Page 70 - Pentateuch

animals (11:13-19). Things get a bit more difficult with insects. Flying insects that walk on all four legs are
unclean, yet locusts, katydids, crickets, and grasshoppers are exceptions (11:20-23).

The instructions continue. Touching a carcass of any of these creatures makes a person unclean (11:24-28).
Add in a variety of ground-hugging animals. Upon contact, they can make a pot or seeds unclean (11:29-
43). In all these cases, a person who has been made unclean must wash their clothes (11:25, 28, 40 ). God’s
holiness demands these distinctions. “I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because
I am holy (10:44, 45).” A shorter section is devoted to uncleanness due to childbirth (12:1-8). The lengths of
uncleanness differ for a boy or a girl. The remedy is an animal sacrifice.

Another longer section is devoted to skin diseases. A priest is consulted for
the proper diagnosis and treatment. The variations are many: a swelling or
a rash or a shiny spot on the skin, raw flesh, boils, swellings accompanied
by hairs turned white, burns, a sore with yellow hair, white spots on the
skin, and on go the instructions. Anyone diagnosed must wear torn clothes,
let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face, and cry out,
“Unclean! Unclean!” They must live alone outside the camp. (13:1-43).
Fabric can be spoiled similarly with a “defiling mold” (13:47-59). If the spot
spreads, it must be burned. If it remains after washing or if it fades and
returns, it must be burned. Otherwise, it is declared clean. Modern medical Fig. 51: Psoriasis
opinion rules out leprosy in these cases, suggesting illnesses like psoriasis
instead.

The remedy for a person with a skin disease is described in as much detail. Two birds must be brought to
the priest. One is killed, and its blood is spilled into a clay pot with fresh water. The second is dipped into
the blood/water of the first and sprinkled on the diseased person seven times. The bird is then released.
Washing and shaving one’s hair is next. Then two lambs are brought along with some grain. One is offered
as a guilt offering. Blood is applied to the right ear, thumb, and big toe of the person to be cleansed. Oil is
also applied. The second lamb is a sin offering. Poor people can make changes due to their poverty. The
goal is atonement (14:18, 19, 20, 21, 29, 31 ). The unclean can be made clean in this manner. Similar
instructions are given for a house that has mold (14:33-57). Sometimes the mold can be removed.
Sometimes the infected area must be removed. Here again, two birds are used to purify an infected house
to make “atonement” for the house (14:53).

We are not done yet. People can have “unusual discharges” (15:1-33), both men and women. Their
discharges make anything they touch unclean: clothes, bed, spit, clay pots, and people. Pigeons are again
sacrificed to make a person clean. The concern is God’s presence. “You must keep the Israelites separate
from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place,
which is among them (15:31). The danger is the nearness of God. Uncleanness brought into his presence is
an affront.

Ouch! After Nadab and Abihu, we begin to wonder if anyone can survive this holy God.

Bible experts are divided in their teaching on these chapters. The material written about Leviticus is
extensive and can only be illustrated without a thorough discussion. Each approach has its problems and
inconsistencies.

1.) Some have suggested a connection with other religions. The specifics of clean and unclean are God’s
way of putting a barrier between Israel and the idolatrous nations. Philistines, it has been discovered, used

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