It would be good to have your Bibles open at Leviticus Chapter 12 to begin with

Being Purified (Leviticus 12) 18 th October 2015 1 It would be good to have your Bibles open at Leviticus Chapter 12 to begin with and then later we ll look at our 2 NT passages. And if you like taking notes there s an outline in the bulletin to jot down notes if it helps you concentrate Let me pray first, for God s help and guidance as we look at this passage together Intro/Difficulties in Childbirth There s the story of a young boy whose mum is expecting a baby; So the young boy asks his Dad where did humans beings come from originally? ; His Dad says well the Bible says that God created the first man and woman and their names were Adam and Eve and from them the whole world got populated with human beings The boy replied: Oh Mummy said we all came from monkeys The boy s Dad said Oh that s just your Mummy s side of the family (pause) Speaking of Adam and Eve if we cast our minds back to the Garden of Eden when they ate from the forbidden tree We should remember that God gave Eve a punishment for her part in rebelling against God in Genesis 3:16 [Powerpoint 1 Eve s punishment] 16 To the woman he said, I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children Page 1 of 13

2 So childbirth will be painful for women and so it is even to this day That doesn t mean God s against having children [Powerpoint 2 God is for children] He told Adam and Eve in Gen 1:28 28 Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. And we also know from Ps 127:3 that: Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him. However the fact remains that although it is a great joy to have a baby the process of childbirth is very difficult for women Need for Purification after Childbirth Which brings us to today s passage from Leviticus chapter 12 And the subject that is dealt with is childbirth The passage says that when a woman gives birth they are ceremonially unclean because of the flow of blood they experience after giving birth (v4, 5, and v7) Page 2 of 13

3 In understanding what ceremonially unclean means we need to enter the world of the ancient Israelites and their culture rather than thinking of it in terms of our culture today Remember where the Israelites are located they are in the wilderness to start with and then they go into the Promised Land and they don t have the medical and hygiene facilities we have today Ceremonially unclean means that that the woman is not in an appropriate state to draw near to God in worship because of the situation she s in after childbirth. Let s also be very clear, that a woman being ceremonially unclean after childbirth is not because women are inferior to men, nor that sex is dirty or sinful either. So why was a woman considered ceremonially unclean after the wonderful miracle of childbirth? Well it was because she was bleeding (verses 4, 5 and 7) [Powerpoint 3 Ceremonially unclean] Whilst she was bleeding, she was considered unclean and unprepared to enter the pure and holy surroundings of God s tabernacle. Her temporary status highlights her role as a young mum and relieved her of certain duties that made the early days with the new baby easier. Page 3 of 13

4 But why is bleeding a problem? [Powerpoint 4a Why is bleeding a problem?] Well as we ve seen so far in Leviticus blood is the source of life (Lev 17:11) Without blood there is no life If the woman is bleeding after childbirth there are 2 problems firstly she is losing blood and this is potentially putting her life in danger and secondly the blood she is losing is removing the impurities of the child-bearing process from her body, thus making the blood unclean It s fair to say that whilst bleeding is going on - the woman s body is not as it should be it is not whole So before she can be allowed to worship God again that wholeness of her body must be restored In other words she must be purified there is a need for purification There is also another reason for the need for purification The Israelites were surrounded by other nations especially the Canaanites who worshipped fertility gods and goddesses and these nations as part of their worship begged their fertility gods and goddesses for crops, and animals and for their families to increase. [Powerpoint 4a-Separate Worship] God wanted Israel s worship of Him - to be separate from any idea of worshipping sex or reproduction (fertility). In doing this God helped the Israelites avoid Page 4 of 13

confusion with the surrounding nations worship rituals. As we said last week the Israelites were to be holy and different 5 How is Purification Achieved After Childbirth? So how is purification achieved, for the woman, after childbirth? The way she is purified depends on whether she gives birth to a boy or a girl [Powerpoint 5a Boy] If she gives birth to a boy she is unclean for 7 days then on the 8 th day the boy is circumcised Circumcision was a sign given to Abraham to show the agreement God had made with Abraham and his descendants to show that they were God s people Holy and different After the circumcision of the boy the woman has to wait 33 days to be purified from her bleeding [Powerpoint 5ab Girl] If she gives birth to a girl she is unclean for 14 days then has to wait 66 days to be purified from her bleeding Now why would the purification and waiting periods for the birth of a girl be double that for the birth of a boy? Page 5 of 13

6 Good question: The Bible doesn t have an answer But for those who like to have answers There are Jewish traditional answers (which I stress are not Biblical answers as such) One reason is when the woman has a girl she is bringing into the world, another female, who at some point can potentially have children and so experience bleeding at childbirth so the purification time is double for 2 females the mother and the daughter Another traditional reason is because of Eve s role in the fall since she was the one who was deceived not the Adam (1 Tim 2:14) There was also the tradition in Jewish culture that men were favoured over women in many aspects of their culture and so the stigma attached to being a female required double the purification And I stress again these are not Biblical answers - only traditions [Powerpoint 6 why different?] The best Biblical answer when the Bible doesn t give an answer - is to simply say the purification and waiting time was double for the birth of a girl because God said so! (pause) The purification doesn t end at the waiting time. Page 6 of 13

