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Leviticus
Chapter Fifteen
Leviticus 15
Chapter Contents
Laws concerning ceremonial uncleanness.
We need not be curious in explaining these laws; but have
reason to be thankful that we need fear no defilement
except that of sin
nor
need ceremonial and burdensome purifications. These laws remind us that God
sees all things
even those which escape the notice of men. The great gospel
duties of faith and repentance are here signified
and the great gospel
privileges of the application of Christ's blood to our souls for our
justification
and his grace for our sanctification.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Leviticus》
Leviticus 15
Verse 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.
A running issue —
Commonly called the running of the reins
a grievous and loathsome disease
which is generally the consequence of sin.
Verse 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.
His flesh be stopped — That is
if it have run
and be stopped in great measure
either by the
grossness of the humour
or by some obstructions that it cannot run freely.
Verse 7
[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.
The flesh — That
is
any part of his body.
Verse 11
[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.
And hath not rinsed —
That is
the person touched
to whom the washing of his hands is prescribed
if
speedily done; but if that was neglected
a more laborious course was enjoined.
Verse 13
[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.
When he is cleansed —
When his issue hath wholly ceased.
Verse 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.
An atonement —
Not as if this was in itself a sin
but only a punishment of sin; though
oft-times it was sinful
as being a fruit of intemperance.
Verse 18
[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.
A man —
Or
The man
that had such an issue
which is plainly to be understood out of
the whole context. For though in some special cases relating to the worship of
God
men were to forbear the use of the marriage-bed
yet to affirm that the
use of it in other cases did generally defile the persons
and make them
unclean till even
is contrary to the whole current of scripture
which affirms
the marriage-bed to be undefiled
Hebrews 13:4
to the practice of the Jews
which
is a good comment upon their own laws
and to the light of nature and reason.
Verse 19
[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.
And if a woman —
Heb. And a woman when she shall have an issue of blood
and her issue shalt be
in her flesh
that is
in her secret parts
as flesh is taken
Leviticus 15:2. So it notes her monthly disease.
Put apart —
Not out of the camp
but from converse with her husband and others
and from
access to the house of God.
Seven days —
For sometimes it continues so long; and it was decent to allow some time for
purification after the ceasing of her issue.
Whosoever toucheth her — Of grown persons. For the infant
to whom in that case she might give
suck
was exempted from this pollution by the greater law of necessity
and by
that antecedent law which required women to give suck to their own children.
Verse 24
[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.
Seven days — If
he did this ignorantly; but if the man and woman did this knowingly
being
accused and convicted
they were punished with death
Leviticus 20:18
for as there was a turpitude in
the action
so it was very prejudicial to the children then begotten
who were
commonly weak
or leprous; which was also an injury to the commonwealth of Israel
and redounded to the dishonour of God and of the true religion
that the
professors thereof gave such public evidence of their intemperance.
Verse 28
[28] But
if she be cleansed of her issue
then she shall number to herself seven days
and after that she shall be clean.
Seven days —
From the stopping of her issue. And this was for trial
whether it was only a
temporary obstruction
or a real cessation.
Verse 31
[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.
When they defile my tabernacle — Both ceremonially
by coming into it in their uncleanness
and morally
by the contempt of God's express command to cleanse themselves. The grand reason
of all these laws was
to separate the children of Israel from their
uncleanness. Hereby they were taught their privilege and honour
that they were
purified unto God
a peculiar people; for that was a defilement to them
which
was not so to others. They were also taught their duty
which was to keep
themselves clean from all pollutions.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on
Leviticus》
15 Chapter 15
Verses 2-33
Because of his issue he is unclean.
Human nature 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.)
Secret uncleanness
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.)
Purity required
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.)
Cleanliness a religious dut
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.)
The secret flow of sin from the natural heart
typified in the
running issue
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 Leviticus 15:4 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 (verse 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 (verse 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 (verse 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 (verse 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 (verse 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 (verse 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 (verse 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.)
Atonement required for secret sins
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” (Psalms 51:6). (A. A. Bonar.)
Impurity a contagious evil
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; Ephesians 5:12; Colossians 3:8). (W. Clarkson.)
Beware of contact with sinful persons
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 (Sirach 13:1)
and thus the apostle
commands (1 Timothy 5:22). (Biblioth. Bibl.)
Plain speaking on the subject of purity
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.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》