“Then he shall offer it before the LORD and make atonement for her. And she shall be clean from the flow of her blood.”

Leviticus 12:7 (NKJV)

Chapter 12 concerns the days of purification for a woman who had given birth. If she gave birth to a boy, she would be considered unclean for a total of forty days. If she gave birth to a girl, she would have to wait eighty days. Why the difference? Nobody really knows. What was the purpose? We can only guess.

She would bring to the priest a lamb as a burnt offering and a pigeon or turtledove as a sin offering. If she couldn’t afford a lamb, then she would bring two pigeons or turtledoves. Evidently, it was the flow of blood that made her unclean. During this time, she couldn’t go to the tabernacle, and probably her husband couldn’t have sexual relations with her (Leviticus 18:19). This would give her extra time to bond with her newborn.

This is one of many things that we don’t fully understand. We humans often have a problem with that. We like to figure everything out. We want explanations. But Thomas Aquinas, the Italian friar and philosopher who lived in the 13th century, said:

“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”

Thomas Aquinas

In other words, true faith means being content with no explanation. We can rest in the Lord, knowing that even though His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9), He is good, and He knows what is best for us.

Is there a matter that troubles you that you cannot understand? Faith means living without an explanation. There is peace in simply casting it upon the Lord, knowing that He cares for you. He is the One who makes everything beautiful in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

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