Leviticus 15:1

The Bible says in Leviticus 15:1-15, “And the LORD spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying,[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.[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.[4] Every bed, whereon he lieth that hath the issue, is unclean: and every thing, whereon he sitteth, shall be unclean.[5] And whosoever toucheth his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.[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.[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.[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.[9] And what saddle soever he rideth upon that hath the issue shall be unclean.[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.[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.[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.[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.[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:[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.” In the previous two chapters we were told a lot of things about leprosy: various types of diseases of the skin. Now the people of the law are being told about health problems that have to do with sores on the skin that have some kind of discharge. These also symbolize sin. Sin is a disease: a disease of the soul. And so these visual problems with the body symbolize the ugly nature of sin. It is also true that some of these sores could have been contagious such as a result of an infection, and it was good medical practice to carefully clean these sores, and the clothes, and anything that was touched, and anything that could have been contaminated. Sin spreads easily from one person to another. Make sure you understand the Biblical principle of separation from those who are living in sin.

The Bible says in Leviticus 15:16-33, “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.[17] And every garment, and every skin, whereon is the seed of copulation, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the even.[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.[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.[20] And every thing that she lieth upon in her separation shall be unclean: every thing also that she sitteth upon shall be unclean.[21] And whosoever toucheth her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.[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.[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.[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.[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.[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.[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.[28] But if she be cleansed of her issue, then she shall number to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean.[29] And on the eighth day she shall take unto her two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and bring them unto the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.[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.[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.” The verses in Leviticus chapter 15 make it clear that any fluid or discharge that comes out of a man or a woman was to be considered unclean. The spiritual message here is clear: that which comes out of a person defiles them and not that which goes into them. Jesus taught the same thing when He gave the parable of human waste. Jesus said in Matthew 15:17, “Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? [18] But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.” That which comes out of the body is unclean. This symbolizes the sinful words and thoughts that come out of the heart of man. It is not what goes into us that defiles us, but what comes out of us. Even human waste and other outflows from the body have a spiritual meaning to them to remind us how sinful we are.

The Bible says in Leviticus 16:1-10, “And the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died;[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.[3] Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.[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.[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.[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.[7] And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.[8] And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat.[9] And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.[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.” Notice the phrase in verse one: “And the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron.” One of the worse sufferings in life is to lose a child. Moses lost two sons at the same time. Why did Moses lose them? God took them. God is God. God decides when each of us leaves this earth. As it says in Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” How do you get over losing a loved one? Do what Moses did: hear from God and serve God. Moses’ sons died, but Moses did not. That is because God still had something for Moses to do. Hear from God and His Word, and serve God. That is one sure way to be sustained the right way even after such a loss.

Notice that verse two speaks of “the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat.” The mercy seat within the vail symbolized the presence of God. The high priest could only go through the vail once a year, showing that there was very limited access to God when the people were under the law. When Jesus died on the cross, the vail in the temple was rent in two. This tearing of the vail symbolized that because of the death of Christ, full access to the presence of God is made available to everyone. It says in Hebrews 10:19-20, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, [20] By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.” What happened to the veil? It was ripped and torn. What happened to the body of Christ? It was ripped and torn by the cat of nine tails, the thorns on His brow, the pulling out of His beard, the nails driven into the hands and feet, and the sword that pierced His side. And what a great accomplishment was made when Jesus did the will of the Father and accepted the torture: total and complete and never-ending access to the very presence of God for everyone who wants it.

In verses seven through ten we see with the two goats the same thing that we saw earlier with two birds that were sacrificed: one is killed but the other is set free. Jesus is the One who was killed, and we who believe on Him are the ones who are set free. And what a great freedom that He has given to us: free from guilt, free from condemnation, free from the evil that would overtake us in this life, and free from hell.

The Bible says in Leviticus 16:11-17, “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:[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:[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:[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.[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:[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.[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.” This describes what the priest did under the law on the day of atonement, and so this took place once a year. We see the need for blood if there is to be forgiveness of sins. We see the need for a priest to kill the sacrifice and to bring the blood into the holiest place. We also see how much better the New Testament (covenant) is compared to the Old Testament (covenant). The day of atonement had to be repeated year after year, but Jesus died once for all forever. The priest was a sinner and had to have an atonement for his own sins too, but Jesus was the sinless Lamb of God. The Day of Atonement took place in the temple on the earth, but Jesus entered into heaven with His blood into the presence of the Father. In the Old Testament the priest was a human being who died and was replaced by another human being, but Jesus is our High Priest who is the Son of God and lives forever to make intercession for us.

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