Daily Devotion | Leviticus 12 | February 6, 2026

Title: Daily Devotion

Scripture: Leviticus 12:1–8 (ESV)

Date: February 6, 2026

Speaker: Rev. John Chen

Transcribed, translated & edited by: Joseph Wang (Yufan)

Dear brothers and sisters, peace to you.
We thank God for His grace, for bringing us into a new day to study our Daily Devotion. Today we come to Leviticus chapter 12, verses 1 through 8. Before we begin, let us pray.

O Lord, we thank You. We thank You that You are willing to come near to us. Lord, even at such a moment as this, You awaken our ears, so that we may hear and understand how holy You truly are. You cause us to take our sin seriously—both our original sin and our actual sins. You remind us, Lord, that no matter what kind of sin it is, it requires the covering and cleansing of Your precious blood. Only in this way may we come to experience Your mercy more deeply. Be with us, we pray, in the name of Christ. Amen.

Now let us turn to Leviticus chapter 12. This chapter addresses the matter of childbirth. According to the statutes and ordinances given in Leviticus, when a woman conceives and gives birth to a male child, she is considered unclean for seven days, just as in the days of her menstrual impurity. On the eighth day, the child is to be circumcised. After that, the woman is to remain in the blood of her purification for thirty-three days. During this period, she is not permitted to touch anything holy, nor may she enter the sanctuary or come to the tent of meeting.

If she gives birth to a female child, the period is doubled. She is unclean for two periods of seven days, and she is to remain at home for sixty-six days. Whether the child is male or female, once the days of purification are completed, the woman must bring her offerings. She is to present them to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting: a burnt offering and a sin offering. Ordinarily, this consists of a lamb for the burnt offering and a pigeon or a turtledove for the sin offering. After the priest makes atonement for her, she shall be clean from the flow of her blood.

If the woman does not have sufficient means to bring a lamb, she may instead bring two turtledoves or two pigeons—one for a burnt offering and one for a sin offering. The priest shall then make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.

At the level of regulation, the content of this passage is actually quite straightforward. There is nothing particularly difficult to understand in terms of what is required. However, I believe the deeper meaning behind these regulations is something that we must pause and think about carefully.

In almost every culture, in almost every civilization, the birth of a child is regarded as a joyful event. It is a happy occasion. It is something to be celebrated, because it represents the arrival of new life. When a child is born, people naturally offer congratulations and blessings.

Yet here, in the law of God, in the statutes given to Israel, childbirth is treated as a condition of uncleanness. The woman who gives birth is considered unclean, and she must offer sacrifices for atonement before she can be declared clean again.

From a purely human perspective, this feels negative. It feels uncomfortable. It does not match our instinctive understanding. We may ask: Isn’t childbirth a good thing? Isn’t new life something beautiful? Why, then, does God’s law speak of uncleanness and atonement in connection with birth?

This tension is precisely why passages like Leviticus chapter 12 often make modern readers uncomfortable. In contemporary culture, childbirth is widely regarded as something honorable and glorious. Many people assume that it should be viewed positively in every sense, without qualification. Moreover, modern culture insists that the birth of a male child and the birth of a female child should be treated exactly the same.

But here in Leviticus 12, not only is childbirth associated with uncleanness, the period of purification for the birth of a female child is longer than that for a male child. For many modern readers—especially many women—this is deeply troubling.

In fact, I suspect that many sisters, when they read this chapter, either read through it very quickly without thinking much about it, or, if they do stop and reflect on it under the influence of modern cultural assumptions, they may feel angry or even indignant. They may ask, “How can God be like this? Is giving birth also considered a sin against God?”

These reactions are understandable. But we must recognize that they arise when we bring modern cultural standards back into the text of Scripture and demand that Scripture conform to those standards. This, however, is a fundamental mistake in interpretation.

Scripture is not given to affirm every cultural instinct we have. Rather, Scripture confronts and judges every culture—including our own.

To understand why childbirth is treated as a condition requiring purification, we must turn to a central doctrine of Scripture—the doctrine of original sin. Without this doctrine, passages like Leviticus chapter 12 will inevitably be misunderstood.

Scripture teaches clearly that humanity is marked by original sin. This doctrine is unique to Christianity. It does not exist in other religious systems in the same way, and it is precisely here that Christianity differs most sharply from every other worldview.

Take Buddhism, for example. Buddhism also speaks about human wrongdoing. It speaks of karma, of moral failure, of suffering. In that sense, Buddhism does acknowledge that there is something deeply wrong with humanity. However, Buddhism teaches that this problem can ultimately be addressed through personal effort—through self-discipline, self-cultivation, enlightenment, and practice. The burden of resolution lies with the individual.

Islam teaches something similar, though in a different form. Islam teaches that by obeying the law, by performing righteous deeds, and by submitting oneself properly, a person may come before God and be accepted. Again, the solution lies in what the human being does.

