Immediately following the record of the
atonement money, we have the command to make “a laver of brass to wash withal”,
and upon examination we discover that there is a closer connection between the
two statements than appears on the surface.
Before proceeding to this closer study we
would allude to yet a third item, which will be found to add one more example
of a similar nature: we refer to the
brazen altar. When Korah, Dathan and
Abiram died for their sin, we learn that:--
“Eleazar the priest took the brazen
censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made plates for a covering of the
altar; to be a memorial unto the
children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come
near to offer incense before the Lord” (Numb.xvi.39,40).
This was done at the commandment of the
Lord, Who also said: “They shall be a
sign unto the children of Israel” (verse 38).
We have, therefore, the brazen altar,
closely associated with the sign and memorial of Korah’s sin; we have the two silver sockets of the
tabernacle made of the atonement money paid by every Israelite over twenty
years of age for the ransom of his soul, and now we are to find that the brazen
laver is connected with another sinful association with the true worship of
God.
Immediately following the record of the
making of the altar of brass in Exodus
xxxviii., we read:--
“And he made the laver of brass, and the
foot of it of brass, of the looking glasses of the women assembling, which
assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation” (Exod. xxxviii.
8).
At first sight we are inclined to look
upon this as a free-will offering to the Lord given by a company of godly
women, but the note in the margin, “Heb. assembling by troops, as I Sam. ii. 22”, sets one thinking. To speak of women “assembling by troops” at
the door of the tabernacle has an unpleasant sound, and the dreadful purpose of
their assembling is revealed in all its hideousness by a reference to I.Sam.ii.22.
The margin of The Companion
Bible very gently comments on the word “assembling” in Exod. xxxviii. 8: “doing service, or worshipping according to
Egyptian practice”. By using the
mirrors, therefore, for the construction of the laver, this practice was
abolished.
It is not for us to enlarge upon
immorality. The teaching of “that woman
Jezebel” is associated with what is false worship right down the ages, and
Babylon is well called, “the Mother of Harlots”. It is common knowledge that many of the
temples of Astarte or Venus were famous (or rather infamous) for the practice
of the same uncleanness. The brazen
mirrors of these women, which possibly symbolized their sensual vanity, were
confiscated, and from the metal thus acquired the laver “to worship withal” was
made.
Three witnesses, therefore, to human
failure, in close association with divine worship, were ever before the eyes of
Israel:--
(1) The silver sockets made of their ransom money, telling of their
need of atonement.
(2) The brass covering of the altar, as “a sign” and “a memorial” to
all that they stood in need of a true Priest whose offering should be
acceptable before the Lord.
(3) The brazen laver, a standing witness against all uncleanness, and
to the utmost need for care lest the flesh, or earthly beauty, should intrude
into that which after all is alone spiritual.
It comes as a shock
to the lover of Art, to learn that, lovely as old stained glass may be,
ravishing as some Gothic Cathedrals truly are, yet that all this beauty is
merely upon the natural or soul-plane, and cannot enter into the worship of God
Who is Spirit. Lovers of music also need
to remember that the delights of harmony and the soul-exalting strains of
beautiful music rise no higher than this self-same plane. God looks for the “ornament” of a meek and
quiet spirit, and the “adorning” of the doctrine of God our Saviour. He listens for the “melody” of hearts, and
the “songs” of thanksgiving that may at times escape even from the “inmost
prison”.
The
emphasis upon cleansing.
In an Eastern land, where the temperature
is high, where sandals are worn, and where food is eaten with the fingers,
constant washing would be necessary for cleanliness and health alone, but in
addition to this we find (in the commandments of the law) washings of persons,
sacrifices, articles, and buildings at every turn. Before Aaron and his sons were invested with
the priestly robes, they were washed with water (Lev. viii. 6). Before Israel received the law from Mount
Sinai, both their persons and their clothing were washed (Exod. xix.
10-15). No priest was suffered to
approach the altar of God, on pain of death, without washing both hands and
feet (Exod. xxx. 19, 20), and to this the Psalmist refers when he says: “i will wash my hands in innocency; so will i compass Thine altar” (Psa. xxvi.
6).
Uncleanness could be contracted not only
in the ordinary course of life and nature, but in several ways that had
something of a ceremonial and typical character. Leviticus xii.-xv. details a series.
After childbirth: for a man child 7 days; for a maid child 14 days, and a further
period of either 33 or 66 days until the days of purifying be fulfilled. At the end of this time a sin offering was
made and atonement accomplished — “and she shall be clean” (Lev. xii. 1-8).
Uncleanness arising from leprosy might be
in a man, in his garment, or in a house, and cleansing was effected after the
leprosy had departed, or, in the case of a person, if it had covered the whole
skin and turned white. Garments were
burned or washed in water, houses were demolished, or scraped, and a very
elaborate ceremonial cleansing (to which a special paper must be devoted) is
described in Leviticus xiv.: “The law of the leper in the day of his
cleansing”.
