What Are We to Do With the Clean and the Unclean? PT 3
Do you think women would be offended if I told them to stay home while they were on their period? What if God told them to stay home?
Chances are, the answer is yes, it probably would make women very offended to be told this. Well, that's exactly what God told them to do in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. These practices are considered old and to be valid for some people other than ourselves, but what if they aren't?
As we explored in the previous two posts, everything God gave us in His law was given to us for a reason, and it's up to us to study and learn just what that reason is. Granted, some of those laws pertained to a society governed by a leader who served God, and a people who followed suit. Following those laws and enforcing them is not possible for us as a society or even as an isolated group because we no longer have a society like that, but the principles remain for us as followers of God.
Following God requires a lot of us not just physically. We must have a clean heart and we must be able to distinguish the clean from the unclean. In the previous two posts, we discussed these concepts in depth, though certainly not to the fullest extent they could be explored. Each topic could be an article on its own, but within the context of the larger subject, they can be covered adequately.
If you have been waiting for a deep dive into the individual laws governing the clean and unclean and their spiritual application, I'll have to disappoint you. I'm merely going to go by category rather than each and every individual law. There are hundreds of them and I am sure you have better things to do than read my opinion on each and every one of them. The individual laws do not require a separate explanation at any rate since they can easily be broken down into categories that explain the laws in the category in a broad enough sense to be satisfactory.
The truth is, since we don't have a physical temple, we have no place to bring the physical offerings and sacrifices that go along with most of these ceremonies. While we have no need any longer for physical sacrifices since our Lord Jesus became them once and for all, there is a great deal to these ceremonies and rituals that do not consist of sacrifices and offerings or ritual washings. All the ritual washings and ceremonial uncleanness pointed to one thing: the cleansing of our hearts by the Holy Spirit and the blood of our Savior. These washings and rituals were used to give physical form to an inward process and to teach the people of Israel that they were a Holy people set apart to God. God handed down physical rituals for them to learn how to tell the difference between what is Holy and what is not Holy, and that is a lesson the Church today still very much needs to learn.
2 Timothy 3:16 NKJV — All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
Paul states the obvious when he says that the Scriptures (the Old Testament at this time) are profitable for instruction. That didn't change from Paul's day to ours. If anything, it is even more true in a day and age when so many people reject half the Bible as fulfilled and done away with. One of the most important things you can ever understand about the Bible is that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever and He does not change. The God of judgment and wrath in the Old Testament is still there in the New Testament, which should give us pause and perhaps make us reconsider some life choices. God is merciful and loving, but He does have His limits when it comes to destroying wickedness, as is obvious in scripture.
Does God give different instructions to different people? Does He have different rules for different groups?
The answer should be obvious since that would make God a liar and He cannot lie. There are things God cannot do, and lying is one of them.
Hebrews 6:18 NKJV — that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
We should find this very reassuring since, if we couldn't trust God to always be truthful, we would be pretty lost indeed. The one thing we should be able to trust in as sure and unshakeable is reduced to a quivering scaffold with one leg shorter than the others.
Going off of these simple facts, we can be assured of a couple of very important things. God did not just give His laws and instructions to Israel, and they are still profitable for our learning and instruction, and even more, to order and structure our lives by. He did give them some extra things to do because they broke His covenant, but these things also exist for our instruction.
We are going to go back to Hebrews for a bit since the author deals with the subject of sacrifices and the physical rituals in such an in-depth manner. We are going to stop briefly in chapter six before we hop over to chapter nine where we see the conclusion of what we are looking at with these rituals.
Hebrews 6:1-2 NKJV — Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
It is important to note that baptism is actually translated, and quite appropriately, washings by some translators. Baptism is, after all, what all the washings pointed to in the first place. The takeaway is that washings are listed as one of the elementary principles of Christ, though perhaps it could be argued that baptism completely replaces them. Be that as it may, let's go over to chapter nine.
Hebrews 9:9-10 NKJV — It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience— only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.
