LEVITICUS 12 - THE LAW ABOUT MOTHERHOOD
Many individuals believe that the book of Leviticus is
a boring book about laws, because it is full of laws whose precepts, in the New
Covenant, do not apply to those who believe in Jesus. But, to be sure, there is
something we can learn from them, since they serve to illustrate the
willingness of the Eternal One in the Testament of the favor of the Eternal One:
·
"Let no man therefore judge you in
meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow
of things to come; but the body is of Christ." (Colossians 2.17).
·
"For if he were on
earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer
gifts according to the law: who serve unto the example and shadow
of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to
make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things
according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount." (Hebrews 8.4,5).
·
"For the law having
a shadow
of good things to come, and not the very image of the
things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year
continually make the comers thereunto perfect." (Hebrews 10.1).
So, let's see what we can learn from Leviticus 12.
First point: why
every pregnancy and birth is sin?
·
"And the LORD spake
unto Moses, saying, speak unto the children of Israel, saying,
If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean
seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she
be unclean." (Lev 12.1,2).
Comes the question: how the practice of an act so
sublime and ordained by the Eternal One (fruitful, multiply and fill
the earth was his first commandment for the human being - Genesis 1.28) can leave a woman unclean?
In fact, when the Eternal One created the human being,
was for the woman to give the light as it happens with the fishes: as
the most natural thing in the world, without causing any pain or inconvenience
to the woman. Unfortunately, in which the sin became part of the nature of the
human being, now what from the woman would be generated was a sinner being
(hence
the pain in the accouchement - Genesis 3:16).
·
"Who can bring a
clean thing out of an unclean? not one." (Job 14.4)
As well as the snake generates little snakes and a lemon
tree produces lemons, the sinner generates a sinner:
·
"Till he fill thy
mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing." (Genesis 8.21).
·
"The wicked are
estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies."
(Psalm
58.3).
But that is not all! It is no secret that the mother
conveys to the children in the womb all their emotions. Consider
this example:
·
"And entered into
the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. And it came to pass, that,
when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and
Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:” (Luke 1.40,41).
As she is a sinner, therefore her son is being created
immersed in sin:
·
"Behold, I was shapen
in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." (Psalm 51.5).
In other words, what we have is a sinner generating,
in sin, a sinner. This is why all sexual intercourse (Lev 15.16-18), as well as pregnancy and childbirth are sinful acts.
Physically, it is impossible to be a mother without sin and become unclean.
Not even Mary, for having generated Jesus, escaped
from such contamination (this confirms that she was so sinful like any other
woman). Although the being generated by her were pure, however she was not. So
much so that she, like any other woman, had to offer burned offering and the
sin offering:
·
"And when the days
of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they
brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; (as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the
womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) and
to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A
pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons." (Luke 2.22-24).
And for that this spiritual reality could be verified
by all, the Eternal One allowed the woman to bleed to give birth, such as it
happens in the menstruation (also known as the days of the
separation for her infirmity).
Once more reason for her become filthy:
·
"And if a woman
have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put
apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even."
(Leviticus 15.19).
·
"But if she be
cleansed of her issue, then she shall number to herself seven days, and after
that she shall be clean. And on the eighth day she shall take unto
her two turtles, or two young pigeons, and bring them unto the priest, to the
door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And the priest shall offer
the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering;
and the priest shall make an atonement for her before the LORD for the issue of
her uncleanness." (Leviticus 15.28-30).
During this period, the woman could not have sexual
intercourse.
2nd Point: why
the woman had to be private for some time of sacred things after the
seven days?
·
"Then
shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive
and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:"
(Lev 14.4).
Whereas in seven days the Eternal One created the
world, soon the eighth day symbolizes the new creation. Likewise, when being
circumcised, the boy went to belong to the Eternal One. Note that the covenant
of Eternal One was made on his genital organ, the gifter
of life.
Today the circumcision is done in the heart (Romans
2.28,29), so that we can,
like Deborah, welcome as children those that the Eternal One places in our
lives (Judges 5.7).
·
"And she shall then
continue in the blood of her
purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor
come into the sanctuary, until the
days of her purifying be fulfilled." (Lev 12.4).
In the Testament of the Law, no one could eat blood, inasmuch
as this should be offered for the propitiation for sin:
·
"And whatsoever man
there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among
you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul
that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life
of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar
to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that
maketh an atonement for the soul." (Leviticus 17.10,11).
If on the one hand the blood made the woman unclean,
on the other hand was this blood she shed that would be used to cleanse her
from sin of having generated a sinner in sin. After all, what happened
with the woman when she generated a child points to the sacrifice of Jesus on
the cross. Just as Jesus gave His life to save us from sin, the woman, when
shed her blood, is pouring out her life (blood symbolizes life -
Genesis 9.4) (risking
to die) so that her child
can come to this world and be able to know Jesus, and thus be saved from her
sin and eternal death.
Is not in vain that Paul writes:
·
"And Adam was not deceived, but the
woman being deceived, fell into transgression. Save, however, will be giving
birth to children, whether stay with modesty in faith, in love and
sanctification." (1Timothy 2.14,15).
In other words, the blood that the woman pour points
to the purification that the Eternal One wants to make in the life of the woman
through motherhood.
In other words, this period in which woman was
considered as unclean was intended to insulate her from the social life so that
she could focus on prayer and meditation on Holy Scripture and, thus, have her
innermost cleaned of the sin.
