Childbirth, infection, and other dirty things

"When the priest examines him, he shall pronounce him ceremonially unclean." Leviticus 13:3b

Childbirth, infection, and other dirty things
By Rev. William Dohle

Infection!  Just the sound of the word makes me cringe!

Infection runs rampid in our world today.  In fact, I would say that it is one of the greatest killers of human beings, bar none!  Infection ranges from the double ear infection that my son is getting over to the unknown infection my secretary is facing right now.  Infections can be viral or bacterial.  They can hit you when you're healthy as a horse and usher you to death faster than anything else can.

Infections are nasty things, which is the reason why when I visit people in the hospital they make me wear some crazy blue gown, complete with mask and gloves.

Infections can sometimes be treated with good medication.  A good antibiotic taken in just the right way might kill the nasty bacteria.  But most times it is better to prevent the infection from being passed in the first place.  Good hygiene is key to preventing an infection from spreading.

In Leviticus, we find the first laws concerning infection.  The Bible doesn't call it that.  Nor do they know of bacteria and viruses like we do today.  Instead, the Bible treats infection as uncleanliness and warns those infected to stay away from others. 

"...if the hair in the sore has turned white and the sore appears to be more than skin deep, it is an infectious skin disease.  When the priest examines him, he shall pronounce him ceremonially unclean." (Leviticus 13:3)

This is just one of the many regulations Leviticus sets up to protect the healthy from the unhealthy.  And, sometimes, the unhealthy from getting more unhealthy.

These regulations range from the skin infections (Which take up most of the 13th chapter of Leviticus) to childbirth(which takes up the whole 12th chapter).

The regulations on childbirth are strange because they are different depending upon whether the child is a boy or a girl.  If it is a boy, the woman is ceremonially unclean for seven days.  If it is a girl, it is two weeks. (Don't ask me why it is different...)  Still, regulations on the woman's ceremonial cleanliness help protect the woman from diseases carried by anyone else.  Many families will shut themselves in their homes, even today, shunning the outside world to protect baby and mother from catching disease.

On the one hand, I must admire Leviticus for playing doctor as they do.  Without the aid of modern medicine, Leviticus presents a clear, observable way to diagnose skin infections and a way to prevent those skin infections from spreading to others.  Diagnosed through the priests, the unhealthy are declared either clean and allowed either to remain in the community or unclean and ostracized from the community.  All for the sake of the clean.  All for the sake of the community.

On the other hand, you can take uncleanliness and the fear of infection too far.  The United States did that, back in the 1980's, when the AIDS scare had taken hold of America.  This is how the AIDS Healthcare website described what happened...

The earliest people with AIDS and the health officials advising the public didn’t know what the disease was or how it was transmitted. This uncertainty, and the speed with which the disease spread, led to an “epidemic of fear” and to discrimination against those with HIV and against groups perceived, correctly or not, to be more at risk.

As individuals with AIDS were evicted from housing, barred from attending schools and continuing to die with limited treatment, activists fought for money for AIDS research and an end to discrimination.
- See more at: http://www.aidshealth.org/learn-about-it/5?gclid=CjgKEAjw2dqcBRC2q-LXjpfxjnQSJAAeYF5LOD6dIKEZSJf6Rejg4eMmPb9NQhcUPIH6UKXcZ1D3XPD_BwE#sthash.Ms36ZwS8.dpufThe earliest people with AIDS and the health officials advising the public didn’t know what the disease was or how it was transmitted. This uncertainty, and the speed with which the disease spread, led to an “epidemic of fear” and to discrimination against those with HIV and against groups perceived, correctly or not, to be more at risk.

As individuals with AIDS were evicted from housing, barred from attending schools and continuing to die with limited treatment, activists fought for money for AIDS research and an end to discrimination.
- See more at: http://www.aidshealth.org/learn-about-it/5?gclid=CjgKEAjw2dqcBRC2q-LXjpfxjnQSJAAeYF5LOD6dIKEZSJf6Rejg4eMmPb9NQhcUPIH6UKXcZ1D3XPD_BwE#sthash.Ms36ZwS8.dpuf

The earliest people with AIDS and the health officials advising the public didn’t know what the disease was or how it was transmitted. This uncertainty, and the speed with which the disease spread, led to an “epidemic of fear” and to discrimination against those with HIV and against groups perceived, correctly or not, to be more at risk.
As individuals with AIDS were evicted from housing, barred from attending schools and continuing to die with limited treatment, activists fought for money for AIDS research and an end to discrimination.
- See more at: http://www.aidshealth.org/learn-about-it/5?gclid=CjgKEAjw2dqcBRC2q-LXjpfxjnQSJAAeYF5LOD6dIKEZSJf6Rejg4eMmPb9NQhcUPIH6UKXcZ1D3XPD_BwE#sthash.Ms36ZwS8.dpuf

The earliest people with AIDS and the health officials advising the public didn’t know what the disease was or how it was transmitted. This uncertainty, and the speed with which the disease spread, led to an “epidemic of fear” and to discrimination against those with HIV and against groups perceived, correctly or not, to be more at risk.
As individuals with AIDS were evicted from housing, barred from attending schools and continuing to die with limited treatment, activists fought for money for AIDS research and an end to discrimination.
- See more at: http://www.aidshealth.org/learn-about-it/5?gclid=CjgKEAjw2dqcBRC2q-LXjpfxjnQSJAAeYF5LOD6dIKEZSJf6Rejg4eMmPb9NQhcUPIH6UKXcZ1D3XPD_BwE#sthash.Ms36ZwS8.dpuf

The earliest people with AIDS and the health officials advising the public didn’t know what the disease was or how it was transmitted. This uncertainty, and the speed with which the disease spread, led to an “epidemic of fear” and to discrimination against those with HIV and against groups perceived, correctly or not, to be more at risk.
As individuals with AIDS were evicted from housing, barred from attending schools and continuing to die with limited treatment, activists fought for money for AIDS research and an end to discrimination.
- See more at: http://www.aidshealth.org/learn-about-it/5?gclid=CjgKEAjw2dqcBRC2q-LXjpfxjnQSJAAeYF5LOD6dIKEZSJf6Rejg4eMmPb9NQhcUPIH6UKXcZ1D3XPD_BwE#sthash.Ms36ZwS8.dpuf

Though we must remain safe, we must also treat others with respect and dignity.  Leviticus seems to do that until, at the end of this section, we read this:

Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.(Leviticus 13:45-46)

Of all the passages of law in Leviticus, this one Jesus wrestled most with.  To those who were unclean, Jesus touched.  To those who wore torn clothes with unkempt hair, who covered the lower part of their face, Jesus went to.  To the lepers and the outcasts and to all who were unclean, Jesus showed compassion and love.

Though admiring Leviticus for the pre-modern medical knowledge it describes, perhaps we should follow in Jesus footsteps here, realizing that, though others may be unclean and unkempt and infectious to us, they are not to God.  And as God's hands and feet in this world who act and live for him, our attitude toward the unclean should show others our faith, not our fear.

Lead me, Lord, to be your hands and feet in this world, reaching out and embracing those who others consider unworthy or unclean.  Amen.