In both cases, these systems acknowledge that human beings have problems, but they deny original sin in the biblical sense. They deny that human beings are born in a state of guilt and corruption from which they are utterly unable to rescue themselves.

The Christian doctrine of original sin goes much further. It does not merely say that human beings commit sins. It teaches that human beings are born in sin, and that this sinful condition is something they cannot fix.

This is the most difficult and most offensive aspect of the doctrine of original sin. It tells us not only that we are guilty, but that we are powerless. It tells us that no matter how hard we try, no matter how sincere we are, no matter how disciplined our efforts may be, we cannot resolve our sinful condition on our own.

Many other systems—including secular philosophy and modern psychology—also observe that human beings are broken. This is not hard to see. Anyone who honestly observes human behavior will quickly recognize that something is wrong with us. In that sense, the diagnosis that “human beings have problems” is not controversial.

What is controversial is Christianity’s conclusion. Christianity declares that education cannot solve this problem. Moral reform cannot solve it. Personal cultivation cannot solve it. Self-improvement cannot solve it. No human method can remove original sin.

This is why the doctrine of original sin is so deeply resisted.

When someone begins to explore Christian faith, this doctrine is often the hardest to accept. People may tolerate the idea that they are imperfect. They may even accept the idea that they are sinful. But they struggle deeply with the claim that they are incapable of saving themselves.

This resistance did not begin in modern times. But it became especially pronounced with the rise of modernism in the eighteenth century. Western thought began to reject the doctrine of original sin more explicitly. Thinkers such as Rousseau argued that the fundamental problem of humanity was not corruption, but ignorance. Their solution was education.

In this respect, modern Western thought aligns closely with Confucian philosophy. Confucianism famously teaches that “human nature is originally good,” and that moral failure results from poor cultivation and bad habits. The assumption is that if education improves, if environment improves, then human beings themselves will improve.

Christianity stands in direct contradiction to this view. Scripture teaches that human beings are born in sin, and that this sinful condition is not something that can be corrected by education, culture, or moral effort. Unless the grace of God intervenes, humanity remains under the power of sin.

This brings us back to Leviticus chapter 12. Why does childbirth require purification? Not because childbirth itself is evil. Not because motherhood is shameful. But because what is brought into the world through birth is a sinner.

Every human being enters the world already under the condition of original sin. And from original sin flow countless actual sins throughout the course of life. As a result, human existence is lived under the shadow of sin and death.

Apart from God’s intervention, this condition leads only in one direction. Humanity lives in sin, dies under judgment, descends into condemnation, and faces eternal separation from God. This is the biblical diagnosis of the human condition.

This diagnosis is radically different from every system of self-salvation. Whether it is Buddhism, Islam, secular success ideology, or modern self-help culture, all of these systems are fundamentally self-rescue systems. They tell people that through effort, discipline, achievement, enlightenment, or moral improvement, they can ultimately save themselves.

The doctrine of original sin dismantles every one of these illusions. It tells us that salvation must come from outside of us. The solution to our condition cannot arise from within humanity itself. It must come from the Creator.

This is why the gospel is necessary. If human beings did not have original sin, then Christianity would collapse entirely. If people could save themselves by their own actions, then the redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ would become unnecessary.

In that case, Jesus Christ would merely be an optional improvement—helpful for some, but not essential. Those who were strong enough, disciplined enough, or moral enough could simply save themselves.

But Scripture tells us something very different. The incarnation of Jesus Christ, His birth in humility, His life under the law, and His death on the cross all testify to the depth of human corruption. Humanity is so enslaved to sin that only a Savior from outside humanity could accomplish redemption.

Jesus Christ did not come merely to teach. He did not come merely to inspire moral improvement. He came to die. His death declares that human beings are utterly unable to save themselves.

Therefore, when Leviticus chapter 12 teaches that childbirth requires purification, it is pointing us toward this larger theological reality. Every new life enters the world already in need of redemption. Every human being stands in need of the cleansing that only God can provide.

At this point, many readers raise another concern. In Leviticus chapter 12, the period of purification differs depending on whether a male or a female child is born. For many modern readers, this immediately raises the question of gender discrimination. Some will say, “Is this not a form of bias against women? Why is the purification period longer when a girl is born?”

We must be very careful here. Scripture is not teaching contempt for women, nor is it suggesting that women are inferior to men. At the same time, Scripture is also not endorsing modern ideological notions of absolute sameness or role interchangeability.

We must say this clearly: we firmly reject male domination. We reject the idea that men may abuse, oppress, or demean women. In fact, human history has largely been a history of men oppressing women—denying them dignity, freedom, and voice. This reality is undeniable, and it is sinful.

However, rejecting male domination does not require embracing radical feminism or denying the created order. Scripture does not correct male abuse by erasing distinctions, but by calling men to humility, sacrifice, and service.

