IS HE (JESUS) IN YOU?

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When any man has a bodily discharge, the discharge is unclean. Whether it continues flowing from his body or is blocked, it will make him unclean. This is how his discharge will bring about uncleanness:

" 'Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean, and anything he sits on will be unclean. Anyone who touches his bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. Whoever sits on anything that the man with a discharge sat on must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. " 'Whoever touches the man who has a discharge must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. " 'If the man with the discharge spits on someone who is clean, that person must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. " 'Everything the man sits on when riding will be unclean, and whoever touches any of the things that were under him will be unclean till evening; whoever picks up those things must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. " 'Anyone the man with a discharge touches without rinsing his hands with water must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. " 'A clay pot that the man touches must be broken, and any wooden article is to be rinsed with water.

" 'When a man is cleansed from his discharge, he is to count off seven days for his ceremonial cleansing; he must wash his clothes and bathe himself with fresh water, and he will be clean. On the eighth day he must take two doves or two young pigeons and come before the Lord to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and give them to the priest. The priest is to sacrifice them, the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. In this way he will make atonement before the Lord for the man because of his discharge.

" 'When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean till evening. Any clothing or leather that has semen on it must be washed with water, and it will be unclean till evening. When a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, both must bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

" 'When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity of her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean till evening. " 'Anything she lies on during her period will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean. Whoever touches her bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. Whoever touches anything she sits on must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. Whether it is the bed or anything she was sitting on, when anyone touches it, he will be unclean till evening. " 'If a man lies with her and her monthly flow touches him, he will be unclean for seven days; any bed he lies on will be unclean.

" 'When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge, just as in the days of her period. Any bed she lies on while her discharge continues will be unclean, as is her bed during her monthly period, and anything she sits on will be unclean, as during her period. Whoever touches them will be unclean; he must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. " 'When she is cleansed from her discharge, she must count off seven days, and after that she will be ceremonially clean. On the eighth day she must take two doves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. The priest is to sacrifice one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. In this way he will make atonement for her before the Lord for the uncleanness of her discharge.

" 'You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place, which is among them.' " These are the regulations for a man with a discharge, for anyone made unclean by an emission of semen, for a woman in her monthly period, for a man or a woman with a discharge, and for a man who lies with a woman who is ceremonially unclean." Leviticus 15

The Lord had given prior direction regarding skin ailments…or what was afflicting a person externally. In Leviticus, Chapter 15, He deals with the matters of bodily discharge…or what came out of the body internally. Once again, the discussion centers on cleanliness and uncleanliness, just as we have seen with matters on food, childbirth, infectious skin diseases and mildew.

The matters discussed deal with both natural and unnatural discharges with the ongoing concern being anything unnatural that might be contagious and likely to spread to others. This is why an unclean marker was placed on the person with the discharge for seven days to see if the condition was an anomaly or not.

Of further interest was that the priest did not play a role in the assessment of a person’s condition when it involved bodily discharge. You’ll recall prior that the priest would make determinations whether something or someone was quarantined for further examination after a week had passed. In Chapter 15, the decision on quarantining was made by the person afflicted.

The first section of this guidance surrounds a man’s bodily discharge from a man. The primary concern here involved diarrhea or and discharge that might be indicative of a venereal disease such as gonorrhea. You’ll see careful instruction regarding anything or anyone that the man might touch as they were to be considered unclean just as the man was. Washing was prescribed in all cases as a way of cleansing externally what had been affected by the internal discharge. Once again, the concern was any further spreading of anything that might be contagious.

You’ll note that this form of discharge also required a sacrifice for atonement. After counting off "seven days for his ceremonial cleansing", a man was to "wash his clothes and bathe himself with fresh water" so he would be clean. Then "on the eighth day", he was to "take two doves or two young pigeons and come before the Lord to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and give them to the priest" who would "sacrifice them…one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering."

You’ll notice the scripture also discusses discharges of semen. Although the semen on a man or woman would make them both temporarily unclean, this state did not last beyond the evening after the affected person had properly bathed. Once again, cleansing was critical.

Next came a discussion about the natural bleeding caused by menstruation. You’ll note that the woman who would be bleeding would be unclean for the duration of the period and, once again, anything that came into contact with her would also be unclean until evening with the exception of a man who lies with a woman during "her monthly flow". If he comes in contact with the flow, he would be deemed unclean for seven days. This was a blessing from God to the woman who was experiencing the hardship of a menstrual cycle because the cramping and weaker physical condition that came along with the period was not a time where they needed to be engaged in sexual activity. By placing this guidance in place, the woman could be reassured the man would not attempt to have sexual relation with her during the menstruation period.

Of course, if the bleeding prolonged beyond the seven days allotted for the period or if the woman began to bleed from inside abnormally, she was deemed unclean and the same basic tenets applied regarding anything that might touch the unclean woman being unclean until evening. We also see where the woman’s abnormal discharge problem is treated the same as the man’s with the seven day criteria for ceremonial cleansing and the sacrifice of two birds required for atonement.

Well, this problem of something inside coming out and potentially causing problems is applicable to a lot of things, not just bodily discharges. Consider these passages:

"But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." Matthew 15:18-19

"Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be." James 3:5-10

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29

"The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." Luke 6:45

Truly, we have just as much a problem spiritually with what comes from inside us as we do physiologically.

Question: What comes out of your heart toward others? What comes out of your mouth? What actions do you take toward others? In all these things, does everyone always see that Christ is alive and well inside you?

Jesus said, "The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him." (Matthew 12:35) If we profess to be Christians and thus of Christ, then He is in us and everything that is stored up in us will be righteous and holy and good…and others will benefit from the good things he or she brings out from that. Let us all strive to ensure that nothing but Christ comes out from us every second of every minute of every hour of every day.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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