At the end of Part 1 we were speaking of the bronze basin/laver in the Mishkan …
The bronze basin /laver stood near to the altar of sacrifice in the courtyard (Jesus/Yeshua being the sacrifice), and the priest would wash their hands and feet before ascending the altar to perform a sacrifice.
He was required to only wash hands and feet, the rest of the body being covered by the linen/righteousness the robes of office conferred.
These robes are now the robes of righteousness that we are clothed in as garments of salvation that all wedding guests must be wearing.
2Cor 5:21 Christ took all our sin and guilt; we received His perfect righteousness, in right standing … We stand before a Holy God dressed in robes of righteousness without spot or wrinkle.
Is 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
We see Joshua the High Priest clothed with robe of righteousness. Zec 3:1, 3-4: Behold, I have removed you iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.
The robe of righteousness is fine, LINEN, clean and bright, the robe which the entire Bride of Christ will be clothed with.
Rev 19:8: And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
His is dipped in blood…
Rev 19:13: And he was clothed with a robe dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
The atonement is for all the saints – all those who’ve been redeemed by the blood of the lamb.
The wrong garment means not washed/sanctified prior to putting on holy garments to minister before the Lord. Reference to the wedding guest wearing the wrong garment.
The high priest served the people before God.
Jesus/Yeshua served people before God as our
High Priest
and He was/is the agent of washing us clean.
Just as He as High Priest was washing Peter clean.
He fulfilled the need of the Brazen basin/laver in full washing to be made holy.
However, the Lord instructed Moses regarding the bronze washbasin/laver used by the priest during this service in the Mishkan. The washbasin stood near the altar of sacrifice in the courtyard and the priest washed their hands and feet before ascending the altar to perform a sacrifice.
(Who can ascend the hill of the Lord/holy of holies but he who has clean hands and a pure heart.)
The foundation of Gods throne/His presence, is repentance and judgment, righteousness and justice. It is not emotion, it is love which is truth, Messiah is the TRUTH.
John 14:9 KJV: Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that … If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also:
He was the express image of all that God has laid out in Scripture which spoke of Him the coming Messiah.
Be washed/sanctified before entering the kingdom of God and through Jesus the Door/dalet.
The Door of the sheep
The Laver was placed between the altar /repentance (where a death was demanded)
and the tabernacle/ the kingdom and that is the Lord.
By the spirit Jesus/Yeshua was giving Peter the message;
(washed [leloumenos, bathed] )
cleansing/washed/sanctification before performing the sacrifice and entering the presence of God.
The altar was His cross and the seed/Himself had to die to become alive/resurrection and the burial/ death in water /immersion and purification had to precede in its order of Gods pattern.
Peters’ desire for Jesus/Yeshua to wash his hands and head also, John 13 :1– 18 and not only his feet is a reference to the role of the bronze laver/the wash basin in the Mishkan of which He was a type and shadow and Peter wanted to be completely Holy and prepared to minister and enter into the Holy place.
John the Baptist had also declared it ..
Repent – here is the altar or death to sin
And be baptized everyone of you – here is the laver
In the name of Jesus/Yeshua the anointed for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of Ruach HaKodesh.
Acts 2:38…
And following 50 days of omer, which is a time of preparation of inner self, to Shavuot/Pentecost and receiving the promise of His Ruach/Presence.
This Appointed Time of Shavuot, commemorated receiving the covenant of Marriage/Betrothal and the Torah/Word of God /Jesus/Yeshua Himself /His Ruach/Spirit descending to be with us forever in the sanctuary of our physical bodies and no longer in the Sanctuary/Temple which was the pattern of the Mishkan.
Remember the disciples were told to wait?….They were counting the Omer according to the Appointed times of the Lord..
We must be born of water and spirit before entering the tabernacle, the kingdom of God/kingdom of the heavens. John 3:5
Laver a place of cleansing – just as baptism was a place and act of repentance and cleansing from sin.
Ex 30:21 so shall they wash their hands and feet that they die not and it shall be a statute for ever to them even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.
There is room for everyone who will accept the High Priest Jesus/Yeshua by being born of water and spirit and be willing to come to the door/dalet of the tabernacle and then enter in.
A Robe of Righteousness was worn once a year into the Holy of Holies to place blood on the kapporet /seat of mercies. No shoes were worn, because the ground was Holy. The presence of the Lord was there so it became Holy ground, just as it was to Moses at the burning bush. Wherever His presence is, it becomes Holy.
Peter wanted his hands and head to be washed and sanctified in the sense of full purification and indeed it was coming.
