"The LORD said to Moses,..'A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son...must wait thirty-three days to be purified...If she gives birth to a daughter...sixty-six days'" -
Leviticus 12:1-5
I know that people are different, but sometimes they're tragically different. As in today's verses.
I know a pastor who used today's verses to tell his congregation that the Bible was archaic, antiquated, and anachronistic. So, he said, you don't have to take it seriously, let alone believe it. He left behind an F-5 sized path of destruction of people's faith.
But praise God that people are different, sometimes refreshingly different. As in today's verses.
I know a pastor who used today's verses to tell his congregation that the Bible was inspired by the One True Living God over 2,500 years in multiple languages on multiple continents through multiple authors about multiple topics to multiple audiences and through all that pointed to one man, Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son, the Living Word of the Living God, which must be a divine pointing to one man because the odds of such are like one-in-an-inconceivable-number that is illustrated in Josh McDowell's book, "More Than a Carpenter." This pastor, as God's word says, also needed Jesus to die for his sin, but, upon his death, he left behind a legacy of numerous believers who endured difficulty with confidence in God because, though God's word may seem archaic, antiquated, and anachronistic to begin with, if you'll "wrestle with it" (the literal meaning of "Israel") and live it, so it can prove itself, then you'll see not only its relevance to today but also its life-giving power.
Kinda like Jesus of Nazareth, the One to whom all scripture miraculously points, "wrestling with" the word of the Father in Gethsemane, living it all the way to the cross, letting it prove itself, prove its relevance to today, and its life-giving power, which raised him from the dead. (Check out Lee Strobel's book, "The Case for Christ.")
Oh, by the way, today's verses are health laws to be sure, but they are reminders to moms and families when a child is born that the first 33 days for a boy and 66 days for a girl are critical for bonding with mom.
Don't make scripture hard. Read it. Believe it. And (drum roll) you'll see how wonderfully true and relevant and powerful and life-giving it is.
Praise God!
Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson
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