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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>L E V I T C U S</B></FONT>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XV.</FONT>
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<P>
In this chapter we have laws concerning other ceremonial uncleannesses
contracted either by bodily disease like that of the leper, or some
natural incidents, and this either,
I. In men,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+15:1-18">ver. 1-18</A>.
Or,
II. In women,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+15:19-33">ver. 19-33</A>.
We need not be at all curious in explaining these antiquated laws, it
is enough if we observe the general intention; but we have need to be
very cautious lest sin take occasion by the commandment to become more
exceedingly sinful; and exceedingly sinful it is when lust is kindled
by sparks of fire from God's altar. The case is bad with the soul when
it is putrefied by that which should purify it.</P>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Ceremonial Purification.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1490.</TD></TR>
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<P>
<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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, <I>because of</I> his
issue he <I>is</I> 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 <I>is</I> 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 <I>himself</I> in water, and be unclean until the even.
6 And he that sitteth on <I>any</I> thing whereon he sat that hath
the issue shall wash his clothes, and bathe <I>himself</I> 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 <I>himself</I> 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 <I>himself</I> 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 <I>any of</I> those things
shall wash his clothes, and bathe <I>himself</I> 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
<I>himself</I> 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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> unto the door of
the tabernacle of the congregation, and give them unto the
priest:
15 And the priest shall offer them, the one <I>for</I> a sin
offering, and the other <I>for</I> a burnt offering; and the priest
shall make an atonement for him before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> for his issue.
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.
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 <I>with</I> seed of
copulation, they shall <I>both</I> bathe <I>themselves</I> in water, and be
unclean until the even.
</FONT></P>
<P>
We have here the law concerning the ceremonial uncleanness that was
contracted by running issues in men. It is called in the margin
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+15:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>)
the <I>running of the reins:</I> a very grievous and loathsome disease,
which was, usually the effect and consequent of wantonness and
uncleanness, and a dissolute course of life, filling men's bones with
the sins of their youth, and leaving them to mourn at the last, when
all the pleasures of their wickedness have vanished, and nothing
remains but the pain and anguish of a rotten carcase and a wounded
conscience. And what fruit has the sinner then of those things whereof
he has so much reason to be ashamed?
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+6:21">Rom. vi. 21</A>.
As modesty is <I>an ornament of grace to the head and chains about the
neck,</I> so chastity is <I>health to the navel and marrow to the
bones;</I> but uncleanness is a <I>wound and dishonour,</I> the
consumption of the flesh and the body, and a sin which is often its own
punishment more than any other. It was also sometimes inflicted by the
righteous hand of God for other sins, as appears by David's imprecation
of a curse upon the family of Joab, for the murder of Abner.
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+3:29">2 Sam. iii. 29</A>,
<I>Let there not fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue, or
is a leper.</I> A vile disease for vile deserts. Now whoever had this
disease upon him,
1. He was himself unclean,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+15:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
He must not dare to come near the sanctuary, it was at his peril if he
did, nor might he eat of the holy things. This signified the filthiness
of sin, and of all the productions of our corrupt nature, which render
us odious to God's holiness, and utterly unfit for communion with him.
Out of a pure heart well kept are the issues of life
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+4:23">Prov. iv. 23</A>),
but out of an unclean heart comes that which is defiling,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+12:34,35">Matt. xii. 34, 35</A>.
2. He made every person and thing unclean that he touched, or that
touched him,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+15:4-12"><I>v.</I> 4-12</A>.
His bed, and his chair, and his saddle, and every thing that belonged
to him, could not be touched without a ceremonial uncleanness
contracted, which a man must remain conscious to himself of till
sunset, and from which he could not be cleansed without washing his
clothes, and bathing his flesh in water. This signified the contagion
of sin, the danger we are in of being polluted by conversing with those
that are polluted, and the need we have with the utmost circumspection
to <I>save ourselves from this untoward generation.</I>
3. When he was cured of the disease, yet he could not be cleansed from
the pollution without a sacrifice, for which he was to prepare himself
by seven days' expectation after he was perfectly clear from his
distemper, and by bathing in spring water,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+15:13-15"><I>v.</I> 13-15</A>.
This signified the great gospel duties of faith and repentance, and the
great gospel privileges of the application of Christ's blood to our
souls for our justification and his grace for our sanctification. God
has promised to sprinkle clean water upon us, and to cleanse us from
all our filthiness, and has appointed us by repentance to wash and make
ourselves clean: he has also provided a sacrifice of atonement, and
requires us by faith to interest ourselves in that sacrifice; for it is
<I>the blood of Christ his Son that cleanses us from all sin,</I> and
by which atonement is made for us, that we may have admission into
God's presence and may partake of his favour.</P>
<A NAME="Le15_19"> </A>
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<P>
<FONT SIZE=+1>19 And if a woman have an issue, <I>and</I> 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 <I>himself</I> in water, and be unclean until the even.
22 And whosoever toucheth any thing that she sat upon shall
wash his clothes, and bathe <I>himself</I> in water, and be unclean
until the even.
