The Woman In Canaan
Written by: Delbert Magusara Haim
August 2012
There was a woman from Canaan who came into the place of where Jesus preaching and healing sickness. She cried to Him and asked mercy because her daughter was confound with a devil spirit. But Jesus answered her;
1. not a word
2. I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel
3. It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs
Thousands of years ago before this woman came out with Jesus; God had promised something concerning His people and His love to them. He promised this to Moses at the exact day of where the old covenant creation (the law / the 10-commandments) established in the Mount of Sinai. As we can read this:
If we will just read them, we can’t notice of when this promise was fulfilled at the very exact time. But if we will compare this to the appearing of Jesus with the woman of Canaan we can see that it is quietly similar in context. Take note that Jesus is like Moses as it was prophesied.
In a comparative view:
August 2012
- Mat 15:22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. 28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
There was a woman from Canaan who came into the place of where Jesus preaching and healing sickness. She cried to Him and asked mercy because her daughter was confound with a devil spirit. But Jesus answered her;
1. not a word
2. I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel
3. It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs
Thousands of years ago before this woman came out with Jesus; God had promised something concerning His people and His love to them. He promised this to Moses at the exact day of where the old covenant creation (the law / the 10-commandments) established in the Mount of Sinai. As we can read this:
- And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. 20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. Exo 20:19
- And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. Exo 34:5
If we will just read them, we can’t notice of when this promise was fulfilled at the very exact time. But if we will compare this to the appearing of Jesus with the woman of Canaan we can see that it is quietly similar in context. Take note that Jesus is like Moses as it was prophesied.
- Deuteronomy 18:15 The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
In a comparative view:
God's promise unto Moses:
1. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
2. Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. 3. The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering 4. And abundant in goodness and truth 5. Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. |
Jesus' conversation with the woman:
1. And, behold, a woman of Canaan
came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 2. But he answered her not a word 3. I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel 4. It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs 5. O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt and her daughter was made whole from that very hour. |
The story of a woman that asked mercy from Christ is the revelation of God’s promise in time of Moses. This woman is the type of people who asked Moses in the mount to speak to them the words of the commandments instead of God lest they die. It is because the Law that they heard from God in the Mount of Sinai caused them to die at that very moment spiritually speaking for they are people of disobedience. The same with the woman that asked Jesus some help instead of letting her daughter be vexed with devil. But Jesus did not answer her a word because he comes to prove in Israel alone as Moses said; “Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not Exo 20:20. And that they must understand and believe that he is the one that comes when he did not entertain the woman as His way of proving in front of their faces.
And when Jesus begun to say something unto the woman, he is proclaiming that the mercy and grace of God has come with long suffering as written;The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering “ Exo 34:6. Jesus came and was longing to suffer in the law to fulfill because he was sent to perfectly obey the law and died thereafter as a living sacrifice for the sins of his people, the nation Israel. Thus Jesus says; I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel”. He was like a shepherd that suffered in finding the lost and give up himself for his sheep. But this woman is not belongs to them for she is just a dog (a Gentile).
And then the "abundance in goodness and truth Exo. 34:6" of God will come in Israel's table as it is happening when Jesus said to the woman; “It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs”. In this statement, he is telling that what he did unto the nation Israel at the very moment; the preaching, the healing of sickness and the casting out of devils are the promised goodness of God to his people with the gospel of truth that He is the Christ who perform these things. This is a clear statement of Jesus that he is giving now the blessings directly to the Nation Israel.
Now, concerning the forgiveness as God said; “Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty” Exo 34:7. Jesus is now showing to Israel that they can now receive forgiveness through faith in Him.
He figures it out unto the woman by saying, “O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt” and at the same hour her daughter was made whole from the devil. This blessing that she received from Jesus is not an special blessings for her being a Gentile but was just the crumbs of Israel's blessings. The Gentile woman is like dog in the creation of God, and she receive it as manner of a dog eating under the table. Jesus proves at this time that it is true that the blessings from God to his people has exceeded the limit and they who are outside from the master’s table could partake also. Wherefore, this is the perfect time that the grace of God proves its richness and begun spreading throughout the nations.
In short, the woman of Canaan has no reputation in the sight of Christ and in Israel because she was a Gentile but has a “great faith”. And we are that woman.
And when Jesus begun to say something unto the woman, he is proclaiming that the mercy and grace of God has come with long suffering as written;The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering “ Exo 34:6. Jesus came and was longing to suffer in the law to fulfill because he was sent to perfectly obey the law and died thereafter as a living sacrifice for the sins of his people, the nation Israel. Thus Jesus says; I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel”. He was like a shepherd that suffered in finding the lost and give up himself for his sheep. But this woman is not belongs to them for she is just a dog (a Gentile).
And then the "abundance in goodness and truth Exo. 34:6" of God will come in Israel's table as it is happening when Jesus said to the woman; “It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs”. In this statement, he is telling that what he did unto the nation Israel at the very moment; the preaching, the healing of sickness and the casting out of devils are the promised goodness of God to his people with the gospel of truth that He is the Christ who perform these things. This is a clear statement of Jesus that he is giving now the blessings directly to the Nation Israel.
Now, concerning the forgiveness as God said; “Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty” Exo 34:7. Jesus is now showing to Israel that they can now receive forgiveness through faith in Him.
He figures it out unto the woman by saying, “O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt” and at the same hour her daughter was made whole from the devil. This blessing that she received from Jesus is not an special blessings for her being a Gentile but was just the crumbs of Israel's blessings. The Gentile woman is like dog in the creation of God, and she receive it as manner of a dog eating under the table. Jesus proves at this time that it is true that the blessings from God to his people has exceeded the limit and they who are outside from the master’s table could partake also. Wherefore, this is the perfect time that the grace of God proves its richness and begun spreading throughout the nations.
In short, the woman of Canaan has no reputation in the sight of Christ and in Israel because she was a Gentile but has a “great faith”. And we are that woman.