RPG Adults
PURIFICATION AFTER BIRTH
SATURDAY, MAY 11
Leviticus 12
James 1:27
“But if she bear a maid child,
then she shall be unclean two weeks,
as in her separation…”
PURIFICATION AFTER BIRTH
How did giving birth render a woman unclean in the eyes of God? Yet that was the case in Leviticus 12. If she gave birth to a male, she shall be unclean for seven days. On the eighth day, the baby would be circumcised. Then the mother would remain unclean for thirty-three days, which is known as “the blood of her purifying” (Lev 12:4). But in the case of a baby girl, the mother shall be unclean for fourteen days, followed by another sixty-six days also known as “the blood of her purifying” (Lev 12:5). Medical reasons were offered for why the period of uncleanness and purification was doubled, such as the mother would lose more blood when she gave birth to baby girls, and therefore needed more rest. But the Bible is not a book on medical science, just like the forbiddance of eating unclean animals was not because the unclean animals were unhealthy to eat.
The Bible is a spiritual book. A spiritual explanation must be the basis for this distinction. The key is the baby boy’s circumcision. This is the spiritual difference. The sign of circumcision was the sign of salvation in Christ. When a Gentile became a believer, he was circumcised as a sign of his testimony that he was a follower of Christ. He made Israel his home. This allowed him to participate in all the feasts of Israel, including the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread. Circumcision, as an Old Testament sacrament, was a means of grace toward consecration. Because of this spiritual significance, the mother’s period of uncleanness and purification was shorter for the birth of baby boys than for baby girls.
The shedding of blood is significant before the Lord. It is by the shedding of Christ’s blood that we have the remission of sins. When a woman gives birth, the much shedding of blood makes her unclean, and also when she has her monthly menstrual period. This reminded the people of Israel of man’s uncleanness and how man can be made clean only by the shedding of Christ’s blood.
MEMORISATION: Leviticus 12:4
PRAYER: I thank Thee, Father, for helping me to practise biblical separation to keep myself holy for Christ’s sake. Amen.