Touching a carcass made a person unclean until evening because it symbolized contact with death and impurity, which are incompatible with God’s holiness. Death entered the world through sin, and anything associated with it defiled a person and excluded them temporarily from participating in worship or communal life.
Leviticus 11:24 says:
“By these you shall become unclean; whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until evening.”
This uncleanness was not sinful in itself but was ceremonial, teaching Israel the difference between life and death, clean and unclean. Evening marked the start of a new day, and the uncleanness passed with time, signifying a temporary state that could be remedied.
The law impressed on the people the need for constant vigilance in maintaining purity and the importance of being spiritually clean to draw near to God. It reminded them that defilement was easily contracted and that holiness required separation.
This principle continues spiritually in the New Testament. Jude 23 warns:
“But others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.”
Touching a carcass was a tangible lesson in avoiding spiritual defilement and pursuing the purity necessary to walk with God.
