Friday, April 14, 2017

Year 7, Day 104: Leviticus 15

Theological Commentary: Click Here


I think this chapter runs far more deep than it originally appears.  On the surface level, this simply seems to be a chapter talking about male and female emissions and how bad they make us unclean.  It is far too easy to make this chapter about sex and how sex is bad while we completely miss the point of what God is truly saying.

Remember that God created man and woman.  He created us different.  He created us with the intention that humankind would continue through the very act of sex.  If God created humanity with the very intention of having sex, how can we walk away from a passage thinking that this chapter is about how sex makes us unclean?  Perhaps even more importantly, do you notice none of the uncleanliness in this chapter requires a sacrifice to remove the uncleanliness except for the one case where blood is involved?  This tells us that there is something different at work here in this chapter.

While God did create us with sex in mind, He also knows that the act of sex is temptingly dangerous for us.  Yes, sex done outside of marriage can get us into all sorts of trouble.  I think there is still a far deeper point than this, though.  When two human beings conceive life through the act of sex, we are temptingly close to an act of God.  It is quite easy for us to feel like a creator in the act of sex.  I think God’s point in this chapter is to remind us that sex is not an act of creation for us, sex is an act of creation for God.  We conceive the life, but God creates it.  Because we draw so close to the role of God in our human sexuality, God wants us to be mindful of our place and how our role is fundamentally different than His.  I believe that is the deep point in this chapter.

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