Tazria “Conceived”
It is customary for religiously practicing Jews to read from an annual cycle of weekly Old Testament readings called Torah Portions. This is said to be the same reading schedule that was taught every Sabbath in the Synagogues during the times of Jesus in the first century.
Tazria is the Hebrew title for “Conceived” and is the name for the weekly Torah portion reading for the Book of Leviticus starting in chapter 12 verse 1 and going through chapter 13 verse 59.
It is also important to point out that along with the Torah portion readings and teachings, there are what are called Haftarah portions which are readings from the Bible in the books of the prophets. This week’s haftarah readings come from the book of 2 Kings in chapter 4 verse 42 through chapter 5 verse 19.
The gospel readings incorporated with the weekly Torah portion readings come from the book of Luke in chapter 2 with verses 22 through 13.
As Christians exploring the Torah portion cycle we must maintain a balance of including the Old Testament, the prophets, and the gospels in our weekly bible study.
Torah Portion Overview-
Leviticus 12:1-8 instructs us on the specific purification sacrifices that were made in order to purify a woman after giving birth. Why did I not say “sin offering“ (verse 6)? The translation of sin offering is not ideal because the woman has committed no transgression or sin here. In fact, the woman has obeyed God and partnered with Him and her husband by bringing life into this earth (Genesis 1:28). Notice that first a burnt offering and then a “sin” offering are brought and compare to a sin offering for unintentional sin where the sin offering is not preceded by any other offerings (Leviticus 4:28-35). Furthermore, the childbirth offering does not speak of forgiveness as the unintentional sin offering does (4:35). This is because no sin has been committed.
How should we view this offering then? Remember that the Israelite system of worship revolved around Yahweh and protecting His sacred space. There were levels of purity because there were levels of sacred space. With the tabernacle we can see that the people were permitted to come worship and offer offerings, but could not progress past the altar. The priests were allowed within the Holy Place but could not enter the Most Holy Place. The High Priest could only enter the Most Holy Place once a year on the Day of Atonement. Just as there were levels of sacred space and holiness, there were levels of purity. To understand this we’ll quote from the book Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord by L. Michael Morales, who is quoting Wenham.
“Everything that is not holy is common. Common things divide into two groups, the clean and the unclean. Clean things become holy, when they are sanctified. But unclean objects cannot be sanctified. Clean things can be made unclean, if they are polluted. Finally, holy items may be defiled and become common, even polluted, and therefore unclean.… Sanctification can elevate the clean into the holy, while pollution degrades the clean into the unclean. The unclean and the holy are two states which must never come into contact with each other.… According to Leviticus, then, sacrificial blood is necessary to cleanse and to sanctify. Sacrifice can undo the effects of sin and human infirmity. Sin and disease lead to profanation of the holy and pollution of the clean. Sacrifice can reverse this process.”
When a person became unclean their uncleanness was considered “contagious” (Haggai 2:12-13). This uncleanness could not be allowed to spread and thus infect the entire camp or worse, the tabernacle. And so, to keep the sacred space clean they would remove anyone who was unclean. To have your uncleanness wiped away (atoned) you brought an offering that brought you back to a clean state. Thus, this sin offering after childbirth was not about “sin” but about keeping God’s space clean, in order, and free of contamination.
Today our bodies are seen as the temple of Yahweh (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19, 2 Corinthians 6:16, Ephesians 2:19-22) because we contain His Holy Spirit. It is sin that can cause us to be unclean (Matthew 15:17-20). Let us seek to walk in obedience and love as we grow in Him and worship Him as living temples.
Torah Portion Scriptural Highlights-
Leviticus 12:1 Women after child birth and purification
Leviticus 13:1 Leprosy, and symptoms
Haftarah (Prophets) Scriptural Highlights-
2 Kings 4:42 Elisha Feeds One Hundred Men
2 Kings 5:1 Naaman is healed
Brit (Gospel) Scriptural Highlights-
Luke 2:22 Jesus presented to the Temple
Luke 2:25 Consolation of Israel
The Book of Leviticus “Vayikra” which means “He called Out.”
The Old Testament is commonly referred to as the Torah. It is considered the most sacred of all of Israel’s Scriptures. Most of our modern Bibles include the Old Testament “Torah” as the first five books in the Bible. The name for the third book of the Bible, Leviticus, is called Vayikra in the Hebrew. The name “Vayikra” comes from the opening phrases in the book of Leviticus which means “He Called Out.”
Leviticus flows directly out of the stories in the previous book of Exodus and continues the story of their gathering by God to enter into a covenant relationship with the Hebrew God known as Adonai, Yahweh, Hashem, and many other titles. The book gives an telling of instructions and testimonies of how the Hebrew people wrestled to become bond servants while shaking off the slave mentality.
As Christians, we find the book of Leviticus and the stories therein, as a historical account of how we as believers are grafted into the covenants and promises of God with our forefathers and how we can learn to walk and learn from their actions as God establishes His people and nation by teaching them how to be bond servants not slaves.
To Watch an overview of this week’s Torah Portion CLICK HERE