Here, in verses 9-10 of chapter six, the author is far less clear than he was earlier regarding doctrines, but the clincher is at the end of the verse. The time of reformation, or restoration, or making all things new is at Christ's return which means we have not yet reached the time of reformation. As we have already covered, fleshly ordinances and washings still exist. If we try to negate washings we run into a pretty significant problem. Baptism is a washing and a fleshly ordinance as are the bread and the wine, singing praises, etc.
When we look at baptism as a washing, we can begin to understand the way things changed with the sacrifice of Christ. There seem to be two types of uncleanness in the Bible that washing was required for. Physical uncleanness and ritual or ceremonial uncleanness. Baptism as the application of the blood of Christ and washing away of sin purifying the heart can easily be seen to take care of and replace the latter, but physical uncleanness is an altogether different matter and one that is not so easily dealt with by a one-time baptism.
The key question that we must answer, and answer across the board with no exceptions, is the question of whether physical matters can make us spiritually unclean or separate us from God. The blood of Jesus has eliminated the need for animal sacrifices, for further blood to be shed on our behalf, and baptism represents the cleansing and restoration of our heart, but what about becoming unclean in a matter that requires us to remain separate from the sanctuary?
We don’t have a sanctuary anymore, but equating the Body of Christ as the new sanctuary doesn’t exactly fit either. It’s not a sanctuary, and any of us can appear before God at any time, unlike those in the Old Testament. The true sanctuary is in God’s throne room and not anywhere here on Earth. Since any of us can appear before God anytime anywhere, this leaves us with the fact that physical uncleanness cannot affect our ability to appear before God.
We must, at this point, revisit the fact that the priestly system has changed. We don't have priests to go present ourselves to for them to decide whether we are unclean or not. We have a whole new system regarding the physical purification laws and the ceremonial purification laws. We can still practice separation after childbirth and during menstrual periods, but physical uncleanness belongs to a physical temple.
Something of interest to notice is that up until the time the temple was destroyed, Paul was still adhering to the ritual purification laws, but if he is the author of Hebrews, we find he has a different viewpoint by that point.
Acts 21:26 KJV — Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.
By the time he wrote Hebrews, Paul fully understood the change in the priestly order, which is one of the main themes of that book. We hardly have any more clear a view on physical uncleanness than when we first began, so let's take a step back. What if we understood the term “reformation or restoration” in a different light?
Trying to make it a point in the future really doesn't make a lot of sense, as I hope it's become clear by this point. We simply can't make that verse about a time in the future and have it fit in with what we are seeing in scripture! The more I study this topic the more it becomes clear that these clean and unclean laws have been restored to what they were originally intended to accomplish: spiritual instruction in spiritual clean and uncleanness. As I said in the beginning of this post, the principles of these laws remain.
Matthew 15:17-20 KJV — Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
Physical uncleanness, or the idea that we can touch, have a sickness, or have our body produce something that prevents us from coming before God, seems to have disappeared with the sacrifice of Jesus. We don't have to worry that petting a cat will prevent us from being able to pray to God!
Hebrews 8:1-13 KJV — Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount. But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
When Israel came out of Egypt, God made a covenant with them, set forth laws and instructions and they agreed to abide by them. They accepted the covenant! Forty days later, they broke and rejected that covenant. “Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.”
God eventually made another covenant with them, but the terms of that covenant changed. God's fundamental laws never changed, but the priestly and ceremonial laws did change.
Exodus 33:7 KJV — And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.
God no longer dwelled in the midst of them because they could not distinguish between the clean and the unclean, or, as we might say it, between what is God's and what is not.
Galatians 3:15-29 KJV — Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Remember, this is the ceremonial law, the law of the priesthood. Well, we are the priesthood, and Christ is our High Priest! The laws of our operation are different than they were for the Levitical priesthood. We have the fullness of the law, not the physical rituals that were required under the old system. Remember Christ said He came to fill the law to the full, not destroy the law! The shadow is empty but it points us in the right direction which is the object casting the shadow.
Hebrews 9:6-28 KJV — Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; Which stood only in meats and drinks [offerings], and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.
These rituals were all temporary, just waiting for the blood of Christ! These shadows have been filled by the object they pictured. Don't misunderstand what I am saying here. I am not saying the law has been done away with. The law and the Holy Days are still in existence for us. The only thing that has the object casting the shadow is the priesthood and its regulations. The priesthood has been changed, and so, the priestly ordinances have been changed as well.
