The Gospel According to Leaks: Leviticus 15:13-15
Introduction: Our Sanitary Obsessions
We live in a world that is obsessed with cleanliness. We have hand sanitizer dispensers at every corner, antibacterial wipes for our shopping carts, and a cultural phobia of germs that would have baffled our ancestors. And yet, for all our sterile surfaces and hygienic routines, we are a people who are profoundly unclean. Our problem is not a matter of microbes, but of morals. We are meticulous about washing our hands but have no problem with filth pouring out of our hearts and mouths. We are like the Pharisees Jesus rebuked, who washed the outside of the cup while the inside was full of greed and self-indulgence.
The book of Leviticus, and particularly a chapter like this one, strikes the modern reader as bizarre. It is full of detailed regulations about bodily discharges, mildew, and skin diseases. Our temptation is to dismiss it as part of a primitive purity code that we have thankfully outgrown, perhaps with some basic hygiene principles thrown in. But to do so is to miss the entire point. God is not giving Israel a manual on public health, though His laws certainly had that beneficial effect. He is teaching them, and us, about the nature of holiness, the pervasiveness of sin, and the absolute necessity of atonement. These laws are a giant, acted-out object lesson. They are gospel shadows.
The central issue in Leviticus is how a holy God can dwell in the midst of an unholy people without consuming them. The answer is found in the system of purity and sacrifice. Uncleanness, in the Levitical sense, is not necessarily sin. A man with a discharge or a woman after childbirth has not necessarily committed a sinful act. Rather, these conditions are potent symbols of our fallenness. They represent the brokenness, decay, and mortality that entered the world through sin. Bodily discharges are a picture of life leaking out, a reminder that we are creatures of dust, sprung from a corrupted stock. They are a tangible sign that we are not whole, and therefore cannot approach a whole and holy God on our own terms.
This chapter forces us to confront the fact that our uncleanness is not just about the big, rebellious sins we commit. It is woven into the very fabric of our fallen existence. We leak. We decay. We are mortal. And this mortal corruption makes us unfit for the presence of the immortal God. The rituals for cleansing, therefore, are not about getting rid of germs; they are about being restored to fellowship. They are a picture of salvation, pointing forward to the one who would not just make us clean, but make us new.
The Text
‘Now when the man with the discharge becomes cleansed from his discharge, then he shall count off for himself seven days for his cleansing; he shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in running water and will become clean. Then on the eighth day he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons and come before Yahweh to the doorway of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest; and the priest shall offer them, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf before Yahweh because of his discharge.’
(Leviticus 15:13-15 LSB)
The Process of Restoration (v. 13)
We begin with the first step after the physical ailment has ceased.
"‘Now when the man with the discharge becomes cleansed from his discharge, then he shall count off for himself seven days for his cleansing; he shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in running water and will become clean.’" (Leviticus 15:13)
The first thing to notice is that the man's healing is a prerequisite for his cleansing. God is the one who stops the discharge. The man does not heal himself. This is a picture of grace. Our spiritual healing, our regeneration, is a sovereign act of God. We do not initiate it. He does. Only after God has acted can the man begin the process of ceremonial cleansing.
He must then count seven days. Seven is the number of perfection and completion in Scripture. It signifies the completion of a cycle. This waiting period was a time of observation, to ensure the healing was genuine and complete. But more than that, it was a liturgical act. It taught the man, and all of Israel, that restoration to the covenant community is not instantaneous or casual. Uncleanness is a serious matter, and the path back to fellowship is a deliberate, God-ordained process. You don't just wander back into the camp after being defiled. You must follow the prescribed path.
After the seven days, he is to wash his clothes and bathe his body in "running water." The Hebrew is literally "living water." This is not a stagnant pool. It is fresh, moving water from a spring or river. The symbolism is potent. Stagnant water is a picture of death and corruption. Living water is a picture of life, freshness, and divine provision. This is a physical enactment of what God promises to do for His people spiritually. Through the prophet Ezekiel, God says, "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness" (Ezekiel 36:25). Jesus picks up this very imagery when He speaks to the woman at the well, offering her "living water" that would become in her a spring of water welling up to eternal life (John 4:10). This washing is a type, a shadow, of the cleansing we receive through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5).
The Day of New Beginnings (v. 14)
After the week of waiting and washing, the man comes to the tabernacle on a very significant day.
"Then on the eighth day he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons and come before Yahweh to the doorway of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest;" (Leviticus 15:14 LSB)
The eighth day. This is not arbitrary. Throughout Scripture, the eighth day is the day of new beginnings, the day of resurrection and new creation. The seventh day completes the old week of creation; the eighth day begins the new one. Male infants were to be circumcised on the eighth day, marking their entrance into the covenant community (Genesis 17:12). And most significantly, our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week, which is the eighth day, inaugurating the new creation. This man, having been cleansed from his state of symbolic death and decay, is brought back into the life of the covenant community on the day of new creation. His restoration is a mini-resurrection.
