Leviticus 15:13–15
The Bible4Jesus.com Podcast
About this episode
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. 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.