Leviticus 15 is a difficult chapter. It’s all about bodily discharges. The primary reference seems to be sexual. Bodily discharges of a sexual nature would make a person unclean, i.e., not able to worship with the community in God’s presence. What’s that all about? But the sexual practices of the nations in the land of Canaan might be a clue. One commentator observes, “They often emphasized fertility rites and temple prostitution and sometimes equated orgiastic frenzy with worship. Leviticus 15 is not designed to curtail sexual activity within the parameters created by God but to avoid any appearance of the distortions around them.” God wanted His people to see sex as a special thing. Far from denigrating sex, these laws were trying to elevate it to a higher level than was the case in the world around them.
We too live in a sexually distorted world. We need to live differently. We need to shun immorality, and reserve all sexual behavior for marriage between one man and one woman as instructed by the scriptures. This will really make us “different” than the secular world around us. All of Leviticus is about Holy living. Being Holy to God, is living a life “different” from those in the world.
The Scriptures challenge us to live “Holy” lives because our God is Holy.