Leviticus; The Law of Holiness and Grace

The Churching of Women

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Pentateuch

Genre: Lessons with Q & A

Lesson: 23

Track: 23

Dictation Name: RR172M23

Date: Early 70s

Let us worship God. Our help is in the name of the Lord who made Heaven and earth. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear Him. He also will hear their cry and will save them. “Where two or three are gathered together in My name,” saith the Lord Jesus, “There am I in the midst of them.” Let us pray.

Oh Lord our God, we come unto Thee mindful of our need, of They greatness, and of the glory of Thy grace. Thou hast made us rich in Jesus Christ. Thou hast surrounded us with Thy mercy. Make us ever truly grateful. Make us strong in Thy service unto the end that all things may be brought into captivity to Jesus Christ our Lord. In His name we pray, amen.

Our scripture today is from Leviticus the 12th chapter. The title, “The Churching of Women.” “The Churching of Women.” Leviticus 12:

“1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

2 speak unto the children of Israel, saying, if a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean.

3 And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

4 And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.

5 But if she bear a maid child, 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.

6 And 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:

7 who 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 that hath born a male or a female.

8 And 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.”

What this chapter deals with is now very alien to the modern mind, especially since World War II. It was once routinely observed in many cultures and readily accepted by the churches of Europe as they came to the faith. The Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England to this day has the rite for the churching of women, or the thanksgiving of women after childbirth.

Now anthropologists have all kinds of fanciful interpretations for such rites. Their interpretations are always better at confirming their preconceived theories than at explaining anything. The best way to approach this chapter and all these chapters dealing with the laws of cleanness is to see that there is a basic division between clean and unclean, and it is the concern of many laws.

Now, Nathaniel Micklem, by no means an orthodox commentator, a liberal, has said with regard to this chapter, “The translation ‘unclean’ is peculiarly infelicitous here, for it inevitably suggests disapprobation or disgust and it anticipates a Manichean view of evil inherent in the flesh. The passage might be paraphrased, ‘when a woman has born a son, proper feeling requires that she remain in seclusion for a week, then the child is to be circumcised. Even then, she is to stay at home for a month, and her first journey abroad shall be to church.’” Now, Micklem’s comment is very, very important in that it strikes against any implicitly Manichean interpretation of the text. The world is not divided into flesh and spirit, one being clean and the other being unclean. So the idea there is anything unclean about the body or things physical, or childbirth or any such thing is not a part of the text. So in undermining any hint of Manichaeism that people might try to read into the text, Micklem has been very wise. But his paraphrase, “proper feeling requires that she remain in seclusion for a week” gives the text a Humanistic frame of reference.

The term ‘unclean’ cannot be read in Manichean terms. It does have a very broad meaning. Thus, leprosy is not immoral, but according to scripture, it is uncleanness. Incest, bestiality and sodomy are both unclean, and immoral. How then, can we interpret this word? It has such a variety of meanings. It covers some things which are really innocent and harmless. Thomas Scott put his finger on it when he said that a woman’s uncleanness after childbirth is ceremonial. It is not moral nor is it essential. A leper’s uncleanness means contagion. It is possible that a woman after childbirth may be liable to contagion, but it is not a source of it.

Now in some religious observances, the clean and the unclean of scripture could eat together, and in fact it was taken for granted that they should. For example, in Deuteronomy 15:19-23, we read,

“19 All the firstling males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy sheep.

20 Thou shalt eat it before the Lord thy God year by year in the place which the Lord shall choose, thou and thy household.

21 And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the Lord thy God.

22 Thou shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean and the clean person shall eat it alike, as the roebuck, and as the hart.

23 Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water.”

Thus we cannot read other ideas into the term ‘unclean.’ It can mean things contagious at times, it can mean something immoral, but very often it can mean something which is totally innocent of such things. But always it does refer to a ceremonial uncleanness in approaching God.

What then does cleanness and uncleanness have reference to? According to Maimonides, “All Israelites are warned to be clean at the three feasts, since they must be ready to enter into the temple and eat of hallowed things. And insofar as it is said in scripture, ‘and their carcasses ye shall not touch,’ this applies only to the duration of the feast. Even if a man becomes unclean, he does not become liable to punishment by scourging, but about other days of the year, not even a warning has been given.” In other words, it had a very narrow range of application where it was ceremonial.

