CHAPTER 12

(1490 B.C.)

PURIFICATION OF WOMEN

¹And the LORD spoke unto Moses saying,

²Speak unto the Children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and has given birth to a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean (the birth of a child recalled the sin and disobedience of Eden, and that the woman was the instrument of that rebellion).

³And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin (all baby boys) shall be circumcised. (Circumcision was the physical sign of the Old Covenant; it symbolized separation from this world unto God. Concerning this, Mackintosh says, The effect of all Scripture, when properly interpreted to ones own soul, which is done directly by the Power of the Holy Spirit, is to lead us out of self to Christ. Wherever we see our fallen nature, at whatever stage of its history we contemplate it whether in its conception, at its birth, or at any point along its whole career from the womb to the coffin it wears the double stamp of infirmity and defilement.)

⁴And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days (adding the seven days of Verse 2, upon the birth of a little boy the woman was to be unclean 40 days); she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the Sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled. (All of this proclaims original sin, and its terrible ruin. While man may try to deny the fact of sin, he cannot deny the results of sin.)

⁵But if she bear a maid child (a little girl), then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her separation: and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying threescore and six days (totals 80 days; the doubling of the time of defilement, as it regarded the birth of a little girl, was meant to portray the fact that it was Eve who had first sinned).

THE OFFERING

⁶And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a Burnt Offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a Sin Offering, unto the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation, unto the Priest (the shadow of the Cross passes before us in a double way in this Chapter. First, it is in the circumcision of the manchild and, second, it is in the Burnt Offering and the Sin Offering, whereby the mother was restored from every defiling influence.

As an aside, the extreme poverty of our Lords Earthly parents was evidenced by their bringing two pigeons, the one for a Sin Offering, and the other for a Burnt Offering [Lk. 2:24]):

⁷Who shall offer it before the LORD, and make an Atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her who has born a male or a female. (In both of these Offerings, the Burnt Offering and the Sin Offering, the two grand aspects of the Death of Christ are introduced here as the only thing which could possibly meet and perfectly remove the defilement connected with mans natural birth. The Burnt Offering signified the Perfection of Christ offered up in Sacrifice, which God demanded, that is, if the sin debt was to be forever settled. The Sin Offering presents the Death of Christ as bearing upon the sinners need. In other words, the Sin Offering proclaimed the sinners sin placed on Christ, while the Burnt Offering portrayed the Perfection of Christ given to the sinner.

All of this tells us that nothing but blood-shedding could impart cleanness. The Cross is the only remedy for mans infirmity and mans defilement. Wherever that glorious work is apprehended by Faith, and we speak of the Sacrifice of Christ, there is perfect cleanness in joy.)

⁸And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the Burnt Offering, and the other for a Sin Offering: and the Priest shall make an Atonement for her, and she shall be clean. (The Priest alone could make atonement for her, that is, if she brought the proper sacrifices; the Priest was a Type of Christ.)