Leviticus
chapter 12 discuses the process of purification for a women after
childbirth. The chapter begins, “A
woman that becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be
ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is unclean during
her monthly period“.
Leviticus 15:19 later gives the details of the monthly uncleanness.
Jewish law makes a distinction between the birth of a son because on
the 8th day a boy is to be circumcised, “Then
the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her
bleeding“.
Remember, the circumcision was a symbol of God’s covenant with
Abraham; God’s promise of a land, a great nation and a Savior for
Abraham’s descendants. Because of the expression of faith in God’s
promise (the circumcision), the time of waiting is cut in half. “If
she gives birth to a daughter, for two weeks the woman will be
unclean… then she must wait sixty-six days to be purified from her
bleeding“.
God loves to bless us when we act out our faith in Him. Just a
circumcision is outwardly visible act of faith; our faith in Christ
should be visible to those around us. Ephesians 4:32 tells us how
our faith should look to others, “And
be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as
God in Christ also has forgiven you“.
When
the days of purification are over, the woman is to bring a one-year
old lamb to the priest at the Tent of Meeting for a burnt offering
and a dove for a sin offering. “He
shall offer them before the Lord and make atonement for her and then
she will be ceremonially clean“.
The law also makes an allowance for those that cannot afford a lamb,
“she
is to bring two doves, or young pigeons… and she will be clean“.
Luke 2:24 tells us Mary presented two doves as a reminder that our
Savior was born into a humble home. It is this same humility that
allows us to see all of God’s children as worthy of salvation. 1
Peter 1:22-23 says that we should “fervently
love one another from the heart“,
then the apostle explains “for
you have been born again not of seed which is perishable, but
imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God“.
We were born first with the sin of Adam, but we were born again
through the “unblemished
and spotless blood of Christ”
(1 Peter 1:19).
“Humble
yourselves, therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt
you at the proper time”
(1 Peter 5:6).