Cleansing Laws Following Childbirth

I wanted to share about the cleansing ritual that a mother in the OT had to go through and why on this subject of touching a dead body....but Stephen Jones says this part so much better than I can, so I am going to share this section of his writing on it....but I am going to share the link because there is so much more that can be gleaned there,

There is some more really great info about the building and dedication of Solomon's temple that I think will bless you.

And I have always loved the truths that are pictured by the releasing of the three doves by Noah....these are the three anointings which are fulfilled both historically at their bringing forth, and individually in us spirit, soul and body.

With love,
Karen
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Cleansing Laws Following Childbirth

Leviticus 12 is a Scripture passage almost never read by Christians. It deals with laws that appear to be totally irrelevant to us today: the times of purification after childbirth. All the laws of purification in the Old Testament, whether by blood or by water, have been changed in the New Testament by the blood and water that came forth from the heart of Jesus at His crucifixion (John 19:34). However, the time cycles in the law are a revelation by which we may understand the birthing of the Manchild-"Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27).

Leviticus 12 tells us that when a woman gives birth to a son, she is unclean for seven days. On the eighth day she is to have her son circumcised. Then she is remain separate from her husband for yet another 33 days, for a total of 40 days (Lev. 12:2-4). However, if a woman gives birth to a daughter, she is considered unclean for 14 days, followed by another 66 days of purification and separation from her husband. And so, after a daughter's birth, she is to remain separate from her husband for a total of 80 days (Lev. 12:5).

We know, of course, that after childbirth, a woman needs time to heal. Thus, we may argue that this was a practical law from that standpoint. However, there appears to be no practical reason why a woman's separation time should be twice as long after a daughter's birth. This was not meant to be practical. It was meant to be prophetic of what God has been doing throughout history, in bringing forth His children.

Back in the days of Adam and Eve, God said to "be fruitful, and multiply" (Gen. 1:28). This command was given to them prior to their sin, while they still retained the glory of God in their bodies. If they had had children prior to their fall, they would have produced children in the image and likeness of God. But they did not do so. Cain, Abel, and Seth were born some years after they had lost the glory and likeness of God. Thus, the children they bore were in the image of their fleshly state. They were not truly "sons of God" in the sense that God required. For this reason Jesus came, so that, in receiving Him, they might "become the Sons of God" (John 1:12). John also tells us that even "now we are the Sons of God" (1 John 3:2), but he immediately qualifies this by speaking of what we shall be. So it is plain that we are now imputed Sons, but in time, we shall actually manifest that Sonship in our bodies.

In the law, the people were required to bring a sacrifice to God as part of the purification rite after childbirth (Lev. 12:6-8). It was not that they had committed a sin by having children, as some have suggested; nor was it meant to imply that proper sexual relations was a sin. Rather, it was to show that they had brought forth children in the image of fallen man-not in the image of God. The child, whether boy or girl, was born into a realm of death (mortality). The woman had thus "touched a dead body" and was therefore unclean for seven days (Num. 19:11). She was defiled by the mortal condition of her offspring.

In a broad sense, there are two Adams: the first was made a living soul; the second was made a living spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). Paul tells us here that "there is a soulish body, and there is a spiritual body" (1 Cor. 15:44, literal translation). The word for "soul" or "soulish" is often translated "natural," and this hides the significance of the word. But in understanding the difference between soul and spirit, it is apparent that men descended from Adam are soulish, while those descended from Jesus are spiritual Sons and Daughters.

Thus, we can see that Adam and Eve brought forth an age in which all were inherently soulish. The word for "soul" is nephesh in Hebrew, and pseuche in Greek. These are feminine in the original languages. (In the English language, we do not have masculine and feminine words, but in many other languages, they do.) Thus, the soul is pictured as the feminine side of man, while the spirit is pictured as the masculine side. Every man and every woman has both a feminine side and a masculine side, called the soul and the spirit.

The point is, Adam and Eve brought forth soulish children-that is, children who were for the most part dominated by their soulish desires. One might say that the Old Testament period itself, leading up to Christ, was a soulish age, historically speaking. The "daughter" was fleshly, not in the full image of Christ. Because of this, the woman (earth, physical realm) had to remain separate from her husband (God, who is Spirit) for a full 80 Jubilees. This was a purification rite on the largest scale in the saga of God's Plan to bring forth children in the earth.

This also explains why God would not impregnate the earth by His Spirit prior to the 80th Jubilee (26 A.D.). It would not have fit His Plan as revealed in Leviticus 12. The law is, and always has been, the blueprint of His intent and Plan for the earth. We have not understood His Plan because we have not understood His law. Jesus Himself became the sacrifice by which the "woman" was cleansed and purified at the end of her 80 Jubilees of separation. Then and only then could God once again impregnate the earth with His Spiritual Seed on the day of Pentecost.

Once again, the earth brought forth God's offspring. This time He brought forth a son. Unfortunately, since the Feast of Pentecost is characterized by a leavened offering of firstfruits (Lev. 23:17), it meant that God's son in the Pentecostal Age is leavened. That is, the sons of God during this age are still mortal and imperfect. Thus, the law specifies that the woman (earth) must await another 40 Jubilees of separation from her Husband before her time of purification is complete. Only then is she lawfully able to be united with her Husband to conceive again. The 40 Jubilees of purification extended from 33 A.D. to 1993 A.D. The earth is now lawfully eligible to be impregnated a third time-and this time the earth will bring forth the Manchild, the corporate body of the Sons of God who are spiritually perfected and in the full image and likeness of God.

God waited seven years after the 80th Jubilee before impregnating His wife the second time. The 80th Jubilee was in 26 A.D., but God waited until Pentecost of 33 A.D. to overshadow His wife. This seven-year tarrying period at the beginning of the next 40 Jubilees plays out in a seven-year difference between 1986 and 1993 as well. It partly explains why the Holy Spirit was not poured out in 1986. Even though 1986 was the 120th Jubilee, the Pentecostal Age did not end until 1993 A.D. Thus, the Spirit could not have come prior to 1993.

As we will soon show, the time to declare the great Jubilee occurred on September 23, 1996. However, the Feast of Tabernacles remained unfulfilled that year, because there were other prophetic time cycles that had not yet run their course. For instance, Hosea 6:2 indicates that the resurrection would occur "after two days," that is, after 2,000 years. In other words, this event could not take place prior to September of 1999 A.D., which was 2,000 years after Jesus' birth. (For proof, see Chapter Nine.) Other time cycles do not conclude until the year 2006 A.D. There are, no doubt, many other cycles that remain hidden at the present time. So the question remains as to how long we must tarry for the Holy Spirit to be sent forth in its fullness.

The point to remember in this section is that the earth waited 80 Jubilees for the Spirit of God to overshadow the 120 disciples in the upper room in Jerusalem, because it took 80 days to purify the woman after the birth of the soulish and fleshly. Then the fleshly "son" was born in 33 A.D., followed by 40 Jubilees of cleansing. We have now waited those 40 Jubilees. I believe that the explanation for all of this is found in the purification rites of the law found in Leviticus 12. The total period of time is 120 Jubilees, plus the current tarrying period..

Now it is time for the birth of the Manchild-the Son who is truly in the full likeness and image of Christ. I leave it to you to pray about this and determine your own course of action in preparing your heart to receive His fullness. This is the blessing that Paul prayed would be given to us. We close with his prayer in Ephesians 3:14-19,

14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 That He would grant you according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness [Greek, pleroma] of God



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