What’s Up with Some of these Unclean Rules?

 My daily Bible reading has me in Leviticus.  So many rules for sores, discharges, corpses, animals who chew the cud, etc, etc...  Of course we know that many of those rules were to help 3 million Jews survive in the desert while avoiding sickness and disease.  But we also know many of those rules were pointing to Jesus Christ and looking forward to the day when the perfect, spotless lamb would be the final sacrifice for all.

And yes, many of the rules for men and women are hard to figure out reading them today.  Here’s one that has stuck in my mind from Leviticus 12.  Why is a woman unclean for 7 days when she births a boy but unclean for 14 days for birthing a daughter?  Are women/females/girls somehow spiritually different than males? Clearly they were never allowed to enter the Temple or act as priests.  And even today they are not supposed to be pastors and serve over men.  I know this is a huge topic but I will post the passage and if you have any insight as to why they are unclean for twice as long, leave it as a comment.

12 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Say to the Israelites: ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is unclean during her monthly period. 3 On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised. 4 Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over. 5 If she gives birth to a daughter, for two weeks the woman will be unclean, as during her period. Then she must wait sixty-six days to be purified from her bleeding.