23 And if it <I>be</I> on <I>her</I> 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 <I>shall be</I> 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 <I>himself</I> 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 turtles,
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 <I>for</I> a sin offering, and
the other <I>for</I> a burnt offering; and the priest shall make an
atonement for her before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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 <I>is</I> among them.
32 This <I>is</I> the law of him that hath an issue, and <I>of him</I>
whose seed goeth from him, and is defiled therewith;
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.
</FONT></P>
<P>
This is concerning the ceremonial uncleanness which women lay under
from their issues, both those that were regular and healthful, and
according to the course of nature
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+15:19-24"><I>v.</I> 19-24</A>),
and those that were unseasonable, excessive, and the disease of the
body; such was the bloody issue of that poor woman who was suddenly
cured by touching the hem of Christ's garment, after she had lain
twelve years under her distemper, and had spent her estate upon
physicians and physic in vain. This made the woman that was afflicted
with it unclean
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+15:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>)
and every thing she touched unclean,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+15:26,27"><I>v.</I> 26, 27</A>.
And if she was cured, and found by seven days' trial that she was
perfectly free from her issue of blood, she was to be cleansed by the
offering of two turtle-doves or two young pigeons, to make an atonement
for her,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+15:28,29"><I>v.</I> 28, 29</A>.
All wicked courses, particularly idolatries, are compared to the
uncleanness of a <I>removed woman</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+36:17">Ezek. xxxvi. 17</A>),
and, in allusion to this, it is said of Jerusalem
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+1:9">Lam. i. 9</A>),
<I>Her filthiness is in her skirts,</I> so that (as it follows,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+15:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>)
she was shunned as a menstruous woman.</P>
<P>
I. The reasons given for all these laws (which we are ready to think
might very well have been spared) we have,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+15:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>.
1. <I>Thus shall you separate the children of Israel</I> (for to them
only and their servants and proselytes these laws pertained) <I>from
their uncleanness;</I> that is,
(1.) By these laws they were taught their privilege and honour, that
they were <I>purified unto God a peculiar people,</I> and were intended
by the holy God for a kingdom of priests, a holy nation; for that was a
defilement to them which was not so to others.
(2.) They were also taught their duty, which was to preserve the honour
of their purity, and to keep themselves from all sinful pollutions. It
was easy for them to argue that if those pollutions which were natural,
unavoidable, involuntary, their affliction and not their sin, rendered
them for the time so odious that they were not fit for communion either
with God or man, much more abominable and filthy were they if they
sinned against the light and law of nature, by drunkenness, adultery,
fraud, and the like sins, which defile the very mind and conscience.
And, if these ceremonial pollutions could not be done away but by
sacrifice and offering, something greater and much more valuable must
be expected and depended upon for the purifying of the soul from the
uncleanness of sin.
2. Thus their dying in their uncleanness by the hand of God's justice,
if while they were under any of these defilements they should come near
the sanctuary, would be prevented. Note, It is a dangerous thing to die
in our uncleanness; and it is our own fault if we do, since we have not
only fair warning given us, by God's law, against those things that
will defile us, but also such gracious provision made by his gospel for
our cleansing if at any time we be defiled.
3. In all these laws there seems to be a special regard had to the
honour of the tabernacle, to which none must approach in their
uncleanness, that they <I>defile not my tabernacle.</I> Infinite Wisdom
took this course to preserve in the minds of that careless people a
continual dread of, and veneration for, the manifestations of God's
glory and presence among them in his sanctuary. Now that the
tabernacle of God was with men familiarity would be apt to breed
contempt, and therefore the law made so many things of frequent
incidence to be ceremonial pollutions, and to involve an incapacity of
drawing near to the sanctuary (making death the penalty), that so they
might not approach without great caution, and reverence, and serious
preparation, and fear of being found unfit. Thus they were taught
never to draw near to God but with an awful humble sense of their
distance and danger, and an exact observance of every thing that was
required in order to their safety and acceptance.</P>
<P>
II. And what duty must we learn from all this?
1. Let us bless God that we are not under the yoke of these carnal
ordinances, that, as nothing can destroy us, so nothing can defile us,
but sin. Those may now partake of the Lord's supper who durst not then
eat of the peace-offerings. And the defilement we contract by our sins
of daily infirmity we may be cleansed from in secret by the renewed
acts of repentance and faith, without bathing in water or bringing an
offering to the door of the tabernacle.
2. Let us carefully abstain from all sin, as defiling to the
conscience, and particularly from all fleshly lusts, <I>possessing our
vessel in sanctification and honour, and not in the lusts of
uncleanness,</I> which not only pollute the soul, but <I>war against
it,</I> and threaten its ruin.
3. Let us all see how indispensably necessary real holiness is to our
future happiness, and get our hearts purified by faith, that we may see
God. Perhaps it is in allusion to these laws which forbade the unclean
to approach the sanctuary that when it is asked, <I>Who shall stand in
God's holy place?</I> it is answered, <I>He that hath clean hands and a
pure heart</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+24:3,4">Ps. xxxiv. 3, 4</A>);
for <I>without holiness no man shall see the Lord.</I></P>
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