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Teaching And Research By: M. E. Arbaugh
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THE TABERNACLE
THE LAVER
Lesson
7
Entering the gate, the worshipers come face to face with the brazen altar. Just beyond the brazen altar, half way to the entrance of the Holy Place was God's looking glass, the laver. In contrast to the altar, the laver did not have rings to carry it, no dimensions are given concerning the size, no covering is mentioned for transporting it.
Since the Hebrew word for laver is kiyor, meaning round, it is assumed that the laver was round. Made from highly polished mirror like pieces of brass, it allowed the priests to inspect themselves to see if they needed cleansing.
The laver was only for those who were to enter the Holy Place. It was filled with water which was to cleanse or purify the priest, after he had ministered to man, and before he entered in to minister before God. Thus, it was used to cleanse the day by day walk, dealing with the present conditions of life.
The altar received the sacrifices of all, it used blood to cleanse the rebellious heart. The blood dealt with past sins and provided standing with God.
The laver had two functions. It revealed the priest to himself, as he looked into the polished brass he could see himself clearly. It also held water that the priest could dip out and use to cleanse himself of any soil he could see.
In the physical world, water is one of the most necessary elements. It covers more of the earth's surface than dry land. It is in the vapor of the air and forms a large part of the human body. It is mentioned in the garden of Eden as a river that watered the garden, thus giving life. It is mentioned as a flood, that brought judgment on a sinful world. Pharaoh and all his hosts were drowned in the judgment waters of the Red Sea. Water was used as a way of preserving life in the scriptures concerning Hagar, Genesis 20:19. Water was refreshing when Abraham sent for water to wash the messengers feet, Genesis 18:4. Also, when water flowed from the rock in the desert, Exodus 17:6. And dipping in the water of Jordan brought about a changed life for Naaman, 2 Kings 5.
Water is a symbol of the Word. Psalm 119:9 says, " How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your Word." John 15:3 says, "Now you are clean through the Word which I have spoken to you." Ephesians 5:25-26 says, "Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the Word." The laver and its contents was available to believer priests for judgment in that they were able to view them selves and thus correct the problem. It was available for life giving refreshing sustenance. And it was available for cleansing. Thus it foreshadowed Jesus who is: The one by whom we measure or judge ourselves. The one by whom we cleanse ourselves, and the one by whom we refresh ourselves.
After we have been cleansed by the blood once and for all, then day by day we need the washing of the water of the Word to clean our feet. The Word will rest, relax, refresh and renew us. We need to think it, speak it, and do it. When we are lying down and rising up, when we are sitting and when we are walking. That's all the time. All the time. Think the Word, speak the Word, and do the Word. TAKE A BATH IN IT. SOAK IN IT. Then you shall deal wisely and have good success.
On this side of Calvary, the laver and the water of the Word has a long list of uses to the believer. We are going to briefly cover seven of them.
1. The laver and water of the Word brings a divine energy into the life of the believer priest. This divine energy is called faith. Romans 10:17 says, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. When hearing, which is passive, is put together with heeding, which is active, we become a channel for powerful faith to flow through. Don't waste time standing around saying, " Oh, I wish I had faith." Wishing will not produce faith, it is hearing the Word that produces faith. Not hearing the news, not hearing the cartoons, not chatting with friends, it's hearing the Word.
We can spend so much time doing our own thing or ministering at the altar
(to the needs of others) that we never make it to the laver. That is not
wisdom. Ministering to others without divine energy doesn't do a whole lot
for them and will exhaust us.
2. The use of the
laver and the water of the Word for defense.
Ephesians 6:12-17 NKJV. "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; ...."
Satan has always desired the worship which belongs to God and so he tries very hard to prevent people from worshiping God. Therefore, anyone who enters into the presence of God will be attacked by the enemy. We are given the armor and sword so that we might withstand and stand. If we are slow at lifting our shield and a dart hits us, such as an accusation of unworthiness. Then we pull out our sword and remove the accusation.
1 John 1:9 NKJV "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Romans 1:8 NKJV "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."
3. When Paul wrote to the church at Philippi he spoke of another use for the laver of water of the word. He called it the word of life.
Philippians 2:16 NKJV. "... holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain."
Holding forth the Word of life. The Word is the source of life. It is our source of life, did you get that? The Word is the source of life. Ponce De Leon crossed the Atlantic in a sail boat, searching for the fountain of life, and the Christians had it all the time.
The priests had to wash on the way in, as they prepared to minister and when they finished. The more the believer priest ministers to others the more cleansing he or she needs. For when we are ministering, we are bombarded with unbelief. Whatever is not of faith is sin, Romans 14:23. When we minister, we come in contact with death. It's called unbelief. U-N-B-E-L-I-E-F is contagious. The only antidote for this contagion is God's Word of Life. It is our laver and water.