(What I do now you will know later.)
Jesus/Yeshua was about to make the Way into the holy presence of the father by His own death, sacrifice for all, access through His blood. The forgiveness of sins taking His blood to the mercy seat in the kingdom of the Heavens.
What I do now you will know later.
The process God gave Moses, along with the format of the way to prepare to enter the presence of God, was the pattern and the only way, until Jesus/Yeshua came and said,
I Am the Way;
because He fulfilled the format/ Pattern given to Moses by His sacrificial death. And not only are we redeemed but we are sanctified made holy/set apart and therefore able to enter His presence. Relationship has been restored with our heavenly father, He was the restorer of the breach Isaiah.
For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” 6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant He mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. Heb. 8:7-12
Improved, added to – line upon line….
Jesus saith to him, He that is
washed [leloumenos, bathed]
needeth not save to
wash [nipsasthoi, to wash]
his feet,
but is clean every whit:
and ye are clean, but not all.
John 13:10
HERE we have the most significant point….because
Jesus/Yeshua used two different words, but both are translated by the English word wash.
In those days a person returning from one of the many public baths where he had bathed, got his feet defiled on the way from the bath house to his home. There was placed at the door of his home a basin to rinse the feet.
This had been omitted, for some reason, the night that the disciples entered the Upper Room.
Jesus/Yeshua arose, took the basin,
and began
to wash (niptein, to wash)
the disciples’ feet.
We know the atoning blood of Messiah cleanses from sin — all sin — and the sin of the saved souls is fully dealt with at the cross.
However we are still working out our salvation daily and daily have to deal with sin in a continual attitude of repentance. Just as the priests daily washed and cleansed themselves from sins using the Laver we are to cleanse ourselves in the Laver of Jesus/Yeshua coming to Him daily in repentance. Our past sin has been
washed [leloumenos, bathed]
through His cleansing blood and through immersion we have been made Holy….
but sin in the believer breaks communion with God, and on the basis of His death, He can wash/ cleanse every child who comes to Him in repentant confession.
(wash [nipsasthoi, to wash])
As the disciples placed their defiled feet in His hands for cleansing, today we come in confession of our sins and, by so doing,
place our soiled feet in the nail-pierced hands of our Savior who cleanses us from all defilement.
needeth not save to
wash [nipsasthoi, to wash]
his feet…
Fellowship is then restored with the Father.
On the way from the cross to the crown our feet get soiled, but if we confess our sins, He takes the basin and girds Himself with the LINEN/Righteousness, towel again, and cleanses us from all sin.
How humbling to know that our Lord is girded with a LINEN towel, and that with basin in hand He keeps us clean, if we place our feet in His hands by confessing our sins.
The laver spoke of this heavenly ministry of Messiah.
The laver stood between the altar and the Holy Place, where the curtain of separation was, the same that was rent at the time of His death.
The cleansing of believers by confession stands between the cross and the continual communion of the Father with His children.
The altar was for a sinner; the laver was for a sin.
The altar was where the sinner needed punishment;
The laver was where the child needed cleansing.
The altar spoke of blood; the laver spoke of water.
The altar suggests this verse of Scripture: “…Without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22);
the laver points to this: “Without holiness no man shall see God.”
and the meaning of the laver as it dealt with the sin in the life of the believer.
This then contains a twofold application. The first applies to the earth and is the work of His Ruach HaKodesh/Holy Spirit. The second applies to heaven and is the WORK of the cross through Messiah and are both in relationship to the believer.
The brazen altar speaks of His death;
the brazen laver speaks of His resurrection.
At the brazen altar is forgiveness of sin;
at the brazen laver is imputation of righteousness,
“[Christ] was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:25).
Then only the priests had access to the Laver, whereas the bronze altar was accessible to all. According to scripture we are now priests so we have access to Jesus/Yeshua/The Laver.
There was cleansing by blood – pointing to justification and there was cleansing by water – pointing to sanctification.
The priests were obliged to wash their hands and their feet before entering God’s presence, to disobey would mean death (Ex.30:19-21).
Here Jesus/Yeshua was telling them He was making the WAY.
However looking a little deeper…reveals more amazing significance…
There was no floor in the court or the tabernacle therefore the priests feet would be defiled by the constant contact with the earth and the hands by the work at the altar and other work. Therefore they had to wash before any ministry at the altar, to make them clean before communion with God and before service to man.
At their consecration the priests were washed all over at the Laver before being clothed with priestly garments and anointed (Exodus 29:4-7).
