Year 1, Day 104: Leviticus 15

Body Fluid Emissions

Leviticus 15 gives us another look at ritual cleanliness – this chapter being primarily sexual in nature.  At least, those are the ones that I am going to talk about today.  The chapter begins with a discussion on discharges from infections and the like – but I think that is self-explanatory enough that I can get by without touching upon them any more than I already have.

So let’s focus on sexual discharges: semen and menstruation.  Both of these are natural bodily functions.  In the case of males, these discharges can be voluntary or involuntary; with women it is purely involuntary.  But here’s the interesting thing.  These discharges make the follower of God ritually unclean.  That is worthy of note.

You see, I’ve always grown up in a house that said “sex within the marriage is good; sex outside of the marriage is bad.”  I do genuinely think that is true, so don’t think that I am going to argue that.  It’s a godly principle to teach that sex belongs within the confines of marriage.

However, I also don’t think that such a teaching tells us the whole story.  According to this portion of the law, an ejaculation of semen makes a man unclean.  Of course, anyone coming in contact with it or him is also therefore ceremonially unclean – his partner in the act being at the top of the list, usually.

This begs a particular question.  Does this make sex wrong?  Certainly not.  God made us man and woman.  God made us so that through the process of sexual relations our species would continue.  Procreation is part of our design.  However, just because God made the process does not mean that it is incorruptible, either.  God made creation, and humanity has often made a mess of that.  Why should sex be any different for mankind?

I think God’s point in this law is that the process of sexual intercourse is dangerous for humanity.  Yes, it can be enjoyed.  Yes, it does serve a very important purpose in the continuation of the species.  But it also brings us perilously close to the point of acting like the creator. 

It is very easy for us – through the process of sex – to see children as our own creation.  It is very easy for us to feel “like God” when we see our children as “our creation.”  And that is very wrong on so many spiritual levels.  They are not our creation, they are God’s creation. 

Our children are no more “our creation” than is the plant that grows out of the ground because I put the seed into the ground.  The plant grows because God made it grow; I just played a part in God’s creation.  So it is with sex and procreation.  I am not creating in the sexual act; I am playing a role that God created me to play within His creative process.  In all ways God is the creator of our children; the parents are not the creator.

For this reason I think we should be careful how we view sexual relations.  Sex outside the marriage is still sin.  There is no argument of that.  Even sex within the marriage is still capable of corruption.  Sex brings us to the brink of the creative process; sex brings us close to the place where we can feel as though we are God.  That is a very dangerous moment.  In a way, it is analogous to looking into the eyes of God – and we all know how dangerous that can be!

A Lack of Sacrificing

So we see that there are reasons for even marital sexual relations to be seen as something that does make a person ceremonial unclean.  There is no denying that.  But also notice that marital sexual relations are one area in the law where no sacrifice is required!  A simple washing and a time of waiting are all that is needed.

The conclusion from this is simple yet profound.  Sex within marriage is not sin – if it were, it would require a sacrifice to remove the ritual impurity!  Sex within marriage is natural, but something that makes us ceremonial unclean - but not sinful.  The consequence for the ritual impurity of sex is simply “wash and recognize your uncleanliness for the rest of the day.”  This is about as mild of a consequence as you could ever hope for!  So we can see that while sex is something that does make us ceremonially unclean, it is certainly not sinful when used appropriately.

So how do we use this and apply it to life?  Well, let’s recognize that sex is often something that causes us to focus on ourselves and not on God – at least for a time.  In recognizing that truth, perhaps we should also take God’s Law into consideration and recognize that whenever we are going to do something religious during a particular day we might not want to engage in sexual behavior.  That will help to prevent us from slipping into the mode of thinking too much about ourselves.  It will certainly help us from thinking of ourselves as a creator when we should be getting ready to interact with the true Creator as a part of His creation.

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