Leviticus 12:1-8 - Homilies By W. Clarkson

The statutes on maternity.

We may seek—

I. THE EXPLANATION or THIS STATUTE . And we shall find the explanation

1 . The sorrow of maternity ( John 16:21 ) points clearly to the primeval curse, and therefore to the primeval sin ( Genesis 3:16 ).

2 . The birth of a human child means the entrance into the world of one in whom are the germs of sin ( Psalms 51:5 ; Psalms 58:3 ; Ephesians 2:3 ).

3 . Maternity suggests the sexual relation, and that suggests the abounding and baneful sin of impurity. Hence sin is associated with the birth of the human infant, and the physical condition ( Leviticus 12:7 ) attending it is typical of sin, constitutes "uncleanness," and necessitates purification.

II. THE THOUGHTS WE GAIN FROM THIS STATUTE . We learn:

1 . The communicativeness of sin. We transmit our follies, our errors, our iniquities, by ordinary generation. Our children, because they are our children, will go astray, and will be in danger of those very errors into which we ourselves have fallen. Those who become parents must take the responsibility of bringing into the world children like themselves, who will inherit their dispositions, their habits of thought, their character. Sin is communicated from generation to generation through heredity, and also through the contagiousness of evil example. There is nothing more diffusive.

2 . The extension of the consequences of sin. How sin sends forth its stream of sorrow! The pangs of maternity, answered by the opening cry of the infant as it enters the world—do these not speak the truth, that a world of sin is a world of sorrow, that succeeding generations of sinners are succeeding generations of sufferers, and that this will he so to the end of the world?

3 . The removableness of guilt from the sight of God. The "uncleanness" of the mother was not irremovable. It did temporarily but did not permanently separate her from the sanctuary ( Leviticus 12:4 ). After a limited retirement she might come with her sin offering and her burnt offering to "the door of the tabernacle" ( Leviticus 12:6 ). If she were poor she might bring an offering within the reach of the poorest ( Leviticus 12:8 ), and the priest would "make atonement," and she would "be clean" ( Leviticus 12:8 ). Whatever guilt we contract, whether in communicating evil to others or as the indirect consequence of the sin of others, by whatsoever our souls have been defiled, our lives stained and corrupted, we may all come to the cross of the Redeemer, and through his atoning sacrifice be made clean in the sight of God. And thus coming, our sin offering will not be unaccompanied by a burnt offering; the forgiveness of our sin will be followed by the dedication of our whole selves to the service of the Lord.—C.