Alright, so Leviticus chapter 15. Alright, so the purpose of all the laws regarding the bodily discharge that we're talking about in chapter 15 is summarized at the end of the chapter in verse 31. So in 31 it says, "Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness by defiling by tabernacle that is in their midst." So there's two things that are told us here, to keep the people of Israel clean.

Again this is not just a summary of chapter 15, but all the chapters that we've been talking about uncleanness. So how many chapters we're talking about uncleanness up to this point? You remember? What chapter did we start with the uncleanness? Chapter 11, right? Chapter 11, anybody remember what chapter 11 was about?

Food and animals. All you have to do is flip through your Bible, okay? The food and animals, which are unclean foods and which are unclean animals. And then chapter 12 was about uncleanness and childbearing, right? And then chapter 13 and 14, we were just there, about leprosy. Chapter 13 is about diagnosing leprosy and then chapter 14 is about restoration back into society if it gets healed.

And so chapter 15 is a summary, is the last part of the series on the uncleanness. What makes you clean and what makes you unclean? And so he spells out the reason why all of this was given is to keep Israel clean, right? And again, the idea of cleanness is to be set apart, to be different from the rest of the world.

We're going to get into that at the end of the Bible study and why this is so significant, right? And so he spells out at the very end, in conclusion of chapter 11 through 15, that the first reason given why all of these is given is to keep you separate, make you clean.

The second reason is given, the second part, is to prevent death by defiling God's holy tabernacle. Remember when we started the book of Leviticus, right? Remember in Exodus, God establishes a tabernacle, but he's up in the mountain? Book of Leviticus, God comes down and he's speaking from the tabernacle, but they can't come in because it's not established yet.

And then we go to Numbers, God calls them into the tabernacle. So the whole purpose of this tabernacle is so that God's holy presence can dwell with his people. And if the people are not clean, if they are not covered and they're not clean, what would happen to them?

They would die, right? So basically what he is saying here is that the purpose of these laws is so, one, so that they would be kept clean, and secondly, so they would not die in their uncleanness when in the presence of God. Understand? Okay, so that's pretty much the summary of the last four chapters that we were looking at.

So just as a quick review, chapter 11 through 15, it varies in seriousness and duration. All of the laws were to describe or teachings about how to identify what is clean and unclean, but they are all varying in seriousness and duration. So the first one, we start in chapter 11, the uncleanness that is talked about with the animals are permanent, right?

The food and the animals. So this was a regular part of who they were, and it was a permanent part of their lives, so this never changes. These animals who are declared unclean are unclean permanently, and these certain things that he says are clean are clean permanently. The second one, that's with chapter 12, again, depending on what was going on through childbirth, it could last up to 80 days.

It was not permanent, but the duration was a bit longer. And then chapter 13, the skin disease, could be permanent because there was no cure for it, and the duration could have been permanent, ultimately leading to death, unless God showed mercy and the skin disease gets cured. And then the final one today in chapter 15, that it deals with uncleanness associated with discharge, associated with reproduction, which only lasts one day or up to seven days.

So considering all the different laws that were given to us starting from chapter 11, chapter 15 is probably the lightest of all the laws, and the consequences of it is probably the lightest. Because if you were defiled in any way, the duration in which you were to be isolated or to be unclean, most of the time would have been just one day.

You would have just washed your hands and washed your clothes, taken a bath, and you would have been considered unclean until the rest of the night, and then tomorrow morning you would be considered clean, unless you had some abnormal discharge, and that would take you about seven days, and the eighth day you would be restored.

And same thing with the women. Now again, all of this is going to mean something at the end, but for the time being, just as a summary of what is stated in chapter 15. So out of all the four different types of uncleanness, this is probably the lightest. The seriousness of the leprosy that we looked at in verse 13 and 14 points to the need for justification.

Remember we talked about how other than the mercy of God, there was no cure for leprosy? And every part of the law of leprosy, the ugliness of what it brought and the damage that it created, the isolation, and ultimately they were cast out outside the camp, and all they had to do, were able to do, is either wait for the disease to take its course and then slowly deteriorate and die, or somehow by the mercy of God, God would bring healing and then they would be restored.

So all of it, chapter 13 and 14, is a point to our utter helplessness without God, ultimately points to justification. Today in chapter 15, the uncleanness is not as serious, the remedy is less rigorous, has no need for isolation, and it's only temporary. None of the stuff that's mentioned here is permanent.

