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It seems bizarre that the Bible packages instructions for purifying new mothers and newborns together with what look like public health instructions for dealing with chronic skin diseases and toxic mold. And this passage in Leviticus 12–15 (Torah readings Tazria and Metzorah) comes between a big failing of the priesthood (deadly use of “strange fire” in Leviticus 10) and Yom haKippurim (Day of Atonement, Leviticus 16).
Discover the important messages that come from these passages, unwrapped as a packaged set. Why are the instructions for purify childbirth packaged together with those for cleansing the “walking dead?” Why does the miracle of birth require a sin offering? What is it about baby girls that doubles the exclusionary period from the Tabernacle? Why is there an elaborate ritual for the cleansed leper? How is the rebirth of the leper similar to the resurrection of Israel from the house of bondage?
So we can start to see links to Pesach (Passover) and the forethought, continued caring and compassion of God and the one and only Son of God, the Lamb of God.
Vital vocabulary for Leviticus
- offering, gift = קָרְבָּן qorban(H7133a)
- holy = קֹדֶשׁqodesh(H6944)
- clean =טָהוֹר tahor(H2889)
- unclean =טָמֵא tamé(H2931)
- leprosy =צָרַעַת tzaraʿat(H6883)
- leper =הַמְּצֹרָעha-metzorah(H6879)
We will see these terms on a regular basis in the book of Leviticus.
Kodesh does not mean “perfect”, it means “set-apart.” A holy people are not a perfect people. It means that they are set-apart, called out and chosen by God for a purpose. It’s about selection and refinement.
“Blessed are you L-rd our G-d, King of the World, Who sanctifies us with His commandments and commands us about the washing of hands.” (N’dilat Yadayim prayer)
The Korban, which means “that which approaches” such as an offering. It does not remove sin in and of itself. The Prophets make that exceedingly clear. God allows it to approach the Presence because it is tahor or ritually clean.
Tahor literally means “clean.” It doesn’t block entry towards the divine Presence. What is tahor is fit to be korban,. It doesn’t make one set apart by God, but it does keep one kodesh.
Tame doesn’t make one sinful or wicked. It makes one unfit to enter the Tabernacle to approach the Presence. The realm of God is about life, the realm outside of God’s presence is about death. Death is swallowed up by life, life is not swallowed up by death.
“Before Adam and Eve sinned, there was no ritual unfitness, because humans had never experienced death.” (First Fruits of Zion, Unrolling the Scroll, “Tazria,” page 455)
Trying to enter God’s presence while tame is rebellion, trying to equate the fallen creation with the perfect Creator.
Why is the new mother tamé?
The need for a sin offering might be a reminder of two big ways humanity is off-target from God’s original plan.
- 1. A consequence of the fall is greater pain for humans in childbirth than for mammals, and it has nothing to do with the size of our brains in proportion to our bodies. Most young mammals have larger heads in proportion to their bodies than adult mammals do. (Gen. 3:16)
- 2. Birth is the beginning of a march towards death. (Gen. 2:16-17; 3:1-5, 19)
“The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4–5 NASB)
This lie sounds very modern but it’s actually very old, going back all the way to the beginning. The lie of “Did God really say?” Or “Does God really know….” We try to find naturalistic reasons that we die such as the telomeres of our DNA raveling as we age.
The Hebrew word for leprosy is tzaraʿat. It did not resemble Hansen’s Disease which is a type of leprosy in which the peripheral nerves of the hands, feet, and eyes, and some of the nerves in the skin are damaged and lose sensation.
The נֶגַע־הַצָּרַעַתneg̱aʿ-haṣṣāraʿaṯ is the Hebrew term for the “ mark of leprosy.”
There were several people who were inflicted with the neg̱aʿ-haṣṣāraʿaṯ..
- Numbers 12:1-10: Miriam (after she and Aaron criticized Moses for marrying a second wife)
- 2 Chronicles 26:16-21 King Uzziah
- 2 Kings 5: Elisa’s aide Gehazi
But the neg̱aʿ-haṣṣāraʿaṯ can also come upon clothing or homes.
Leprous lesson against ‘fake news’
“Gehazi, Uzziah and Miriam profaned God’s name in the eyes of someone else. They misrepresented God in a profound way. All of them thought they were at a higher level but they were really trying to bring God down to their level.” (Daniel Agee, Tazria 2016)
Tzaraʿat has long been associated with לשון הרע lashon ha-ra(“bad tongue,” Psa. 34:14; Lev. 19:16): gossip.
מוציא שם רע motzi’ shem ra’ (“spreading of a bad name”) is worse: Defamation or “fake news.”
What is lashon ha-ra
Is it true information, else it’s motzi’ shem ra’.
“Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part;” (1 Corinthians 13:4–9 NASB)
If you don’t know the whole story, don’t spread it.
What is Lashon ha-ra according to the Chofetz Chaim (“seeker of life”). What are the guidelines for determining if a story or a comment is lashon hara?
- Is derogatory information:
- Describing a person’s negative characteristics.
- Potentially harmful information.
- Embarrassing.
- Garnering ill-will.
- What it isn’t:
-
- Helping the person in question.
- Discussing with a trustworthy person — not a tale-bearer — whether correction is needed and how to do it.
- Helping a victim or prevent victimization.
- Resolving a major dispute: peacemaking.
We need to pay close attention to what comes out of our mouth. We might thing we are simply making a harmless observation but it might actually be quite harmful and have long-term ramifications. We see things darkly. We need to think, think again and think a third time before passing on information that might be harmful about others.
Summary: Tammy