Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20070613.htm

EXODUS: FUNCTIONING WELL IN A HOPELESS GROUP ASSIGNMENT
Part II: God's Sustainment Of Israel In The Wilderness Wandering Amid Humanly Hopeless Trials
M. God's Establishment Of The Tabernacle Of Meeting
13. The Laver: True Worship, Fellowship And Service By Cleansed Believers Alone
(Exodus 30:17-21)
  1. Introduction
    1. The believer must be cleansed from sin acceptably to fellowship with God, to serve and to worship Him.
    2. The typology of the laver in the Old Testament tabernacle clarifies for us this great necessity (as follows):
  2. The Laver: True Worship, Fellowship And Service By Cleansed Believers Alone, Exodus 30:17-21.
    1. Exodus 30 is a "great worship chapter", a passage typifying various aspects of the believer's worship of the Lord, cf. J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible With J. Vernon McGee , vol. I, p. 294.
    2. Hence, Exodus 30:17-21 reveals by way of typology the need we believers in Christ have to be cleansed from sin in our lives to exercise acceptable fellowship, worship and service before the Lord (as follows):
      1. The laver typified fellowship, worship and service by God's people (as follows):
        1. The priests were to wash from the water in the laver before approaching to serve God and His people at the bronze altar or at the tabernacle of fellowship and worship, Exodus 30:20.
        2. Similarly, presenting our bodies as living sacrifices to serve the Lord is called our "spiritual worship" in Romans 12:1 with 12:1-3, NIV, ESV. Worship and service are spiritually closely linked, and fellowship deals with our rapport with God in both worship and service, 1 John 1:1-4.
      2. As such, the ministry of the laver explains God's requirement that we believers be cleansed in our walk to fellowship, serve and worship Him acceptably (as follows), Exodus 30:17-21:
        1. The laver tub and its feet were all made of bronze, the symbol of divine judgment, Ex. 30:17-18a. The believer must thus judge himself and repent and confess his sins that he not be judged of the Lord in discipline for unconfessed sin, cf. 1 Corinthians 11:31 with 11:29-30 with 1 John 1:9.
        2. This judgment refers to one's post-salvation sins as a believer: (1) The laver was placed between the altar that signified Christ's cross and the tabernacle that signified the believer's fellowship with the Lord, Exodus 30:18b. (2) Thus, it did not typify the cleansing of unbelievers at salvation at the cross, but believer's need to be cleansed from his post-salvation acts of sins, cf. 1 John 1:8-10.
        3. The water typifies the need for cleansing, a function that occurs when the believer confesses his sins to the Lord in accord with 1 John 1:9, cf. Exodus 30:18b.
        4. What was to be washed were the priests hands and feet, Ex. 30:19: this typified the need for believer-priests today (1 Peter 2:9) to watch the spiritual quality of their works (via their hands, cf. Rev. 22:12) and the paths they take in their lives in general (via their feet, cf. Psalm 119:105).
        5. This washing had to be applied whether the priest was entering the tabernacle, the place of his worship and fellowship with the Lord, or whether he approached the altar to serve God's people in sacrificing their offerings, Exodus 30:20a,b. Accordingly, (1) whether it involves fellowship or (2) worship of the Lord or (3) serving Him in ministering to his people, we believers in Christ today must be cleansed from our sins to be acceptable to the Lord in each of these functions.
        6. The penalty for failing to wash their hands and their feet was death for the priests, Ex. 30:21a. This typified the need for us believers to confess our sins to God lest He must take us home to heaven to be with Him in the divine discipline of premature physical death, cf. 1 John 5:16; Acts 5:1-11.
        7. These directives on the laver were to be heeded all during the history of the Aaronic priesthood, Ex. 30:21. Thus, we Christians will never see our sinful natures eradicated in this earthly life, but must seek God's power to live apart from the influence of our sinful natures, and seek God's forgiveness for sins committed as Christians, 1 John 1:8-10 in view of 1 Corinthians 15:51-57.
Lesson: In worship, fellowship and service to the Lord, our works and paths in life must be constantly evaluated by Scripture, then confessed and corrected as necessary to be found acceptable to God.

Application: May we (1) expose ourselves constantly to Scripture for its necessary clarification of sin (John 15:3), (2) and may we then confess our sins as believers relative to our works or directions in life (Ex. 30:19, 21a) that we be found to be (3) acceptable in worship, service and fellowship to the Lord.