8 Verses And A Lifetime Of Lessons - Leviticus 12

Leviticus 12 is a very short chapter with 8 little verses all pertaining to the “ceremonial” uncleanliness of a woman after childbirth. So I figured this will be a quick blog update. WRONG! It’s taken me so long to update my blog on this chapter because the more I began to meditate and noodle, it became more and more intriguing and now I have so much to say about these 8 verses, this posting is quite long...so to the few of you who read my nutty, acorny, thoughts, Thank You in advance for hanging in until the end.
Part of the reason Lev. 12 spoke to my spirit is because I have 6 children and gave birth to 3 of them. Although, no-one labeled me “ceremonially unclean”, childbirth and all the physical things happening afterwards are certainly not clean and I can’t even imagine dealing with it all without the conveniences we have today.

That aside the phrase “ceremonially unclean” is very important. God was not saying to Hebrew women that they were sinful or guilty. To be “ceremonially unclean” meant you could not participate in temple activities until the specified number of days had passed. I still don’t like the label, but I’m sure after 5,000 years and a lack of understanding of their culture something is lost in translation to the power behind the words and rituals of Leviticus.

What Leviticus 12 Teaches Me About God

After noodling a bit on 33 or 66 days (depending on the gender of the baby) where one would be considered unclean, I thought, what a gracious gift! If I am the mother of a newborn and now I have been given a respite, one less thing to worry about, additional time with just me and my little one. The rest of the family goes off to temple and I have time with just me and that precious baby to bond and attach. So once again, what appears on the surface to be a law given by a God who is looking for ways to zap anyone who falls out of step is actually showing us a God who is providing grace, and peace.

Pain, Punishment and Protection

I believe the NEED for the law directly relates all the way back to the first mom ever to give birth in the history of the world. After Adam and Eve sinned and God dealt with them he disciplined them like any good parent.

Discipline has two important components: punishment and protection. God, the perfect father has taught us this. Punishment is important because it teaches there are consequences for sin. Protection is important because the child could endanger or negatively influence the future of themselves or others. Adam and Eve’s discipline in the garden was the perfect example. The protection God provided was actually the banishment from the Garden of Eden. There was a tree there called “The Tree Of Life”. If they ate the fruit of this tree they would live forever in their sinful state, permanently separated from God. (I’m no theologian, but that’s my understanding.)

This is how a part of Eve’s punishment is explained in Genesis

Genesis 3:16a
To the woman he said,“I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children.”

Pain in childbirth? That’s a given. But this scripture says the pain will be increased. The un-cleanliness laws of childbirth directly relates to the punishment given to Eve as a result of her sin. Because of her sin the birth of each and every human being was a person entering into a sin infested world instead of the perfect world originally designed by the creator. Every expectant parent worries about the world their child is coming into. Some people actually choose not to have children because of the condition of our world.

Can you imagine being Eve carrying that first baby? She knew and experienced what a perfect world would be. She knew her little one would never know that world. She knew her babe wouldn't know what it is like to commune with God, the creator of all things. So I believe her increased pain, was partly because she knew better than anyone the difference between a world untouched by sin and a world saturated with it. Every Hebrew woman carrying a child knew of Eve’s punishment, and I’m sure during labor pains Eve was probably mentioned often and perhaps in not such nice terms! ;-)

To be ceremonially unclean because of the birth of a child was a reminder that the world is not as it should be. Sin has separated man from God and every human being, from Eve's firt pregnancy until the end of time is brought into the world as the result of sin.

Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned

Every pregnancy to a Hebrew woman was a reminder of the punishment; Eve’s punishment passed down to all women, still affects every woman giving birth. But remember God is the PERFECT father. Protection is also provided. The ceremonial uncleanliness time period ends with a sacrifice for atonement. ISN'T THAT COOL! The reminder of sin is followed by the SOLUTION to sin! With every birth of every child in the Hebrew community these simple 8 verses in Leviticus 12 reminded people of the consequences of sin and the hope found in God.

Holiness – Be Separate

One last observation is the recurring theme in Leviticus regarding the Holiness of God and his desire for this to be the lifestyle of His chosen people. One of the distinctions of holiness is being separate. It is a way of living that is opposed to and separate from the world and the world view.

In the Leviticus culture there were several things which made the Hebrew people stand out in comparison to their pagan neighbors. Leviticus 12 exposes some of these practices. For one thing, many other religions incorporated sex as part of worship. Many temples were actually like brothels. In stark contrast Israel’s religion avoided all sexual connotations in their worship practices and their temple. The ceremonial uncleanliness of a woman after childbirth would be an example to other pagan nations, that sex and reproduction were important and kept within the boundaries of a home life and not in the temple.

Another contrast was the ritual of child sacrifice practiced by many of the pagan cultures surrounding Israel. The detailed rituals of the Hebrew culture surrounding the ceremonial unclean mother, the celebrations of the child’s naming ceremonies, and the atonement sacrifice of an animal were all shining examples of the extraordinarily special position of children within Hebrew culture and religion.

Leviticus 12 Wrap Up

What it taught me about God – His commands are saturated with grace
Pain, Punishment and Protection – Good discipline are two sides of a coin, punishment and protection
Holiness – God desires us to live a life separate from the standard world view