HORMONES & THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE – PART 2
Hi there! You might have come here after reading our initial post on the menstrual cycle, if so…welcome back!
If you’ve ever wondered whether menstruation was mentioned in the bible or why it is seen as unclean, you’re in the right place because we’re here to share what we have learned about it! There are a couple of instances where menstruation is referred to in the Bible. As with the rest of scripture, we can clearly see the story of redemption reflected in how we see menstruation. Do you think it is a far-fetched call to make? Let me explain.
Our first passage takes us to Leviticus 15, verses 19-20.
“When a woman has a discharge, and the discharge in her body is blood, she shall be in her menstrual impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening. And everything on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean. Everything also on which she sits shall be unclean.
We could easily assume that this passage shames women for their impurity, and taken out of context it is understandable why someone would think that. However, Leviticus 15 touches on actions that the people of Israel had to take to remain ceremonially pure to be able to enter the Tabernacle (where God dwelt on earth at that time), it referred to being ceremonially clean rather than discussing moral purity. Women’s menstruation can be interpreted as a consequence of the fall (menstruation may be related to “in pain, you shall bring forth children” in Genesis 3:16).
We then jump to Galatians 3 which speaks of how Christ redeemed us from the Law (the book of Leviticus) of the Old Testament. God gave the Law to Abraham as a promise of the future redeemer to come. The purpose of the Law was to keep the Israelites in obedience to God and in agreement (covenant) with Him until his Son, Jesus, came to redeem us.
We also have the story of the ‘woman with the issue of blood’, shown across three of the gospels (Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34 and Luke 8:43-49).
There was a woman who had suffered with a ‘discharge of blood’ for 12 years. She had seen many medical professionals about it but had only gotten worse throughout the years. When she heard about Jesus and saw him surrounded by a large crowd, she went after Him and touched his cloak. She said that, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed” (Mark 5:28). She was instantly healed. A few verses down, Jesus declares that her faith had made her well.
The key element to see here is that our faith is key to accessing God’s healing.
The woman in the Gospels had seen many medical professionals about her health and had not received healing. However, with just a touch of Jesus’ cloak (aka being in His presence and actively reaching out towards Him), she was healed.
We want to be clear that this does not mean that you should skip seeking medical attention. God has authority over everyone and will work through medical professionals and give them wisdom to facilitate healing in our bodies.
Here at BKT, we encourage you to talk to God about what you are experiencing, asking Him to give you the wisdom to navigate through your symptoms, and what actions you can take to balance out your hormones. You can also ask Him to present you with a medical professional (whether it is a GP, gynecologist, nutritionist, etc) that is equipped to support you through healing.
Thoughts to consider:
- Read through the verses discussed above, how does knowing we have access to God as our healer make you feel?
