Leviticus 12
McGeeCHAPTER 12THEME: Cleansing of a mother after childbirth; a sacrifice for atonementIn the preceding chapter we saw the contamination of sin by contact. The external character of sin was emphasizedwe live in a world surrounded by sin. This chapter places the emphasis on the internal character of sin. Not only do we become sinners by contact, but we are sinners by birth. And this chapter is the law concerning motherhood, the transmission of sin by inheritance. The very nature that we inherit is a fallen, sinful nature. David said, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psa_51:5). This chapter is in the field of obstetrics, as the former chapter was in the field of dietetics and pediatrics. Our Lord is the Great Physician and He is the specialist in all fields. Pagan people entertained superstitious notions about the uncleanness of women in childbirth. There is not a shred of that notion in the Levitical economy, as we hope to point out. It was also a pagan practice to place women in an inferior position to man. This law does not contain a breath of that idea, as the Mosaic economy lifted womanhood and ennobled motherhood in contrast to the base heathenism that surrounded the nation Israel. Obviously there were certain hygienic benefts in the practice of these God-given lawsas we saw in the matter of diet. God was caring for His people physically, and at the same time was teaching them (and us) the great spiritual truth that we are born in sin. There is a doctrine today that is almost totally rejected, and that is the total depravity of manbut man is certainly demonstrating it! Our news media is full of it, and man’s total depravity is quite obvious. We are told: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom_5:12). The world thinks of innocence, virtue, and goodness in the picture of a young mother holding a sweet, cuddly baby in her arms. But God paints a different picture, an opposite portrait, in this chapter. There’s the young mother holding the precious baby, but he’s not a picture of innocence and sinlessness. He is a picture of uncleanness and sin. Do you know what happened? That mother brought into the world a sinner. That’s all she could bring into the world because she is a sinnerand Papa’s a sinner too. S. H. Kellogg has this comment: “In the birth of a child, the special original curse against the woman is regarded by the law as reaching its fullest, most consummate and significant expression. For the extreme evil of the state of sin into which the first woman, by that first sin, brought all womanhood, is seen most of all in this, that now woman, by means of those powers given her for good and blessing, can bring into the world only a child of sin” (The Book of Leviticus, p. 314). You recall that God said to the first woman: “…I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee” (Gen_3:16). Not only would the woman travail in bringing a child into the world, but the chances are that child would be a heartbreak to her because that child is a sinner. That is, I think, what Paul had in mind when he put down certain regulations concerning woman’s place in public worship. He says: “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence” (1Ti_2:12). He is talking about the place of doctrinal leadership in the church, and I think the reason is twofold. Adam was created first, and also in the transgression the woman was the one who was deceived. “For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression” (1Ti_2:13-14). This is not teaching the superiority of man over woman. Rather, it is a matter of order and headship. Secondly, the woman was first in the transgressionshe was the leader there. The fact that a Christian mother travails in the birth of her child is an evidence of God’s judgment, but it certainly does not mean she loses her salvation when she brings a sinner into the world. “Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety” (1Ti_2:15). She is not saved by childbearing; she is saved through childbearing. In other words, she does not become unclean and lose her salvation by bringing a sinner into the world. The evidence of her salvation is in her faith, love, holy living, and sobriety. “Uncleanness” under the Law reminded her that she had brought a sinner into the world. “Travail” under grace reminds the mother today that a sinner has been born even though she is a believer. When Paul the apostle said to the Philippian jailer, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Act_16:31) he didn’t mean that his family would be saved just because he believed on the Lord. Neither does it mean that your children are saved just because you are a believer. Discipline has broken down in the homes of America because too many parents think they are raising a sweet little flower when what they have is a stinkweed! That, my friend, is what you and I are, and that is what we have brought into the world. Again and again I asked my daughter, “Are you sure you trust Christ? Are you saved?” She asked me once, “Why do you keep asking me?” And I told her, “I just want to make sure.” She has my nature and I happen to know that this nature of mine is a lost nature. She is not automatically saved just because I am a Christian and a preacher of the gospel. This raises another question. Someone said, “If my baby is born a sinner and he dies in infancy, is he lost because he is a sinner?” No. In Adam all die, and that’s the reason the little one died. But the Lord Jesus said, “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels [spirits] do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven” (Mat_18:10). The word “angels” should be translated spiritstheir spirits behold the face of the Father. In other words, when that little infant dies, his spirit goes to be with the Father. Why? Because Christ came down and died for sinners, and the little one has not reached the age of accountability. The minute he does, then he has to make a decision for Christ. I like the quaint epitaph that Robert Robertson placed over the graves of his four children: Bold infidelity, turn pale and die, Beneath this stone four infants’ ashes lie; Say are they lost or saved, If death’s by sin, they sinned for they lie here; If Heaven’s by works, in Heaven they can’t appear. ReasonAh, how depraved. Reverse the Bible’s sacred page, the knot’s untied. They died, for Adam sinned; they live, for Jesus died.
