Leviticus 12 - Purification after Childbirth | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church
The Bible by David Alley · David Alley
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Show Notes
In this video listen to Leviticus 12 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer.
In Leviticus 12 a woman who gives birth to a boy is unclean for 40 days. The number forty appears regularly in the Bible associated with the idea of trial or testing, and often ending with new life, or new blessings. For example Jesus tested for 40 days and then he entered into ministry in the power of the Spirit. So here we see this in the life of a mother and a new boy. This uncleanness isn’t moral, but ceremonial.
This is actually a hugely considerate move by God. When a mother gives birth she needs rest, and it's hard to get sufficient rest, and still remain involved while normal life beckons. But during a period of ritual uncleanness, she is unable to wash, cook, clean or do other tasks, as her unclean state forbids her. So she is required to rest. So this period of forced rest is good for her, and good for the baby boy she is bonding with, and also a time of trial for the rest of the family who have to do more than usual, but it will result in new life and blessing. So we see there are practical benefits to this command.
But why was she unclean twice as long after giving birth to a girl? At first it sounds like female babies are not as valuable, but what this double period of uncleanness meant, was that the mother was able to have twice as long resting if she had a daughter. It's possible that while society celebrated the birth of a son, because culturally they felt it was better, the mother inwardly was also very happy at having a daughter and was able to spend twice as long bonding with this little person, imparting love and value to her. It shows that God highly values women, and is far more considerate than we imagine. It wasn’t a double curse, but a double blessing.
And the sacrifice at the end of the period is the same for boys and girls indicating they have equal value.
Spiritually this chapter reinforces the idea that being clean is important, and the spiritual aspect is the real truth that the entire book of Leviticus is pointing at. Jesus said to his disciples in John 15, “you are clean” because of my word in you. This teaches us that we need to get Jesus’ words inside of us.