They did not wash themselves at their consecration, but were washed by someone else (Lev.8:6).
Just as Messiah washes us as we are consecrated to His service.
Leviticus 8:6). That washing was for all time.
It was never repeated (perhaps a symbol of baptism? Heb. 10:22) and afterwards the priests had to wash their own hands and feet as there was to be a continual and daily cleansing at the laver.
The blood of Christ cleanses the believing sinner from all sin, but in his daily walk and service he becomes defiled and needs cleansing. His Holy Spirit indwells each believer, but sin keeps His Ruach from helping us achieve our full potential. He reveals the pathway of victory and gives power to our lives when conditions are met.
The Laver was made from the freewill gift of bronze mirrors made by the women (Ex.38:8) and enabled the priests to see their reflection.
The thought of God’s word being a Laver is seen in the New Testament, when Paul in Ephesians 5:26 writes “that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word”(NASB).
The Greek word used there translated as washing is “loutron” which means Laver and is the Greek word used in the Septuagint for the Laver in the court of the tabernacle. If in the passage we were to put the word Laver it would read
“that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the Laver of water, with the word”.
This gives the real insight of the verse,
a standing in the place of sanctification
that comes through the word of God.
For us it is through Yeshua/Jesus the Living Word.
The cleansing power of God’s word is also see in Psalm 119:9, John 15:3, 1 Peter 1:22. When we come to the Word of God, the Bible, so it is to us a mirror for our soul that will cleanse us if we are willing to apply its purifying water to our lives.
The Laver water was required also for the washing of the inward parts of the sacrifices (Lev.1:9,13) and so it is that our inner thoughts and motives need divine cleansing.
That cleansing washing was a prerequisite to entering into His presence, and still is now, we are cleansed and washed by the water of the word. Eph.5:26.
This is why it is important to read The WORD, it continually cleanses us, and remember when He spoke they only had the old Testament the new had not yet been written down.
Yeshua/Jesus is the living word and we are washed by Him and by the water of His words and by the blood of the lamb – the water and the blood.
As a nation of priests, a holy set apart nation into which we are grafted, whose hands and feet are washed. It is with clean hands and a pure heart that we are to ascend to the holy place, the hill of the Lord.
Peter would have understood the pattern of the Tabernacle given to Moses that they all followed and desired to be totally clean as that process required. He would understand later, post resurrection, that Jesus/Yeshua has fulfilled the laws of purification to completion. That no more sacrifice was needed and that He as our high priest, is able to wash, purify and cleanse us daily and then to clothe us with garments of salvation and a robe of righteousness.
This does not mean we have nothing to do, we are responsible to apply His word and keep His commandments and daily take up our cross, yoking ourselves with Jesus/Yeshua and crucifying the flesh, the natural desires.
Verse 8 He clearly tells us this is the only WAY we can be clean.
Unless I would wash you, you have no part with me!
And in verse 10
So He was saying you are ready to enter the holy place and as I wash your feet physically, the cross will make the WAY into His presence permanent.
Peter wanted to be clean by asking for his hands and head to be washed also in reference to the immersion for purification in preparation for them to enter the Holy place with their bodies as sanctuaries of the Holy Spirit.
(immersion for purification which is also called baptism; all of John’s and Jesus/Yeshua’s disciples were familiar with immersion which always followed repentance.)
The furniture found in the court, speak of an atoning sacrifice and of a cleansing as a preparation to enter into God’s presence. The same is true today to be able to come into God’s presence, to have a relationship with God we must identify ourselves with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and be cleansed of the sin that makes the relationship with a holy God impossible.
V 10 is a ref to immersion for purification, which is also called baptism, in preparation for them to enter the Holy Place; with their bodies as sanctuaries of His Ruach HaKodesh/Holy Spirit. Immersion is the translation of both the
Heb R H T rahats/ rachatz רחץ
wash in order to remove impurity,
nothing but full-body immersion is intended
and in GK. baptidzo.
Flowing water had to be used for Immersion so it would come from sources such as a stream, spring or rainwater caught in a cistern. A mikveh which is for purification is where individual goes completely under the water 7x. (2Kings 5:10).
Most immersions were self-immersions, at the Jordan river John and his disciples would stand on the bank preaching, as people repented they would go into the river and immerse themselves with the one preaching still on the bank. Acts 2:14 – 42. As with Philip and the eunuch in Acts 8:38 some were immersed by others; on these occasions the person doing the immersing put a hand on the head of the one being immersed to hold them under the water; this forced a struggle to come up out of the water as a reminder of the dying to self and the new birth, symbolic of the struggle at birth by a newborn baby.