It reminds God's people of the consistent need for purification, which points to, ultimately, sanctification. So chapter 13 and 14, if we were to spiritualize and say, "Well, what does leprosy and all the laws of that point to?" Ultimately, it points to justification, that we're utterly helpless until God steps in and does His work.

Chapter 15 points to a constant need for purification, again, which Jesus mentions in chapter 13, 10, with the disciples, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean, and you are clean, but not every one of you." Obviously, he's talking to Judas.

So if you are a genuine believer, meaning that you have bathed, and you don't need to continually bathe, but you need to wash. And so when Jesus said that, it clearly points to this aspect of purification, that need to constantly go, but doesn't need justification. On 15.3, "Already you are clean, because the word that I have spoken to you." I'm talking about their salvation.

So the way God describes salvation as clean and unclean, clearly pointing to the laws in the book of Leviticus. Again, all of this is just a summary of what is stated in chapter 15. In the four central sections of chapter 15, there is the definition. Again, this is a rough outline of hopefully what you read before you came here.

There's definition of the types of contamination, and there's four types that he talks about. There's descriptions of the consequences, if these things are happening, what you need to do, and an explanation of how to appropriate right of purification. So it falls into largely three parts. Definition, description of consequence, and how to remedy that.

And the remedy was pretty simple. Washing and then waiting until evening. They needed to wash, they needed to wash their hands, they needed to take a bath, and they needed to wash their clothes, and then they needed to wait until evening, if somehow they were contaminated. So again, out of the four different rituals, this one was probably the lightest.

It doesn't mean that it wasn't important, in fact it has huge consequences, which we'll talk about later. But I want you to understand, remember, the book of Leviticus is written in what kind of form? What do you call that? Chiastic form, right? Chiastic meaning you have point one, two, three, and then where's the main point?

In the middle, and then it mimics the first part of it in the opposite direction, the second part, right? And the punchline is in the middle. So remember the chiastic form, chapter 1 through 15, is in reference to what? Tabernacle, right? Cleanliness of tabernacle, sacrifices, the priesthood, and then all of these rules are about how they ought to or not enter into the tabernacle.

Now we're going to see all of this in the reverse order. Chapter 17 and going on, it's going to be talking about how to be clean, but this time, instead of talking about how to enter the tabernacle, it's talking about daily life. Do you understand? So it's going to mimic, the subject is going to be mimicked in the opposite order, except the point of chapter 1 through 15 is from the perspective of the tabernacle.

How you ought to be clean in order to participate in the community in the tabernacle, and then chapter 17 to the end of the book is going to be talking about purification and cleanness in the daily life of the individual. You understand? Now why I'm telling you this, because up to this point, he doesn't talk about if you became pure willfully, what happens.

It just tells you if you are impure, this is what you need to do in order to come back into the tabernacle. As we go and we mimic the same subject in the opposite order, he's going to be talking about when you break this command, what the consequences are as far as sin is concerned.

Does that make sense? Because this side is just talking about society. These are the laws that you ought to keep. This is what happens if you don't keep the law, or if something happens to you that you need to go through this and be cleansed. On this side, there's personal responsibility.

If that went over your head, just keep it in your mind, and later on when we get to it I think it will make more sense to you. Okay? Yes? Alright, some of you. Chapter 15, and the whole book of Leviticus is written in the chiastic form. Chapter 15 itself is written in the chiastic form.

The first two cases concern continuing occasional omission of the male, then an end is followed with the last two cases that reverses this order dealing with female, meaning verse 18 is at the center of the chiastic structure, which is highlighted in the sexual relations between man and woman. To give you a quick outline, that's what the outline looks like.

The beginning of chapter begins with chapter 1-15 talking about the abnormal, not normal discharge from the male, and then 16-17 talking about not because of any kind of disease, but the normal discharge of semen, and then it talks about verse 18. Again, it connects the man and the woman in verse 18 with sexual relations and the fluids that come from that, how that makes them unclean, and then it reverses the order with the female, with the normal female discharge, with the abnormal female discharge.

Talking about menstruation in verse 19-24, and then abnormal menstruation in verse 25-30. Okay? Following? So the point of this is verse 18. So everything that is taught centers around what is being taught in verse 18. So we are supposed to read chapter 15 understanding the main point of all of these laws is to give us a clear understanding of sexual relationship between man and woman.

