Let’s take a trip back in time. We will be going all the way back to when the Israelites first left Egypt…approximately 3 months after their departure (you can read for yourselves in Exodus chapter 19). Here’s the picture: Israel enters the wilderness and sets up camp…right in front of Mount Sinai. Moses goes up the mountain to meet with God and God tells him, “Go down and prepare the people for my arrival. Consecrate them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothing. Be sure they are ready on the third day, for on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai as all the people watch.”
We are all familiar with the story. God was getting ready to reveal himself to Israel in an awesome display of His glory. Sounds quite similar to Joshua chapter 3, doesn’t it? It seems very curious to me that just as we see Moses leading the people out of Egypt in Exodus 19, we see Joshua leading them out of the wilderness here. And just as in Exodus 19, we see God here, through His chosen leader, telling the people that they must prepare themselves or “consecrate themselves”, before He displays His glory to them (which will also happen on the third day…pretty cool, huh?). And I imagine that here in Joshua chapter 3, the Israelites consecrated themselves in the same manner they were instructed to in Exodus 19, by washing with water.
In the Exodus account, and in many others throughout the Old Testament, whenever the people were told to consecrate themselves, purify themselves, or prepare themselves, it always meant that they were to wash themselves with water. In Exodus 19, the text actually says, “have them wash their clothing”. Seems a bit odd doesn’t it? “Wash your clothes before you get into God’s presence.” Thank God that Jesus fulfilled the entirety of the Law for us and we don’t have to do those things anymore (Remember Romans 7 and 8?). I mean, I like a good shower in the morning to wake me up, but being required to do my laundry every morning before meeting with God would be a little much! I don’t think I would be having my “quiet time” that often, or even at all. Either that or I’d be out of a job…getting to work on time would be next to impossible!
A little later in the Exodus story (Exodus 30:17-21) we see God instructing Moses to make a bronze washbasin that he is to put between the Tabernacle and the altar, filled with, you guessed it…water. This is where the priests (the only ones allowed to meet with God) were to wash themselves before entering into His presence. God tells Moses that if Aaron and his sons do not wash with this water before meeting with Him, they will die! So what is so important about washing with water and what does that have to do with being in God’s presence?
Well, first of all we have to remember what we learned in the introduction to the book of Joshua – we have to look at the Old Testament through the lens of the gospels. In other words, we have to read everything in the Old Testament with the understanding that it points to Christ. There is LOTS of symbolism in the Old Testament!
For example, when we read about the Sabbath in the Old Testament, we don’t feel compelled to get rid of all activity whatsoever on Sunday, otherwise we’d have no church services. We know that when the Old Testament defines the Sabbath as meaning “no work”, it is being defined alongside Christ’s sacrifice. There’s now more to the story, and it’s the New Testament. Since Christ’s sacrifice, the Sabbath is now symbolic of our rest in Christ. We don’t have to work for our salvation. Christ is our salvation. He is our Sabbath, He is our rest.
So just as we see the Sabbath being symbolic of our rest in Christ, we can also see this washing with water being symbolic of something VERY important as we look at it through the lens of the New Testament and what Christ has done. In Ephesians 5:26 Paul encourages the Christian husbands in Ephesus to love their wives as Christ loved the church and to make them “holy and clean, washed by the cleansing water of God’s Word”. Being consecrated, purified, and set apart comes for us now by being washed, but not exactly in the same way. We are not made holy and clean, spiritually speaking, by taking a shower, but by the water of God’s Word.
God is waiting to reveal Himself to us in and through His Word. If you have been waiting to see His glory revealed, it will not happen if you are not in His Word. Jesus Himself said in John 4 that He is the living water and that whoever drinks of this water will never thirst again, but it will become a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.
God’s presence is what gives us life, and without the Word of God, Jesus Christ (John 1:1) we will be a dry, thirsty people wandering in the wilderness. Most importantly though, as we learn from Exodus 30:20, if we fail to continually wash ourselves with the water of God’s Word, we will indeed die! Not a physical death of course, but a spiritual one. Just as our bodies need physical water to drink, so our spirits need the water of God’s Word in order to be truly alive. It’s been said that 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, or 3 weeks without food will all result in certain physical death! Let’s learn from God’s Word and not allow that to happen to our spirits! As we have successfully passed over the Jordan into the promised land, let us continue to live in such a way that allowed God to bring us here in the first place!
Be encouraged this week! The Bible says, “Let anyone who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.” (Rev. 22:17) God has done everything for us, all we have to do is drink up! Let’s continue to allow the Word of God to change our thoughts and actions, setting us apart and filling us with truth so that we can be vessels carrying this life-giving water across the Jordan to those around us who are dying of thirst!
Remember, if you know someone who is thirsty or who needs help understanding the Scriptures, please be that vessel and invite them to come and join us on Monday night for Joshua chapter 4!
We love you and appreciate you. God bless!
Sara