Biblical Gender Identity
Section: Intro ⋅ Single ⋅ Marriage ⋅ Adultery ⋅ Living Together Not Married ⋅ Prostitution ⋅ Cross Dressing ⋅ Homosexuality ⋅ Animals ⋅ Incest ⋅ Self ⋅
Disclaimers:
1. This is a mature topic only intended for people who've at least begun puberty. If you are less than 13 years old then I pray you don't have any reason to concern yourself with this yet, and you should ask a trustworthy adult before reading this. (My Family in the Bible page (here) is meant for all ages.)
2. This summary is not intended for general counseling, it is for those who want to know what the Bible says on this topic, and for those who claim the Bible is silent or says the opposite, plus a little commentary to get us started on what it means and how all this fits in a Biblical worldview.Direct Indirect Worldview
So of course the question now is why? Why does God care? My answer is God cares about women. (Remember Deuteronomy 24:5, and there's Leviticus 21:3.) It may be disgusting for a man to have sex with a woman who's going through that time of the month, but disgust is superficial. To a woman, it's outright uncomfortable and painful. Since men have a reputation for not always being the most sensitive, God is laying down the law, removing man's choice, and establishing morality to protect women. Men, be patient with your women, both on this topic and all others.
And the next question is equally obvious. When we read these verses, why does God seemingly pick on women for having menstruation (such as when He calls them unclean, especially since He's the one who designed her with the biological obligation in the first place)? My answer is for us to even ask that question we're not taking context into mind. Most of you reading this are living in the first world, where daily baths and showers are commonplace. Toilets and plumbing and municipal garbage trucks take care of all our waste (human, food, and manufactured). When the events of Leviticus took place about 1500BC, none of that existed. For examples, the toilet we all take for granted was invented only 400 years ago and wasn't practical until just over 200 years ago. They didn't even have tampons (1929), facial tissues (1924), maxi pads (1888), or underwear (1800s). Nothing was disposable like we're used to. Sometimes God gave us commands for our own sanitation, like Exodus 30:17-21, Leviticus 14:8-9, and Deuteronomy 23:12. And then there's the sanitation against disease, which is much easier to contract when we are bleeding. But the sanitation part may be a bonus, the primary reason may be the person, the woman, and being respectful of her. For she continues to bear the curse of her ancestor, Eve (Genesis 3:16), and no man should lump insult to injury by having pleasure at any woman's expense. This applies during menstruation and every other time of the month. (But again, God's not picking on men, because women also have a strict command in Deuteronomy 25:11-12.)
Relating to standards of cleanliness are God's commands on semen, which are obviously directed at males: Besides the hygiene value of all the above commands, there's another element that's worth mentioning. Like so many aspects of life God created, sex (or more specifically, the sexual fluids of men and women) has a distinct smell. People will have different opinions on how pleasant or disgusting the smells are, but none-the-less they will automatically trigger us to think about sexual intercourse. For a married couple, whatever, maybe it's even pleasantly erotic. But to a single person, it would be extremely rude and inappropriate for a person who just had sex to force that smell and those thoughts (in other words, the experience) on the person who may not have it. Like walking past a homeless person with freshly baked food without even looking at them to offer to share. God is saying don't be rude.
Last Modified: Sunday, October 10, 2021
