Leviticus Chapter 12 - Schoolmaster to Christ

Schoolmaster to Christ
LEVITICUS CHAPTER 12

Scripture Reading: Leviticus 12 (KJV)

We now briefly consider the double lesson of "man's ruin and God's remedy." The lesson is distinct and impressive – deeply humbling and divinely comforting. The effect of all Scripture is to lead us out of self to Christ. Our fallen nature wears the double stamp of iniquity and defilement. Sometimes, this is forgotten amid the glitter and glare, pomp and fashion, wealth and splendor of human life. The mind of man is fruitful devising coverings to his humiliation. In various ways he seeks to ornament and gild, putting on an appearance of strength and glory; but all his efforts are vain. We enter this world as poor helpless creatures; we pass from it as clods of the valley – convincing proof of the hollowness of our pride, the vanity of our glory. Though our path through life may be brightened by what man calls glory, still we enter the world naked and helpless, and retreat amid disease and death.

But, there is more. Our life on this earth is characterized not only by helplessness, but also by defilement. "Behold," says the psalmist," I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Ps. 51:5). "How can he be clean that is born of a woman" (Job 25:4)? In the chapter before us, we are taught that the conception and birth of "a man child," involved "seven days" of ceremonial defilement for the mother, plus thirty-three days of separation from the sanctuary. These periods were doubled in the case of "a maid child." This offers a humbling lesson, declaring in clear language that man is "an unclean thing," needing the blood of atonement¹ for cleansing. Truly so. Man may imagine that he can work out a righteousness of his own. He may vainly boast of the dignity of human nature. He may put on a lofty air and assume a haughty bearing as he moves across the stage of life; but if he would stop and seriously ponder the brief study now before us, his pride, pomp, dignity, and righteousness would speedily vanish; and he might find the solid basis of true dignity in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In this chapter of Leviticus, the shadow of the cross passes before us in a double way; first, in the circumcision of the "man child," whereby he became enrolled as a member of the Israel of God; and, second, in the burnt offering and sin offering, whereby the mother was restored from every defiling influence – rendered fit to approach the sanctuary and to come in contact with holy things.

"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 turtle dove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest; 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" (vv. 6, 7).

The death of Christ in its two grand aspects is introduced here as the only thing that could possibly meet, and perfectly remove, the defilement connected with man's defilement. The burnt offering presents the death of Christ according to the divine estimate thereof; on the other hand, the sin offering presents the death of Christ as bearing on the sinner's need.

"And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for a burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean." Nothing but blood-shedding could impart cleanness. The cross is the only remedy for man's infirmity and defilement. When, by faith, that glorious work is apprehended, perfect cleanness is enjoyed. Now, the apprehension may be feeble, the faith may be wavering, the experience may be shallow; but it is not the depth of his experience, the stability of his faith, or the strength of his apprehension, but the divine value – the changeless efficacy of the blood of Jesus.² This gives great rest to the heart. The sacrifice of the cross is the same to every member of the Israel of God, no matter his status in the assembly. The tender considerateness of our gracious God is seen in the fact that the blood of a turtle dove was as efficacious for the poor, as the blood of a bullock for the rich. The full value of the atoning work was equally maintained and exhibited in each. If this had not been so, the humble Israelite might gaze on the well-stocked pastures of some wealthy neighbor, and exclaim, "Oh my, what shall I do? How shall I be cleansed? How shall I get back to my place and privilege in the assembly? I have neither flock nor herd. I am poor and needy." But, our blessed God graciously met this problem – a pigeon or turtle dove was sufficient. The same perfect and beautiful grace is revealed in the case of the leper: "And if he be poor and cannot get so much, then he shall take . . . And he shall offer the one of the turtle doves, or of the young pigeons, such as he can get; even such as he is able to get . . . This is the law of him in whom is the plague of leprosy, whose hand is not able to get that which pertaineth to his cleansing" (Lev. 14:21, 30-32).

Grace meets the needy where he is, and as he is. The atoning blood is brought within reach of the lowest, poorest, and feeblest. All who need it can have it. "If he be poor" – what then? Shall he be cast aside? No; Israel's God could never deal that way with the poor and needy. There is ample provision for all in the gracious expression, "Such as he can get; even such as he is able to get." What a most exquisite grace – "To the poor the Gospel is preached." None can say, "The blood of Jesus was beyond me." Each can be challenged with the inquiry, "how near would you have it brought to you?" "I bring near my righteousness." How "near"? So near, that it is "to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly" (Rom. 4:5). Again, "the word is nigh thee." How "nigh"? So nigh "that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Rom. 10:9). “So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41; NASB). So also that most touching and beautiful invitation: "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money" (Is. 55:1).

Matchless grace shines in the expressions, "to him that worketh not," and, "he that hath no money." Salvation is as free as the air we breathe. Did we create the air? Did we mingle its component parts? No; but we enjoy it, and by enjoying it, get power to live and act by Him who made it. So it is regarding salvation. It is freely offered to all by our gracious Father through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. We feed on the wealth of another; we rest in the work finished by another; and, further, it is by so feeding and resting that we are able to work for Him on whose wealth we feed, and in whose work we rest. This is a grand Gospel paradox, perfectly inexplicable to legality, but beautifully plain to faith. God’s grace delights in making provision for those who are "not able" to make provision for themselves.

