These laws weren’t about shame. They were about boundaries, timing, and rest.
Why These Laws?
Bodily issue commandments (Leviticus 12, 15) address what happens when something that belongs inside the body moves outside.
This includes:
- Blood
- Semen
- Menstrual flow
- Disease-related discharges
- Afterbirth
The laws do not call these things “sinful.”
They call them unclean—meaning temporarily set apart.
Why?
Because life belongs to God.
And anything connected to life leaving the body matters.
What Did They Require?
Most of these commandments required:
- Waiting a certain number of days
- Washing with water
- Bringing an offering (in some cases)
- Honoring sacred space by not entering during impurity
These weren’t punishments.
They were acts of reverence for how God made the body.
Even the loss of blood was treated with weight—because life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11).
What It Reveals About Jesus
Jesus didn’t ignore these laws.
He fulfilled them with compassion.
He touched the woman with the issue of blood (Luke 8:43–48),
restoring her physically and spiritually.
He honored the temple structure—yet brought healing that would one day write the law on hearts.
These laws weren’t canceled.
They were transfigured—pointing to cleansing that comes through Him.
What It Means Today
We’re not in the temple.
We’re not under Levitical system law.
But the principles still echo:
- Respect the body
- Honor life
- Treat impurity with reverence
- Recognize that holiness has structure
God doesn’t divide spiritual and physical life.
He builds order into both.
Scripture to Revisit:
Leviticus 12
Leviticus 15
Leviticus 17:11
Luke 8:43–48
Mark 5:25–34
Hebrews 10:22
1 Thessalonians 4:3–4
Romans 6:13
1 Corinthians 6:19–20
Behind the Narrow Gate 