Today's article is going to be about uncleanness in the bible. As we are going to see there is many things in the bible that can make one unclean (especially if you were an old testament Israelite). However just because one is considered unclean because of something it doesn't necessarily mean that they have sinned.
The first thing that we are going to take a look at is uncleanness that was the result of sin or uncleanness that it considered sinful aka keeps you out of heaven. In Num 5:19 we see that uncleanness can be the result of committing adultery.
In 2Co 12:21we have uncleanness grouped together with sins such as fornication and lasciviousness. Gal 5:19-21 shows us that it is regarded as a work of the flesh and that those that do it won't inherit the kingdom of God, see also Eph 5:5 concerning this. Eph 5:3 points out that it shouldn't even be be once named among us saints. 2Pe 2:9-10 is a passage that strongly condemns those that walk after the flesh in the lusts of uncleanness.
When we take a look at the Gospels and the book of Acts we see that there are unclean spirits/devils which Jesus and his disciples cast out of people. (Mat 10:1, Mat 12:43-45, Mar 1:23-27, Mar 5:2-5, Luk 4:33-36, Luk 9:37-42, Act 5:16, Act 8:7).
When we read Leviticus chapters 13 and 14 we see that it deals with the plague of leprosy, not only for people but for garments and houses as well. Then we see when we take a look at
2Kings chapter 5 how Namaan the leper was cleansed when he dipped in Jordan 7 times. There's also the account of Jesus healing leprousy in Mat 8:2-4 and Luk 5:12-14.
The next thing that we are going to cover is concerning the human reproduction system. Lev 12:1-8 speaks of a woman becoming unclean as a result of giving birth, we can see that in this instance uncleanness cannot mean one has sinned because God commands us to multiply in Gen 9:1. Likewise we see uncleanness as a result of a man's "seed of copulation" going from him as in Lev 15:16-18 cannot mean he has sinned for the same reason.
Lev 15:19-33 deals with uncleanness concerning a woman's time of the month. We also see that men were forbidden to lay with women until their period was over (Lev 18:19, Lev 20:18, Eze 22:10). We see from passages such as Lev 12:4 and 2Ch 23:19 that people who were unclean were not permitted inside of God's temple.
In Lev 11 we see God's commands to the children of Israel concerning unclean meats (foods that weren't to be eaten).
Deu 14:21 shows us that they were forbidden to eat anything that died of itself. I suppose God forbade this because it can be dangerous to eat meat that came from a sick animal. The ban on eating unclean meats has been lifted in the NT, see my article of Food for more info. For quick reference however here is a short list of verses concerning this (Mar 7:15, Act 10:14-15, Rom 14:14-15, Rom 14:20).
We find out that one is unclean by touching a dead body or merely being in he tent of a corpse from reading Num 9:10 and Num 19:11-16. In Eze 44:25-27 we see that God allowed the priest to come near certain dead relatives . Although they still had to offer a sin offering, because they defiled themselves.
Some other interesting things that we learn from scripture about this topic include: It doesn't defile to eat with unwashen hands (Mat 15:20), Just because someone was unclean in the OT it didn't mean they couldn't eat (Deu 12:15, Deu 15:22), Moses suffered men to put away their wives for the cause of uncleanness (Deu 24:1-2), Deu 23:10-14 deals with issues of uncleanness as well including what to do when they had to y'know "go".
We also see that God hearkened unto Hezekiah and healed the people when he prayed for those who had not cleansed themselves according to the purification of the sanctuary when they ate the Passover (2Ch 30:17-20). We see that Jesus knew that although those hypocritical Pharisees looked good on the outside, inside they were unclean (Mat 23:27).
People make such a big deal about pollution today although when we usually think about pollution we think of things like toxic factory chemicals. God however tells us that the land can become defiled/unclean by the wicked deeds of those that dwell therein (Lev 18:24-28, Ezr 9:11). Furthermore we see in Isa 52:1 that Jerusalem (which is the city the saved shall inhabit Isa 35:8-10, Rev 21) shall no more contain the uncircumcised and unclean. Those that think that they can earn their way through good works need to be reminded that apart from Christ their works are as filthy rags (Isa 64:6).
So in conclusion, although we do not have to follow the ceremonially laws concerning uncleanness of the old covenant (Heb 8:13, Heb 9:10). As I mentioned before however we do have to avoid uncleanness from a moral perspective such as Idolatry or adultery (Act 15:20, 2Co 6:14-17, 1Th 4:3-7).
See also: Jdg 13:4, 1Sa 20:26, 2Sa 11:4, 2Ch 29:16, Job 36:14, Lam 4:15, Isa 52:11, Eze 22:26, Eze 36:17, Eze 36:29, Eze 39:24, Hos 9:3, Hag 2:13 -14, Zec 13:1, 1Th 2:3, Tit 1:15
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