Around the city there were many mikvehs and the Temple in Jerusalem had multiple ritual baths where in Acts 2 it would only have taken about 20 minutes to immerse all 3000. In Jesus/Yeshua’s day each synagogue, had one or more ritual baths/immersion pools for immersion.
These were to be filled with living water from a stream, or even from a roof system to catch rainwater. In John 2:6 there is a reference to stone jars used to carry the water for purification. Normally only a synagogue would have a ritual bath so this wedding was apparently at a synagogue, which in Jesus/Yeshuas day were mostly home synagogues.
Stone was used because it does not become unclean, metal and glass containers become unclean but can be cleansed, when pottery vessels become unclean they have to be destroyed. The early ecclesia/church always immersed, sprinkling instead of immersion was made official at the Council of Ravenna in 1311 AD.
wash” instead of “bathe”
Hebrew uses the root “ṭaval/tabal” (טבל) for immersion
The Hebrew word for immersion is tevilah and means literally immersing in a ritual bath known as a mikvah.
Immersion is the act of washing performed to correct a condition of ritual impurity and restore the impure to a state of ritual purity
285 years before John the Baptist was born the Old Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek; and in this translation there were two Hebrew words, “Rahats” and “Tabal,” that must be rendered into Greek, and they both signified the same thing—WASHING or PURIFICATION. With this difference: Rahatssignified any washing in things of common life, while Tabalwas never used in this sense at all, but to express only purification from sin.
It was a religious ordinance only; hence, these translators find Lono in Greek exactly answering to Rahats in Hebrew, and they substituted the one for the other; but when they look into the Greek for a word answering to “Tabal,” it is not there!
Why?
Because the Greeks were heathens, and they had no use for a word that expressed only a religious ordinance of purification from sin.
But the maintaining of that cleanness that is known as righteousness is the responsibility of every believer by the daily exercise of applying Gods word in everyday living, to keep our thoughts and motives pure.
Justification Continued at the Laver. Christ is faithful and just not only to forgive our sins but to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The only place where cleansing was done was at the laver. Immediately after the death of Christ (symbolized at the altar) were His burial and resurrection of which baptism is a memorial. Our burial in the water corresponds to the burial of Christ; our rising out of the water corresponds to His resurrection.
The water in the brazen Laver points to the believer judging himself, unsparingly, by that Word. The Laver of brass presents the inflexible righteousness of Christ/Messiah testing, judging His people, condemning that which mars their communion with God.
The Scriptures show us the only WAY to be clean, is through Jesus/Yeshua.
Let’s be like Peter, desiring Messiah to cleanse us so we can enter into His presence, by placing our soiled feet into His Hands.
For in reality He has washed our feet too just as much as He washed Peters. And He continues to wash them every time we judge ourselves and come before Him in repentance for sin. We are washed, immersion for purification, which is also called baptism; washed [leloumenos, bathed]
needeth not save to
wash [nipsasthoi, to wash]
his feet,
It gives another meaning to the scripture that He ever liveth to make intercession for us….not simply the meaning of intercession as prayer. We are to plunge ourselves daily beneath the cleaning flow of His blood and the washing of the water by the Word….
What He did we did not know then …but now it is later and we know!
Shalom, shalom, mishpachah!
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It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.
NOT SURE?
YOU CAN BE..
SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen.
The disciples did not always understand what or why Jesus/Yeshua was doing or saying certain things. He also said: if you do not understand natural things how will you understand heavenly spiritual concepts John 3:12 and 1 Corinthians 2:14
In this statement in John 13 we are familiar with the usual interpretation of washing feet as being the action of humility and of submission verse12.
And another verse 16, KJV says: Verily, verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. (Here we get our word apostle as it means, a sent one.)
Everything Messiah said and did had significance because He did not do anything except He heard it from His Heavenly Father.
Historically it was the local custom to offer water and to wash guests feet.
We read in
Luke 7:44 Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.
It was not a strange thing to do or have done to you. They walked everywhere and didn’t have modern day footwear.
The roads were dusty and hot and it is a refreshing thing to have ones feet washed clean.
He was showing the humility even as their Lord and Rabbi that we should minister to one another’s needs but also showing that the Lord was not too above them in any kind of pride to not be able to be as a servant doing lowly tasks.
So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done for you. John 13:14-15
It is a picture of Messiah as a servant, and His call to His followers to also be servants for His people to serve each other in the same spirit that Messiah served His disciples.
