Lesson #13

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Leviticus

September 21, 2015

Introduction

May 13, 2010

Leviticus Lesson #02

May 13, 2010

RETURN TO THE LIST OF LESSONS

LEVITICUS 12
Lesson #13
BRINGING A SINNER INTO THE WORLD

• Memory Verse: Rom 5:12

 

• We have come to a somewhat tedious part of Leviticus to which most people have difficulty relating.
• We are going to read the high points in class that have specific relationships to the Christian life today.
• However, I will give you the general principles that cover a broad perspective of all the scriptures in Leviticus.
• In our previous lesson we considered the severe warning of outward contamination of uncleanness or sin.

• God has called believers in Jesus Christ to be Holy just as He is holy.
• Remember that the Israelites physically act out spiritual principles in the Old Testament.
  • Therefore, physical uncleanness represents the spiritual condition of sin.
  • Therefore, cleanliness represents the spiritual quality of holiness.
• Beginning in this chapter we will see that it is not the external quality of holiness that God desires but the internal quality of holiness.

• Read Mat 23:26-27
• Read Eph 3:16
• In other words, while external actions or personal conduct are important in life and important to God, God is most interested in the internal quality of a person’s Christian life.
  • Out of man’s heart is that which makes man what he is. This is the essential difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
    • In the Old Testament the Jews kept the outward rules of the Law of Moses.
      • They thought that was good enough to save them and gain a relationship with God. However, the Law did not save anyone because no one could keep it perfectly.
      • Read Gal 3:11
    • In the New Testament God, by means of the indwelling Holy Spirit, changes man’s heart.
  • This is why humans with a sinful nature need to be born again so as to receive a new life in Christ guided by the Holy Spirit.
    • The Holy Spirit changes the believer from the inside out.
    • When the heart is changed, the outward actions follow. That is the fruit of the Spirit. (Gal 5:22-24)
• From our study of the offerings in Leviticus, we learned that there are two areas of sin that need to be dealt with: personal sin that each of us commit, and the sin nature with which we are born from the time of Adam.

• Personal sin is the outward manifestation of the inner condition of the sin nature.
• The sin nature is that inner condition that we inherited from Adam and that is resident in us from the time of our physical birth until the time of our physical death.
• Read Rom 5:12

 

• Read Lev 12:1-4 The cleansing of a mother after the birth of a male child
• Read Psa 51:5
  • David committed the personal sin of the murder of Bathsheba’s husband and the personal sin of adultery. Psa 51 is his prayer of repentance for those personal sins.
  • In verse Psa 51:5 David understood that he was a sinner while he was still in his mother’s womb.
• The pagan cultures around Israel believed all kinds of superstitions in regards to giving birth, but the Law of Moses does not contain them.
  • Even though the author, Moses grew up in the Egyptian palace and learned these false beliefs in the palace of the Pharaoh he did not put them in the first 5 books of the Bible.
  • God’s Word in the book of Leviticus tells us that a mother after childbirth is unclean. Why?
    • She is unclean because she gave birth to a sinner.
    • This was not her fault because the consequence of the first sin was pain in childbirth.

 

• “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children…”

 

