Leviticus 12:6-8-When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a
son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the
tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or
a turtledove for a sin offering. He shall offer it before the Lord, and make atonement on her behalf;
then she shall be clean from her flow of blood. This is the law for her who
bears a child, male or female. If she cannot afford a sheep, she shall take
two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a
sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement on her behalf, and she shall
be clean.
Moses was told once again to speak to the
people. This time it was to give them some
very specific rules concerning the blood that was present in a woman’s
childbirth. The passing of the bodily
fluid made their bodies ‘unclean’…it defiles them. It kept them from entering
the tabernacle. They had to be separated from the others in the camp…and wait
many days…then offer a sacrifice to seal the ritual purification form all that
blood.
I admit…it’s another one of those chapters
I have few notes on…and I have to wonder just what lesson I am supposed to get
out of this…and the unexplained reasons for why a female child required more
time don’t help me make any sense out of this chapter for today. And none of
the commentaries really helped me understand it at all. So I sit …just waiting
for God to give me something….surely this chapter has some relevance for me
today.
As I sit here and think…maybe these rules
were just another obedience thing…or a message from God that when your body
bled it was serious business. Since God asked them to shed so much blood from
animals in sacrifices…he wanted them to make a distinction in this way he had
ordained to multiply the people on his Earth…help them understand that the
blood their body produced as they pushed the life God created inside them…was
part of the punishment of Eve…not the holy blood of a perfect animal…chosen…and
given to God.
Maybe it was just to give some of the
stories in the New testament more credibility. I am thinking now of the faith
packed story of the women who was impure from her blood issue for 12 years. It
must have been a special story for we find it in three of the gospels….Matthew
9:20-22… Mark 5:25-34…and Luke 8:43-47. What faith it took to break Jewish law…and
reach out to Jesus that day. What greater glory he was able to show the people
because of her long wait…and impure state.
I also think of sweet Simon and Anna …who
stood day after day waiting on God to show them the Messiah. Mary came that day to dedicate him…to offer
her sacrifice after his birth…and because of the faithfulness of Mary and
Joseph to this scripture…God was able to keep his promise to both Anna and
Simon (Luke 2:21-28). What joy must have filled them as they beheld the
promised child after all that waiting.
I guess that goes to show me that sometimes
the meaning of a scripture is not always what we read literally. The laws and rules God established in those
old testament days still have meaning for us today. We just have to keep
waiting and praying for his guidance…keep searching our hearts for what he
wants us to. We have to cling to the
promises of his law…and have faith that he has a plan for us…to prosper us…and
bless us…and give us hope…no matter what we have defiled ourselves with.
Father…once again I sit in tears…realizing
that you have shown up this morning to teach me a powerful lesson in
waiting. You know my heart...and how it
longs to have concrete answers…signs that I am on the right path. But in my human weakness…I falter so many
times…because I have trouble waiting on you.
Forgive me…and help me to find that perfect path once again…the one you
want me on…not the one I think I should be. I thank you that you have made a
way for me to purify myself from my sins….help me to offer my offering to you…so
you can be pleased…and we can be connected in an even closer way than I have
known before. Amen.
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