White-Washed Tombs - Biblical Cleanliness

Cleanliness is next to Godliness.

Well, that's not exactly true, at least in the way it's typically used. Although, that was a debatable idea to the Pharisees who were sticklers about pre-dinner hand washing. In fact, you may have heard of a Jewish book called the Talmud, rabbinic teachings that "explain" the Torah. You can find all sorts of discussion over how clean one should be, but the basis for these modern-ish conjectures began with the Pharisees themselves, a Jewish sect founded in ancient times. They were focused on maintaining a pure Judaism: So much so that they delved into Leviticus laws in such agonizing depth that the Pharisees probably would be diagnosed with OCD today. It wasn't even all about HOW clean things were; it was also about the RIGHT WAY to clean things.

Although the Bible itself does mention cleanliness, it never makes God out to be quite as obsessive about it.

Leviticus 11-16 details clean and unclean meats, physical cleanliness and disease of body and home, and ceremonial cleanliness for the Day of Atonement which would be the precedent for much of the Tabernacle procedures.

Why? Some of it is obvious. Many unclean meats are refuse eating or carnivore animals that could spread disease easily. Physical cleanliness was a model for the modern age of separating our own refuse from our living quarters and isolating communicable illnesses. However, some of it is vague. Some unclean meats can be prepared differently to avoid illness, and ceremonial laws are, well, very ceremonial but hardly pertain to our everyday lives.

Therefore, many people dismiss Leviticus and cut through to the moral laws that they understand.

There's much debate over the "whys" and "wherefores" "whether-all-this-still-applies," and has been since the days of Jesus. There's something that has been made very clear, however. Cleanliness, whether it pertains to foods, health, or ceremonies, has nothing to do with your internal cleanness or purity.

"Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him...He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”” Mark 7:14-23

God is actually very obsessive about internal cleanliness.

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." Proverbs 4:23

"Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me..." Psalm 51:10

"I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." Ezekiel 36:25-27

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me." John 15:1-4

"But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.” The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” Acts 15:5-11

He's obsessive about internal cleanliness because it's a sign of your salvation, and He's obsessed with YOU.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may become clean as well.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every impurity. In the same way, you appear to be righteous on the outside, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." Matthew 23:25-28

So, what's up with all the clean vs. unclean described in the Old Testament? There are numerous theories.

Some purport that many of the animals forbidden were used in pagan rituals. Also, simply by having so many food restrictions, it set up the Israelites to physically separate themselves from the nations around them. If you can't even touch a pot an unclean food has been cooked in, how can you sit down and commune with the people who have eaten from it? The gentiles were considered "unclean" because of this and many other reasons.

Others state there are health reasons for only eating certain foods. Of course, there definitely are many physical and mental benefits in eating certain foods and keeping one and one's environment clean.

Still others hold that the animals are symbolic in how clean and unclean are attributed to them. Most of the unclean clean up waste, eat rotting carcasses, or kill others in order to eat. They stand for death and disease.

There's also another theory: that it's all truly arbitrary. This theory states that in the same way clean and unclean are arbitrarily attributed to animals, the Israelites were arbitrarily considered the chosen people by God as opposed to the unclean pagans surrounding them. The Israelites were no better than any of the others, yet God called them out of the world. They failed God innumerable times. Their faith wavered. They worshipped pagan Gods. They sinned as much as if not more than the gentiles. Yet, they were saved.

"And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles." Acts 13:46

As all true Christians, Jews and Gentiles alike, are sinners and yet are saved today. We're saved through God's grace and mercy and not our own strengths.

When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He yielded up His spirit. At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split. The tombs broke open, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised..." Matthew 27:50-52

The barrier between the clean and unclean was torn. God was done with the temple, its system, and a building created by human hands. His believers no longer had to become ceremonially clean to approach God as He has made us all clean. We no longer have to go through other humans to communicate with God, as Jesus is our High Priest. The Holy Spirit no longer lives in a tabernacle or human-made temple, He lives within us, so we must live as an organic temple.

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

So, what does all this mean?

Clean generally means life and unclean means death in the Bible, either figuratively or literally. God is the water of salvation to our souls, washing clean the sins of the world to bring us to salvation, not through who we are but who God is. I believe many of the clean/unclean theories surrounding especially the animals are all partially correct.

However, what it all really boils down to is the Holy Spirit tendency to be repulsed by the evils of the world and seek the clean light of all that is good, wholesome, truthful, and right. To be attached to love and soul-life and separate ourselves from being part of soul-death. The world was being re-taught the path of the Holy Spirit through the Israelites and all those Leviticus ordinates. Some, like the Pharisees missed the point, but we can understand that, as with everything, it's a matter of the heart, from which all else flows.


Sources other than Bible:
http://www.wordofhisgrace.org/wp/unclean-meats/
https://bible.org/seriespage/8-clean-and-unclean-part-i-leviticus-11
https://www.gotquestions.org/temple-veil-torn.html