Leviticus 12:1-8 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Leviticus 12:1-8. Let’s go!
Leviticus 12:1-8 (NIV)
1 The LORD said to Moses,
2 “Say to the Israelites: ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is unclean during her monthly period.
3 On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised.
4 Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over.
5 If she gives birth to a daughter, for two weeks the woman will be unclean, as during her period. Then she must wait sixty-six days to be purified from her bleeding.
6 “‘When the days of her purification for a son or daughter are over, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering.
7 He shall offer them before the LORD to make atonement for her, and then she will be ceremonially clean from her flow of blood. “‘These are the regulations for the woman who gives birth to a boy or a girl.
8 If she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.'”
On verses 1-8: Have you ever wondered what being ceremonially unclean really means? We’re going to look at this together tomorrow.
In the meantime, why is it that a woman is ceremonially unclean for only 7 days when she gives birth to a son whereas she is ceremonially unclean for two weeks when she gives birth to a daughter? We don’t know for sure. In any event, we can be confident that the differing periods of ceremonial uncleanness were NOT because a son was worth more than a daughter. The fact that in verses 6-7 the same animal sacrifice is required whether the baby born is a son or daughter suggests that in God’s eyes baby boys and baby girls are of equal worth and value in God’s eyes.
Finally, notice that in verse 8 if the mother of a newborn could not afford to buy the lamb required for the sacrifice, she was allowed to bring two doves or two pigeons as her offering. This was the offering that Jesus’ parents, Joseph and Mary, offered at Jesus’ circumcision (see Luke 2:22-24).
What’s the lesson here? Jesus was born into a family that was not financially well off. He left all the riches of heaven and humbled himself, being born as a human baby to a poor Jewish family. It goes to show that you don’t have to be financially well off to be incredibly blessed. What matters more than what you have is who you have. When you have Jesus, you’re the richest person in the world. A family with Jesus is richer than any Fortune 500 family without him.
Thank You God for sending Your Son Jesus for poor and needy people like us. He became poor so that we could become eternally and incomparably rich through Him! Thank You for loving us that much. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