Okay? I thought you'd be more excited about this subject. Alright. You understand what I'm saying? Okay. So I'm going to come back and repeat this so that you'll have a better understanding, but this is one of those chapters that if you just skim through it, I mean there's so much contained in chapter 11 through chapter 15 that if you skim through it, I guarantee you your understanding of the gospel is going to be superficial.

I'm sure many of you have already caught that, that so much of the language and so much of the teaching in the New Testament comes directly out of the book of Leviticus, and there's bits and pieces of the gospel that you probably didn't understand until you start talking to a Jehovah's Witness or somebody starts challenging your view of the gospel, and then you realize you don't have a good answer, right?

Because you don't fully understand. You just kind of accept that God loved you and died for you, you know, and then he was buried, he was raised, great, I love him, I'm going to go to heaven, which is all true, but until you actually challenge that, well, what does it mean?

Why did he have to die? Why the shedding of blood? Why the death? What does the resurrection mean? What does it mean to be clean or unclean? So all of this language that's embedded and used repeatedly in the New Testament, you probably just kind of heard it, and you've heard it so many times, you just kind of assumed you knew, but if you go witnessing and talk to non-Christians on a regular basis, I'm pretty sure you're very familiar with a lot of the stuff that I'm already saying, because a lot of times if you talk to people with different religion or a false gospel, you're going to get into these subjects.

But if you're living in isolation and you rarely share the gospel with anybody, you probably have holes all over your understanding of the gospel, but you just don't know where they are, right? And that's why the book of Leviticus is so important, because it gives you a deeper understanding of what you already profess to believe, right?

Again, I say this over and over again because I know how easily we can get lost in the book of Leviticus, thinking like, "Oh, what is the point of this, about this discharge? Oh, we learned about menstruation today, men in their semen secretion, that's what we learned about today." But what is the point of this, right?

Again, remember I talked about in my sermon a couple weeks ago why sexual immorality was so emphasized in the New Testament, considering there's murder, stealing, robbing, I mean all sorts of horrendous things that human beings could commit against one another, why this sexual relationship, sexual deviation is highlighted in the New Testament to be one of the greatest sins.

We're going to get to that, right? But just to give you an outline of all of this. Now, I forgot to mention, all of this ultimately points to what is clean and what is unclean. We talked about food, giving birth, disease, and then now sexual relations. All four of these things are a part of everyday part of human life.

These aren't things that you just see rarely, these are things that majority of it you wouldn't be able to survive without it. Food and even disease. This is normal part of living in a fallen world. Giving birth, we wouldn't be here without that. Sexual relations is obviously what leads to all of that.

So all of these laws that govern what's between in human existence, what is clean and unclean, are the essentials of human life. So when you think about, as a Jew, when these commandments were given, what is clean and unclean, these are not deviations from human life where you went somewhere and you went up to the mountains or you ran into something or some strange jellyfish bit you in the arm or something and then you became unclean.

We're talking about essential things that you can't survive with that would make you unclean. So think about it as a Jew who was in that system, who was taught that for hundreds of years, where they were concerned about where they went to. If they went into a house, do they have pork in here?

That would make them unclean. If there's a woman during menstruation, that's unclean. Do they just have sexual relations? Then I can't sit on this bed. The guy who was unclean was just in here and he touched this table. By touching that table, it makes me unclean. We're hungry, I need to eat this.

But then you're in a Gentile home, they don't distinguish between clean and unclean. So if they bring something on the plate that is considered unclean, you would become unclean. You understand what I'm saying? Think about it as a Jew. If this was part of your daily diet and basically your core of your existence and it says that if you do this, you become unclean, if you do this, you're clean and you had all of these elaborate systems to get by.

It wasn't just kind of like you became unclean and you said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have touched that. I won't do that again." Every time you became unclean, even this, even though this was the lightest of the commandments, you had to wash your hands, you had to take a bath, you had to go put all the clothes in laundry, and you had to wait till evening.

And no one could touch you that day. And this is the lightest of all the commandments. But the minimum requirement was you take a bath, wash, change your clothes. And again, we're not talking about people today where you have all different kinds of wardrobes and if you get one dirty, you just put one in the laundry and put another one in.

