Exodus 30:17-21; 38:8 – Reflection
For the priests serving in the tabernacle there was a continual reminder to them that they needed to be clean – the bronze basin.
It was made from polished bronze and stood at the entrance to the tent of the tabernacle. The polished bronze came from the mirrors of the women who worshipped in the entrance to the tent of meeting. (Glass mirrors weren’t used for another 1,500 years!)
The duties of the priests were not clean duties. They sacrificed the animals, they walked about (probably bare foot), they trimmed the wicks for the candles, they carried oil, they burnt incense. At the basin God was teaching the people that he requires purity. To serve God they had to be clean before him. They had to look in the mirror and then wash. Priests were to examine themselves and to make sure that that their lives and walk were pure.
The reflection of the water and the reflection of the mirrors are pictures of what God’s Word does for us (James 1:22-25).
We need to make use of the mirror. We need to study it. We need to look into the face of Jesus Christ in Scripture and see our own stains, faults, and sins, and then seek cleansing.
The priests had to wash every time they carried out a sacrifice and every time they went into the tent of meeting. This washing was to be repeated again and again and again.
There was a washing that didn’t have to be repeated (at their ordination). They were bathed. The priest didn’t need his whole body to be washed again to set him apart before God – just his hands and his feet. This is what Jesus is telling Peter in John 13.
We also are to keep a short account as we serve Jesus Christ. We are made clean in Christ but we are also to continually confess our sin before God in the confidence that we have been forgiven.
Jesus himself taught us to prayer, “Forgive us our debts, our trespasses, our sins.” We are to do this continually as we see our reflection in the word of God.
Questions
- How is God’s Word like a mirror?
- Why is it important to continually confess our sin?
Prayer Points
- Pray that you would use God’s Word as a mirror.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.