Bodily Discharges From a Woman
October 29, 2022
Commentary
This passage dealing with women (vv. 19-33) is very similar to that dealing with men in the previous passage. It deals with the normal, natural monthly menstrual flow of women. Again, there is no implication here that there is anything morally wrong about this function. But the symbolic significance is the same and in each case the cleansing is done exactly the same – washing, being unclean until evening, and the offering of a sacrifice of blood which would cleanse and thus take away the defilement involved.
When a woman has a monthly period, she remains unclean for seven days (v. 19) and anything or person she touches is also unclean (vv. 20-24). Also any woman who has a flow of blood outside of her monthly period will be unclean until it stops (vv. 25-27). Seven days after the woman gets well, she will be considered clean (v. 28). On the eighth day, she must bring either two doves or two pigeons to the front of the sacred tent and give them to a priest (v. 29). He will offer one of the birds as a sacrifice for sin and the other as a sacrifice to please Him; then He will consider the woman completely clean (v. 30). When any of you are unclean, you must stay away from the rest of the community of Israel. Otherwise, the sacred tent will become unclean, and the whole nation will die (v. 31).
These are the things you men must do if you become unclean because of an infected vessel or have a flow of semen (vv. 32-33). And these are the things you women must do when you become unclean either because of your monthly period or an unusual flow of blood.
Application
Since Jesus death on the cross for my sins I do not receive cleansing for what I do or don’t do physically. All I need to do is confess my sins and He will immediately forgive me and cleanse me (I John 1:9).
Leviticus 15:19– 33 (NET)
19 “‘When a woman has a discharge and her discharge is blood from her body, she is to be in her menstruation seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening. 20 Anything she lies on during her menstruation will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean. 21 Anyone who touches her bed must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 22 Anyone who touches any furniture she sits on must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 23 If there is something on the bed or on the furniture she sits on, when he touches it he will be unclean until evening, 24 and if a man actually goes to bed with her so that her menstrual impurity touches him, then he will be unclean seven days and any bed he lies on will be unclean.
25 “‘When a woman’s discharge of blood flows many days not at the time of her menstruation, or if it flows beyond the time of her menstruation, all the days of her discharge of impurity will be like the days of her menstruation—she is unclean. 26 Any bed she lies on all the days of her discharge will be to her like the bed of her menstruation, any furniture she sits on will be unclean like the impurity of her menstruation, 27 and anyone who touches them will be unclean, and he must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
28 “‘If she becomes clean from her discharge, then she is to count off for herself seven days, and afterward she will be clean. 29 Then on the eighth day she must take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons and she must bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, 30 and the priest is to make one a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. So the priest is to make atonement for her before the Lord from her discharge of impurity.
31 “‘Thus you are to set the Israelites apart from their impurity so that they do not die in their impurity by defiling my tabernacle which is in their midst. 32 This is the law for the one with a discharge: for the one who has a seminal emission and becomes unclean by it, 33 for the one who is sick in her menstruation, for the one with a discharge, whether male or female, and for a man who goes to bed with an unclean woman.’”
Illustration: Why Didn’t The Pastor Just Spank Him
A three-year-old daughter, at a baptismal service, asked her parents, “Why did the pastor push that guy in the water?’ The wife tried to explain briefly and quietly, but the little girl just wouldn’t be satisfied. Later that night she tried to provide an answer that a child’s mind could comprehend. She talked about sin and told her that when people decide to live for Jesus and ‘do good’ they want everyone to know. The dad then explained that water symbolizes Jesus’ washing people from sin; when they come out ‘clean,’ they are going to try to be ‘good.’ A moment later, they realized they would have to work on their explanation when she immediately responded with this question, ‘Why didn’t the Pastor just spank him?’” (Source unknown)