Leviticus 12 ~ purifying

Leviticus 12

12 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. As at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. ³ And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. ⁴ Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed. ⁵ But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days.

⁶ “And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering, ⁷ and he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her. Then she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, either male or female. ⁸ And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.”

When you say Leviticus, most even ardent Bible Studiers are less than enthusiastic. Yet the Scriptures tell us God tells us truth. What do we learn from these Scriptures from around 1300-1500 B.C. (the Exodus date God knows)? It is rather Amazing. Puerperal fever has killed many women for centuries in childbirth. Wandering around in the desert during the Exodus, Leviticus tells us - these women we think were treated as chattel - property - were actually being given the best medical help available at the time.

And male infants shouldn't be circumcised before this time period because of the blood clotting factors.

God is building up the Children of Israel, carrying for women and children - the least of society. If you look to other countries at this time period, would this care be evident? We know that the Children of Israel lived longer than other countries.

And then we come to the sacrifice, ending at the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. (Jesus' natural life time) - we have baptism, asking blessing on our children. Baptism is asking God to promise us the opportunity of salvation in Jesus.

The Scriptures are filled with wonder.

1 Corinthians 1:21
Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.


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