MARCH 27, 2022 Leviticus 16:6 Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. It is important to see that, before the earthly High Priest could make atonement for the people, it was necessary that he acknowledge his own transgressions — and in a very […]
The name of the twenty-seventh reading from the Torah is Tazria (תַזְרִיעַ), which means “she conceived.” The name is derived from the words of Leviticus 12:2, where the LORD says to Moses, “When a woman [conceives] and bears a male child.” Leviticus 12 discusses the laws of purification after childbirth.
Speak to the sons of Israel, saying: “When a woman gives birth …” (Leviticus 12:2)
The birth of a child is a holy and wonderful thing. Every time a baby is born, the birthing brings to light a small incarnation. Every baby is an immortal soul housed in garments of flesh. A baby comes into the world in the image of God. Life springs forth from life.
In some cases, the miracle is more obvious than in others. A Christian acquaintance of my wife was having a baby when complications occurred. The baby was in the wrong position in the birth canal, and the doctors grew concerned. They listened carefully to the heart monitor as the birth progressed, but sadly, the fluttering heartbeat tapered off and stopped. An hour later, the baby girl was stillborn. The doctor set the lifeless body aside, and mother and father were crushed. In the midst of her tears, the mother saw the baby’s leg move. She pointed it out to the staff, but the doctors explained that these were simply reflexive muscle movements. A few moments later, the baby gasped, coughed, and gasped again. Suddenly the hospital staff went into an emergency frenzy as they began resuscitation of the little girl. The child is fine today.
Not every story has a happy ending like that. There are few things more sober and heartrending than a pregnancy that ends prematurely or a baby born into this world only to pass on to the next world. We can’t explain why things like that happen, but it is possible that some souls are so pure and burn so hot that they quickly return to the flame that first gave them life.
The laws of the Torah ensured that, in the days of the Tabernacle, the amazing miracle of birth would not be treated as something mundane. God cordoned off childbirth with holy laws that gave the new mother a special status. The sacrifices after childbirth remind us that the act of giving birth is itself a miraculous encounter with the Divine. It is not to be regarded as just ordinary life. Instead, the Torah grants the event sanctity and significance by requiring sacrifices. The new baby is a gift from God, and the mother naturally wants to reciprocate with a gift. She brings a burnt offering and a sin offering as her gifts to God, who blessed her with a child.
MARCH 26, 2022 Leviticus 16:8 Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. While there are certain elements of the Yom Kippur service that occurred frequently throughout the year, there are other elements that were performed only on this day and at no other […]
MARCH 25, 2022 Leviticus 16:4 He shall put the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body; he shall be girded with a linen sash, and with the linen turban he shall be attired. These are holy garments. It is understood that the High Priest had two different types of garments. The first set of garments […]
MARCH 24, 2022 Leviticus 14:1-2 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest.” Jewish tradition teaches that, if and when a leper was cleansed, he was to appear before the priest in an appointed place outside the camp — […]
MARCH 23, 2022 Leviticus 16:2 And the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.” This and the ensuing three chapters in Leviticus begin what is commonly called, […]
2021, PERRY AND I saw too many friends, including three people who were very close to us, depart this life and enter their eternal home. First was Perry’s mother Juanita, then Pastor Hank Davis, followed a few weeks later by Perry’s beloved friend of over forty-four years, Marcus Lamb. While sitting in the homegoing celebrations […]
MARCH 22, 2022 Leviticus 13:12-13 And if leprosy breaks out all over the skin, and the leprosy covers all the skin of the one who has the sore, from his head to his foot, wherever the priest looks, then the priest shall consider; and indeed if the leprosy has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean who has the sore. It has […]
MARCH 21, 2022 Leviticus 13:8 And if the priest sees that the scab has indeed spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is leprosy. If Biblical leprosy was not the result of some air-borne bacteria but was the manifestation of a person’s internal corruption, what evil would be the cause for such an affliction? When […]
MARCH 20, 2022 Leviticus 13:2 When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling, a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes on the skin of his body like a leprous sore, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests. From a biblical point of view, leprosy […]