This enables us to understand an instance of uncleanness in the New Testament, although the word is not used. It is in one of our Lord’s parables, the parable of the marriage feast which is in Matthew 22:1-14. A king proclaims the marriage of his son. And he summons a tremendous number of people to the wedding. Some will not come, but he brings in people from the byways and highways, and all are given a wedding garment to wear. One guest arrived in his own clothing and refused to don the king’s gift of raiment. Now the parable has reference to something that was routine in ancient kingship. You approached the king only when he requested it and in garbs that he gave, which indicated you lived by his mercy, by his grace. This is why when Queen Esther was urged by her uncle to go into the presence of the Persian monarch, she said, “you know it is death to do so, unless he in his mercy extends his scepter to you, then you live.” In the parable of the marriage feast, this one guest not only arrived in his own clothing, but he refused to don the king’s raiment. As a result, the king orders him cast out into the outer darkness, bound hand and foot. The meaning of what our Lord said then was not lost on the people, nor on their leaders. It meant to come into God’s presence claiming an independent righteousness was a declaration of independence from God. This no man could do. We can only appear in God’s presence by His grace and mercy.

To illustrate what this means, I’ve heard many people say over the years, that although they are not Christians, they are not worried about the afterlife, if there is one, and they will take their chances, and they will say, “well, I’m not proud of everything I’ve ever done, on the balance,” they insist, they feel their lives stand up very well, and if there will be a Heaven in the world to come, they will be there. I’ve heard this many a time. No such statements are assertions of autonomy from God. This was the stand of the indicted wedding guest. Men are not clean before God because they believe they are, but only because God in Christ regenerates and cleanses them.

Now in Leviticus 12, the uncleanness comes from childbirth. It is an uncleanness with reference to the temple or sanctuary, and to rituals comparable to communion. Why so for childbirth, and other aspects of sexuality? Why are they called unclean in relationship to God, not in relationship of man-to-man or man-to-woman? The cleanness and undefiled nature of marital sex is plainly stated, as in Hebrews 12:4. Again, we are told, “Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is His reward,” so says Psalm 127:3. This is a fallen world. And man is a fallen creature, but the truth lies deeper than this. Over the centuries, people have associated childlessness with being accursed, as witness what Rachel and Hannah had to say about it. On the other hand, many have seen the ability to have many children as the greatest of blessings. Both these attitudes are false. Because scripture in the ritual of circumcision makes very clear that our hope is not in generation, but in regeneration. All too many religions have exalted generations. The wedding guest was satisfied with himself and his own righteousness or justice. But he was cast out of God’s presence. The requirements for approaching the Lord ’s Table stress the necessity of coming into God’s presence worthily, which means not by our self-righteousness, but by God’s grace; hence the stress on confession, whether private, corporate, or to a pastor or priest. It is a necessary part of eliminating uncleanness and coming before God as clean in Christ.

Now this chapter has been recognized by the Church until our lifetime. In Luke 2:24, we see Christ, Mary and Joseph fulfilling the requirements of Leviticus 12. They sacrificed a pair of turtledoves, which indicated that they were poor. Twice the time for purification is required for a woman after giving birth to a girl as to a boy. We do not know the reason for it; there is no difference in the uncleanness because the sacrifice is the same. The fact that we are ignorant of the meaning of this and many other passages should give us the humility to reserve judgment and to accept the fact that we don’t know everything. Hard as it is to accept, the human mind must accept the fact that God is wiser than we are. And there are so many things that the meaning of will be learned as time goes on, just as within our lifetime it was learned that circumcision before the eighth day can be fatal to a child because the blood then in the first seven days will not clot. Now of course, having found that out, they insist on circumcising before the eighth day and using all kinds of drugs to compel the blood to coagulate. But there is so much in the Bible that seems strange that will yet prove to be marvelously wise. In Paul’s words, “We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” If we begin with the premise that God is wise and just even when we cannot understand Him, we may do badly in the sight of men, but we will be blessed of God. Let us pray.

Our Lord and our God, give us grace day by day to grow in knowledge and understanding and to know that where we cannot understand, Thou knowest all and Thy wisdom is great and marvelous and is our hope and mainstay. We thank Thee for all Thy mercies and blessings. Watch over us and our loved ones, heal our sick, bless the needy, prosper us in Thy service, and make us ever victorious in Christ Jesus. In His name we pray, amen.

Are there any questions or comments now?

[Audience] Is there a {?} on one of these?

[Rushdoony] Tuesday.

Yes.

No questions and no comments? Yes.

[Audience] The Hebrews considered on the eighth day, when the child was circumcised, did they consider what we today would call the seventh day? In other words like when Christ was crucified he was, and was buried, he was actually only buried a full day and in part two others, sometimes called the first day ‘day one,’ so was today’s seventh day or the eighth day?

[Rushdoony] It would be the eighth day after birth. Yes. As a matter of fact, some centuries, children were baptized only on the eighth day, not before. This was a matter of very strict practice in the early Church.

Well if there are no other comments, let us bow our heads in prayer.

Thy Word oh Lord is truth, and Thy grace and mercy marvelous. We thank Thee that in Christ Jesus we have been made heirs of all Creation, heirs of Heaven and earth, heirs of all wisdom and knowledge. Make us mindful of our great inheritance, and grant that we use our wealth to serve Thy kingdom. And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost bless you and keep you, guide and protect you, this day and always. Amen.