sin offering. The scapegoat was to be presented alive before the LORD and then released in the wilderness.
Leviticus 16:11 And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself:
Leviticus 16:12 And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail:
Leviticus 16:13 And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:
Leviticus 16:14 And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.
After casting lots to determine the designation of the goats, Aaron was to sacrifice the bull for himself and the priesthood. He was then to take a censer full of burning coals from the altar with a handful of incense that had been beaten small and take it into the Holy of Holies. Once inside, he was to put the incense on the fire before the LORD so that the smoke from the incense covered the mercy seat on the ark. He was then to take some of the blood from the sacrificed bull and sprinkle it toward the east on the mercy seat seven times.
Reminder – Seven is the number of completion and perfection.
Leviticus 16:15 ¶ Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:
Leviticus 16:16 And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.
Leviticus 16:17 And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.
Next, Aaron was to kill the goat designated as the sin offering for the people and take blood from goat and sprinkle it on the mercy seat in the same way he had done with the blood of the bull. This ritual served to cleanse the holy place from the contamination of the sin of the people.
No man was to be in the tabernacle during the time that Aaron was inside and serving according to God’s instructions.
Leviticus 16:18 And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about.
Leviticus 16:19 And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
Next Aaron was to cleanse the altar accordingly by taking blood from both the bull and the goat and putting it on the horns of the altar seven times each.
Leviticus 16:20 ¶ And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat:
Leviticus 16:21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:
Leviticus 16:22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.
Once the holy place, the tabernacle and the altar had been cleansed, Aaron was to bring the live goat forward and lay both of his hands on the head of the goat. He was to confess the sins of the people, in effect transferring them to the head of the goat. The goat was then to be taken into the wilderness (uninhabited land) and released by a man chosen specifically for this task.
Leviticus 16:23 And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there:
Leviticus 16:24 And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people.
Leviticus 16:25 And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar.
Aaron was to go back into the temple and take off the linen garments he was wearing and leave them there. He was then to wash his body with water and put on his regular garments before coming back out.
Next, he was to offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people to atone for himself and the people. Point is made that the fat of the sin offering was to be burned upon the altar.
Leviticus 16:26 And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp.
Leviticus 16:27 And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung.
Leviticus 16:28 And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.
The man who released the goat into the wilderness was to wash himself and his clothes before coming back into the camp.
The skins, flesh and dung from the sin offerings were to be carried outside the camp and burned. The one who performed this task was also to wash both himself and his clothes before coming back into the camp.
Leviticus 16:29 ¶ And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:
Leviticus 16:30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.
Leviticus 16:31 It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.
This practice was to be performed once a year on tenth day of the seventh month. It was to be treated as a Sabbath, a day of rest, and no work was to be done. It was to be a day dedicated to the LORD in recognition of the need for forgiveness of all one’s sins. It reminds us that there is nothing we can do to earn God’s forgiveness; Jesus is our Sabbath. His death, burial and resurrection completed the work necessary for our salvation. We rest in His completed work; there is nothing we can do to add to what He has done.
Colossians 2:16–20 “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ….Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances….”
Hebrews 4:9–10 “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”
Hebrews 10:10–12 “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God….”
“afflict your souls” – After looking at the Hebrew, this seems to be a phrase that references chastening oneself in mind and soul in light of his/her sins of the past year.
Leviticus 16:32 And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest’s office in his father’s stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments:
Leviticus 16:33 And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation.
Leviticus 16:34 And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Point is made that the High Priest will designate one of his sons to succeed him in that position and to continue this practice as instructed once each year.
I think it is important to remember that each person who places their faith in Jesus as LORD and Savior is a temple, and the Spirit of God dwells within him/her.
1 Corinthians 3:16–17 “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”
We should be taking care to keep that temple as clean as possible—a place in which the Holy Spirit feels welcome and at home. I have often heard Chuck Missler refer to 1John 1:9 as the Christian’s bar of soap.
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
When the goat was released into the wilderness, it was in effect picturing the fact that God was removing the people’s sins from them. Through Jesus, we know that God has removed our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. In fact, He promises to remember our sins no more.
Psalms 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”
Hebrews 10:10–17 “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all….For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”