Leviticus 15: Uncleanness and the LORD's tabernacle
Begin in prayer
Before you read Leviticus 15, where God teaches Israel how bodily discharges cause uncleanness so they will not defile His tabernacle among them, bow your heads. Ask the Lord to show us Jesus, whose touch heals the unclean.
I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, by which they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, by which they have sinned against me, and by which they have transgressed against me.
Jeremiah 33:8
Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us how Your holy dwelling stood in the midst of Israel, and lead us to trust Jesus, who cleanses our hearts and makes His people God's temple. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.
See where we're going
In Leviticus 15 the LORD speaks to Moses and Aaron about bodily discharges in men and women. When a man has a discharge from his body, he is ceremonially unclean, along with every bed or seat he uses. Anyone who touches his bed, seat or body must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and stay unclean until evening. When the man is healed, he counts seven days, bathes in running water, and brings two birds on the eighth day. Next, verses 16 to 24 give the rules for washing until evening after emissions and during a woman's seven-day period. When a woman is healed of a long discharge of blood, she also counts seven days and brings two birds. Finally, verse 31 gives the reason for all these laws, so Israel will not die by defiling the LORD's tabernacle among them.
As you read Leviticus 15, look for the answers:
- What must a healed man or woman do during the seven days and on the eighth day? (verses 13 to 15 and 28 to 30)
- What happens to a clay pot that an unclean man touches, and what happens to a wooden vessel? (verse 12)
- Why does the LORD say in verse 31 that the children of Israel must be separated from their uncleanness?
Reflect together
Key truth
God's holy dwelling among His people requires cleansing, which Christ gives once for all.
Leviticus 15 closes the purity laws of chapters 11 to 15, and verse 31 gives the key to all of them. God separated Israel “so they will not die in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is among them” (verse 31). Think of those words, “my tabernacle that is among them.” The holy God pitched His tent in the midst of a frail, dying people. These bodily flows were ceremonial uncleanness, not moral sins, and verse 18 also touches marriage, which God honors (Hebrews 13 verse 4). Both men and women were cleansed on the eighth day by the exact same two birds (verses 14, 15, 29 and 30). When the woman with a twelve-year flow of blood touched Jesus' cloak, His power healed her at once (Mark 5 verses 25 to 34).
How does Leviticus 15 show us that God's holy dwelling among His people requires cleansing, which Christ gives once for all?
Uncleanness spreads to beds, seats and clay pots, requiring washing until evening.
When a man or a woman had a discharge, every bed and seat they used became unclean (verses 4, 20 and 26). Anyone who touched those things washed his clothes, bathed in water, and stayed “unclean until the evening” (verses 5 to 11). A clay pot touched by the man was broken, while a wooden vessel was rinsed (verse 12). Repeated washings that lasted only until evening showed that water alone could never take away inward defilement.
Men and women alike are cleansed on the eighth day through two birds.
When a man or a woman was healed of a discharge, each counted seven days and washed (verses 13 and 28). On the eighth day each brought “two turtledoves, or two young pigeons” so the priest could make atonement (verses 14 and 29). In Mark 5 verses 25 to 34, Jesus healed the woman with a twelve-year flow of blood when she touched His cloak.
God separates Israel from uncleanness because His tabernacle is among them.
Verse 31 warns Israel “so they will not die in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.” The holy God dwelt in the midst of Israel, so uncleanness could never be treated lightly. Through Jesus' blood and the Spirit, God cleanses His people to be His temple (Hebrews 10 verse 22, Titus 3 verse 5).
Memorise
Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, so they will not die in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.
Leviticus 15:31
Looking to Jesus in my life
Ask yourself in your heart, have I come to Jesus in faith to be healed and washed clean?
In Leviticus 15, a running discharge made every bed and seat unclean, requiring washing and the eighth-day sacrifice of two birds. Why did God give all these rules? Verse 31 answers, “so they will not die in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.”
Under the old law, touching an unclean person made the clean person unclean until evening. Yet in Mark 5 verses 25 to 34, a woman who had bled for twelve years came through the crowd and touched Jesus' cloak. Instead of her uncleanness defiling Jesus, His holiness and power healed her at once, and He called her Daughter. Our sin is a fountain of uncleanness inside our hearts that no bath can wash away, and dying in our sin brings eternal judgment. So Jesus went to the cross, died in His people's place, and shed His blood to cleanse them. God raised Him on the third day, and His blood makes His people clean once for all.
Do not stay away in shame or trust outward washings. Come to Jesus today, turn from your sin, and reach out to Him in faith. Everyone who trusts Christ is forgiven, washed clean, and given peace with God.
Parent's note
Tell your children that sin comes from our hearts, and only Jesus washes us clean so we do not die in sin. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.
Pray together
Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that when sinners reach out to Jesus in faith, His blood and Spirit wash them clean forever, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.
not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
Titus 3:5
Father in heaven, thank You that You desire to dwell among Your people, and that You did not leave us to die in our uncleanness. Thank You that Jesus healed the woman who touched His garment and shed His blood on the cross to wash sinners clean. Please forgive our sins, renew our hearts by Your Holy Spirit, and dwell with us this week. Amen.