But, there is another invaluable lesson provided by this chapter of Leviticus. We not only read about the grace of God to the poor, but, by comparing its closing verse with Luke 2:24, we learn the amazing depth to which God stooped in order to manifest that grace. The Lord Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, the pure and spotless Lamb, the Holy One who knew no Sin, was "made of a woman," and this woman who brought forth that pure and perfect, holy and spotless body had to undergo the usual ceremonial and accomplish the days of her purification according to the law of Moses. Not only do we read divine grace in the fact of Mary having to purify herself, but also the mode in which this was accomplished. "And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons." From this simple circumstance we learn that the human parents of our blessed Lord Jesus were poor and obliged to take advantage of the gracious provision made for those whose means did not afford "a lamb for a burnt offering." What a thought. The Lord of Glory, the most High God, Possessor of heaven and earth, the One to whom pertained "the cattle upon a thousand hills" – yea, the wealth of the universe – appeared in the world His hands had made, in the narrow circumstances of humble life. The Levitical economy made provision for the poor, and the mother of Jesus availed herself of it. There is truly a profound lesson in this for the human heart. The Lord Jesus did not make His appearance in this world in connection with the great or noble. He was pre-eminently a poor man, taking His place with the poor. "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich" (2 Cor. 8:9).

May it always be our joy to feed on this precious grace of our Lord Jesus Christ by which we have been made rich for time and eternity. He emptied Himself of all that love could give, so that we might be filled. He stripped Himself, so that we might be clothed. He died, so that we might live. In the greatness of His grace, He traveled from the height of divine wealth into the depth of human poverty, so that we might be raised from the dunghill of nature's ruin, forever taking our place amid the princes of His people. We pray the Holy Spirit will help us sense this grace; so that we may be constrained to a more unreserved surrender of ourselves to Jesus Christ – to whom we owe our present and everlasting felicity, our riches, our life, our all.

Footnotes:
¹ For more on atonement see ‘Day of Atonement’ in Religion Library section of Contents.
² For more on the blood of Christ see ‘God’s Salvation’ in Contents section of StudyJesus.com. The faith of Jesus Christ, as revealed in Romans 3 (KJV), is the basis of our salvation. By understanding Paul’s long sentence in Romans 3:21-26, we understand the Gospel, all of Romans and the Bible. The 1885 English Revised Version changed ‘the faith of Christ’ to ‘faith in Christ’ in Romans 3:22; Galatians 2:16, 2:20, 3:22; Ephesians 3:12; and Philippians 3:9. In his book, ‘Commentaries on the Old and New Testament,’ James Burton Coffman concludes that the KJV is a correct translation of all these verses, a fact confirmed by the total agreement of the Emphatic Diaglott in each case. James Macknight, Adam Clarke, as well as other older commentators, also agree with the KJV translation of these verses – ‘the faith of Christ,’ like the ‘faith of Abraham’ in Romans 4:16. We asked a full-time minister serving a large church, about whether he believed that to be saved one had to believe in the ‘faith of Jesus Christ’ to which he wrote: ‘God provides righteousness to those who believe. If through the faith of Jesus – everybody would be saved.’ We asked the same question to a university Bible professor, who expressed a view of modern translations held by many today. He wrote: ‘Both ideas . . . are biblical . . .’ However, we also presented the question to an elder of the church, who wrote: ‘The believer’s faith causes him to respond to that perfect justification which is and was brought by Christ in His obedience to God’s will of offering His son as the perfect atonement for all mankind (sins).’ We concur with the elder and older commentators, as well as Coffman, whose commentary on this verse is a scathing rebuke of many modern-day professors and preachers. Coffman points out that we should stay with the KJV in this verse, because changing it represents the same tampering with the Word of God which resulted in the monstrosity of changing ‘the righteousness of God’ to ‘a righteousness’ (Rom. 3:21; 1:17). He writes: ‘the true Scriptural justification by faith has absolutely no reference to the faith of stinking sinners, but to the faith of the Son of God. The only end served by this change was to bolster the faith only theory of justification.’ He further writes: ‘the true grounds of justification cannot ever be in a million years the faith of fallible, sinful people, would appear to be axiomatic. How could it be? The very notion that God could impute justification to an evil man, merely upon the basis of anything that such a foul soul might either believe or do, is a delusion. Justification in any true sense requires that the justified be accounted as righteous and undeserving of any penalty whatever; and no man’s faith is sufficient grounds for such an imputation. On the other hand, the faith of Jesus Christ is a legitimate ground of justification, because Christ's faith was perfect.’ In the absolute sense, only Christ is faithful – ‘Faithful is he that calleth you’ (1 Thess. 5:24). Only He is called ‘the faithful and true witness’ (Rev. 3:14). The faith of Christ was also obedient; a perfect and complete obedience, lacking nothing. Therefore, we conclude that the sinless, holy, obedient faith of the Son of God is the only ground of justification of a human being – Christ only is righteously justified in God’s sight. How then are we saved? We are saved ‘in Christ,’ having been incorporated into Him – justified as a part of Him. Our study prompts agreement with Coffman’s conclusion that faith is not the ground of our justification; it is not the righteousness which makes us righteous before God. The ‘faith of the Son of God’ is the only basis for our justification, and that faith is definitely included in the ‘righteousness of God’ mentioned in this verse. Even the righteousness of God through faith of Jesus Christ shows the principal constituent of God’s righteousness. In conclusion, God’s righteousness is the righteousness of Jesus Christ – His absolute, intrinsic, unalloyed righteousness – implicit in His perfect faith (mentioned here) and His perfect obedience (implied). The contrary notion that God’s righteousness is some imputation accomplished by the sinner's faith is unfounded. Any righteousness that could commend itself to the Father and become the ground of anything truly worthwhile would, by definition, have to be a true and genuine righteousness. That righteousness was provided by the sinless life of the Christ, summarized in this verse as ‘through faith of Jesus Christ,’ the idea being much clearer in the KJV, ‘The righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ.’ We concur with Coffman on this subject, including his final conclusion, ‘. . . the word believe in this verse refers to sinners’ faith (believer’s faith) which is no part of God’s righteousness at all, but, like baptism, is but a mere condition of salvation – being neither more nor less important than baptism.’