Holiness in Childbearing
Leviticus 12:1-8
Introduction.
Today we look at the shortest chapter in Leviticus.
But short does not imply easy.
At only 8 vss, this comes in as just as difficult as anything else in this book.
Recall the terms clean and unclean.
This by no means indicates anything negative, just a state of being.
Modern readers look at this with a critical eye, thinking it to be discriminatory.
When we think of discrimination, we think of it as against a particular group for superficial or unjustified reasons.
But to discriminate simply means to make a clear distinction—not necessarily in a negative way.
I knew someone who many would call a picky eater, but she would say, “No, I’m discriminating.”
But seriously, there are some issues here and some difference, and we will discuss them here today.
Preview:
Just the Facts.
Reasons for the Uncleanness.
Christian Application.
Body.
Just the Facts.
If a male child is born (12:2-4).
Unclean 7 days.
On the 8th day, the boy is to be circumcised (Luke 2:21).
There was a break in her purification period so that she could be there for his circumcision, instituted with Abraham (Gen. 17).
She shall continue in the blood of her purification for 33 days (Luke 2:22).
This makes a total of 40 days.
During this time, she is not permitted to touch anything holy or attend worship.
If a female child is born (12:5).
Unclean 14 days.
Then she remains in the blood of her purification 66 days.
This makes a total of 80 days, twice as long as for a boy.
Of course, she is not permitted to attend worship during these 80 days, either.
Ritual after the days of purification (12:6-8).
Sacrifice a lamb for the burnt offering—atonement, closeness to God.
Sacrifice a bird for a sin offering—not that she committed a sin, but that she needs to be ritually purified, move from an unclean state to a clean state.
This ritual is equal after having given birth to either a boy or a girl.
There is also a provision for one who is poor, as Mary, the mother of our Lord, was: instead of the lamb as a burnt offering, another bird was to be offered (Luke 2:24).
Recall, the burnt offering was to be completely burned up as a sign of complete surrender to the Lord (Lev. 1; 6:8-13).
Recall, the sin offering, if a bird, was to have its neck wrung and its blood sprinkled on the side of the altar and drained out at the base of the alter (Lev. 5:8-9).
What about this customary impurity? (12:2, 5).
It is the monthly cycle that women go through.
The rules concerning this are found later (Lev. 15:19-24).
She was to be set apart (unclean) for 7 days.
Of course, such “customary impurity” is interrupted during pregnancy.
This is relevant for this discussion because it’s mentioned, but it also may shed light on the reason behind some of these laws.
Reasons for the Uncleanness.
As with the dietary laws, the possible reasons abound.
Hygiene is sometimes mentioned.
But there is nothing inherently dirty about a woman’s cycle or anything of that nature.
Consider all of what happens right after a child is born.
If you are not familiar, while not dirty, it is very messy.
Bodily fluids are flowing, and blood often flows for weeks after.
It is far more than what flows during the regular cycle.
As we’ll note, one key passage for understanding this tells us that “the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” (Lev. 17:11).
In this context, it refers to eating blood, that it should not be done.
But it also tells us the purpose of blood—life is in it and is a sign of the sacrifice for the atonement.
Nothing should be bleeding in the sanctuary except the sacrifice.
All such bodily functions and discharges were considered unclean.
It not only provided a sense of decorum and reverence in worship, but it also showed how we could never attain to the holiness of the Lord because we cannot avoid many of these functions.
Jesus Himself was no doubt ritually unclean on many occasions in His life—and we know He touched a leper.
And since there was an interruption with the circumcision of a male child, it shows some laws take precedence (circumcision over ritual purity) and that there is nothing inherently wrong with a woman’s postpartum flow.
There is no indication that the baby is unclean.
In the religions around them, the baby was considered unclean for a time.
But the baby was not really unclean—its natural state was clean.
Jesus, when He was born, was clean, just as we all are.
Is that not an indication that the doctrine of inherited sin is false?
One cannot be ritually clean but spiritually unclean.
Why is the purification period twice as long if a girl is born?
The answer to this is not entirely clear, but here are some thoughts.
Is it because women were more unclean and therefore unworthy? No.
As one commentator put it, “If the woman was regarded as inferior to the man, then her ability to pollute should have been less than the man and the time similarly reduced” (Magonet 145).
This would mean she is actually valued more.
Is it because they are somehow less than? No.
Another says, “greater defilement is not necessarily an indication of less social worth. Hence, a human corpse defiles more than a dead pig, the latter more than a dead frog” (Milgrom 751).
Surely a human has more worth than pigs or frogs.
It may be because this is in anticipation for when she grows up and is subject to these same laws for much of her life (Ross 271-72).
Christian Application.
After a woman gives birth, as soon as she is able to move about, she should come to worship.
We do not make sacrifices here.
While life of the flesh is still in the blood, our sacrifice was already made for us in Christ.
No, blood shouldn’t be spilt here intentionally (but that’s more of a practical reason), but natural bodily functions should not prevent one from coming to worship.
Our sanctuary is in heaven.
We in the churches of Christ typically call this room the auditorium.
Many denominations call the main room where they worship the “sanctuary.”
They take that from the OT where the tabernacle/temple area was called the sanctuary—there may be an historical element to it, too.
The tabernacle is called the sanctuary in several places (e.g. Heb. 9:1-2).
We see that a woman going through her purification period must not enter the sanctuary, but she can enter here.
Why? Because this is not the sanctuary.
Our sanctuary is not made with hands (Heb. 9:11).
Later He says this is before God—so where is God in a location not made with hands? Heaven!
When we will worship God in heaven one day, we will be in glorified bodies (1 Cor. 15:35-55).
Those bodily functions that were once defiling will not be necessary in His presence in heaven (Rev. 21:27).
This tells us that there is a difference between His presence here with us now and our presence with Him in heaven.
A reminder that we cannot attain to His holiness.
There are different levels of holiness we see in Scripture.
We are holy because we have been sanctified in the blood of Christ (1 Cor. 6:11).
But the Lord alone is holy and must be regarded as holy (Rev. 15:4; Lev. 10:3).
We are to be holy as He is holy (1 Pet. 1:16; Lev. 11:45).
This reminds us that, while we might be holy ones upon this earth, the holiness of the Lord is so far above our own.
This should humble us and remind us who is worthy of our praise, glory, and honor.
Conclusion.
We should not be ashamed of natural bodily functions.
In this Christian age, they do not prevent us from gathering to worship together.
But they do remind us of who is the true God.
We will talk of more bodily functions later, particularly in Lev. 15.
But for now, let us keep in mind that childbearing and childbirth are beautiful and blessed things and always have been.
There is nothing inherently wrong with it.
But part of the natural bodily functions involved would prevent a woman from entering in to worship in the OT system.
But today, she is free to do so as soon as she is able.
Before you can even worry about any this, you must be born again!