He is to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons. This is the offering of the poor. A wealthier man might bring a lamb, but God makes provision for everyone to be able to approach Him. This tells us that access to God is not based on economic status. The blood of two birds is just as effective for atonement as the blood of a bull, because the efficacy is not in the animal, but in the faith that looks through the animal to the promise it represents. We see this same provision made for Mary and Joseph when they presented the infant Jesus at the temple (Luke 2:24). Our Lord came from humble stock, identifying with the poor, and He Himself is the one who makes atonement accessible to all, without price.
He brings this offering "to the doorway of the tent of meeting." He cannot go all the way in. He is still a layman. He must come to the authorized place and interact with God through the authorized mediator, the priest. This reinforces the holiness of God's presence and the necessity of mediation. We do not waltz into God's presence on our own terms. We must come to the "door," who is Christ (John 10:9), and we must come through our great High Priest, who is also Christ (Hebrews 4:14).
The Atonement Accomplished (v. 15)
Finally, the priest performs the climactic act of the ritual.
"and the priest shall offer them, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf before Yahweh because of his discharge." (Leviticus 15:15 LSB)
The two birds have two distinct purposes. One is a sin offering, and the other is a burnt offering. This is crucial. The sin offering deals with the problem of defilement. Its purpose is purification. The blood of the sin offering cleanses the man and the sanctuary from the ritual impurity caused by his condition. It deals with the negative side of things, the removal of the stain.
The burnt offering, or ascension offering, is different. It is about total consecration and devotion to God. The entire animal was consumed on the altar, ascending to God in smoke as a "pleasing aroma." This represents the positive side of reconciliation. It is not enough to simply have our defilement removed; we must also be positively dedicated to God. The burnt offering signifies the man's complete surrender and renewed commitment to walk in fellowship with Yahweh. It is his "all on the altar" moment.
These two offerings find their perfect fulfillment in the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He is our sin offering, whose blood "cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). He purifies us and removes our defilement. But He is also our burnt offering. He offered Himself to the Father in perfect, wholehearted obedience, a life wholly consecrated to God. His sacrifice was a pleasing aroma to the Father (Ephesians 5:2). And when we are united to Him by faith, His cleansing and His consecration are counted as ours. We are not only forgiven, we are accepted and dedicated in the Beloved.
The verse concludes with the central purpose of the entire ritual: "So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf before Yahweh." Atonement means to cover, to pay a ransom, to reconcile. The man's uncleanness had created a breach between him and the holy God. The priestly work, through the shedding of blood, repairs that breach. It covers the offense. It restores fellowship. The man is now officially and publicly declared clean and is welcomed back into the full life of worship and community. His leak has been stopped, his defilement has been covered, and he stands whole before God.
Conclusion: The End of Leaks
So what are we to do with a passage like this? First, we must recognize that we are all the man with the discharge. In our natural state, we are spiritually unclean. We leak sin, selfishness, and rebellion from every pore. Our very nature is corrupted, and we are unfit for the presence of a holy God. Our good works, as Isaiah says, are like a menstruous rag, another image of ritual uncleanness from this very chapter (Isaiah 64:6). We cannot fix our own leak. We cannot cleanse ourselves.
But the good news is that God has provided the cure. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be our great High Priest. Jesus did not avoid the unclean; He moved toward them. He touched the leper, He allowed the bleeding woman to touch Him, and instead of becoming unclean Himself, His wholeness and holiness flowed out, making them clean. He is the source of all "living water."
On the cross, Jesus became the ultimate sin offering and burnt offering. He took all our uncleanness, all our defilement, all our spiritual leakage upon Himself. He absorbed the full consequence of our fallen condition. And on the eighth day, the first day of the new week, He rose from the dead, the firstfruits of the new creation.
Because of His work, the old system of ritual cleansing is fulfilled and set aside. We no longer bring turtledoves to a priest. We bring ourselves to the great High Priest, Jesus. We are washed, not in the Jordan, but in the blood of the Lamb. We are counted clean, not for a time, but forever. The atonement He made was not temporary, but eternal.
This means that when we sin, when we feel the effects of our own brokenness and spiritual leakage, we do not despair. We do not have to wait seven days. We can come immediately to the throne of grace, through our priest, and find mercy. He has already made the perfect atonement for our discharge. And He is not just cleansing us, He is healing us. He is stopping the leak at its source. One day, in the resurrection, we will be given new bodies that do not decay, do not get sick, and do not leak. We will be made perfectly whole, fit to dwell in the presence of the holy God forever. Until that day, we live by faith in the one who has made a perfect atonement for all our uncleanness.