However this was not the only significance of His actions and words…
So why else did Jesus/Yeshua wash their feet?
It was as a proclamation of what He was doing for them and was going to do for them – He was going to take away their sin…He was going to bear their sin! When He died on the cross/tree as the sinless lamb of God.
We all know that if we clean someone’s dirty feet, we are going to get dirty too, some of the dirt is going to be transferred and get on us! That is exactly what happened to Jesus/Yeshua on the cross – the dirt of our sin was removed from us and covered Him.
Some Christian denominations emphasize salvation and justification by grace, through faith NOT by works. (Ephesians 2:8-9) Sometimes, with that over emphasis on salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, we might forget that it was the act /the work, that brought salvation.
It was the punishment that brought us peace/shalom.
It was actually a work…it was in fact THE WORK of all works. prophesied to happen from genesis.
The work of the cross/Tav.
What Messiah did on the cross – suffering physically; plus He also absorbed the wrath of God for all of humanities sins. It was and is the most labor-intensive action/work, in the entire history of creation. As such it is the very definition of work, and foot-washing is an illustration; and in its own way is a proclamation of the good news of the gospel – Jesus Christ/Yeshua HaMashiach and Him crucified. The picture of all our dirt, our sin and filth laid on Him.
Fulfilled from Isaiah 53:3-7 prophecy
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; He was despised, and we didn’t value Him. Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses, and He carried our pains; but we in turn regarded Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds.We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth.
It is a picture of what Jesus/Yeshua did for His people.
So much symbolism! and even some that we may have missed.
In John 13 in the Greek,
The towel around His WAIST was a lention
λέντιον, ου, τό
(len’-tee-on)
Definition: a linen cloth, a towel Usage: a towel, apron, coarse cloth
A linen cloth – linen is representing righteousness. Is. 11:5
Righteousness shall be the belt of his WAIST,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
The linen that was around His waist, the same linen that He wiped away the dirt from His disciples feet was the same linen used for the garment that the High Priest wore to present the sacrifice on Yom Kippur, the one day a year when he went to place blood on the kaporet/covering/wiping away for the sins of the people.
Hebrew: הַכַּפֹּֽרֶת ha-kappōreṯor mercy seat was the gold lid placed on the Ark of the Covenant, with two cherubim beaten out of the ends to cover and create the space into which Gods presence appeared. The word derives from the Hebrew root כ.פ.ר, and these can divided into two approaches: Lid or Cover— In its qal form, כ.פ.ר means “to cover” (as in Gen 6:14), [8] and thus can be simply translated as “cover” or “lid.” Consider also the fact that the ark is spoken of as a throne has led to the translation of kapporet as “mercy seat.” Is this translation correct as Psalm 99:1 and 1 Samuel 4:4 say literally that the Lord “sits the cherubim,” which must be understood as “sits on or above the cherubim”?
This is THE PASSION of Jesus/Yeshua, in other words, the ultimateHigh Priestly WORK of presenting blood upon the Ark/Altar/Heavenly Kapporet of God. Interesting note: the word used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew word kapporet/cover, is the Greek word hilasterios (ἱλαστ ή ριος).
We may already have known these reasons, however, there is yet another layer of meaning connected to this occasion.
Why did Peter say wash my hands and head also?
For this answer we must travel back once again into Torah. We have to remember that they were very familiar with all of the Torah and the contents of the Old Testament scrolls.
As with other scripture there are levels of understanding and meaning and each of them is relevant and applicable.
We do ourselves a disservice when we neglect or worst ignore the Old Covenant (/Testament/Tenach/Torah/Prophets /Writings). For then we miss the roots and foundation for Jesus/Yeshua fulfilling God’s plan written clearly in His word/the Scriptures for us. These scrolls of the scriptures are the foundations of Gods plan of the ages. They were written so we have a reference to be our guide.
It is over 2000 years since Jesus/Yeshua, the Door/Dalet ushered in the age of grace and the age has almost run its course; and just as in Genesis 7:16, God shut the door to the ark of Noah, the dalet/door of grace will also close. As in the days of Noah in Matthew 24:39. Let’s make sure we are on the right side of the Dalet.
The word Scriptures here refers to the Jewish Scriptures, what we call the Old Testament, which is another word for Old Covenant. We call it the Old Testament, or Old Covenant, because we believe that the Jewish Messiah has come—namely, Jesus/Yeshua—and by His death and resurrection has inaugurated a New Testament, that is, a re-newed covenant.
ie. A Ketubah (Hebrew: כְּתוּבָּה) is a Jewish marriage contract or marriage agreement/ covenant.The Ketubah is the marriage contract between the bride and the groom at the Jewish wedding.
