In order for us to really appreciate and be able to enter into the reality of the laver of bronze, we first need to see its significance. Not many Bible expositors have spoken concerning how can we experience Christ as the Spirit, the reality of the bronze laver, but this item in the tabernacle is the key to the operation of everything in the entire tabernacle.
If we miss this secret, our vision and experience will be very limited. The secret to our functioning as priests is that we daily need to be under the washing of the life-giving Spirit in the Lord’s living word. Apart from being washed by the life-giving Spirit, we are not able to function, and the Lord cannot gain His building, which is the enlargement of Christ.
The contents of the laver of bronze is water – pure, clean water, in which the priests had to wash their hands and feet before offering the sacrifices or entering into the tabernacle. When we come to the Word of God and exercise our spirit, Christ as the life-giving Spirit is a living, flowing, washing life that cleanses us, removes any defilements, and reconstitutes us with Christ to make us the same as He is in life, nature, but not in the Godhead.
Through the experience of Christ as the flowing life-giving Spirit, we are brought into the deeper experience of Christ as the reality of the furnishings in the tabernacle so that we may be made the same as Christ is in life and nature for the building of God, the church as the Body of Christ.
The laver of bronze is very experiential, and it is the means for the Lord to carry out His economy and make us the same as He is in life and nature. Today we want to see something further concerning the laver of bronze: our need to experience the washing of the life-giving Spirit, and why do we need this washing.
Experiencing the Washing of the Life-giving Spirit from any Earthly Defilement
We need not only to know and understand what is the type of the laver of bronze but also experience it, that is, experience the washing of the life-giving Spirit day by day.
As human beings we daily need to wash our hands and feet, and our hands need to be washed several times during the day; furthermore, even though we may not use soap all the time, water is absolutely necessary when it comes to cleansing and washing. Simply by going to school, using the restroom, going shopping, sleeping, or doing anything, we get dirty, and we need to wash and be cleansed with pure water.
In a similar way, in our spiritual life we need to be washed by the water in the word again and again so that the flowing life-giving Spirit would cleanse us from any defilement in the world. Although we are believers in Christ who love the Lord, meet with the saints, seek to touch the Lord and pursue Him, and desire to build up the church, we still live in this fallen flesh on the earth.
Simply by going to work, travelling on the bus, checking our phone, going shopping, reading the news, checking our email, doing our chores, and basically living on this earth, we are defiled by the world again anda gain. Day by day we contact the world, and we are defiled and become dirty.
For the sinful things we need to apply the Lord’s blood by confessing our sins (1 John 1:7), but for the worldly things that defile us we need the spiritual washing, the washing of the water in the word – the washing of the life-giving Spirit.
Today many seeking believers are really careful concerning sin, and whenever they sin, they confess and apply the Lord’s blood; however, not many believers are careful concerning worldliness. We may justify certain attitudes, situations, and things by saying “oh, this is how things are today, this is how bad the world is right now…” – but we as believers need to know that it is our duty to come to the laver of bronze, be exposed by the Lord in His word, and be washed by the life-giving Spirit!
After going shopping, for example, or after travelling somewhere, you simply feel “out of it” and not so close to the Lord, simply because the world has dirtied you. It may not be sinful things, and you may not commit sins while doing your daily activities, but your feet and hands are in constant contact with the earth, and you are dirty.
Sometimes we come to the meeting with the saints and we have not that much feeling for them, we may not love the Lord that much, and we may not even want to be there – this is not because we don’t love the Lord or the saints, but simply because we need a proper wash in the life-giving Spirit!
We need more washing, cleansing, flowing, beautifying, and Christifying by the life-giving Spirit water in the word of God! If we would be real priests and practice the priesthood, all the defilement from the earthly touch must be washed away.
Before we as believers – the New Testament priests – can serve God by Christ and His cross, we must wash away the defilement that comes from the contact with earthly things and matters.
When we sin, our conscience bothers us and we apply the Lord’s blood; but again and again, even though we may not feel it, we need the fresh washing of the life-giving Spirit from any defilement, corruption, and filthiness of this world.
