Monthly Uncleanness

I was reading Ezekiel, and something that I'd always wondered about came again to my attention.

“Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions. Their conduct was like a woman’s monthly uncleanness in my sight." (Ezekiel 36:17)

There are parallel passages, especially in the other prophets and in the book of Deuteronomy.

Why exactly is a girl's menstrual flow considered so unclean?

As I thought about it, I realised what menstruation means. It means a variety of things, but the most obvious one is this: not pregnant.

A period signifies a lack of fruitfulness. And God doesn't like it when we don't bear fruit (I'm not just talking about babies here - God loves babies but He also love other fruit too!).

Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (Matthew 7:19)

God is big on symbols. (Especially in the Old Testament!) We often (very often) can't understand the fullness of God's ways. So God shows us in picture form. Symbols.

And the uncleaness of a monthly flow is one such symbol, of the necessity of bearing much fruit for the glory of God.