It outlines the grooms responsibility to the bride! Yeshua/Jesus to His ecclesia/body/us!
In Israel today, the ketubah, whose name derives from the Aramaic and Hebrew root “katav,” which means “to write,” is binding under civil, as well as religious, law.
We are betrothed/engaged to Him we in relationship with Him as His כלה /Kallah/Bride. All we are waiting for is the Bridegroom/Messiah coming for His Bride/Us/Ecclesia/Called out Ones/His Body of Believers.
The disciples were also very familiar with the layout of the Temple and all the necessary sacrifices required to pay the price for sin. Which in reality is how a sinner was back then able to approach a Holy sinless God. The innocent life pays for the sin and for the sinner today of course, Messiah the sinless lamb/son of God.
These offerings are the burnt offering, the grain offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering. Three of these offerings relate in particular to sin and its effects. They highlight the different ways in which sin taints the worshipper, the place of worship, and the community.
A guilt offering (Hebrew: אשם, romanized: ’āšām, lit. ‘guilt, trespass’; plural ashamot), also referred to in English as a trespass offering (KJV, 1611)
To take all of this situation into context, we have to remember that this was happening at Passover/Pesach. He knew that this meal was the last opportunity to minister to His disciples before His death and resurrection, John 13:1;
and with Judas still there until 13:27, when he leaves; He spoke without revealing all that was about to be fulfilled.
Jesus/Yeshua knew that He had come to fulfill all the Torah/ Law, the prophets and Writings, which is what He said to them later on the road to Emmaus Luke 24:13-35.
The cross was a mystery and until He died and was resurrected it was not fully understood. The Apocalypse/revealing of the cross sent shock waves throughout the spiritual realm.
This is one of the reasons Our heavenly Father does not always tell all the details or the timing of His plans and purposes before hand.
Mark 4:11 Mystery of the kingdom of God, the mysteries were revealed in the parables and were for those with ears to hear.
Specifically too this is surely why He said no man knows the day nor the hour of His return.
Already He had said He was the Way, Truth and Life; and during the Pesach/Passover Seder meal He was confirming He was the Passover Lamb with His body and blood, (unleavened bread, without sin and wine.) Remember John had declared Him to be the Lamb of God.
The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29
All He came to fulfill was prophesied in the Tenach /Torah;(Law, Prophets and Writings).
And he said to them, These are the words which I spoke to you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Luke 24:44
John 5:39 The Scriptures tell about me, You study the Scriptures, because you think that in them you will find eternal life. And these very Scriptures speak about me! You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, yet they testify about Me.
He clearly said I have come to fulfill not to destroy Matt. 5:17-19
Recall: Fulfilling the Torah was the task of a first century rabbi.
The technical term for interpreting the Scripture so it would be obeyed correctly was, fulfill.
To interpret Scripture incorrectly, so it would not be obeyed as God intended, was to destroy the Torah.
Gods’ word is always line upon line, precept upon precept He adds to, building upon His promises.
Is 28:10 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. 10For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:11For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
Everything that happened was fulfilling the types and shadows of Messiah and the theme of blood and water runs throughout the whole Bible.
That is a huge subject but for this post we will just concentrate on the two questions asked.
So why did Jesus/Yeshua wash their feet?
Why did Peter say wash my hands and head also in reference to the post title? What I am doing you do you not know now but you will know later.
Again with reference to Torah, specifically, (Exodus 25-27); we have to look at and understand the reason for, and all the symbolic details of, the Mishkan/Tabernacle and the Ketubah/Covenant.
The key to the Mishkan/Tabernacle is Messiah.
It symbolized the dwelling place/throne/presence of God in the midst of His people.
As a type of Jesus/Yeshua, it symbolized the meeting between God and man and
The pattern of the Tabernacle in the wilderness was also reflected in both the first and second temples in Jerusalem and reveals that Messiah Jesus/Yeshua is the minister of the sanctuary, our High Priest and the true Tabernacle for He is the Way the Truth and the Life.
In Acts 9:2 The WAY refers to someone who is totally committed to God. First used in Gen. 18:19. Keep the Way of the Lord, in reference to a walk with the lord A WAY of life.
Used more than 50x in the Hebrew scriptures and
12x in the Brit Hadasha (re-new-ed covenant.)
