THE ISSUE OF BLOOD

Levitical Law re:  Issue of Blood (Lev. 15:25-27)

 “If a woman have an issue of blood…she shall be unclean.”

Mark 5:25-34

THE WOMAN

There was a woman who had an issue of blood for 12 years.  Let me clarify that for you:  for twelve years this woman suffered a chronic illness.  Her condition was desperate for medical reasons and social consequences.  She was probably shunned because she was considered “unclean”.  If the ailment started at puberty, it would have prevented her from being married.  If it started after marriage, it would probably led to divorce; “relations” were prohibited under her circumstances (Lev. 18:19) and childlessness often led to divorce in that era.  The stigma of childlessness carried ostracism from those around her because people in first century Judaism still saw bareness as a curse from God.  Imagine the frustration and struggle of being unable to earn an income, yet not having a husband to support her.  Her life must have been unbearable!

Desperation drives many of us to a faith not to be stopped.  She had heard of Jesus, she knew she must see him, and she was determined to not let anything stop her.

CROWDS, NOISE AND CONFUSION

Mark 5 states that the people “thronged” Jesus.  This is not just a little crowd, but a crowd so thick that you are literally squished together.

When I lived in Jamaica as a missionary I had to get used to that kind of “squishing” every day.  If you wanted to go from one town to another you had to take a “bus” which often was a VW van where the driver would squeeze in as many people as possible.  (I remember sitting with more than 20 people one time in a VW van!)  Of course every time he stopped we would all have to get out just to let one or two people out at their stop.  These rides often only cost one dollar Jamaican whereas if we took the official bus (government sanctioned bus) it would have cost us 15-20 dollars Jamaican.  Paying just one dollar was worth the discomfort of being squished.

It was noisy in the buses too, with everybody talking at once you had to shout real loud just to make sure the driver stopped at your stop.  I can imagine that with so many people “thronging” Jesus it must have been quite noisy and confusing when the woman approached the crowd.  Into this confusion came our determined woman.

         Her uncleanness did not stop her.

         The crowd did not stop her.

         The noise and confusion did not stop her.

THE ACT OF FAITH

Somehow she pressed and squeezed her way through to reach him.  People pushing each other to get close to Jesus, loud shouting, wanting Jesus’ attention, pressing against Him, touching Him – she pressed through it all.  She stretched her hand out as she said, “If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole!”  She touched his garment, just his garment, and her issue of blood dried up and she was healed.

Jesus said, “Who touched my clothes”

His disciples must have thought he was nuts!  All those people pressing against them and Him, grabbing, touching and He wanted to know WHO touched Him?  He looked around to see who had touched his garments; for He had sensed His healing power was used.

The woman, knowing he healed her, came trembling and confessed to him and all the people the reason she had touched Him.  There were some who probably judged her, a few might have taken a step back or two due to her uncleanness, but Jesus did not.  Jesus acknowledged her act as an act of faith.  By not rebuking her He also demonstrated that the healing had come by God’s power and that He was not ashamed to be identified with her.

YOUR ACT OF FAITH

Jesus is passing by today as you read this article.  He is here right now.  There is a great throng of feelings, emotions, and predetermined ideas that are blocking your path to Him.  It will not take much.  Will you not become determined?  Will you not reach out just now?  Your worst evils will be healed, your greatest burdens lifted.  Just touch even the hem of His garment!

PREDESTINED

How do you respond when you read or hear something that just does not settle well in your spirit?  When something happens that you are just not ready to deal with what do you do?  Before I was a Christian I used to just stuff it way down deep inside my mind but I discovered that when I did this it would “rear its ugly head” (pop up to bother me when least expected) at the most inopportune times.  After I became a Believer I learned to give these things over to the Lord.  To do this the Lord helped me envision a closet with a shelf that is to my right and set just high enough for me to place things on.  When I face something I do not agree with or am unable to deal with I give it over to Him, and I mentally place it on that shelf.  You see later, when I am able to or need to deal with something on the shelf, the Lord knocks it off for me to catch.  When I do face it again I ask Him what He wants me to do about it and He always gives me clear direction.  This makes it possible for me to have a teachable spirit and to grow without these things hindering me.  The subject of predestination is one of those things.

