Leviticus 12 Commentary
Chapters 11 and 12 are similar in how they define “freedom.” Chapter 11 defines freedom in terms of food, while Chapter 12 begins to consider freedom in terms of the childbearing process.
You didn’t have all the freedom with food; you don’t have all the freedom with the childbearing process. Many other parameters will be defined but today focuses on what happens to the mother after giving birth.
Chapter 12 is very short and covers one item: Purification rituals for women after childbirth.
Ritual uncleanliness or ceremonial uncleanliness is an abstract concept. The purification or cleansing process for this abstract concept is nevertheless physical and serious.
The Burnt Offering is real; so is the Sin Offering.
The Burnt Offering is an act of worship by the mother. The Sin Offering is an obvious item on the agenda for just about every trip to the Tabernacle. Errant men need to seek forgiveness quite regularly. The Sin Offering has nothing to do with the assumption that childbearing is “sinful”.
The mother offers the Sin Offering not because she has sinned but because she is sinful. It is a constant reminder of the need for restoration. It applies to all humanity.
The less obvious purpose would be to give rest to the mother. She is ceremonially unclean and isolated for her protection and safety. This chapter reveals the tender loving-kindness of the LORD.
Think of 14 days of uncleanliness as 14 days of rest. Parameters are different for boys and girls. Discrimination based on gender is an early concept. Roles are different; consequently, boy-births and girl-births are treated differently. Let no man erase these dividing lines!
Human laws are different. You are fined for drunk driving. Your bank account suffers but nothing else happens! Heaven has a different standard. An offense against Heaven makes you unclean. The Sin Offering isn’t a fine. The Burnt Offering is a “worship” offer. It underlines restoration in the relationship between the errant mortal and the Creator God.
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