God Himself tells us,” This is the WAY walk in it”. Walking in love/truth is the Way to spiritual maturity and then the kingdom of God will be established in us. When Jesus/Yeshua said these words, He was referencing The Temple. The Sanctuary is part of the Temple and also of the Tabernacle that was set apart for the Lord.
In the diagram below…there is far more depth to this pattern which is only touched on here as connected to the Laver.
When Yeshua/Jesus spoke these words, He was painting a picture of HIMSELF. This is what He was trying to convey to them that although this was the Mishkan/Temple WAY to approach God they had been used to and they knew there is ONLY ONE WAY to enter the HOLY of HOLIES and that is through the 3 entrances.
He is the embodiment of these 3 entrances.
It is only by following HIM that we may see the Father (God).
The Temple had an OUTER COURT where sinners, even heathens were allowed and welcome, the first gateway or door,
(I AM the DOOR).
The Laver was to see one’s reflection and self cleanse.
The INNER COURT, which had the altar where people would deal with sin. It was a Holy Place and held the Menorah/7 Branched Golden Lampstand, the Table of the Bread of the Presence/Showbread and the Incense Altar. This is where the Priests ministered daily to the Lord.
Holy of Holies. – Holy Place – Outer Court
To enter the Holy Place, the Priest needed to be sanctified first.
Any Priest entering the Holy Place who had not already dealt with sin, would have been struck dead at the doorway. (Ex 28:42-43)
The Laver was located in the Outer courtyard (Ex. 40:6-7).
The courtyard surrounded the tabernacle (Ex. 40:8).
This was the bronze laver and it was filled with water, and its base was made from the women’s mirrors of highly polished bronze (Ex. 38:8). This is a great picture of a person who trusts Jesus/Yeshua for the forgiveness of sins.
The Priest needed to be sanctified first
by washing in the water of the Laver.
The Laver symbolizes our cleansing from sin – our holiness.
Once we are forgiven of our sins, God starts changing us to make us truly holy as He is holy (Phil. 2:12-13; 1 Pet. 1:16).
Water is symbolic of two concepts in scripture:
First, His Holy Spirit/Ruach HaKodesh, Who comes into our lives, convicts us of sin (John 16:8) and starts living in us to change us (John 7:37-39); and
Secondly the Word of God, which reveals to us our sin (John 15:3) and is useful for reproof, conviction, and instruction in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
While the mirror at the bottom reminds us that we will still see our true sinful self (Rom. 7:24), it is also comforting because the symbolism reminds us that God knows in this life we are not yet perfect. We have not lost our salvation; we are just not yet free from sin in this life.
The bronze basin/ the bronze laver /kiyyor ha nechoset; used by the priests as the place of cleansing prior to entering the holy of holies to take the sacrificial blood and place it on the altar the kaporet/the lid of the ark as the sacrifice for sin of the people and also during their daily service in the Mishkan. (Remember only the high priest could go into the holy of holies once a year, to take the blood of the sinless sacrifice of the lamb without spot or blemish.)
The bronze basin stood near to the altar of sacrifice in the courtyard (Jesus/Yeshua being the sacrifice), and the priest would wash their hands and feet before ascending the altar to perform a sacrifice.
He was required to only wash hands and feet, the rest of the body being covered by the linen/righteousness the robes of office conferred.
These robes are now the robes of righteousness that we are clothed in as garments of salvation that all wedding guests must be wearing.
2 Cor. 5:21 Messiah Jesus/Yeshua, took all our sin and guilt; we received His perfect righteousness, in right standing … We stand before a Holy God dressed in robes of righteousness without spot or wrinkle.
Conclusion coming soon in part 2….
Meanwhile for those who have never been able to travel to Israel and with reference to the scriptures in Luke 17:28-30
Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
Below is a link to an amazing video to show the reality of the scriptures!
Shalom, shalom, mishpachah!
You are loved and appreciated and prayed for daily.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read the posts, as some of the subjects are so wide the posts are sometimes published in several parts so it’s not too much to digest at one sitting!!
Please share with others, like and subscribe, it all helps to freely spread the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and reaches others with the blessing of His Truths that point us to Our Heavenly Father Through Jesus/Yeshua by the power of His Ruach HaKodesh/Holy Spirit.
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It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.
NOT SURE?
YOU CAN BE..
SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen.
During the process of gathering and assembling all the pertinent information for the Spring feast posts; the reality of the facts and the multiple events surrounding our central focus became clearer than ever before. At best we are prone to forget, at worst we ignore all the activity and miracles taking place on and around the same time as we remembered the Passover.
