Today’s Scripture Reading (August 27,
2015): Leviticus 12
Black lives
matter. There is something incredibly sad about the phrase. Maybe it is simply
that we live in a culture where we actually need to speak those words. It seems
to be me that this is such a simple truth. And it is not just that Black lives
matter, it is all life. I almost hate, at times, to turn on my computer (most
of the news that I read I find online) and read about the murders in Baltimore,
or the shootings in Chicago, or maybe an increase in violence in New York’s
Central Park. Black lives matter! White lives matter! Yellow lives matter! Red
lives matter! Brown lives matter! Whatever shade of life you might be – you matter.
Life is precious and in whatever form we might find it, it matters.
So I
struggle with this passage in the Law. I love a lot of what David Guzik writes
on the Bible, but I have to admit that I shuddered when I read his words on
this verse. According to Guzik (and he is definitely not the only one who takes
this stand on this passage), “This was a fairly standard sacrifice
for atonement, holding the woman symbolically responsible for bringing another
sinner into this world. The required sacrifice was the same for her who has borne a male or a female.”
Those words “holding a woman symbolically responsible for bringing another
sinner into this world” somehow shake me to my core. I understand that this
fits perfectly with David’s words “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my
mother conceived me (Psalm 51:5), but maybe we need to give David a
poetic break here. These words are written as a confession for his sins with
Bathsheba – there is little doubt that in this moment David probably felt like the
worst sinner on the planet (and this should be a great source of hope for Josh
Duggar as he deals with the uncomfortable place that he finds himself in.) I
guess what I don’t understand is that God commands Noah and his family (and
descendants) to “be fruitful and increase in number; multiply
on the earth and increase upon
it” (Genesis 9:7) but
then at the same time says that he will hold women accountable for following his
direct command. To me, it just doesn’t make sense.
But I think that there may be another explanation. I am convinced that
God’s grace is always extended to us long before we need it. God’s grace is
primary, it is first and it is “original.” There is no sin that we can commit
where God’s grace has not already gone before us. And maybe this atonement is
symbolic of that grace. The child will grow, and the child will fail, but the
atonement has already been paid. I mean, isn’t this similar to what we already
believe about the atonement of Jesus – that he has already paid in full for the
sins of each one of us. He has died so that we might be at one with God. And
maybe, just maybe, what Jesus did on the cross on a global scale, moms did on a
personal scale within Mosaic Law – they paid the atonement price in advance.
After all, life – all of it – matters.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading:
Leviticus 13
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