Majority of the people only owned one item of clothing. So if they became unclean, what happened to them? You sat around naked, basically. I mean, you sat around naked or you put a blanket over, you have to sit there in isolation because nobody can touch you, right? You can't sit anywhere.

No one could be in the room because wherever you sat, they're going to become unclean. So imagine the psychology of a Jew during the time of Christ. Now you understand why the Jews didn't want to go through Samaria. You understand? If they went through Samaria and they ended up touching something of the Gentiles, it would have made them unclean.

They couldn't worship God. They became hungry and they needed to go. They go to a restaurant and then something is served and they didn't distinguish between clean and unclean. It naturally separated Israel from the rest of the world. It naturally separated Israel from any other nation because Israel was the only country that practiced this to this extent.

Remember what God told Israel when they go into the Promised Land to do what? To be separate. To be separate. To be holy. To be set apart. And all of these rituals that God gave them forced them to be if they obeyed it. Keep that in mind. Chapter 15 described four cases of secretion from the reproductive organs that resulted in ritual uncleanness.

Two of these cases arose from disease and two from natural causes. So this is just again another summary of this chapter. The first description of the discharge seemed to refer to either diseased flow of semen and many commentators believe that it was a description of maybe gonorrhea, sexually transmitted disease, or a discharge of pus from the urethra.

In either case it was abnormal. This was some kind of disease that this person had. The second case deals with a non-disease voluntary emission of semen. So that can happen through a sexual contact. It could happen through masturbation. It could happen through wet dreams. Whatever it was, was a normal secretion of semen would have been considered unclean.

That's the second part. The third case deals with the woman's menstrual cycle, which was normal. Any healthy female would have experienced this monthly. So every month, once a week, for seven days, she would have had to have been in isolation. And any bed that she slept on, anything that she touched became unclean.

And one of the things it says is that if a man and a woman is having relations and she happens to start her period, he also becomes unclean for seven days. And he also needs to be in isolation. But again, you see that in reverse order. And then, fourthly, the case involved a woman who experienced continuing menstrual problems beyond her normal period.

Her purification ritual was the same as the one prescribed for a man with an abnormal discharge. So we see the case of this in the book of Mark and Luke, right? So Mark chapter 5, and I'll just read this passage. And there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years.

So again, think about that. If she had a discharge of blood that she couldn't stop for 12 years, think about what her life was like. Her presence would make other people unclean. So it may not have been as uncomfortable as leprosy. She was not forced to live outside the camp, but might as well have because she couldn't be around anybody.

And this was going on for 12 years. So she probably hid it as much as she could, right? She had this problem for 12 years and who had suffered much under many physicians and had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. So again, we can understand why she spent every single penny that she had to fix this problem because she wouldn't have been able to be around people.

She couldn't be in the home. Her family couldn't be around her, right? But nothing worked. She had heard the reports of Jesus and came up behind him in a crowd and touched his garment. So imagine how scandalous that would have been for a woman who was bleeding for 12 years to come and not to be in the presence of that crowd.

So the fact that she was there, anybody who was around her would have become unclean. So because of her, all of them would have had to at the minimum wash their hands, wash their clothes, and then be in isolation for the rest of the day because she came into this crowd, let alone her touching, right?

So she comes in, she deliberately comes and touches Jesus' garment. She said, "If I touch even his garment, I will be made well." So she was desperate that even though this was unlawful for her to do, she did it anyway. And immediately the flow of blood dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.

And Jesus perceiving in himself that power that had gone out from him immediately turned about in a crowd and said, "Who touched my garment?" Let me stop right there. So in every other instance, right, if she touched the other person, what happens to the other person? They become unclean.

For the first time, she touches Jesus and what happens? She becomes clean. She dries up. Every other human being, even by touching the table, sitting on the table, and that person coming and sitting at that table will become unclean. It was transferable. At least the uncleanness was transferable. Only by touching Jesus was this curse reversed.

Do you see that anywhere else in the Bible? Yeah, something even more sacred. Blood. Right? One of the most sacrilegious things that they were told not to do is to drink the blood, eat the blood of the animal because the life of the animal is in the blood. Right?

It was one of the most sacrilegious things. I mean, you talk about if this made you unclean, drinking blood, right, would have been blasphemous before God. But Jesus says in John chapter 6, "If you do not drink of my blood and eat of my flesh, you have no relationship with me." In every other instance, they would have been stoned to death.

