Cleanse daily

DEVOTION

EXODUS

CLEANSE DAILY

Ex 30:17-21

17 Then the LORD said to Moses, 18 "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. 19 Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it. 20 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, 21 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."

NIV

And now we come to the bronze basin, or as some translations call it the laver. It is a large bowl to hold fresh water for washing their hands and feet before they minister for the LORD. Certainly after a long day of slaughtering sacrifices, dealing with all the blood and guts, the fat offerings and all the dustiness of all the grain offerings they were quite in need of some cleansing, which would have happened at the end of the day in their own homes, rather tents. This laver was not intended for them to take their baths in, but to wash only their hands and feet. This is very significant and carries a meaning in our daily walk with the LORD.

Ps 24:3-4

3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

NIV

So if we are to ever ascend the hill of the LORD, which is minister to him, have a meeting with him, so to speak, we must have clean hands and a pure heart. How can we do this without this laver? Certainly we take our daily shower and are clean, but then we are not really clean either. Jesus makes this clear in his conversation with Peter.

John 13:6-10

6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" 7 Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."  8 "No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."  9 "Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!" 10 Jesus answered, though"A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean"………

NIV

Unless we go to the laver, daily before we serve the LORD, and cleanse our hands and our feet, which is to mean see our sin before us and be cleansed by the blood of the Lamb on a daily basis we cannot stand clean. Then we would be in danger of being that stream of salt water trying to bring forth fresh water. It just cannot work. We cannot serve the LORD, which is even witness for him if we have not been washed daily in the blood of the Lamb. Jesus tells Peter if he does not wash his feet, he cannot be a part of him. The bronze laver had a mirror like finish to show them their need to be clean. The law, or in the case of the New Testament, the Word shows us our need to be clean. Yes we have been washed in the blood of Jesus once and for all for our salvation. But we continue to engage in attitudes and behaviors that are considered to be sin. So then if we are to minister to the LORD, preach, teach, witness, vacuum the sanctuary, or any other ministry in service to our LORD, then we must come to the cleansing fountain daily.

Zech 13:1

13:1 "On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.

NIV

The prophet was referring to Jesus. We need this daily washing of our hands and feet, this daily purification of our heart, if we ever want to be in service to our LORD. Once a week attending church just doesn’t cut it, we must cleanse daily.