Even though the week has physically passed, it is still highly relevant as the halfway point, (25th day) to Pentecost is called the 2nd Passover. A 2nd chance to prepare our hearts. For these are His Divine appointments.
This particular year, everything changed. What had been in the planning and on hold stage, prophetically rehearsed for millennia, was now taking place and unfolding in real-time.
Although many of these events are recorded in all four Gospels, those here are primarily followed in Matthew chapters 20-28 and John 12.
Prior to the start of passover week,
Jesus/Yeshua raises Lazarus from the dead no doubt one of the last events
that made the chief priests decide to do something about Him, but they did not want to do it right on the festival of Passover.
In Luke 12:20–21 the Greeks asked Philip to take them to Jesus. In verse 24, He taught on the seed falling to the ground, prophetically declaring what was about to occur in His own life.
John 12: 28 God’s voice came from heaven, “and I did glorify and I shall glorify again” the crowd heard thunder.
In verse 29, an angel spoke to Him and
He begins by prophesying that He will be betrayed and the chief priests and scribes will condemn him to death.
James and John were arguing who would sit on his right or left hand.
Verse 30 Jesus heals two blind men. He touched their eyes and
immediately they received their sight and followed him.
Then He tells the disciples to go to Bethphage, near the Mount of Olives and to bring the donkeys colt, fulfilling Zechariah 9:9
Then the triumphal entry as recorded in
John 12:12, the next day he entered Jerusalem on the donkey.
Jesus weeps over Jerusalem because they miss their appointed time of visitation.
In John 16:23; His teaching to ask the Father in His Name.
John 17. The whole chapter Jesus prays for all believers.
verse 12, Jesus went into the temple but before-hand, He purposefully and thoughtfully made a whip
and then turned over the tables in the temple courtyard where the merchants were trading animals and birds for the temple sacrifices and drove them out.
vs. 14 The blind and lame came to Him and He healed them.
This displeased the chief priests and scribes and was the final straw to them trying to get rid of Him.
He went to Bethany and stayed there
John 12:16 also tells us that days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany.
John 12:19 was the withering of the fig tree,
then John records in 12:12-9, the crowd saw it and then the high priests wanted to kill Lazarus after Jesus raised him.
John 12:23 He was teaching daily in the temple and the chief priests and elders came and challenged Him.
Vrs 31- 41 He warned them and then verse 45-46 they realized was He meant.
Chapters 22 and 23 He continued teaching and called them hypocrites,
verse 24, He left the temple and went and sat on the Mount of olives,
here He tells them of the events that are going to take place in future.
chapter 25 teaches the parables of 5 wise
and 5 foolish virgins.
Also the
and the separating of the sheep and goat nations.
Chp. 26:2 He tells the disciples that after two days is the feast of the Passover and the Son of Man will be betrayed to be crucified.
Chapter 26:3-5, the chief priests, scribes and elders talked to Caiaphas and consulted how they might take Jesus and kill him.
Matthew 26:6 Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper.
Matthew 7-13, 19 is the record of the woman who washed His feet with her tears and emptied her alabaster box of precious ointment over Him which Jesus stated prophetically, was in preparation for His death.
Jesus tells Simon He knows what he is thinking and declares that the one who is forgiven much, loves much.
14-16 Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests and they gave him 30 pieces of silver.
17- Jesus tells His disciples to go and make ready for the seder meal and the Passover
23 24 Jesus tells that one of them there will betray Him
26 He takes the bread and the cup and institutes communion as we know it.
John chapter 13:4-7 if after supper He took a towel poured water into a basin and washed the disciples feet.
John 36: Jesus prays in Gethsemane – Gat Sh’monim, which means olive press. This was an enclosed grove with its oil press.
And olive grove was not a garden, we know it better as Gethsemane.
Vs.40 Peter, James and John could not stay awake one hour, three times He goes to the disciples and they were sleeping each time.
Jesus sweats blood with the stress of the burden of the world’s sin that he is taking upon Himself. Luke 22:44 and Mark 14:33, 34 tells us that He almost died at this point.
There is some scientific data confirming that under extreme stress, blood will be forced through capillaries to the skin surface, appearing as if blood is being sweated.
Verse 43 He saw an angel.
47-49 Judas arrives with the chief priests and elders of the people and betrays Jesus with a kiss.
John chapter 18:5–7 Jesus spoke ‘I am that I am’, ‘Anochi’, with such a powerful authority and anointing they all fell backward to the ground.
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