(Gen 3:16a)
• The pain in childbirth is because she is bringing a sinner into the world.
• The passing of blood and bodily fluids in childbirth needed to be cared for in order not to contaminate the mother and baby with infectious disease. God is providing healthful hygiene for his people that do not have the knowledge of germs and bacteria.
• The mother’s period of uncleanness for a male child:
  • =1= Seven days unclean. Then circumcision on the eighth day.
    • The number 7 is God’s Biblical number for completion or perfection.
    • The number 8 is God’s biblical number for new beginnings.
      • Remember, Christ was raised on the eighth day.
      • Incidentally, the eighth day is perfect for circumcision because the blood flow in the baby is minimal and the pain is less.
    • Making a male child part of the covenant with God:
      • Just because a child was born to a Jewish mother, that did not give him a part in the covenant blessings of God. He had to be circumcised to be made a part of the covenant.
        • Read Rom 9:6-7
        • Physical birth did not make an Israelite right with God.
      • In the same way a woman that believes in Jesus Christ today cannot give birth to a believing baby that will automatically grow up to be a believing Christian.
        • God has no grandchildren.
        • Each person must make his own personal decision for Jesus Christ, in order to deal with his own sin nature and his own personal sins.
      • The act of circumcision made the Israelite a part of the covenant with God.
        • Circumcision was the physical symbol given specifically to the Jews.
        • For the Old Testament Jew circumcision was a physical and external action of an inward spiritual truth.
          • Read Rom 2:28-29
          • Physical circumcision was to point to the importance of being circumcised in the heart.
        • What is circumcision of the heart?
          • As in physical circumcision, the flesh is cut away.
          • As in spiritual circumcision, the flesh nature is cut away.
          • As in physical circumcision, blood is shed.
          • As in spiritual circumcision, the blood of Jesus Christ was shed on the cross.
        • Definition of circumcision of the heart:
          • When man repents of his sins and receives Jesus Christ, a spiritual cutting away of the flesh nature occurs in man’s heart so that he is no longer bound to follow the sin nature.
          • In this New Testament age of grace, we call this being “Born Again” by the Spirit of God who gives us new life. (a new beginning).
  • =2= Thirty three days of separation
    • Read Luk 2:21-24
      • Mary and Jesus fulfilled this part of the Law of Moses.
      • Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day.
      • Mary completed the thirty three days of separation.
        • Jesus’ ministry began 33 years after his birth.
        • Therefore the 33 days is a form of prophecy.
    • Notice that Mary was not saved by having given birth to Jesus who knew no sin. She was still a sinner and had to come to Him for her own salvation.

 

• Read Lev 12:5 The cleansing of a mother after the birth of a female child:
• If the child is a female, the time is doubled.
  • Instead of seven days of uncleanness, there is 14 days of uncleanness.
  • Instead of 33 days of separation, there is 66 days of separation.
• Why would God do this if there is no difference between male and female in His sight? (Rom 2:11)
  • Adam sinned because he knew better and chose to follow Eve.
    • Therefore, God held Adam responsible for the sin nature that came upon all humans.
    • All humans inherit the sin nature from Adam.
  • However, Eve was the first to sin. She sinned because she was deceived.
    • Because women are more easily deceived than men due to their greater spiritual interest, the time for obtaining purification was extended for a female child.
    • The act of circumcision was performed on boy babies that made them a part of the covenant with God. But circumcision was not performed on girl babies in the Jewish economy.
      • Girls did not partake of the covenant with God until they married.
      • Some pagan cultures circumcised girls and still do so today.

 

• Read Lev 12:6 The final offering for a mother’s purification
• Whether a woman had a baby girl or a baby boy, the offering was the same at the end of the days of separation.
• She must bring a burnt offering and a sin offering.
  • Remember that the burnt offering pointed to the person of Jesus Christ as the final sacrifice.
  • The sin offering was for the basic sin nature inherited from Adam.
• Mary, the mother of Jesus brought two doves or two pigeons which was the animal of choice for the poor.
• Read 1Tim 2:13-15

• This New Testament passage relates to this chapter in Leviticus and is often misunderstood. Therefore, let’s deal with it here.

 

• “…She shall be saved in childbearing…”

 

(1Tim 2:15)
• There are even groups that take this part of the verse and interpret it legalistically. If a woman does not bear a child, she is not saved. However that is not what Paul meant.
• Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, every time a woman bears a child, she brings a sinner into the world. What a burden for women to carry because of the fact that Eve was the first to sin!
  • However, there was one child born that was not a sinner. That was Jesus Christ. Salvation comes to us through this one child.
  • Notice it was not a man that brought this child, Jesus Christ, into this world. It was a woman. It was through the childbearing by Mary that salvation came into this world so that even men can be saved.

HOMEWORK
Leviticus 13
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Application of Lev 12
  • What in this lesson has given you a new understanding of man’s spiritual condition?

 

• Preparation for Lev 13
• What is the spiritual meaning of leprosy?

• Why do you think leprosy represents this spiritual element? Can you think of any parallels?

• Memory Verse: Psa 38:3