What does it mean to be ceremonially unclean?

Answer

The concepts of “clean” and “unclean” are prevalent in the Bible, most often in ceremonial or ritualistic contexts. Ceremonial cleansing was a removal of defilement that resulted in someone or something being declared “pure” in a formal, religious sense. To be ceremonially unclean was to be defiled in some way or causing defilement in something else.

Under the Old Testament Law, animals were either “clean” or “unclean” based on their suitability for sacrifice and for eating (Leviticus 11). Places could be ceremonially “clean” or “unclean” (Numbers 19:9; Leviticus 14:44; Nehemiah 13:9), and the same was true for things (Leviticus 11:32-35) and people (Leviticus 17:15; Leviticus 22:6; Ezra 6:20). In the Gospels, Jesus linked ceremonial cleansing to actual, physical cleansing from disease, telling a leper, “Be clean!” «And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him. », (Luke 5:13) and then, “Go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing” (verse 14). In this way, Jesus proved Himself to be the source of true cleansing.

According to the Mosaic Law, a person could become ceremonially unclean for numerous reasons. Those who were ceremonially unclean were separated from worship in God’s temple, and any person or thing they touched was made unclean as well. The time a person remained unclean—one day, one week, or forty or fifty days—depended on the cause of the uncleanness, and God provided.

Purification rituals were performed to restore cleanliness.

God set His chosen people, Israel, apart from all other nations. Because they were His own people, the Lord commanded, “You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own” «And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine. », (Leviticus 20:26). Distinguishing between animals, practices, and conditions that were clean and unclean was an essential part of maintaining Israel’s relationship with a holy God.

Some practices that caused a person to become ceremonially unclean included the following:

1. Childbirth (Leviticus 12:1-2, 5)

2. Infectious diseases, like leprosy (Leviticus 13:9-11)

3. Unusual bodily discharges (Leviticus 15:2-15)

4. Bodily discharges related to reproduction—e.g., a man’s emission of semen (Leviticus 15:16-18) and a woman’s menstrual cycle (Leviticus 15:19-30)

5. Touching a corpse «He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. », (Numbers 19:11)

6. Handling the ashes of a red heifer used in the water of cleansing (Numbers 19:1-10)

7. Contact with anyone or anything that was unclean «Or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal, and it be hidden from him; when he knows of it, then he shall be guilty.” , (Leviticus 5:3)

Some of the laws related to ceremonial uncleanness appear to be connected to public health and hygiene, such as the laws addressing skin diseases, mold growth, and bodily discharges. Understanding that there was a distinction between “the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean” “and that you may differentiate between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;”, (Leviticus 10:10) not only set the Israelites apart from other nations but also served as a vivid reminder of God’s holiness and mankind’s sin. Ceremonial uncleanness made a person realize they needed cleansing and purification to approach the Lord. Unclean Israelites were separated from temple worship for a period, symbolizing their spiritual uncleanness before God. To become clean, they had to wait for a specific time, wash, and often offer sacrifices (Numbers 19:11-12; Leviticus 14:19).

In the New Testament, the Pharisees were meticulous in making distinctions between unclean and clean, yet they missed the essence of God’s commands. For example, the Pharisees placed significant emphasis on ceremonial washing before meals and openly criticized Jesus’ disciples for not purifying themselves in this manner (Matthew 15:2; Mark 7:2-4). Jesus responded to the criticism by declaring to the crowd that “a man is not defiled by what enters his mouth, but by what comes out of it” “not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”, (Matthew 15:3,7-9). In seeking to keep themselves from ceremonial uncleanness, the Pharisees overlooked the greater need of spiritual cleansing from sin. They saw themselves as “clean” in their keeping of the law, and they rejected the only One who could truly make them clean before God.

Scripture uses the concept of clean vs unclean throughout as an illustration of one’s spiritual standing. God is holy, and He requires cleanness in those who approach Him:

“Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. . . . Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” «Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. », (Psalm 51:2,7, NKJV).

“Who can say, ‘I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin’?” «Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin? », (Proverbs 20:9, NKJV).

“We are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags” «But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. », (Isaiah 64:6, NKJV).

“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols” «Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. », (Ezekiel 36:25, NKJV).

“You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” «And such were some of you: but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. », (1 Corinthians 6:11).

“He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” «not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; », (Titus 3:5).

“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” «let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. », (Hebrews 10:22, NKJV).

Note that in all the passages quoted above, the cleansing comes from God. What we need is not a ritualistic, external cleansing; we need a heart that has been spiritually cleansed from sin.

When Jesus walked the earth, He showed us the holiness of God that is able to overcome our innate uncleanness. Jesus touched an unclean leper; rather than becoming unclean Himself with that touch, Jesus made the leper clean (Mark 1:40-42).

(Mark 1:40-42). A woman, who was ceremonially unclean due to an issue of blood, touched the edge of Jesus’ cloak. Instead of making Jesus unclean, the woman was instantly healed (Luke 8:43-48). Through these miracles, Jesus demonstrated His power over all that causes uncleanness in us. His purity surpasses our impurity.

Jesus Christ “loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood” «and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, », (Revelation 1:5, NKJV). This cleansing is what truly purifies: “If the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:13-14;NKJV).

Now that we have been cleansed by faith «and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. », (Acts 15:9), “we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” «By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. », (Hebrews 10:10). We no longer need to worry about ceremonial cleanliness or uncleanness. For the New Testament believer, “all food is clean” «For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth wi

Th offense. », (Romans 14:20), and we should be “persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself” «I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. », (Romans 14:14, ESV). Christ has moved us beyond the regulations that said, “Touch not; taste not; handle not” «(touch not; taste not; handle not; », (Colossians 2:21, KJV).

Through the act of turning water used for ceremonial washing into wine, Jesus showed how a new covenant was being initiated, which was better than the old (John 2:6-11). Christ’s sacrifice is the basis for our cleansing from sin and from all uncleanness (see Revelation 7:13-14).