Baptized

Baptized

Let them was their clothes…Exodus 19:10

At the foot of Mt. Sinai, the people waited for a word from the Lord through Moses. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. Exodus 19:10-11.  Interesting, God would reveal Himself on the third day!

Meanwhile, they were to consecrate themselves. Consecrate, is the same Hebrew word translated many times as “sanctify.” They were to be set-apart, to be made holy, to show themselves to be ready to meet with God.  For on the third day the Lord was going to reveal Himself. Sounds very much like what happened at the resurrection of Jesus.

They were to wash their clothes. The word wash literally means to tread under foot in water, to wash, to clean. In other words, what they did to clean their clothes was the verb used to describe the action. Like our word ‘iron.’ The thing we use to remove wrinkles became the verb. The Hebrew word used to bathe, as in to wash your feet, is a different word. It is the word used by the psalmist to wash my hands in innocence, Psalm 26:6. To wash one’s hands implied the removal of guilt, to make one innocent. Both point to baptism.

Washing in obedience to the word of the Lord is reflected in the faith of Naaman. Who by faith did as Elisha commanded and washed in the Jordan River seven times, 2 Kings 5. Which is what we did at our baptism. We demonstrated our faith when we yielded to baptism. We, by faith, obeyed the Lord Jesus and were baptized. In doing so, we showed the world we believe in Jesus as Christ. We demonstrated to the world our sins have been forgiven. We have been washed, sanctified, made ready to serve Him who saved us by His blood. Thank you, Jesus our Lord!