But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
It wasn't the water that purified in the old system, it was the blood of the sacrifice. We have that blood now, forever and always. Our uncleanness is not the physical uncleanness that water can wash away, it is the sin that dirties our hearts.
For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
We have one sacrifice offered one time for all and the blood of that sacrifice is available in the hand of our High Priest before the Father for all time! The books of Hebrews and Galatians are key to understanding the full change that God has brought to the priesthood, the temple, and the laws governing the priesthood.
Washings and More Washings!
What about the washings with water that were required of the Israelites?
Do we still need to do that?
What about the times of separation from the sanctuary?
We can still perform the washings with water, and we should! If you have been on your period, had relations, touched a dead body, or gone to the bathroom, absolutely wash your hands or bathe your body in water as the law commands! As a rule of thumb, if the law is in the Bible and you can do it, do it! Don't sleep with a woman on her period, don't eat meat with the blood still in it, etc.
Remember that the uncleanness that would have prevented you from appearing before God was taken away by the blood of Christ, and all that remains is the physical uncleanness that comes from being a physical being. There is no physical sanctuary to separate from because as we have already covered, the temple is spiritual.
One thing to note, being unclean was not the same as sinning. None of the laws dealing with cleanliness meant you sinned if you were unclean. They were more regulations than laws, but we'll set aside semantics for this topic. The important point is that being unclean did not make you a sinner, and it was not dealt with like a sin. The penalty for sin is death, but the penalties for these things were not. There were no penalties for being unclean since most people could not prevent it one way or the other.
Having settled this topic of conversation for the moment, let's look at what the spiritual application of the full measure of these laws is. The original purpose of these laws was to teach the difference between the clean and the unclean. The animal laws were unique because the animals themselves were unclean, and as a holy people, because God knows what is best for us, He told us not to eat the ones that were created as unclean. The animals were either good for food or they were not.
Leviticus 11:43 (AFV) You shall not defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps, neither shall you make yourselves unclean with them, so that you should be defiled by them;
Leviticus 11:44 (AFV) For I am the LORD your God, and you shall sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy, for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any kind of creeping thing that creeps on the earth;
Leviticus 11:45 (AFV) For I am the LORD Who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
Leviticus 11:46 (AFV) This is the law of the animals, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that creeps on the earth,
Leviticus 11:47 (AFV) To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the creature that may be eaten and the creature that may not be eaten.'
We do not have to worry about other physical uncleanness separating us from God or preventing us from appearing before Him, but there is uncleanness that we need to worry about. There is uncleanness that will prevent us from appearing before God! We can be spiritually unclean even as we are physically clean, and this is the only sort of uncleanness we have to worry about today. We are a holy people to God and most of the laws given are to teach us how to be such a people.
Laws About Purification
Let's finally take a look at those broad categories of purification laws, and perhaps this will spark some ideas about what God is actually trying to say about how to be a holy people. Here are the four categories that jumped out to me, but perhaps there are more and they can be broken down into further categories.
Laws having to do with bodily discharge
Laws having to do with skin disorders
Laws having to do with mold and fungus
Laws having to do with touching unclean things
On the surface, how would these laws ever teach us the difference between the clean and the unclean? With a second glance, it starts to become clearer indeed.
These laws are all trying to get the same message across for the Israelites. You are a Holy people, act like it! In everything you do, do it with appearing before God in mind.
Spiritually, the lessons we can draw from these things are the same regardless of the category. Two of the categories were out of our control and the other two were more or less unavoidable, but the lesson is the same. We are supposed to, as much as possible, avoid the unclean thing, and with everything we do, do it with God in mind. As you might imagine, this is far from easy, but doing everything we do with God in mind is how we as holy people are supposed to live our lives.
Spiritual cleanness is the hardest to attain, but it is by far the most important. We don't have to worry about physical uncleanness because of the blood of Christ, but our physical actions have a direct effect on our spiritual state. Sin is one way of becoming spiritually unclean, but sin, for the most part, is a physical act. The most difficult things of spiritual purity aren't sins, but they still taint us spiritually, and unchecked they can separate us from God.
