The Law Concerning Bodily Discharges
”And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean. And this shall be his uncleanness in regard to his discharge—whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body is stopped up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness. Every bed is unclean on which he who has the discharge lies, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean.
And whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. He who sits on anything on which he who has the discharge sat shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. And he who touches the body of him who has the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. If he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
Any saddle on which he who has the discharge rides shall be unclean. Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until evening. He who carries any of those things shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. And whomever the one who has the discharge touches, and has not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. The vessel of earth that he who has the discharge touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.
‘And when he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe his body in running water; then he shall be clean. On the eighth day he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and come before the Lord, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and give them to the priest. Then the priest shall offer them, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord because of his discharge.
‘If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall wash all his body in water, and be unclean until evening. And any garment and any leather on which there is semen, it shall be washed with water, and be unclean until evening. Also, when a woman lies with a man, and there is an emission of semen, they shall bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
‘If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she shall be set apart seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. Everything that she lies on during her impurity shall be unclean; also everything that she sits on shall be unclean. Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. And whoever touches anything that she sat on shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. If anything is on her bed or on anything on which she sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening. And if any man lies with her at all, so that her impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.
‘If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, other than at the time of her customary impurity, or if it runs beyond her usual time of impurity, all the days of her unclean discharge shall be as the days of her customary impurity. She shall be unclean. Every bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed of her impurity; and whatever she sits on shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her impurity. Whoever touches those things shall be unclean; he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ‘But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. And on the eighth day she shall take for
herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then the priest shall offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for her before the Lord for the discharge of her uncleanness.
‘Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness when they defile My tabernacle that is among them. This is the law for one who has a discharge, and for him who emits semen and is unclean thereby, and for her who is indisposed because of her customary impurity, and for one who has a discharge, either man or woman, and for him who lies with her who is unclean.’ ”
God is infinitely practical, and He knows that His people are going to develop various kinds of discharges. The rules for men and women are basically the same. If anybody with a discharge touches anything, that object must be considered as unclean. Those having chronic discharges are barred from entering the temple or going out into society so that they won’t infect anyone. Anybody touching a contaminated object must wash and be considered unclean until evening.
Men having sex with a woman with a discharge will be considered unclean. Women with discharges will be unclean until the discharge stops. Once a discharge stops, the patient is to wash and count seven days. On the eighth day, the patient is to offer a sacrifice; two turtle doves or two young pigeons. One bird will be sacrificed and the blood used to anoint the patient while the second bird will be set free as a symbol of the patient being freed from the curse of the discharge.
APPLICATION: Reading these regulations, we might wonder what happens if someone has a discharge and never gets healed. On the other hand, what potential danger would such individuals pose to those around them? Without any antibiotics, someone with a bad case of running sores from staphylococcus could spread their illness to untold numbers of others in crowded places such as the market, worship services, etc. Ask any school nurse how quickly impetigo can race through an entire classroom or even through an entire school!
Luke 8:43-48 tells the story of a woman with a chronic discharge who had already suffered for twelve years when she saw Jesus passing. This poor woman had spent all her money and was still a social outcast. Taking courage, this lady crawled close to Jesus, touching the hem of his garment. Immediately, the lady was healed and Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. Jesus encouraged the woman to go her way because her faith had made her well. Presumably, after the healing, the lady went on to the priests and underwent the rituals described here.
These days, patients with discharges no longer are social outcasts, nor do we still need to make sacrifices for healing. But there are still arguments for some forms of isolation in certain illnesses such as meningitis, pneumonia, TB, etc. Once more we realize that God is giving His people rules so that they can remain as healthy as possible. This is the same God who promises to give us “a hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11) Let us follow Him!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Thank You that it is Your perfect will for us to be healthy. Help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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