Wash and Be Clean
“And his servants came to him and
said, ‘My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you
not have done it? How much more then,
when he says to you, “Wash and be clean?
2 Kings 5:13”
We may recognize this as the story of
Naaman, mighty military commander of the Syrian army, who also happened to be a
leper. Naaman had an encounter with the
prophet Elisha, which Naaman did not receive well initially. He was furious at the instruction he was
given by Elisha (through a messenger) – go and wash seven times in the Jordan,
his flesh would be restored and he would be clean. It was only after Naaman’s servants talked to
him that he actually obeyed the word of the man of God and THEN was
healed. Beloved, how often have we had to take the first step of obedience to
something the Lord wanted us to do (which we did not understand AT ALL!) and
yet, only AFTER we obeyed, did the “healing” come to us?
Naaman’s story is our story. The washing he received in the Jordan
symbolizes the washing we receive in “living waters” when we are baptized. Especially as it relates to cleansing of sin
(which was thought to be the reason for leprosy in the time of Naaman), the
Hebrew word “rachats” (washing) takes on new meaning when we consider the
implications of washing, purification, and immersion into water through the act
of baptism. It is also very important to
be aware that spiritual washing occurs before natural washing, or baptism, as
different Greek words are used to indicate the different actions. Baptizo is
the word for baptize, which was and remains a declaration of a Christian’s
testimony for Christ. For the early church, salvation and baptism were
often simultaneous, reflecting both a spiritual and natural washing.
Thanks be to God for His Son Jesus, whose blood washes us
clean!
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