Chapter 15 deals with regulations on unclean bodily discharges. These included instructions for a man with a bodily discharge, anyone made unclean by an emission of semen, a woman during her monthly period, a man or a woman with an abnormal discharge, and a man who had sexual relations with a woman who was ceremonially unclean. These private matters were brought to the priest and were regulated in regards to being clean or unclean. From God’s point of view, these conditions were seen as normal and temporary, but not sinful. Yet they made a person unclean because they were associated with elements of death. God who is holy and represents life cannot be in the same presence as death. Thus, it was necessary to be cleansed before one could live near God.

This ceremonial cleansing revealed our need for forgiveness and atonement in order for us to be holy and acceptable to God. We are blessed in that we don’t need to follow these regulations anymore. We are blessed because we are cleansed by Jesus’ blood from the elements of death around us, and we are holy and acceptable to God.
Application: Father, thank you for Jesus who cleanses us of all elements of death. Help us to be sanctified and to live holy, disciplined lives.
One Word: Being holy and acceptable to God