But Jesus says if you drink of me, the curse actually gets reversed. Right? So think about this in the context of sin. Right? In every other instance, our sins bring out the sins of other people. In every other instance, our defilement defiles other people. That's typically what happens. If you're selfish, you end up, you and I typically trigger the selfishness of other people.

And that's the curse of mankind. Because you and I live in a society where under the curse and condemnation of sin, you are born a sinner, and then you sin, and your sin causes other people to sin, and we trigger back and forth. And this is the state of mankind.

And only in Christ, only in Christ, when we touch him and when we drink of him and eat of him, the curse is reversed. And so now, instead of sin being infectious to other people, what happens? The love of Christ begins to infect other people, which is the core of the gospel message.

Do you understand? You understand how profound this foundation is to the understanding of the gospel message in the New Testament? Because everything about this Levitical system was to teach about the element of what sin is doing to mankind and its society, to its family, to its husband, to wife, to children, to generations, to the society, to the nation.

And all of a sudden, Jesus comes in and he absorbs the sin. Instead of reacting to the sin, he draws near, and he who knew no sin became sin. He absorbs sin, and in his resurrection, he actually reverses the curse. Instead of him becoming unclean, we become clean because we touch him, because we eat of him.

Right? I mean, again, as difficult and as hard as Leviticus is, Leviticus is so profound because it gives us a deeper understanding of what you and I already confess. And again, after he says that, the disciples said to him, "You crowds of press are around you, yet how can you say who touched you?" And he looked around to see who had done it, but the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him and told him the whole truth.

You can understand why she was in fear. If the disciples knew what she was doing, she could have easily been stoned. And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your disease." So again, the Levitical law gives us a better understanding of that miracle.

Why were these things considered unclean in the first place? In Genesis 3, verse 16, the curse of sin reaches into the relationship between a husband and wife and all sexuality is fallen. Sexual perversion is at the core of human rebellion. So it wasn't just, you know, in our culture we talk a lot about homosexuality because it's being pushed as an agenda, but all sexuality has been perverted.

We can't fight homosexuality while watching perverted heterosexual porn because it's both sinful. Now homosexuality is highlighted in the scripture as being greater sin, but all sexuality, all sexuality that you and I experience is perverted because we don't simply have desire for husband and wife. So at the fall, sexuality was at the core of human existence, at the core of giving glory to God has been perverted.

All of it, not just homosexuality. Even heterosexuality has been perverted. So one of the things that this points to is that human sexuality in and of itself is at the core of human rebellion. Remember the context in which this is given? This is before they enter into the land of the Canaanites and he told them to be separate.

The Canaanite worship, at the core of it, practiced prostitution and orgies as a regular part of their worship. And this was not just at this time, but even at the time of Christ when they said, "I don't worship." A good chunk of the idol worship involved orgies and prostitution.

And so we see that clearly being stated in the book of Corinthians, right? How they're going to the temples and how a lot of the stuff that Paul mentions there are cultural things prohibiting visitation of prostitution because that was a regular part of the Canaanite or the pagan worship.

So by God making restrictions on these things, automatically prevented Israel to associate with the pagans. Their dietary laws, their sexuality, all of it automatically would cause them to be set apart. None of these discharges made a man or woman sinful, only ceremonially unclean. He doesn't say that because of the secretion and because you had sex that somehow you became sinful.

That's not what it's saying. It's saying you became ceremonially unclean, ultimately pointing to a specific teaching in the scripture. It's not that there was anything inherently wrong with the discharges, but because these two are connected with the symbol of life and redemption. I think I mentioned this either in Bible study or on Sunday sermon.

I think it was in the Sunday sermon, how what you and I consider to be sacred, right? We have so many children being born and new life coming into the world as a source of great joy in a lot of families. We would consider if there's anything sacred in our culture, at least from our perspective, is a child being born into this world.

Because they're innocent, they're pure, at least that's from our perspective. But in God's perspective, and in the spiritual reality is, another sinner is coming into the world. Until he is atoned by the blood of Christ, he's also another sinner, another human being that will rebel against God by his own nature.

