Should We Still Keep Old Testament Menstruation Laws?
Have you ever thought that you're so happy that we don't keep the Old Testament (or Torah) laws any more? How about the laws about ritual purity for menstruating women?
Usually when women tell me that, the reasons they cite are things the law never required in the first place, so I'm writing this series of posts to clear up some common misconceptions.
Women often have a lot of shame surrounding their periods, and I understand why as I used to feel the same way. A lot of this shame comes from misunderstanding what being “unclean” in the Bible actually means, and from conflating traditions, commentary from theologians, and misogynistic mindsets with what Scripture actually says.
When this topic has been taught so poorly from the pulpit, it’s totally understandable that women would walk away with this shame filled mindset. But today I’m going to debunk these myths, and look at what Scripture actually says about menstruation and why we should still be keeping menstruation laws.
Some common misconceptions:
That women couldn’t go to church (or anywhere) while on their periods.
That periods were considered a sin and required sin sacrifices.
That periods were a curse because Eve sinned.
That women couldn’t be touched or hugged by anyone, even their husbands, while on their periods.
The laws regarding menstruation are laid out in three places: Leviticus chapters 15, 18 and 20.
Lev 15:19-24
When a woman has a discharge, her discharge being blood from her body, she shall remain in her impurity seven days; whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. Anything that she lies on during her impurity shall be unclean; and anything that she sits on shall be unclean. Anyone who touches her bedding shall wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening; and anyone who touches any object on which she has sat shall wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening.Be it the bedding or be it the object on which she has sat, on touching it he shall be unclean until evening.And if a man lies with her, her impurity is communicated to him; he shall be unclean seven days, and any bedding on which he lies shall become unclean.
Lev 18:19
Do not come near a woman during her period of uncleanness to uncover her nakedness.
Lev 20:18
If there is a man who lies with a menstruous woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her flow, and she has exposed the flow of her blood; thus both of them shall be cut off from among their people.
Before we unpack these verses, let’s talk about the difference between descriptive and prescriptive language in the Bible.
Descriptive language describes what is or what happened- In Biblical times, people rode camels, lived in tents, and kissed each other as a greeting. These are historical facts and context, but descriptive language does not mean that we all are commanded by God to do these things.
Prescriptive language prescribes what should be. These are things that God commands that we do or not do. Do provide for the widow and orphan. Do not steal or commit adultery. These commands are applicable forever, to the people and the situations for which they were intended.
Lev 15 is is both descriptive and prescriptive. It describes what IS- a woman on her period is unclean (we’ll unpack that word more in a moment), a person who touches her or her bedding or other objects she touches shall also be considered unclean, and a man who has sex with her shall be considered unclean. Then it prescribes what should be done- the person who touches her or has sex with her shall wash their bodies and clothes in order to be clean again.
Lev 18:19 and 20:18 are prescriptive and says what should not be done- Do not come near a woman (to have sex with her) while she is on her period.
The Hebrew here is that the woman is menstruating (niddah) and during that time she is unclean (tame). So these are called the Niddah Laws.
Let’s talk about that shame laden word- unclean (tame).
A common misconception is that it was a sin to be unclean, but this is not true. In the most basic terms unclean simply means dirty. Not inherently, soul-level dirty, bad and wrong. Just germy!
Other things that made a person unclean (tame) were touching the dead body of a person or an animal, being sick, being spit on by someone who’s sick, and having sex.
Yes, having sex!
Leviticus 15:16-17 states that any time a man emits sperm, he has to wash in water and be unclean until evening. And everything that his sperm touched is also unclean.
That means that a couple with an active sex life was literally unclean every day or every other day! So what’s different about a couple’s level of uncleanliness on a normal day vs. when a woman is on her period? Nothing, except they’re not having sex.
Descriptive- you’re unclean when you emit semen or blood. The solution- wash and be clean!
Prescriptive- don’t have sex with a woman on her period.
So why is being unclean such a big deal in the Old Testament?
Because of what being unclean restricted one from doing- going to the Tabernacle or Temple.
Being unclean was a normal, unavoidable part of life, even righteous and holy parts of life like having sex. But before a person could go to the tabernacle to bring a sacrifice, they had to become clean.
There were two aspects to becoming clean- the physical and the spiritual.
The physical aspect was simple. The Tabernacle was the place where animals were being slaughtered and later eaten by the priests. For that intent, we could compare this to a kitchen. Wash up! Don’t bring your germy, spermy, bloody self into the kitchen!
The spiritual aspect was what is sometimes referred to as “ritual cleanliness.” This was making sure your heart and intentions were pure before God, and that you were doing things the way that he commanded, not only because they make physical sense, but because the physical actions are a picture of something in the spiritual realm. Because of this, people didn’t simply wash up their pits and bits with a rag real quick to make sure there was no blood or dirt. They immersed themselves in a mikvah- a full body ritual, thoughtful cleansing.
