COMING CLEAN

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

"Then the Lord said to Moses, "Make a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it. Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it. Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting an offering made to the Lord by fire, they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come." Exodus 30:17-21

Cleanliness and purification. These matters were established early on as of significant importance to God.

For in our scripture today, we see God giving additional instruction to Moses, telling him to make sure a bronze basin and stand were constructed and "placed between the Tent of Meeting and the altar" with "water in it". The water from the basin was to be used by "Aaron and his sons", and other priests to follow (the "descendants for…generations to come"), "to wash their hands and feet" …"whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting" or "approach the altar to minister by presenting an offering made to the Lord by fire." The act of purification was done to wash away the sins that might be on the hands of the priests before they approach the altar and offer sacrifices before God. And as we read, there were severe consequences attached to disobeying this requirement…namely death. This underscored how essential cleanliness and purification were to God.

So what else does the bible say about purification and God’s expectations? Consider this passage from Isaiah:

"Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right!" Isaiah 1:13-17

As we can see, the people of Israel will violate the covenant promise made with God and this will lead to His anger, obvious in this passage. Their worship becomes tainted by other religions and they begin to celebrate other festivals and their associated rituals. Notice where we see God use an incense reference. You’ll recall that incense was discussed at the beginning of Chapter 30 as we examined the altar of incense and the priest’s requirement to burn the incense at morning and twilight. You’ll recall that the rising smoke from the burning incense was symbolic of the people’s prayers and petitions rising up to God. In Isaiah, we see where the incense rising from their improper worship was "detestable" to God as He could not bear their "evil assemblies".

What was the solution to this problem? They had to cleanse and purify themselves. For God tells them to "wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right!" Note that it wasn’t just good enough to be cleansed for the moment. God expected them to stay that way…to take their evil deeds from His sight and "stop doing wrong, instead focusing their attention on learning to do right."

Question: Where are you today as you stand before God? Have you been worshipping things that would be detestable to Him? And I’m not just talking about while you’re in church. I’m talking about what you worship the rest of the week. If you’ve went the wrong way and worshipped the wrong things, hear God talking to you as well when He says, "Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right!"

God’s word also talks about cleanliness and purification in the Epistle of James:

"Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded" James 4:8-10

The "double minded" were those who wanted to have life both ways. In one instance, they had a mind that wanted God and the righteousness He offered but their mind also wanted to satisfy their personal desires with the sinful temptations of the world. James’ words resonated loud to the double minded. "Come near to God and he will come near to you." God was not going to partner with sin. The only way to have a close, intimate, lasting relationship with God was for sinners to wash their hands and purify their hearts. Then and only then, would they be cleansed and purified…consecrated and able to draw near to God.

Question: Are you double-minded? Are you reluctant to let go of the things of the world and truly draw near to God? Well, that can change right now. Wash your hands…purify your hearts…and come near to God. For as scripture assures us, when we do He will draw near to us.

Finally, consider this from Paul’s letter to Titus:

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." Titus 2:11-14

Here, God’s word speaks of Jesus as the One who brought us redemption and purification and salvation through His sacrifice and blood shed on the cross. His blood was shed for our sins and it’s that blood and only that blood that takes our sin filled souls and washes them white as snow. He is the eternal purification for those who place their faith, trust and belief in Him as Savior…those "that are His very own"

Question: Have you confessed with all your heart and soul that Jesus is the Lord and Savior of your life? Have you realized yourself as without hope unless you believe in the One who is our "Blessed Hope"…the One who we wait for to return? If you don’t know Him, now is the time to give your life to Him. Today is the day to become a new creation in Christ Jesus.

If you have strayed from Jesus in your life, He awaits your return and is ready to accept you back with open, loving arms…just as the father welcomed back the prodigal. (Luke 15:11-32)

And if you are living your life fully for Jesus, rejoice, praise and worship the One through which we have life and love and hope…all in abundance. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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

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