Title Leviticus 12:1-8
Contents
Leviticus 12:1-8
Hymn 28
The Bible can also be called the ‘book of blood’. This means that the Bible gives many meanings to ‘blood’. In this Leviticus that we are sharing these days, various sacrificial methods are introduced, and all sacrifices except grain offerings require blood. Even if there were no sacrifices without blood, it would be safe to say. So, actually, Leviticus seems like a very boring and boring book, but if you use your imagination a little and read it, you can get a glimpse of the scene of 'father's rebellion', where blood is splattered everywhere and the smell of blood vibrates. (Rev. Yongwan Lim talked about this in detail last Friday (November 25).)
Above all, the Bible stipulates that the life of the flesh is in ‘blood’.
For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make an atonement for your lives by sprinkling it on the altar, for because life is in the blood, blood makes atonement (Leviticus 17:11).
Since the life of the body is in the blood, there must be ‘shedding of blood’ for atonement. This is the principle of the forgiveness of sins taught in the Bible. On behalf of me, a sinner, people must have deeply realized the fear of sin in the horrific scene where a silent animal was slaughtered painfully and bloodshed. In addition, they must have watched with a desperate heart that my life can only be recovered through the life of blood. In this way, the ritual was a real education that imprinted the value and importance of ‘blood’.
Blood was regarded as life, so to bleed from the body meant that the life could not be kept healthy and whole. That is why Leviticus 15 states that a woman who menstruates is also unclean. Isn't menstruation a phenomenon in which the endometrium of the uterus falls off and is discharged out of the body when women are not pregnant? So, because menstruation is bleeding that has nothing to do with ‘life’, it is not difficult to convince me to define such a woman as unclean.
However, the regulations for mothers mentioned in today's text seem to be a little far from the preciousness of life.
Speak to the children of Israel, saying, If a woman becomes pregnant and gives birth to a man, she will be unclean for seven days, as with menstruation, and on the eighth day the child's foreskin shall be cut off. He shall not touch the holy things or enter the sanctuary until the period of purification is over; and if she gives birth to a woman, she shall be unclean for two weeks, as it is with menstruation;
When women give birth, there is bound to be blood in the process. But think carefully. Birth is to give birth to another ‘life’ on this earth. Bleeding is a natural phenomenon that accompanies life in the process of being born, but the Bible defines a woman who gives birth as 'unclean', that is, unclean. It is understandable at first glance to define a woman who has menstruated as unclean, but it seems unfair to say that she is unclean because she gave birth to a life.
In other words, if the Bible places great importance on the value and meaning of blood, is there any reason to define a woman who bled in the process of giving birth to life as unclean? It is also said that when giving birth for a boy, it is unclean for a week and for a girl for two weeks, and for the blood to be completely cleansed, it is said that a boy has to wait 33 days and a girl has to wait 66 days. During this period, the mother was not allowed to touch the holy objects or enter the sanctuary. During this period, the mother could not eat meat from the fellowship offering and had to be completely excluded from all holy sacrifices in which the family or community took part.
In Mark 5, there is a story about a woman suffering from a hemorrhage. This woman was treated as an “unclean woman” because of the blood oozing out of her body. This woman was not temporarily quarantined, but was judged unclean for 12 years. Mark introduces the woman this way:
He suffered much from many doctors, and all he had was wasted, but there was no benefit, and he was getting worse (Mark 5:26).
This woman was suffering from chronic uterine bleeding, not temporary bleeding, and had been desperately trying to cure it for 12 years. This is because, although her illness is also a disease, it was more painful for a woman to have to live a socially isolated life in the cold gaze and coldness of people because of that disease.
Defining a person as unclean because he or she bleeds could sometimes even undermine a person's dignity. Therefore, if a woman who has given birth to ‘life’ is rather unclean because of that life, it is not an easy rule to understand.
However, if you think about it a little more deeply, you can see that this regulation is for the protection and consideration of the mother. Let's assume for a moment the reverse case. What would happen if, after giving birth, the mother forced her to participate in all ceremonies in her family or in Israeli society? Isn't that the kind of treatment that doesn't take care of the mother who gave birth to life? Let's imagine that a newly born family has to offer a sacrifice. If the family is rich, the mother will ride a donkey or camel to the place where the tabernacle is. However, once entering the tabernacle, the mother must get off the donkey or camel. And you will have to stand still with your unrecovered body during the ritual. If the family's financial situation is not good, the mother will have to stand still to fulfill her religious duties from home until she returns from the sacrifice.
However, God did not force maternal sacrifice in order to fulfill his religious obligations. Rather, he gave the mother enough time to fully recover.
When the time of cleansing, whether son or daughter, is fulfilled, she shall bring a lamb of a year old for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering to the priest at the door of the tent of meeting, and the priest shall present it before the Lord to make atonement for her. and the living blood will be clean, as is the rule for a woman who has given birth to a son or daughter (verses 6-7).
God was not pleased with a woman who gave birth with an uncomfortable body. You waited for the mother's blood to be purified. And he received the sacrifice offered to him in a state of health restored. In this kind of consideration from God, the mother was able to share the joy of giving birth to ‘life’ in her family and community.
Dear brothers and sisters, God's law does not impersonally bind us. God's law does not impose a religious burden on us. Rather, God's love that deeply understands and cares for our weakness is the reality of the commandments God has given us. I pray that you will have a life today where you deeply realize the love of God in the Word of God.
Prayer