Lent Day 22: Emptied to be filled, Naked to be clothed.
Apr 10 in Lent
King David prayed “Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean” he had committed adultery and in trying to ‘cover up’ his sin had engineered the death of Uriah; it had all gone according to plan – he thought it had – forgetting that God sees all things, whether done in the light or in the dark, openly or behind closed doors. David is confronted by the prophet Nathan and thankfully in his despair, turns to God, the only one that can repair the damage, cleanse the inner man; “create in me a clean heart, O God” “deliver me from blood-guiltiness…” Psalm 51
Hyssop appears in Exodus, the blood applied during Passover over the lintel and doorposts of the houses was brushed on by dipping a bunch of hyssop into the blood (Exodus 12:22). His blood, our covering. It is then mentioned again in Leviticus 14:4 connected to the cleansing ceremony of a leper. Leprosy being a contagious disease meant that those unfortunate enough to be affected by it had to live on the outskirts of villages or towns and warn others when approaching so that they could get as far from them as possible. The body’s defenses were at risk causing toes and fingers to become deformed. .. there are some conditions in life that we have no control over, however our reaction can and will affect our future.
Hyssop is mentioned again in the sacrifice of the red heifer- Numbers 19 – which is the only sacrifice where anyone touching or in direct contact with the offering is made unclean by it… Jesus took our sin upon himself, exchanged robes with us, His clean, royal, unblemished ones for our dirty rags, we receive His righteousness by grace, He takes our unrighteousness. A covenant of love, like the one pictured between Johnathan and David in 1 Samuel 18. The red heifer dealt with death, the last enemy to be destroyed is death. His blood has triumphed over death. Death has lost its sting.
The Bible mentions washing and cleansing rituals for purification throughout the book of Leviticus, God was giving them instructions to help them avoid infection and disease. Likewise, there is an inner purity that heals us spiritually, God’s work of sanctification, washing through the Word of God and His blood, that brings healing, restoration and cleanses us from the things that touch us and affect us, some that we have no control over. Others we do but find ourselves falling deeper and deeper into sin, His presence departed,our hearts hardened, we no longer know how to return to Him.
I have spent the last few days, taking the hyssop dipped in the redeeming blood of my Saviour, and been applying it to every hurt, failure, mistake, circumstance that has affected my life from birth until now, combing carefully every strand, event/s, stage in life and experience; confessing sin where I was at fault, forgiving where I was hurt, bringing every incident to the mind of God and asking Him to wash me, forgive me, heal me or others, remove every impurity … the work of the fuller… carefully applying the soap to the wool (of the sheep) that has picked up so much dust and filth during the course of time and carefully pummeling and beating out the cloth (without damaging it) in order to cleanse and purify it for a better use… I do feel ‘fuller’!