Friday, April 11, 2014

Year 4, Day 101: Leviticus 12

Theological Commentary: Click Here 


Discipleship Focus: Obedience

  • Obedience: Genuine and satisfying obedience comes out of our identity.  Our true identity comes only from Father.

This is a fairly difficult chapter to look at with respect to discipleship.  The scope of this passage is particularly narrow: the sacrificial law surrounding the uncleanliness of women at childbirth.  Perhaps you find yourself asking the same question that I found myself asking today.  What on earth does this have to do with discipleship?

In the end, I found myself coming back to obedience.  Think about this for just a second.  God created us and told humanity to take dominion over the earth.  He commanded us to be fruitful and multiply.  Procreating is a part of God’s plan.  While I’m sure some children are born purely out of passion and not necessarily love (rape, lust, sex outside of marriage, etc) I’m also sure that a good number of children are born through love as God intends (within the confines of two parents who love one another).  Having a child does not necessarily imply that sin has occurred.

Yet, God still demanded a sacrifice.  That’s where the obedience comes into play.  It is one thing to know we did something wrong and have our conscience and the Holy Spirit tell us that we need to repent in order to move beyond.  But it is another thing to obediently offer up a sacrifice to God simply because He asks of it and no sin has occurred.  Here in Leviticus 12 we see that obedience is about doing the prescribed thing of God simply because He tells us to do it.


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