“Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness; that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.”
You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place, which is among them. The theological rationale for the entire bodily discharge regulations: the separation from uncleanness protects the Israelites from dying in their uncleanness for defiling the divine dwelling. The presence of God among the community creates both blessing and danger: the holy God who dwells in the tabernacle is the God who cannot coexist with unaddressed defilement. The discharge regulations are the covenant's provision for managing the inevitable impurities of bodily life so that the divine dwelling is not defiled and the community does not die.
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
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