As innocent as it may, again, in comparison to us, if we believe in original sin, which the Bible clearly teaches, every human being born into this world is another human being that's going to rebel and curse God. It is not pure, it is not sacred, spiritually speaking. Now, I want to spend a little bit of time on this passage, Genesis 6, 1-5, because I remember doing a paper on this when I was an undergrad Bible major at Biola.

Who are the Nephilim, who are the sons of God and daughters of man? So much has been written on this subject. End conclusion, nobody really knows. But I have my own theory, and I want to share my theory with you. It's not heretical, but to me, it makes the most sense out of all the different things that I've read.

In Genesis 6, 1-5, it says, "When man began to multiply on the face of the land, and the daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive, and they took as their wives any they chose." So let me stop right there.

So the question is, who are the sons of God and who are the daughters of man? So some of the theory is the sons of God were specific angels that were sent down to earth, and we don't know who they are, we don't know why they're here, but somehow these celestial beings were interacting with human beings, like females, and as a result of that, it created this either super race or this race that was in rebellion against God.

So that's one of the common theories of how they interpret this passage. And the Lord said, "My spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh, and his days shall be 120 years." So let me give you my theory and how I understand this. I think the description "sons of God" and "daughters of man" is just talking about human beings.

You know, in Corinthians it says that the glory of man is God, and the glory of a woman is man, and other parts of the Bible it describes women as daughters of man, and then there's other parts of the scripture where it just describes men as sons of God, right?

And so I don't necessarily think that this is in reference to celestial angelic beings. I think it's just a description of how they were having relations and mankind was multiplying. So there wasn't something specifically sinful about this celestial being and this human being getting together and having relations. I think it's just a description of the multiplication of sinners.

If you've never read this passage before, you're probably like, "What is he talking about?" But if you've ever read this and you've asked this question or you've wrestled with this, you know, hopefully you know what I'm getting at. I think Genesis chapter 6, 1 through 5 is just a description of mankind just growing in number.

And basically what they're saying is as they were multiplying and filling the land, what does it say? Wickedness was increasing as mankind was increasing. And I think that's all it is saying. It's not talking about any specific sin of the celestial being and human being. It's just man and woman having relations, they're multiplying like crazy and the more they multiply, there was more sin, more wickedness.

Now you can challenge me, but that's my theory on this. It's not heresy in one way or the other, but to me that makes more sense. To me it seems more consistent to what other parts I see. Now why I'm bringing this up is because whether this passage is actually saying this or not, that's exactly what's described in scripture.

That as man increased, wickedness increases. You ever wonder why the people out in the farms in the rural areas tend to be nicer? Why the people, like anywhere you go, you know, if you go to Beijing, people tend to be a little bit more testy and impatient, but if you go to the countryside, they're a bit more patient.

If you go to Seoul, people tend to be testy and more impatient. If you go to Jeju-do, the countryside, people tend to be more patient. If you go to New York or parts of California, people tend to be more impatient and irritable, but if you go to the Midwest, generally tend to be a bit more patient.

My theory is if you're around with a lot of people, you're facing a lot of sin, because the more people you're around, there's more selfishness, there's more gossiping, there's more reasons to have problems, there's more reasons to be irritated. So if you look at people who have jobs, whose job is to regularly deal with people, they tend to be more irritable.

This is my theory. That's why the people at DMV are always irritated, because they're dealing with people all day long. And that's just my observation. It's just that anybody who has jobs where they have to deal with people all day long tend to be more irritable, and people who tend to just kind of be in isolation, maybe less.

Again, this is just my theory, but I think, again, what I see in scripture is that when the Bible talks about everybody getting together and we're going to have peace and all this stuff, I think that's a bad idea. Because if you gather a lot of sinners together, eventually there's going to be a lot of sin that you have to deal with.

True? Okay. I bet money that you're going to agree with me one day, right? The more you experience people, the more you will agree with me, I think. That's my guess. So the increase of people is, all of this points to increase of sin. And so this particular law, it was a constant reminder to the nation of Israel, wherever there's human beings, there's uncleanness.

And there's a lot of human beings, there's greater uncleanness. And this is, again, embedded into the culture. Biblical principle to glean in the New Covenant. All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. So this law wasn't telling us that it is sinful, but the clean and unclean pointed to what isn't sinful, but still unclean.

Again, I might be milking it here, but in 1 Corinthians 10, 20-24, it says all things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but not all things build up. And the one seeks his own good, but the good of his neighbor. So it doesn't say that because of these things that you became, you sinned and you needed to do all of these things.