Most Believers understand that this was a picture of what the Messiah would later do for us on the cross. We are spiritually clean, able to approach God with no restrictions or barriers, because the Messiah died on the cross and cleansed us of our sins.
This is a beautiful picture of holiness and grace!
Unfortunately that wording, “cleansed us of our sins,” leads people to believe that all uncleanliness was sin. But as I’ve already discussed, this was not so! This cleansing was also a picture of cleansing us of the problems of the world that came about because of sin- laboring in the dirt, death, and the cycle of death inherent in our menstrual cycles. Experiencing these things are not sin, but we look forward to the day when these realities are life on earth are washed away!
So what part of these laws could be done away with today?
1) The physical aspect? If you throw out the law, you throw out washing and being clean so as not to spread germs. We understand that today, but for thousands of years, people did not. They either obeyed the cleanliness laws (because they believed God) or they didn't (and got sick). Germs didn't change with Jesus.
2) The spiritual aspect? Everything in the physical is a mirror of something in the spiritual. So yes, the practice of being ritually clean before entering the Temple was a picture of being clean before God, and yes we are all spiritually clean through the Messiah. We not longer go to the Temple as it doesn’t exist. But we can still honor the spiritual aspect as we wash our physical bodies. We can take a moment to reflect on spiritual cleansing and spiritual renewal. We can honor where we are in our cycles, and how this time of death allows for the creation of new life. The spiritual aspect is even more powerful now that we understand Messiah’s sacrifice.
Let’s go back to those common misconceptions:
That women couldn’t go to church (or anywhere) while on their periods.
While this was (and is) a tradition in certain cultures, the Bible never says it. It simply says that anyone who is unclean due to any bodily fluids emission cannot go to the Temple/Tabernacle. Church is not the Temple. The Synagogues are/were also not the Temple. I will unpack more in future posts how this tradition came to be as a protection around the cleanliness of the Temple, but it’s not a command.
That periods were considered a sin and required sin sacrifices.
The laws about normal monthly menstruation are laid out in Leviticus 15 verses 19 to 24, which we’ve already discussed. Verse 25 begins discussing a different issue- if a woman’s period runs beyond 7 days or she has an abnormal discharge of blood, then she is to later bring an offering to the priest when she is clean. A discussion of the different types of offerings and the reasons for them is a whole other series of posts, but I will point out here that:
1) This is not for a normal period, but for a sickness or disease of some sort.
2) The exact same requirements are given for any man who has a “running issue out of his flesh.”
These are requirements for anyone, male or female, who has an illness that caused an abnormal issue of bodily fluids. So anyone who makes it about women and their particular brand of female sinfulness really needs to just read the whole chapter.
This was the type of issue the woman in Matthew 9:20 was living with for 12 years. Yeshua (Jesus) didn't rebuke her for touching him, but instead healed her. As Torah Observant Jews, certainly she would have washed and gone to the Temple afterwards and he would have washed.
That periods were a curse because Eve sinned.
Again… it’s just not there. Nothing in the Bible indicates this. Some point to Genesis 3:16 (and unpacking that verse is a whole other post!), but notice that the people were never cursed. God cursed the ground and the serpent, not the people. Also, it doesn’t mention periods directly- the verse says conception and birth. Did God change Eve’s biology at this time to create periods? Or was the process he always intended (menstruation cycles, ovulation, sex) now difficult because death and disease had entered the world? The Bible doesn’t say, so it’s all speculation. But periods certainly aren’t a curse. In fact, they’re a really incredible spiritual connection and a picture of the Messiah (but that’s for another post as well….).
That women couldn’t be touched or hugged by anyone, even their husbands, while on their periods.
This is where the distinction between descriptive and prescriptive wording in the Bible is so important. Does it say “don’t touch?” No! It says IF anyone touches her or her bedding or her clothes they will be unclean. Unclean (Tame)… just like they are if they have sex which is a regular, good, holy activity. This is another tradition that was built as a fence to protect the cleanliness of the Temple, but it was never required by God.
So should we keep Old Testament menstruation laws? Yes!
We should trust that the God who created us knows what is best for our bodies. We should wash after our periods. We should wash our clothes and bedding and anything that is touched by blood. We should honor this cycle of life and death, and embrace physical washing as a blessing and a spiritual renewal and a remembrance of Messiah’s making us spiritually clean. We should not have sex on our periods.
Perhaps you agree we should keep these laws, but you’re not sure how. I will be doing a few more posts in this series with more details on both the physical and spiritual aspects, and discussing things like:
Do I really have to wait 7 days to have sex if my period is only 5 days long?
What is the reason not to have sex on my period?
What if my husband is frustrated by not having sex during this time?
What if I’m frustrated? Can we fool around? How far can we go?
What do you mean by honoring our cycles?
What do you mean that our periods are a remembrance of Messiah?
Ok, I get periods aren’t sinful, but beautiful, seriously?!
We’ll be exploring all this and more very soon!
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