And the fact that this period is a multiple of forty
is due to the fact that the number forty is always related to the consecration
in order to obtain something supernatural of the Eternal One for
purification. See these examples:
·
"And Moses went up
into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. And the glory of the LORD
abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day
he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the sight of the
glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the
eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses went into the midst of the
cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty
days and forty nights." (Exodus 24.15-18).
Here Moses spent 40 days and nights without
eating, drinking and sleeping in order to receive directly from own Eternal One
the law that would serve to make Israel a separated people (pure,
holy).
·
"And the LORD said
unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have
made a covenant with thee and with Israel. And he was there with the LORD forty
days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink
water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten
commandments."
(Exodus
34.27,28).
As Moses broke the tablets of the law, new had to be
done. Again Moses had to stay 40 days and nights without eating, drinking and
sleeping.
·
"And as he lay and
slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto
him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and, behold, there was a
cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and
drink, and laid him down again. And the angel of the LORD came again the
second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the
journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink,
and went in the strength of that meat forty days and
forty nights unto
Horeb the mount of God." (1Kings 19.5-8).
Elijah walked forty days and nights without food,
drink and sleep only to hear the voice of the Eternal One, having his heart
cleansed of bitterness that he was sense against the Eternal One (and that
served just for letting him down)
and receive instructions about what to do to keep his heart clean.
·
"Then was Jesus led
up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when
he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward
an hungred."
(Matthew
4.1,2).
Although Jesus had not sinned, yet He had to submit to
the purification of the Eternal One, to confirm, in His humanity, He could very
well be tempted in all things without falling into sin (Hebrews 4.13-15), until He receiving what the Eternal One had
especially for Him:
·
"Then the devil leaveth
him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him." (Matthew 4.11).
In favor of this, Jesus was 40 days and nights without
eating, drinking and sleeping.
With all of this is manifest the need for insulation
and fasting for total consecration.
In the particular case of woman to generate son, she
needed a period of abstinence to recover physically. It is good to remember
that, in times of Sacred Scripture, women's work was very hard (just
take as an example the Samaritan woman of John 4.7). If there were no such order, many men could exploit
their wives.
3RD Point: the requirements for purification
·
"And when the days
of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a
lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young
pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of
the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest: who
shall offer it before the LORD, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be
cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that hath
born a male or a female. And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she
shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt
offering,
and the other for a sin offering: and the priest
shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean."
(Lev 12.6-8).
As previously shown, on the occasion of the
menstruation, as no son was generated, first came the sin offering, after the burnt
offering. In other words, first the woman had to seek forgiveness of their sins
and then to be able to deliver in full to the Eternal One. As the
blood of animals does not forgive sins, never someone consecrated themselves in
full to the Eternal One (Hebrews 10.3).
Notwithstanding, when generating a child, first the
woman had to give herself completely to the Eternal One and, then, by means of
motherhood, the woman would be purified from sin. After all, the love of the Eternal
One for the child will keep her occupied in doing good.
It is true that sin separates us from the Eternal One (Isaiah
59.1,2). However, the
removal of sins does not guarantee the full communion with the Eternal One.
Ha-Satan and Adam were created without sin, and even so, were not clung to
the Eternal One.
Note that this is the only place in the Sacred
Scripture where first is cited the burnt offering to, then, be quoted the sin
offering. Also, notice that the burnt offering, to whom is more rich, costs
more than the sin offering (this is because the total delivery of
the individual to the Eternal One as living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto
God is much more valuable than the simple forgiveness of sins - Romans 12.1).
This is why there is a difference in the sacrifices
made for menstruation and childbirth. Whereas the animal is replacing the offeror, thus, when the more valuable the animal and the greater
the delivery to the fire, the greater is the delivery of the offeror to the Eternal One that the sacrifice symbolizes.
To be more clear: as the burnt offering, to whom he
was rich, and was completely consumed by fire, it symbolized a deeper delivery
of the individual to the Eternal One, a full consecration.
Nevertheless, this delivery only has value when
the individual is willing to live a life of continuous washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3.4-6).
Finally, when the individual was poor, he could offer
two turtledoves or young pigeons, which symbolizes that the more is given to
us, the more we are charged:
·
"And that servant,
which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did
according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he
that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with
few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much
required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more."
(Luke 12.47.48).
4th Point: why
when generating a girl the isolation period was greater?
·
"But if she bear a
maid child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her separation: and she
shall continue in the blood of her purifying threescore and six days."
(Lev 12.5).
The only explanation that seems reasonable is the
power of women, which makes her weaker than man (see 2Corinthians 12.9,10):
·
"Likewise, ye
husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the
wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being
heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered."
(1Peter
3.7).
To be weaker than man, she needs extra care since
baby. It is worth noting the importance of the role of women in the home (Prov 14.1). For being the mainstay of the house, you can see that there is much,
much more instructions in Holy Scripture with regard to women than to men.
Also, there is a popular saying quite right:
In the life of the father, the daughter is:
·
A treasure to watch;
·
Anxiety that takes sleep:
o
As
a young woman, in order not to pass the age to get
married;
o
When
married, in order to not be hated;
o
When
virgin, for that is not seduced;
o
When
given to her husband, for that is not infidel;
o
In
his father's house, for that she is not found to
be pregnant;
o
In
the house of the husband, for that she not be sterile.
Conclusion
Lastly, many interpret badly all these precautions
with regard to women. They think that the Eternal One is sexist or bigoted.
However, it is precisely because the Eternal One gave greater honor to the
vessel that is fragile (1Cor 12.24,25) that He wrote so many precepts instructing about the
care for women. What many believe to be prohibition or punishment, in fact, it
is the deprivation of what could move them away of the Eternal One and His plan
for them.
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