But there was a constant reminder to the nation of Israel that they were unclean. And there is no way. If you are at home, even now, if you have a female in your home, seven days out of the month, your whole house has to get shut down. It's a constant reminder.

If you have a daughter, and their periods don't line up, it could be two weeks out of the four months, your house has to shut down. If you have four, okay, you get my point. It was a constant reminder that you were unclean. It was a constant reminder that uncleanness is not something that you could escape from.

Again, the second principle. We have corruptible bodies, but we will one day have incorruptible ones. What he says in chapter 15 are things that you could not avoid. Every human being was in constant, constantly having to cleanse themselves, wash their hands, take a bath, to be ceremonially clean, to be able to approach God.

Meaning that this law constantly reminded every Israelite that their bodies were corrupted. And that's why the Bible talks about that the perishable body will be put on imperishable, mortal body put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and mortal puts on immortality, then shall come the passing that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory." Until death comes, there will always be impurity in our body.

And third, finally, bad company corrupts good morals. So if you read chapter 15, you know how easily this uncleanness was transferred. By shaking somebody's hand if you didn't wash your hands, by sitting somewhere where they were sitting, touching something that they touched, it was easily transferable. And that's why the best thing to do was for them to be in isolation.

Again, something that mirrors that in the New Testament says bad company ruins good morals in 2 Corinthians 6.14, which says not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what partner has righteousness with lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Again, he's not saying that don't be around non-Christians.

He's talking about unequally being yoked where you're partnering together for something. And obviously, the immediate application of that could be dating or being married to an unbeliever. But the reverse of that, he says in verse 17, "For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband.

Otherwise, your children will be unclean, for as it is, they are holy." So just as much the scripture warns us about not being unequally yoked, and bad company corrupts good morals, the reverse of that is an individual who has been sanctified in the name of Christ, that their presence sanctifies others.

Now the word sanctify here doesn't mean that that person is saved. That there's a heaven and hell, and then there's an intermediary place for people who are married to believers. That's not what that's talking about. He's talking about common grace, that because of a believing person in that home, that the other people in that home are nearer to what purifies them, which is the gospel, which is Christ.

So if we are aromas of Christ, meaning that if you are an unbeliever or believe in an unbelieving home, Paul's telling them do not leave, because your presence sanctifies the people in that relationship. So the only thing, in every other aspect, if you're unclean, you make them unclean, their uncleanness makes you unclean, but the only part, only thing that reverses that is the blood of Christ.

So if we've been touched by the blood of Christ, our presence in this world is to reverse this curse. Instead of their uncleanness making us unclean, and uncleanness making them unclean, he says the blood of Christ that touched us, now we act as an agent of purifying the world.

So that's why the Bible describes us as the salt of the earth. We are the light that has come into darkness. We are no longer spreading disease. If we are the light, we are spreading light into a world that keeps getting darker and darker and darker, and that's the principle that we see in this teaching in Leviticus 15.

So the three discussion questions for today, what are some things that would be considered lawful or not sinful, but are not helpful or profitable? What are some biblical principles that should help us be guided in how to handle these things in Christian life? So 1 Corinthians 10, 23-33 is where that phrase comes from, lawful but not profitable.

So you may look at that as reference. Number two, what are some things that you do or don't do that is a constant reminder to you and to the people around you that you are set apart for God, that you're not like the non-Christians? Not simply what you say, but what are some things that causes you to stand out at your work?

Three, what is the greatest thing you've learned from the study of Leviticus? This is just kind of in prep for a summary, just so that you have some time for discussion, digest, and to apply. So up to this point, all the way up to the beginning of chapter one, what are some things that caused you to, the greatest thing that you say that you've gleaned from the study of the book of Leviticus, and how did you apply that in your life?

Okay? All right, let me pray for us, and then I'll have you guys get into your small groups. Gracious and loving Father, we thank you for this evening. We thank you, Lord God, that even though this material is difficult to understand, help us, Lord God, to glean from it what you have desired and how you've embedded this into the culture and the mindset and the society of your people, the Israelites, and how that prepared them to understand the depth of your gospel.

Help us to glean, Father God, what it is that you have given us, and that in view of this great mercy that we truly would live appropriate, reasonable lives. We thank you in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. - We pray, amen.