The Poor Mother’s Offering
The sudden death of Aaron’s sons doubtless served as sufficient warning to the Israelites to be exact and punctilious in following the religious ceremonials laid down for them. There are in the Bible many chapters of directions concerning these; and all are planned with forethought and justice. Thus, for instance, one important principle was that the value of an offering should be proportioned to the wealth of the individual who presented it.
This is illustrated in the present picture. One of the laws was that a mother after her child was born, should come with an offering of purification when she returned to the tabernacle to give thanks to the Lord. The chief offering was to be a lamb; but if the woman was poor, two turtle doves or two young pigeons would suffice instead. We are shown here a young mother approaching with her modest gift, eager to proclaim her gratitude to the giver of all.
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