When I read Matthew 22 the Lord knocked the subject of predestination off my shelf.  It is a parable stating that the Kingdom of God was like the king who gave a wedding banquet for his son, telling those who had already been invited that all was ready.  Yet they did not come.  The king then told his servants to go out in the main roads and get as many as they could find to come, which the servants did.  The wedding feast room was filled.  The king then noticed a man not dressed appropriately and asked him why.  The man was speechless, not responding.  The king then commanded his servants to tie the man and throw him out into the darkness.  Then Jesus states (Mt. 22:14 AMP),

“For many are called (invited and summoned), but few are chosen.”

I have heard people who base their concept of predestination on this verse as their main base of doctrine, but it has always bugged my spirit when I heard it used this way.  It does not seem like the Heavenly Father I have come to know, so this is one of those things I put up on the shelf.  When I read this chapter here came that jar labeled ‘predestination’ off the shelf into my hands.  I asked our Heavenly Father what He meant regarding predestination and this was His response:

“You were wondering about My words, ‘…many are called (invited and summoned), but few are chosen.’  Some men believe that this proves predestination, but predestination in their minds means that from the beginning I have chosen who will accept Me and who will not.  I have not chosen who will and will not accept Me.  Each individual chooses.  Yes, I know ahead who will but that does not mean that I make them choose or not be able to choose.  It is My will that every man come to me, but I know and have seen that some will not.  This grieves my heart, but I will not force someone to come.  If I made everyone automatons then where would the joy be in one turning to Me?  No, each may and must choose to follow Me or turn from Me.  In this verse I mean that I call everyone, but some come in the emotion of the moment and have no real substance to their decision.  These are the ones that come without the ‘wedding garment.’  How can I choose someone who has not yielded himself to Me?  How can I mold them, bend them, ply them into the image of My Son if they are not yielded to Me?  This is a hard word to accept, but it is just.  Do not focus on the ones who deny Me.  Do not focus on the ones who accept Me.  Focus on these who come but do not know how or resist yielding all to Me.  The ones who deny Me will have many chances to choose me before they die.  The ones who accept Me will be changed as they are discipled in the church body.  The ones who do not know how to FULLY accept me or resist yielding ALL to Me need your help.  They are the ones teetering on the edge.  Satan would push them into the chasm of sin.  I would that the words you speak and write draw them into My loving arms.”

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, let me ask you, what is the most important thing on God’s heart?  Just what is it that is foremost in His mind?  Having a people that praise Him is good as well as people who read His Word and pray, but I submit to you that the MOST important things on His heart and mind are those people in the world who do not know Him yet.  Think about it:  once one of these precious people dies they are lost to Him forever.  No wonder Jesus shared so many parables regarding what the Kingdom of God was like – so that we would know how precious these people are to Him and how close He is to losing them.  How precious are they?  2 Peter 3:8-10 (MSG) states,

“Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.  But when the Day of God’s Judgment does come, it will be unannounced, like a thief. The sky will collapse with a thunderous bang, everything disintegrating in a huge conflagration, earth and all its works exposed to the scrutiny of Judgment.”

Make no mistake, Brothers and Sisters, the time is coming and is closely upon us when that Day of God’s Judgment comes and those people who do not know Him as their Savior and Lord will be lost to Him forever.  He is holding out to the last possible second but that day will come.  It behooves us to be doing everything we can to “compel” them to come in.  Remember the man who was not “dressed” for the occasion?  He also was lost to the celebration.  So, leading someone to the Lord does not “end” our obligation.  Is it any wonder that many people come forward at revivals and conferences and then go back into their old lifestyles?   Remember what the Lord shared with me?

“…I call everyone, but some come in the emotion of the moment and have no real substance to their decision.  These are the ones that come without the ‘wedding garment’.”

Lead someone to meet Jesus and then establish them in that new lifestyle by fellow-shipping with them.  Help them to see, by your example, that it was not a once-and-for-all decision but a daily living existence.  When you establish them in living daily with Christ you ensure they have their wedding garment on.

“When the king entered and looked over the scene, he spotted a man who wasn’t properly dressed. He said to him, ‘Friend, how dare you come in here looking like that!’ The man was speechless. Then the king told his servants, ‘Get him out of here—fast. Tie him up and ship him to hell. And make sure he doesn’t get back in.’  “That’s what I mean when I say, ‘Many get invited; only a few make it.’” –Matthew 22:11-14 MSG