Deepertruth: Stand In The Gap With Us As We Honor The Presentation of the Lord

Stand In The Gap With Us As We Honor The Presentation of the Lord 2/2/2024

February 2, 1 B.C. “When the days were completed for their purification (40 days) according to the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord, and to offer the sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.” Luke 2:22-24

During this time, we forget that King Herod was still awaiting word to come back from the Wise Men who followed the star leading them to the new born King. Perhaps that is how the Holy Family was able to travel to Jerusalem in stealth mode.

The Wise men and their caravan stayed and camped around the area of Bethlehem until after the Presentation of the Lord. We know from reading Matthew 2:12, the wise men receive a message in a dream to go another route and to not see King Herod. For timing sake, I am simply adding February 2 here which marks the 40 days after the birth of Christ and his Presentation at the Temple. By this time, certainly King Herod would be waiting for the wise men to report back to him with much anxiousness.

Leviticus 12:1-2 states, "Tell the Israelites: When a woman has a child, giving birth to a boy, she shall be unclean* for seven days, with the same uncleanness as during her menstrual period. On the eighth day, the flesh of the boy’s foreskin shall be circumcised, and then she shall spend thirty-three days more in a state of blood purity; she shall not touch anything sacred nor enter the sanctuary till the days of her purification are fulfilled." On both counts the Virgin Mary followed the precepts of the law.