D23-22: Why A Man Who Has A Nocturnal Emission Is Rendered Unclean

“When you are in camp, at war with your enemies, you are to guard yourself against anything bad.  If there is a man among you who is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he is to go outside the camp; he is not to enter the camp.  When evening arrives he is to bathe himself in water, and after sunset he may enter the camp.”-Deuteronomy 23:10-15

From today, we progress on to the next section of Deuteronomy 23 starting from verse 10 and are reintroduced to the topic of Holy War specifically as it deal with the military camp and its immediate surroundings.

Keep in mind this is precisely Israel’s situation at this point in its history.

Israel is God’s Holy Army convened for Holy War and the Lord is their divine Commander-in-Chief.

And since this is a war being led by a HOLY God, the military camp itself must be kept holy.

Hence, we’re given some strict rules starting with the following general command in verse 10.

“you are to guard yourself against anything bad”.

The word “bad” here is referring to anything evil or unholy and the phrase itself is a warning to make sure all of God’s commandments are obeyed as carefully as possible.

We’re then given instructions concerning nocturnal emissions or what to do when a man has an unintentional flow of semen while sleeping.

When that happens, the first thing the man has to do is leave the camp until he is ritually purified.

I know this sounds strange and smacks of ancient superstition but it is anything but.

What’s being demonstrated here is a profound God principle.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again.

Human sexuality is not only at the very heart of this section of Moses’ sermon but…

…it underlies the very foundation of the entire Bible.

I’m NOT kidding.

Sex is that important to God.

Just as a female becomes impure when she has her monthly cycle, so too does a man become impure when he emits semen from his reproductive organ whether the emission is intentional or not.

In the female’s case, a human egg has been rejected as not capable of producing human life…

…and in the male’s case, the ejaculation of sperm has occurred minus an opportunity to create new life.

In both of these cases, BOTH the man and woman are rendered impure because of a misuse of the Lord’s reproductive systems EVEN IF THE MISUSE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN AVOIDED.

The occurrence of situations whereby not all eggs survive and not all sperm originally meant for fertilization are not put to good use is…

…I would say the result of not only our sinful human natures but also the result of this fallen world we’re currently living in.

In a perfect world per God’s design, the death of ovum and sperm would never have happened because they contain precious life.

So this is the principle we’re dealing with in verse 11 when we’re told that a soldier who has a wet dream must immediately leave the camp and go to a designated place OUTSIDE THE CAMP and have a wash and a wait.

He has to purify himself by bathing in water and then wait until the sun sets before he can reenter the camp.

Remember, in Israel a day concludes at sundown.

So essentially what we’re being told is that the man who had a nocturnal emission has to wait until the present day ends and the new day begins before he can return to the camp.

If he has NOT scrupulously followed these procedures, only then is it considered that sin has occurred.

This demonstrates once again that while there is a connection between sin and impurity, they are NOT the same thing.

Water is used to cleanse oneself from impurity whereas blood is used for atonement.