GOD WANTS US TO BE HOLY

The word of God is very plain in Leviticus 11:45; “I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.”

Yes, this verse is at the end of the scripture passage that  speaks about “clean” and “unclean” food; but I’ve often thought that this one little sentence is all we humans really need to know.

God wants us to be holy; because He is holy. This is why He was instructing the people who would worship in the wilderness so very carefully about what it takes to achieve holiness.

MINI-SINNERS

Little children; no matter how sweet and innocent they look when they are first-born, and no mater how they can claim your heart right from the first day they come to earth; are just mini-sinners.

I’m sorry; but this is a true fact.

They are not born holy.

If you wait long enough you are going to figure this out by natural order.  All humans are born in sin.  This is just the little gift we received from Eve when the birthing process began so long ago.

Adam and Eve were sinners and their children were all born sinners.  Every generation has passed the “sin” gene on to the next.  There is no way to stop it or control it.

God didn’t create this problem; the first man and woman to walk the earth created it when they decided to sin.

We all need atonement.

We are born needing purification.  We all need to be purified in order to become holy. In today’s passage God is instructing those that He loves so much about how to achieve this place of holiness, purification and atonement, right from the very beginning; way back there in the days of the wilderness tabernacle.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to our ongoing, page-by-page, chapter-by-chapter, bible study called COME AS A CHILD. We are now in the book of Leviticus; and we hope to walk all the way through the scriptures together. We aren’t in a hurry. We are taking our time and examining every little piece of God’s amazing word. We are trying to ponder exactly what God meant for us to know when He told us these things through the Children of Israel so long ago.

Today we will be studying from Leviticus Chapter 12. If you missed last week’s lesson; you may find it here: DIETARY LAWS – WHY CAN’T WE BE MORE LIKE JESUS? COME AS A CHILD – LESSON 217

PURIFICATION

A lot of being holy involves purification. A lot about purification procedures may sound a bit strange at first to our modern-day ears.

For instance; we read in the twelfth chapter of Leviticus that after a woman gives birth to a son she will be considered ceremoniously unclean for seven days. Then on the eighth day the boy will be circumcised. (There is that reference to eight days again – referring to a time of cleansing and consecration to God.)

Then it is said that a woman should wait 33 days to be cleansed from the bleeding of childbirth. She isn’t to touch anything sacred, or go into the tabernacle or the Sanctuary during this time period. It is her time of purification.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BOYS AND GIRLS

The female was created by God to give birth.

The male was created by God NOT to give birth.

In ancient days, when a baby girl was born the mother of the child needed to wait two weeks before touching anyone or anything holy because she was considered unclean.  An un-atoned sinner had been living inside of her for nine months.   She needed to wait sixty-six days before going near the tabernacle or Sanctuary or anything sacred.  She was basically secluded from the rest of the family for a while.   This was her time of purification.

The time for purification after the birth of a girl is twice as long as the time for purification from the birth of a boy.

Does this seem really strange to you?

Do you wonder if God was prejudiced against women?

It did sound very strange to me until I considered the facts of original sin and the fact that God cursed the woman who committed the first sin.

The woman wasn’t the only sinner; she had help and God addressed each person who participated in the first sin.  God doesn’t discriminate against sinners.

All three people who sinned were actually addressed by God afterwards and each of them received their own specific punishment according to what they had done.

The punishment of God for the woman can be found in Genesis 3:16 where God said: “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”

CHILDBIRTH BECAME PAINFUL FOR THE WOMAN

Why was pain now associated with the time of childbirth?

Because all children would come from this woman who was sinful. She had sinned and her children would now be born in sin.  Where there is sin; there is pain.

A male child is born a sinner. He must be purified. His time of purification is seven days.

A female child is also born a sinner. She must be purified. Her time of purification is fourteen days.

THINKING ABOUT THE FUTURE GENERATIONS

The time for a female child’s purification is twice as long because not only will this child be a sinner; but the children she bears later will also be born sinners.

She requires more purification time because of those who will one day be born from her.

It isn’t God being unfair; it is actually God looking after the sinful children that will come down the line.

God never does things unfairly. He always has a reason for His actions.

Neither was God being negative about the birth process.  God loves for children to be born.

God has commanded that mankind to be fruitful and multiply. He has provided a way for the sinful nature in mankind to be changed. It begins with holy sacrifice.

All children are treated equally.  The atonement offering for the male child and the female child is exactly the same; sex makes no difference; a sinner is a sinner and an atonement is an atonement; there is no one holier than the other in all of the human race.

The only way to attain holiness is through the requirements of God.

God was laying out his instructions to the Children of Israel who would become a pattern for the things to come.  God was teaching mankind that He would always provide a way for them to be close to Him; if they chose to do so.

THE OFFERING

When the time of her purification is over; the mother of the child is to bring a one-year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a pigeon or a dove for a sin offering.

If she is too poor to afford to bring a lamb; she is to bring two doves or two pigeons. (This was the case with Mary when Jesus was born. Luke 2:22-24)

As the priest offers these offerings up to God; the woman who gave birth is purified and considered to be clean again. Her time of purification has taken effect and she can go back to normal life with no restrictions.

ALL THINGS WORKING FOR GOOD

This time of being set apart was not a bad thing for the mothers and the children of ancient Israel. It was a time of bonding for them; and a time for the child to adjust to the whole new world around him.

Up until his/her birth; he/she had known no other person besides his/her Mother. This set aside time gave the baby a natural adjustment to the life that they had been born to live on this earth.

The period of the purification was probably the only time in an ancient woman’s life when she was not feeding, clothing, washing and looking after everyone in her household.

She has this little bit of luxurious time with others waiting on her for awhile instead of her waiting on them.  She gained a small amount of treasured  and uninterrupted time to bond with her new baby.

God knew what He was doing.  Everything worked out just fine for all parties involved.

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