Other cases of uncleanness are specified
in Leviticus xv., and the chapter concludes:--
“Thus shall ye separate the children of
Israel from their uncleanness; that they
die not in their uncleanness, when they defile My tabernacle that is among
them” (Lev. xv. 31).
Certain animals were set aside as unclean,
and defilement was contracted even by touching them, to say nothing of eating
them. To touch a grave rendered a person
unclean; hence arose the custom of whitening
sepulchres to make them easily visible.
To touch a dead body, or to enter a tent where the dead lay, rendered a
person unclean. The scrupulous
sanitation of the law of Moses must be studied to be appreciated. For example, the destruction of vessels upon
which the carcase of a mouse had fallen was commanded without a reason being
given. Modern sanitation warns against
mice and rats as carriers of plague, and endorses the teaching of the law. Some commands concerning personal cleanliness
are too intimate for our pages, but we believe every one would be at least
physically the better for a little more of this “law” in their daily routine.
Spiritual
application of this
truth.
Taking the great mass of detail concerning
uncleanness as read, we must consider the spiritual application which Scripture
makes of this matter.
“Wash thine heart from wickedness”,
says Jer. iv. 14; nevertheless, though nitre and much soap be
used, Israel’s iniquity would still be marked before the Lord (An
opportunity here for a lesson to children, with a handkerchief, marking ink,
soap, soda and water).
“Wash you, make you clean, put away the
evil of your doings”, says Isa.i.16, yet in i. 18
it is added: “Though your sins be
as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow”.
This will be accomplished by the Lord Himself, for “in that day there shall
be a fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness:” (Zechariah xiii. 1), of
which Psalm li. supplies a prophetic anticipation: “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and
cleanse me from my sin . . . . . wash me and I shall be whiter than snow”.
The
N.T. is replete with references to the necessity for cleansing, and for the
perfect provision that has been made. We read of the cleansing power of the
Word in Eph. v. 26, when the church is presented in glory, having
neither spot, nor wrinkle, nor any such thing, but being holy and without
blemish. And again:
“Now ye are clean through
the word which I have spoke unto you” (John.xv.3).
“Sanctify them through Thy
truth, Thy Word is truth” (John xvii. 17).
“Ye have purified your souls
in obeying the truth” (I Pet. i. 22).
In
II Cor. vi. 14-16 we have a
series of circumstances that bring about spiritual defilement: being yoked with unbelievers, having
fellowship with unrighteousness or with darkness, mixing up Christ and Belial,
faith and infidelity, the temple of God and idols.
Cleansing is expressed in such terms as,
“Come out from among them …”, “Be ye separate …”, “Touch not the unclean
thing”, and is fully explained in plain language to the church in II Cor. vii. 1: “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness
of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God”.
Writing to the Hebrews, who knew full well
the “diverse washings” which they were called upon to make, the apostle says:--
“For if the blood of bulls and of goats,
and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying
of the flesh: How much more shall the
blood of Christ, Who through the eternal spirit offered Himself without spot to
God, purge your conscience from dead works, to serve the living God”
(Heb.ix.13,14).
The graves, the bones, the dead that
defiled Israel are here seen as types of the dead works that defile the
conscience.
“Let us draw near with a true heart in
full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience,
and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews x. 22).
Cleansing has much to do with service, as
is illustrated by the following passages:--
“Purge your conscience . . . . . to serve
the living God” (Heb. ix. 14).
“As ye have yielded your membership
servants to uncleanness . . . . . even so now yield your members servants to
righteousness unto holiness” (Rom. vi. 19).
“A vessels unto honour, sanctified, and
meet for the master’s use” (II.Tim.ii.21).
Redemption is for sinners, and releases
from their bondage. Atonement is for
saints, and makes them nigh. Cleansing
is for service, and keeps the vessel meet.
We have seen that cleansing is through the
blood of Christ, and by the Word of God.
Hearts are purified by faith (Acts xv. 9), and souls are purified by
obedience (I Pet. i. 22). Purging is
necessary for fruitbearing (John xv. 2), and for service (II Tim. ii. 21). We have not been called unto uncleanness, but
unto holiness (I Thess. iv. 7). All the
injunctions written in the law concerning the priests are focused upon the
believer’s walk of the present day in
Titus ii. 3: “In behaviour as
becometh holiness”, which word “holiness” is hieroprepes, “proper to
priests”.
Such
is part of the teaching of the law connected with the brazen altar, “to wash
withal”. May we hear the voice of the
Son of God: “If I wash thee not, thou
hast no part with Me” (John xiii. 8).
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