Christianity confronts male sin not by empowering domination, but by commanding men to lay down their lives. Men are called to lead through self-giving love, not coercion. Yet this call to humility does not abolish the order of creation.

Scripture teaches that God created Adam first, and then created Eve from Adam. This order is not a statement of superiority or inferiority. It is a statement of sequence and vocation. There is priority of order, but not priority of worth.

This distinction is crucial. Male and female are equal in dignity, value, and salvation. There is no spiritual hierarchy in terms of worth. But equality of worth does not mean identity of role.

This is why, for example, in the Reformed Presbyterian tradition, ordained ecclesiastical office is restricted to men. This restriction is not based on intelligence, education, or spiritual capacity. It is not because women are less capable. Rather, it reflects the order God established in creation and affirmed in Scripture.

At the same time, women carry responsibilities and ministries that men simply cannot fulfill. In the church, in the family, and in the nurturing of life, women serve in ways that are indispensable. The goal is not competition, but complementarity.

Male and female are created to serve together, each according to God’s design. The different purification periods in Leviticus chapter 12 are not statements of contempt or shame. They function symbolically within the broader biblical framework of order and meaning.

In fact, one could even observe—though this is not the primary point—that the longer purification period after the birth of a female child allowed the mother additional time for rest and recovery. Scripture does not invite us to read these laws with resentment, but with theological understanding.

Now let us turn to the sacrifices prescribed in this chapter. Two offerings are required: a burnt offering and a sin offering. Each of these carries deep theological significance.

The burnt offering represents total dedication. It expresses that the child belongs entirely to God. No new life comes into the world apart from God’s will and providence. By offering a burnt offering, the mother acknowledges that this child is given back to God—to live for His glory, under His care, and according to His purposes.

To dedicate a child to God is not a loss. It is not an act of deprivation. Rather, it is an act of trust. When we entrust our children to God, we are declaring that we rely on Him to sustain, guide, and guard their entire lives.

The sin offering, however, addresses a different reality. It acknowledges guilt. Both the mother and the child stand in need of cleansing. The mother has brought a sinner into the world, and this reality must be brought before God.

Leviticus chapter 12 focuses primarily on the cleansing of the mother. Through the sin offering, she is restored to fellowship and accepted again in God’s presence. This is not a condemnation of motherhood, but an affirmation of the universality of sin.

Yet we must not miss the tenderness of God revealed here. In most contexts, sin offerings involve larger animals such as bulls or goats. But in this case, the sin offering is reduced to a single dove or pigeon.

And if the family is poor and cannot afford a lamb for the burnt offering, God provides an alternative. Two birds—two turtledoves or two pigeons—are sufficient: one for the burnt offering and one for the sin offering. Nothing more is required.

This reveals something crucial about God’s character. His law is holy, but His heart is merciful. He does not burden His people beyond their capacity. He does not demand extravagance from the poor. Even when addressing sin and impurity, God makes provision for those who are weak, exhausted, and economically limited.

This shows us that while the doctrine of original sin is severe, God’s grace is abundant. His holiness is never separated from His compassion.

Now we must return once more to the doctrine of original sin itself. This doctrine humbles us completely. It leaves no room for pride. A person who truly understands original sin cannot boast—not in intelligence, not in morality, not in spiritual achievement.

If you are born in sin and are utterly incapable of rescuing yourself, what room is there for arrogance? There is none.

This is why the doctrine of original sin has always been resisted throughout church history. It offends human pride at the deepest level. It tells us that we are not only weak, but helpless. It tells us that salvation must come entirely from outside ourselves.

Yet this same doctrine is also the source of deep comfort. If salvation depended on our effort, we would live in constant anxiety. We would never know if we had done enough. But because salvation rests entirely on the finished work of Jesus Christ, we may rest.

Whenever the doctrine of original sin has been upheld in church history, the church has been renewed. Augustine defended it. The Reformers recovered it. And whenever it has been minimized or buried—whether by medieval moralism, Arminian optimism, or modern liberal theology—the church has weakened.

Why is this doctrine repeatedly suppressed? Because it confronts the human heart too directly. It strips away every illusion of self-sufficiency. It leaves us with nothing to offer but our need.

But it is precisely there—at the end of ourselves—that grace meets us.

Therefore, as we reflect on Leviticus chapter 12, we are not meant to walk away offended or defensive. We are meant to walk away humbled, grateful, and at peace. We are sinners. We cannot save ourselves. But God, in His mercy, has provided full redemption through Jesus Christ.

When we see any spiritual growth in our lives, we must never attribute it to ourselves. All glory belongs to God alone. Everything we have is undeserved mercy.

May this doctrine shape how we understand ourselves, how we raise our children, and how we live before God. May we walk humbly, trust deeply, and rest fully in the finished work of Christ.

This concludes today’s Daily Devotion. Thank you all.