Leviticus (11) Land Contamination

According to Leviticus, three types of sin have more serious consequences. They actually contaminate the land, so an offering that purifies the temple is not sufficient to deal with the problem that they create. Three types of sin fall into this category.

• Sexual sins (Lev 18:6-30)
  Immoral sexual activity allows evil spirits to transfer from a bad person to a good person.

• Idolatry (Lev (19:31; 20:1-3)
  It opens people up to the spiritual powers behind the idol they are worshipping. It also defiled the land (Ezk 36:18).

• Bloodshed (Num 35:33-324; Psalm 106:38-39)
  Murder invites evil spirits into a conflict. The murderer can end up carrying them.
  A murdered body makes the land unclean (Deut 21:1-9).

The Torah does not provide an offering to deal with these sins. They make the land impure, and there is no sacrifice that can purify the land.

Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it (Num 35:33).

The only solution is community exclusion of the person (spiritual death) (Lev 20:1-18; Num 18:30-31). This seems harsh, but it keeps the evil spirits that controlled the sinner away from the rest of the people.

If the people who commit these sins are not excluded from the tribes, the land will eventually spew all the people out (Lev 18:24-29; Ex22:3.4,6,12; 36:17:18)). When the people are sent into exile, the land will be cleansed because the evil spirits will travel out of the land with them (Lev 26:34-335.43). An empty land becomes an evil-spirit-free land.