The Unclean Thing In Me
Leviticus 12:1–5 (ESV) The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. As at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. 3 And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 4 Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed. 5 But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days.
Sin comes from without and within. That is the lesson here in Leviticus 12. Where chapter 11 deals primarily with those things outside of man that pollute him or bring contamination, so too there are things (normal things) that come out of us that will pollute us before God.
How does God communicate this to His people? Through these Old Testament types - unclean animals, child birth and other bodily functions we cannot often stop. God's people are to be vigilant in recognizing that the precious presence of God can be defiled in from both outside the church and inside. I look at the first 6 chapters of the book of Acts and it seems to bear witness to that fact exactly. The Church was attacked by the authorities and then was corrupted from within by the false brothers and complainers among them. YET, all the while the Lord was giving birth to His movement and the true Church marched onward to this present day. What a testimony to the power of God.
So we learn from Leviticus 12 that our standing before God is far more precarious than we realize. We are surrounded by a world of unclean things and we bring forth unclean things from within us. We do well to remember that child birth pains would be part of the curse, that any blood leaving the body is a sign of death for the life of everything is in the blood. So God is speaking to Israel, telling us too, that sin is deeper than we realize and deadlier than we think. We are all unable to do anything to stop these normal realities from taking place. Sin has separated us from God.
We learn as New Covenant people, that the Christian struggle is not simply a struggle with those forces outside of us, but within as well. We are hard pressed on every side and we bear the anxieties of our own hearts. We are sinned against as well as sin against others. What is the answer?
Leviticus 12:6–8 (ESV) “And when the days of her purifying 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 a year old for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering, 7 and he shall offer it before the LORD and make atonement for her. Then she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, either male or female. 8 And if she cannot afford a lamb, then 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 for her, and she shall be clean.”
Israel was reminded of their estrangement from God's holiness and peace through these lessons but they were also comforted by the solution offered to them from their God! They may become unclean, but cleansing is available. The number 33 is interesting as that is the amount of years Jesus lived. He died FOR US at 33.
Luke 2:21–24 (ESV) And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. 22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”
The true answer to that which defiles us from within us is the final sacrifice brought forth through the womb of Mary. His blood shed cleanses us from the inevitable cost of our sin.
What can cleanse you from within? Who can do something about those things that normally come out of you simply because of the fact that you are a human? Only the final sacrifice of Jesus. Believe it! Trust it! Live like it's true!
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