Lord Jesus, we want to experience the washing of the life-giving Spirit from any earthly defilement, corruption, and filthiness. Lord, we need more cleansing, more washing, more enjoyment of the flowing of the Spirit, and more Cristifying by the life-giving Spirit who washes us and makes us the same as Christ! Oh Lord, keep us turning to You in our spirit and keep us coming to Your word again and again to be washed, cleansed, and renewed. We want to remain in the washing of the water in the Word of God to experience the washing of the life-giving Spirit!
Every day we need to Come to the Laver and be Washed by the Holy Spirit from the Earthly Touch
Before we can serve God and enter into a deeper experience of Christ as the reality of the tabernacle with all its furnishings, we need to come to the Lord in His word and be in the meetings with the saints to be washed by the life-giving Spirit.
When we wake up in the morning, we need to turn our heart to the Lord and call on the name of the Lord, Oh Lord Jesus! to experience a spiritual washing. Then, all throughout the day we need to come to the laver and be washed by the Holy Spirit from any earthly touch.
When we touch Christ and allow Him as the Spirit to flow into us through our praying and musing on His word, we appreciate Him more, we love Him more, and we will enter into deeper experiences of Him. His redemption will be real to us, and we will live in oneness with Him; this leads us and protects us from living in a state of defilement and filthiness in the world.
Oh, may we redeem the time by experiencing Christ every single moment and second of the day!
If we remain in the defilement that comes from the earthly touch, we cannot serve God, we cannot pray, and we cannot function in the meetings. This is our experience: if we don’t come to the Lord in His word to be washed by Him, we can’t function, we don’t want to pray, we don’t want to go to the meeting, and we cannot serve God.
We daily need to come to the laver and be washed, and we regularly need to meet with the saints in the church life so that we may be corporately in the washing of the life-giving Spirit, experiencing the washing of one another’s feet as the Lord has taught us.
The Lord sees our real condition and situation, and when we come together with the saints He wants to wash our feet by the washing of the water in His Word (Eph. 5:26; John 13:4-5).
He didn’t only wash His physical disciples’ feet when He was with Him on earth, but He is daily is with us and in us to wash us, serve us, cleanse us, and even gain us to cooperate with Him to wash others’ feet by ministering Christ to them.
Lord Jesus, every day we need to come to the laver and be washed by the Holy Spirit from the earthly touch. Oh Lord, we don’t want to remain in the defilement that comes from touching the things of this world. We love Your word and we love to be washed and cleansed by the washing of the water in the word! We want to be real priests who practice the priesthood and learn from You to both be washed and wash other’s feet for a sweet church life in the Body of Christ! Lord, amen, we love You! We love the church! We love the saints! We love the washing of the life-giving Spirit!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, brother Dick Taylor’s sharing in the message for this week, and The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 283 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (3), week 7 (week 31), The Laver of Bronze.
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
- Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
# Oh, purify us, Lord, by speaking in our heart; / Thy living, spoken word this washing will impart. / Increase Thy speaking, Lord, and cleanse our every part. / Oh, purify us, Lord, we pray. (Hymns #1135)
# Now this life in me is flowing as the river of water of life, / Washing away all my sins, my cares, and all my strife. / This life is overcoming situations in my day. / Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! For this is what I pray. (Song on being Washed by His Life)
# All idle thoughts and impure feelings, / Lord, remove from mind and heart. / Wash me in the crystal water / And more life to me impart. (Song on being cleansed by the Lord)
Before the priests entered the tabernacle or approached the altar to minister, they had to wash their hands and their feet in the laver so that they would not die (Exo. 30:19-20). This signifies that before we believers, as the New Testament priests, serve God by Christ and His cross, we must wash away the defilements that come from our contact with earthly people, things, and matters, in the Holy Spirit of God’s judgment. If we remain in these defilements, we cannot serve God, we cannot pray, and we cannot function in the meetings. We need to be washed and renewed daily by the Holy Spirit in the divine element (Titus 3:5) that we may become a new creation with the divine nature to serve God in the divine life for the accomplishment of God’s New Testament economy. (Truth Lessons—Level Three, vol. 1, p. 174, by Witness Lee)