After the waiting time, the woman has to bring 2 sacrifices/offerings to the 7 priest: A lamb for a burnt offering A young pigeon or dove for a sin offering The burnt offering is a whole animal offering to God to renew the relationship between God and the woman as she has been away from worship for the given time The sin offering is so the priest can make atonement for the sin of the woman not the sin of having a child but any sins she may have committed whilst being away from the worship of God There is even provision for women who are poor (v8) if they can t afford a lamb they can bring two pigeons or two doves one for burnt offering and one for sin offering After the purification waiting time and sacrifices - the woman is clean and whole again The Need for us to be Purified How does this apply to us? Well - we need purifying too! Why do we need purifying? Page 7 of 13

Because - since Adam and Eve s first sin 8 We have all inherited a sinful nature (original sin) and we are all going to die one day [Powerpoint 7] See Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned So just like the woman who is not whole because of the bleeding she experiences in childbirth We are not whole because of the curse of sin that plagues our lives And we need to be made whole again. So let s fast forward to the time of Jesus birth and we read in Luke 2:22-35 That even though Mary is a virgin and she conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit She still fulfils all the requirements of the OT law and undergoes purification and waiting times just like in Leviticus chapter 12 And Jesus is circumcised on the 8 th day too - in Luke 2:21 To all intents and purposes this is a normal birth and all the normal rituals have been followed But there s something special about this baby Page 8 of 13

9 And it just so happens (by coincidence) that an old guy called Simeon a righteous and devout man just so happens to know (thru Holy Spirit) something special about this baby See Luke 2:26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord s Messiah This baby is God s chosen one to save His people And Simeon as he is holding baby Jesus in his arms says in Luke 2:29-32: 29 Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel. Simeon knows that Jesus will be the means by which salvation will come to people It s this baby who will save people not just people in Israel but even Gentiles (Non-Jews) - like us But save people from what? [Powerpoint 8 Jesus] Well from the curse of sin and death which we all inherited from Adam. Page 9 of 13

It s this baby Jesus who purifies us? 10 How are we purified? But how are we purified? Look at our NT passage - Colossians chapter 2 Look at verses 9 and 10 [Powerpoint 9 fullness] 9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. It s in Jesus when we believe in His death for our sins to be forgiven and when we believe in His resurrection so we can have eternal life that we are purified It s in Jesus once and for all sacrifice (Heb 7:27) which replaces all the sacrifices in Leviticus - that we become whole again As Paul says we are brought to fullness [Powerpoint 10 Colossians 2:11, 14] And Paul says in v11 We undergo a circumcision not of our flesh but of a hearts Jesus circumcises our hearts and makes us holy and pure and clean and whole again It s like having a heart transplant taking out a wicked heart that s against God and replacing it with a heart that is for God And part of this purification is having our sins and our legal debt for these sins - nailed to the cross (v14) What an act of grace and mercy that is! Page 10 of 13

11 Our response to this purification Because Jesus has purified us What should our response be today? [Powerpoint 11a Colossians 2:6] Staying in our NT passage look at Colossians 2:6 6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. What Paul is saying here is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what we ve been given. We received Jesus, the Master; now live him. You re deeply rooted in him. You ve got rock solid foundations with Him. You know what it means to have faith in Jesus. Now do what you ve been taught. School s out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving Friends, are you living your lives in Jesus, and through Jesus and for Jesus? Are you loving people or yourself? Can people see your love for Jesus in your life? Can people see your faith in Jesus in action in your life? Page 11 of 13

12 Can people see how thankful you are for what Jesus has done for you in His death and in His resurrection? If not why not Jesus has purified you? (pause) Paul goes on to give some more advice in verse 8: 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. [Powerpoint 11b Not getting sucked in by the world] What Paul is saying is don t get sucked in by people in this world who try to dazzle and deceive you with big words and intellectual double talk and clever arguments and theories and agendas We have a choice what Jesus says in His Word - or what the world says If what the world says doesn t agree with Jesus and His Word the Bible then it s not pure so we keep away from it The world says that Christians are a bit strange to believe God would become a man, be born of a virgin, then die a horrible death, to rise again, and then ascend into Heaven a cloud but Jesus Word says this is true The world says sexual freedom is okay The world says whatever makes you happy is okay Page 12 of 13

13 The world says we don t need God in our parliament, our schools or our homes in fact we don t need God at all we can do everything ourselves The Islamic fundamentalists and terrorists say Islam is the way forward and death to Christianity! Jesus says get behind me Satan you are a defeated enemy (pause) Friends we have been purified by the blood of Jesus and we stand on His side the side of truth Conclusion Friends Because of God s underserved favour on us (GRACE) we have been purified by Jesus so let s get on with living our life in Him and for Him and through Him Let s pray Page 13 of 13