No Foul - Just Covenant

The LORD said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. If a woman becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son, she will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is unclean during her menstrual period. On the eighth day the boy’s foreskin must be circumcised. After waiting thirty-three days, she will be purified from the bleeding of childbirth. During this time of purification, she must not touch anything that is set apart as holy. And she must not enter the sanctuary until her time of purification is over. If a woman gives birth to a daughter, she will be ceremonially unclean for two weeks, just as she is unclean during her menstrual period. After waiting sixty-six days, she will be purified from the bleeding of childbirth. [Leviticus 12.1-5]

I know I have written about this same passage before, but today, something made a little sense to me that I don't think I have seen before.

Why did the birth of a baby girl require a longer purification time for the mother than the birth of a baby boy?

Besides the obvious physical difference between the baby boy and the baby girl, which has no real bearing on anything relative to the mother's purification, there is one significant difference that is easy to overlook: the baby boy, on day eight, is circumcised.

Circumcision is the sign of "Covenant."

Covenant involves "Promise."

Promise includes "Benefit."

In easy-to-understand terms, circumcision (Covenant) brings benefits. For the mother of a newborn child, the male child (carrying the sign of "Covenant" - circumcision) brings her the benefit of a shorter purification time. Why? To serve as a reminder of a Covenant relationship between Israel and God.

This reminder would become even more profound with the birth of Jesus the Messiah - a boy child -the fulfillment of that Covenant - that Promise - that Benefit!

Wow. How cool is that?

Father, as much as I have previously felt there was an 'equal rights' violation in the purification times for a new mother relative to having given birth to a boy or a girl, I see now that the explanation is not only simple, but exciting!