One of the lessons from the purity laws is that you must go to God to be cleansed, and the same is true of spiritual impurity. We must take it to God to get it cleaned up. Some examples of things we can get tainted by spiritually are: movies, music, books, friends, conversations, activities, and other things in this vein. There are good sides to all of these, but there are aspects that, while not outright sins, still taint us spiritually and come between us and God. There is another lesson you might take from the purity laws: our actions and physical lives can separate us and come between us and God, even if it is something necessary or out of our control that is not a sin. Our jobs, for instance, are necessary, they are not sins, but they can come between us and God simply by taking up our time.
Part of the original purpose of these laws was to teach people how to be able to tell the difference between what is holy and what is not. We have the Holy Spirit to help us with that today, but how often do we listen to its guidance?
When we talk about unclean things in the Old Testament, things to do with everyday life were only one part of it. Everything that was not God was considered to be unclean, especially things that were contrary to everything He stands for. Idols, harlots, and child sacrifice were all unclean things, and these were indeed sins. Abominations, they are also called; in other words, things God hates. Since God abhors these things, we ought not to do them, and they will cause separation between us and God. They make us spiritually unclean.
There is an idea that once we have salvation we can no longer sin, but that would be incorrect. The only way we cannot sin is if we are in lockstep with God, living His way perfectly. Sin is no longer possible at that point, not because we are not able to sin, but because we are following God's way completely. If we are not walking in God's way perfectly, spiritual uncleanness is still possible.
Every time someone became physically unclean under the old order of things, they had to present themselves to the priests for cleansing. They had to take an offering or sacrifice to the priests and then they would be cleansed. There were some exceptions to this with the regular cycle of a woman and the act of having sex, but they still had to wash afterward.
Leviticus 13:34 (AFV) And in the seventh day the priest shall look on the scab. And behold, if the scab has not spread in the skin, nor is in sight deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. And he shall wash his clothes and be clean.
The point is that after being physically unclean, they had to present themselves for cleaning. Is it not the same with us?
If we touch something spiritually unclean, do we not have to present ourselves before Jesus with repentance and ask to be cleaned?
Now, we are priests as well, and we have a much higher standard that is expected of us than a newly called person has, or even the average person wandering about in the world. To whom much is given, much is expected.
Luke 12:48 (AFV) But the one who did not know, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For to whomever much has been given, from him shall much be required; and to whom much has been committed, from him they will demand the more.
God blesses us, but as His representatives on Earth, He expects us to use what He has given us for His purposes. He has given us great knowledge, but He expects us to do more than hide that light under a basket.
How does this relate to the clean and the unclean?
I will not say that these laws do not apply to us. I will say that as far as I can tell, the major aspect of these laws has been taken care of by the blood of Jesus Christ. We have a high standard that is expected of us, and so, I think that whatever part of these laws or regulations, shall we say, that are clearly understood should still be followed. We have much to learn from what these regulations were supposed to teach the Israelites, especially on the spiritual side of things. Every law that doesn't require an animal sacrifice or a physical temple priesthood is still easily kept, and the others have some lesson they can pass on to us. We live in a different time, in a world caught between the physical and the spiritual, and the way we live our lives, the laws, and especially the regulations that govern us, reflect this duality.
We have a piece, the very essence of God within us, we are a royal spiritual priesthood, and yet we still live in physical bodies. The laws and regulations are much more us than they ever were for the Israelites, and while they were often only given the shadows of many things, we have the reality of a large number of those things when it comes to the priesthood and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
What are we to do with the clean and the unclean?
We should learn everything we can from these regulations, apply everything we can from them, and most of all, we should look at the spiritual lesson they are supposed to teach us and use it in our lives. We do not need to fear touching something physical that will separate us from being able to come before God, but we need to be very aware of touching the world spiritually. When we touch something unclean, we need to come humbly before Jesus and ask for cleansing of our hearts and minds. We must seek and teach the difference between the clean and the unclean and between the holy and the unholy.
That is what we are to do with the clean and the unclean.
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