Leviticus 12:1
CLEANSING OF A MOTHER AT THE BIRTH OF A MALE CHILDThe mother is unclean because she has brought a sinner into the world. Eve thought she had brought the Savior into the world when Cain was born, but she had brought into the world only a sinnerthe first murderer. Now this Levitical ritual is to remind women that they were bringing into the world the same kind of a baby that Eve had brought into the world. They cannot do good. They can only sin. Her uncleanness is divided into two periods. The first period was seven days. We shall see in the next verse that the male child was circumcised on the eighth day. Circumcision was the badge given to Abraham. I realize that the idea of uncleanness of motherhood conflicts with the popular notion of motherhood and the little baby, but we need to emphasize that the babies we are bringing into the world are sinners. They are going to run undisciplined. They will be revolutionaries. They will adopt the new morality, which is just old-fashioned sin. The whole philosophy of life has been entirely wrong. We need to start raising children by the Scripture and not by Dr. Spock. This has been the cause of deep problems during my entire time in the ministryI have seen parents after parents raise their children in this way.
Leviticus 12:3
We have mentioned that the mother’s period of uncleanness is divided into two periods. The first was seven days, and then the male child was circumcised on the eighth day. Being born an Israelite did not include him in the covenant until the baby was circumcised. Each Israelite was first of all a son of Adam and was born outside the covenant. This is what Paul means in Rom_9:6-7: “…For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children …” Natural birth does not bring a man into a right relationship with God. Natural birth separates a man from God! God owes us nothing. He sent His Son out of His grace to us. The second period of the mother’s uncleanness was for thirty-three days so that the total time was forty days. This reaffirms the fact that the rite of circumcision had a meaning of cleansing. It was God’s way in the Old Testament of saying, “…Suffer little children, and forbid them not to come unto me …” (Mat_19:14). The circumcision of the male child removed some of the sin from the mother. His acceptance meant her acceptance also. She is reminded that she is still a sinner, and thirty-three more days are required for her cleansing. It is interesting to note that Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day. Then Jesus was brought to the temple when the days of Mary’s purification according to the Law of Moses were accomplished (Luk_2:21-23). Mary was a sinner even though she brought the sinless Savior into the world. His birth did not save her. Only her new birth by accepting Jesus as her own Savior could save her. Jesus was circumcised to fulfill the Law of Moses. He came to fulfill, not to destroy the Law. He was made (born) under the Law. Thus he identified Himself perfectly with His people.
Leviticus 12:5
CLEANSING OF THE MOTHER AT THE BIRTH OF A FEMALE CHILDThe time is doubled for the cleansing at the birth of a female child. I don’t know why this was so, but obviously the circumcision of the male child had something to do with the reduction of the days and it relieved some of the curse. Grace brings us to a new day. “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal_3:27-29).
Leviticus 12:6
CLEANSING OF THE MOTHER BY BRINGING A SACRIFICE FOR ATONEMENTThe mother brought a burnt offering and a sin offering to God and the priest offered it for her. She certainly was not saved just by bringing children into the world, as some claim. She had to have a sacrifice. A mother must trust the Lord Jesus Christ. With that in mind, she is prepared to raise her child as a sinner who needs to accept Christ. Oh, how the home needs that today! You remember that when the Lord Jesus was born, his mother brought turtledoves because the poor could bring them as an offering. She had to have an offering because she was a sinner; she was not sinless. She brought an offering. But there was no offering for the Lord Jesus. No offering was ever made for Jesus or by Jesus. He is the sinless One. He was the offering for the sin of the world. He is the Lamb of God. Friends, think on these things. We live in a world that has gone crazy, has gone mad. This world has turned its back upon the Almighty God, and the judgment of God is beginning to fall upon the world. We are demonstrating the fact that only sinners are born into this world and that all people need the saving grace of God. All people need the shed blood of Christ to pay the penalty for their sins.