4. The use of the Word to discern, Hebrews 4:12. This is not the gift of discernment listed in 1 Corinthians 12 that enables us to see which spiritual force is at work in a particular situation. This is a higher gift. A gift that allows us to see ourselves. Only after we see the holiness of God are we qualified to teach others what is unholy. Isaiah was a good prophet in the midst of an unholy nation. While he was looking at the people around him, he thought he was in good shape but when he saw God, he said, "I am undone". Note that, he was already a prophet when this happened. Then he received forgiveness and went out to call the people to repentance. We can not measure ourselves by looking at other people and get an accurate picture of what God sees. Jesus is our standard, He is our looking glass and He is the Word, our laver.
5. Use of the Word (our Laver) for creative power. When we apply God's word to our lives. We apply His creative power. He spoke and the world was framed. We are to imitate our Father and speak creative words. We need to apply His word to our lives, so we create that which we desire and not that which we do not desire.
6. Use number six of the laver and the water, on this side of Calvary, is the Word used in our lives as a source of instruction.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."
The New Testament believer priest needs to be taught 2 things. How to worship and how to work.
We learn to worship at the laver that is filled with the water of the word. We look at Jesus, Peter, Paul. We look at Revelation and see how the redeemed saints in God's presence worship. Through them we see how we are to behave in the Holy Place.
Ever notice that we are not tired while we are in the Holy Place of worship? Then afterwards we feel kind of let down. It was so inspiring, and we are like Mary sitting at His feet; but when we leave the place of worship, we need instruction on how to be like Martha and do some work. So we go to the Word, our laver, where we can find out what we are to love and what we are to hate. If we don't, we get confused. ALWAYS, REMEMBER that the laver never speaks of hating the sinner. We must minister God's love to the sinner, while hating the sin.
Overcoming
the Enemies
of Health
QUESTIONS
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Email M.E.A.
The laver is the only piece of tabernacle furniture that was declared to be a statute forever, Exodus 30:18-21. And yet, we hear no more of it after it was dedicated. David went after and returned the ark, but the laver wasn't sought. The temple that Solomon built had duplications (or the originals) of all of the furnishing except the laver. Perhaps that is because at the altar cleansing is done for the people, but at the laver we must cleanse ourselves.
History tends to repeat. One of the first things to disappear from every
denomination is the laver, the Word of God. It is usually replaced with by-laws
and/or creeds, current events and politics. Then because there is
no Word to cleanse the people, there is no more going into the Holy Place.
There is a progression, no worship, no shouts of joy, resulting in no work.
Without the Word (the laver) there is no meeting of the peoples needs, without the Word, church is not relevant. In many cases it makes people feel worse instead of better. The result is that some people drop out. There are lots of people who used to go to church. When asked why they do not go now, they usually say "all they do at church is fight, I don't need that." There are some who will continue even after the laver is removed, but there is a vast difference between attending and worshiping. When people can no longer look into the polished surface of the laver and see their needs, they become unteachable. They feel that they have need of nothing.
7. Use of the laver (or the Word) for sanctification. 1 Timothy 4:5 tells us that everything is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer. So also are we by the washing of the water of the Word. AS WE YIELD TO IT. For years we have been singing in the shadow of the cross and Jesus keep me near the cross. But that is wrong. EVEN IF YOU DO GET ALL DEWY EYED WHEN YOU HEAR THOSE SONGS, THAT IS WRONG. To pitch a tent at the foot of the cross and hang around weeping in gratitude is not what the Father desires. He wants us to grow, to be changed from glory to glory and to increase in wisdom. Being set apart by the means of the cross, not only moves us out of past sins and failures... it is supposed to move us into a new life.
You may say, "Well, ...I'm just doing my best to live a crucified life and bring glory to God." That usually means majoring on negatives. Having a list of don'ts four miles long and a list of do's an inch long. No glory in that for God, or anyone.
Paul said, "I have been crucified ...." Please note the use of past tense and that the verse does not end with crucified. It goes on to say never the less, the life I now (present tense) live, I live by the faith of the Son of God. Crucifixion comes first but we're supposed to move on from there to resurrection. The cross (the altar) opens the way to the laver (the Word). It is obeying the Word that changes us into grown sons and daughters, not just hanging around at the foot of the cross. The resurrection life gets us out doing the things that Jesus did, healing the sick, raising the dead and casting out devils.
The song of the church ought to be, "I must be about my Father's business." In order to be about our Father's business, we must spend time at the laver seeing ourselves and cleansing ourselves. It is still, think the word, speak the word, and do the word.
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