Starry Night: Christmas Advent Daily Devotional (Beginning Dec. 1)

December 19

John 7:37-39 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

     In preparation for a study of the tabernacle tomorrow, I want to cover one more thing: the living water that Jesus offers. We know that water is necessary for life. In fact the body is made up of about sixty percent water. Just what is living water, and why does Jesus offer it? As we learn in John 7 it is the Holy Spirit imparted to whoever believes in Him. In the chapter before Jesus revealed something else about the Spirit (living water): John 6:63  "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life." Romans 8 reinforces that.

Romans 8:9-11  You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

     The Holy Spirit who dwells in believers does not rest idly, but is actively working to free us from the bonds of sin. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

     In addition to the life giving qualities of water (and the Holy Spirit), it is also used to clean things. Cleaning transforms items back to their original beauty. The transforming work of the Spirit is often represented by water in scripture, which ties in to our original passage of John 7 and the rivers of living water Jesus speaks of. In the Old Testament God laid the groundwork for understanding the cleansing of the Holy Spirit through the tabernacle service. When God set up tabernacle worship in the book of Exodus and set apart the tribe of Levites as priests, He commanded them to wash before performing their ministry at the tabernacle. They had a special bronze laver (giant bowl) for this ceremonial washing that was in the outer court of the tabernacle and used only by the priests.

Exodus 30:17-21 The LORD said to Moses, 18 "You shall also make a basin of bronze, with its stand of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it, 19 with which Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet. 20 When they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn a food offering to the LORD, they shall wash with water, so that they may not die. 21 They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they may not die. It shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his offspring throughout their generations."

Numbers 8:5-7 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 6 "Take the Levites from among the people of Israel and cleanse them. 7 Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of purification upon them, and let them go with a razor over all their body, and wash their clothes and cleanse themselves.

     There was certainly practicality to washing hands (and even feet since they wore sandals and walked on dirty roads) before serving the Lord, but additionally God used it as a symbol of cleansing His people of sin. Once again we can see how this Old Testament ritual would prepare His people for the idea of Jesus cleansing us from sin. On December 13 we learned about the day of atonement when the high priest would enter the holy of holies (or holiest place) only once a year to offer a sacrifice for both his own sins and the sins of the people. Notice how it is described below.