God’s Bath

Time: March 1406 BC, 40 years after the Exodus.
Setting: The nation of Israel is encamped on the Plains of Moab, awaiting the order to enter the Promised Land.
Characters: Priest Elnathan, 10-year-old Jerusha, and her two parents, Baruch and Deborah.
Previous Episodes: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

“Oh, Jerusha, you’re back already? You looked so tried yesterday,” said Priest Elnathan.

“Try stopping her!” Baruch responded.

“Please, Priest Elnathan,” insisted Jerusha. I loved hearing about the brass altar yesterday, but I really, really, really want to know more about that big shiny bath over there. Can you teach me, pleeeeease?”

“Sure, my dear. Walk with me, and I’ll tell you about how the bath – some people call it the laver – shows us cleansing provided and cleansing perfected.

Cleansing Provided
“OK, Jerusha, describe what you see.”

“Well, I see a large metal tank filled with water. It is sitting on top of a big, shiny metal plate. There are taps that I think let water flow out of the tank and into the base plate…”

“Right, and what is this water for, Jerusha?”

“Well, I don’t think it’s for drinking or for watering our crops. If I remember your lessons, I think it’s for washing and purifying the priests.”

“Thank you, Jerusha. You are such an encouraging student. I love this big brass bath. I didn’t used to. As a teenager and even into my twenties, I found all the priestly washings so tedious and boring. ‘Why can’t they just get on with the sacrificing, and then I can get back to my friends?’ I used to think, as I stood with the congregation.

But, a year before my thirtieth birthday and my own entrance into the priesthood, God’s Spirit mercifully and sovereignly opened my eyes. It was then that I began to understand the holiness of God and my own unholiness. As the day of my consecration drew near, I felt increasingly unfit and unworthy for the priesthood. In fact, on the morning of my consecration service, I remember feeling so dirty and so filthy inside and outside that I almost ran away. But, by God’s grace, I overcame my fears and joined my new colleagues in the Tabernacle for the start of the service. Then came the part of the service I used to find so tedious: the washings.

First, there was a one-time, full-body washing with water from the brass laver.[i] Oh, how wonderful that felt! It reminded me so vividly that my holy God graciously provides cleansing for unholy souls. What a mercy! I would gladly go through that all-over washing every day I go to serve in the Tabernacle.

However, that was a one-time, full-body event. Now, every day, I wash just my hands and feet at the bath taps.[ii] This reminds me of my one-time full-body wash. It also reminds me of the ongoing cleansing God continues to provide for my sins — and spurs me on to greater holiness.”

“Does that mean the Messiah will provide cleansing for us, Priest Elnathan?” enquired Jerusha.

“Well done, my child. You’ve really caught on to the Messiah-centered lessons of the Tabernacle. Yes, if I understand this correctly, we will all be made priests when the Messiah comes.[iii] And He will provide us with a double cleansing.[iv] There will be a one-time, all-encompassing washing of the soul – something like a regeneration[v] – and also an oft-repeated ongoing sanctification of various areas of the soul.[vi]

The brass altar preaches pardon of sin. The brass bath preaches purging from sin. The altar is concerned with the believer’s status; the bath with the believer’s condition. The altar’s blood aims at acceptance with God; the bath’s water aims at communion with God. The altar says, “without shedding of blood is no remission,”[vii] while the bath announces “without holiness no man shall see the Lord.”[viii]

Cleansing Perfected
“You’ve got me preaching now, Jerusha! Let me give you the second lesson. This bath not only speaks of cleansing provided but also of cleansing perfected.

“The laver itself was made of brass, a symbol of strength and indestructibility, endurance and solidity.[ix] But look now at the shiny base. There’s a great story of spiritual revival behind that! One day a group of godly ladies, who met for fellowship at the Tabernacle door, came to Ben-Levi, the High Priest, each of them carrying their mirrors.[x] The Spirit of God had been convicting these ladies of their vanity and their worldliness, and they felt that the best way to bring forth fruits of repentance was to give up their mirrors. One of them said, ‘We no longer want to judge ourselves by our own or by others standards. We want to please God and live by His standards. Can you take these symbols of our vain-glory and use them for God’s holy glory.’ This had quite a reviving effect on Ben-Levi and the rest of the priests. They felt convicted themselves and so decided to make them into a base for the bath. Now, when the priests come to wash, they not only see in the mirror the external dirt that needs to be cleansed but they are also reminded of the need to be cleansed from inner pride and vanity, in order to serve God rightly.

“The vital necessity of this cleansing is emphasized in the priestly instructions: ‘When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation they shall wash with water that they die not’[xi] A speck of dust or dirt not only renders the priests unfit for God’s presence but also renders them subject to fatal judgment. For the careful priest, this causes a lot of anxiety and worry. I have often thought, ‘If a small neglect of outward purity be judged so severely, what hope do I have with my impure heart?’ As I go about my daily duties I ask: ‘Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully.’[xii]

“Don’t look so worried, Jerusha. I don’t stop there. As I said before, this big brass bath does not just show us our need of outward and inward purity, it also points us towards the Great High Priest who will one day come and fulfill this role perfectly. When I look anxiously in the mirror at the bath’s base I also see beyond my own reflection to the holy, harmless, undefiled Messiah-Priest, who will be perfectly sanctified and so able to perfectly sanctify others.[xiii] And when I experience perfect cleansing in the heavenly Tabernacle, I will sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints.”[xiv]