Just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless. Ephesians 5:25b-27.
The Greek word for “washing” used in the phrase “the washing of water with the word” has a derivative in the English words “lavatory” and “laver,” both having to do with washing. Paul chose a word that referred to the laver of washings in the Old Testament Tabernacle, where the priesthood of the Lord washed themselves before they went into the holy place to offer up the sweet incense of worship to the Lord (Exodus 30:18–20). In this day, the Lord is bringing the whole Church to the laver of the washing of water with the Word so that they can go into the holy place and be presented unto Him as a Church without spot or wrinkle or any blemish.
Exodus 38:8 tells how the laver was made. The women who ministered before the Lord presented their mirrors, made of highly polished bronze, which were melted down and made into the laver. James tells us that when we look in the Word, we see ourselves as in a mirror. We must be careful that we are doers of the Word and not hearers only, for he who is not a doer beholds himself in the mirror of the Word and goes away, forgetting what manner of man he is (James 1:22–24). When we look in the Word, we see what we really are; yet we must not forget that God is changing us into what He wants us to be as we become doers of the Word.
The laver stood between the altar of sacrifice and the holy place where the table of incense, the show bread, and the seven lampstands were displayed (Exodus 40:4–7). In this place, most of the daily functions were performed. The high priest entered the Holy of Holies only once a year, on the Day of Atonement (Exodus 30:10). Before a priest could enter the holy place, he had to come to the laver and wash. The area surrounding the sacrifice altar resembled a slaughter house, filled with the stench of burning meat and hides. The sweet-smelling incense was offered to counteract all the abominable features of the burnt offerings.
This presents a beautiful symbolical picture. After God burns the abominations out of us, we come and wash ourselves clean. Then we are able to pass through the incense and into the “Holy of Holies.” The walls of the Old Testament Holy of Holies were covered with finely woven gold cloth. Everything was covered with gold except the floor. There was no floor, only earth, symbolizing that God is bringing forth a treasure in earthen vessels. The glory of God dwells within His people. As the priest was cleansed by washing in the laver before entering into the Holy of Holies, so also the living Word of God comes to cleanse us. We are cleansed and set aside by the Word that God speaks to us. We have come to the laver of washings.
The Feast of Tabernacles has always been associated with speaking the Word. Deuteronomy 31:10–11 tells us: Then Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, at the time of the year of remission of debts, at the Feast of Booths, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place which He will choose, you shall read this law in front of all Israel in their hearing.”
The Word is going to live for us as we speak it. That Word of Christ is dwelling richly within us, as we speak to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, prophesying the Word of the Lord, coming into things that we have never walked in before (Colossians 3:16). Be dedicated to rise to a new level of prophecy. Speak the Word of the Lord that will cleanse you.
One of the doctrines that came out of the Methodist revival was that of entire sanctification. People would cry and beat the altar, asking the Lord to sanctify them, to pull out the roots of the old nature and deal with it. How much simpler it is to use the method Jesus recommended: Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. John 15:3.
The psalmist wrote: Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Psalm 119:9, 11. We will bypass much of the agony by coming into a living faith and saying, “Lord, speak and we will hear it. Anoint us and we’ll speak Your Word.” Just as the priests first came to the laver to wash and then went on into the presence of the Lord, so will the kings and priests of God in the end time first be washed by the Word; then they will enter into the Parousia and into the Kingdom.
How do we wash one another? By prophesying, by speaking the Word of the Lord. Open up to it and speak it back and forth. Each time it flows, we will be a little cleaner. The groaning and crying method never really worked. It was just a temporary measure until the Lord finally restored the living Word to His people.
God is cleansing His people and preparing them for a greater manifestation of His presence. He is dealing with their hearts, reaching down deep into their spirits. This washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit is bringing a remnant into something different than has existed in the past (Titus 3:5). The depth of cleansing is very necessary. The Lord is deeply stirring His people so that they may discover and know the depths of their own iniquity. Then, as the Word comes, they can be cleansed and made every whit whole. This cleansing will release them from all those things that somehow stop them—things of which they are not even aware.
The early Church assembled together and read the Word. They did not have preaching as we have had since the Reformation. Preaching was introduced mainly by Luther and Zwingli. The Catholic church did not have preaching; they had a mass in Latin, a dead language that could not be understood. The people of God today do not need a dead Latin ritual or someone to preach about the Word; they need to see someone stand up and speak the Word. Then they will be clean and they will bypass the striving in the flesh.
A remnant is coming forth who know that God’s Word and His promises are true, but there seems to be some hindrance that keeps them from breaking into the fullness of the Word. So they either despair, or their hearts grow sick as their hopes are deferred. Why are God’s people not entering into more? Fantastic breakthroughs seem very close. Why does no one go further and break through more completely?
In Acts 11:1–18 Peter witnessed that the Gentiles also had received the Word of God. Did they receive the Word by a special edition of the Bible? No, Peter spoke it; and while he was yet speaking, the Spirit fell on them and they began to speak with other tongues (Acts 10:44, 46). That is the shortcut, the real way—speaking the Word.
It would be easy to bog down in tedious ministry. Many people need ministry. Some need a Word from the Lord, some need a deliverance, and some need to be healed. There is neither enough time nor are there enough ministries capable of meeting the needs of the Body of Christ. What about the needs of the world? What can be done? Speak the Word of the Lord. Psalm 107:20 says, He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them…. Deliverance, healing, the Spirit falling upon us—all of this can come if the Church reaches a higher plane of utterance and lets the Word of God flow forth. Therefore, we must follow on to the washing of water with the Word.
You do not come into a walk with God because someone talks you into it or sells you on it; you are in it because of a revelation from the Lord. You must have spiritual ears to hear it and spiritual eyes to see it, a spiritual capacity that you receive from the Lord. The Lord says, “Blessed is he that has ears to hear what the Spirit saith to the churches” (Revelation 2:7). In this day, more eyes will be opened to see, more ears will be opened to hear, and more tongues will be loosed to speak the Word of the Lord.
God’s people are free, and they are moving into the glorious day of the Feast of Tabernacles, into His presence, into all that He has for them. There is a cry in the hearts of a remnant: “Speak the Word of the Lord!” It will not be quoting the Word from the mind; the Word will flow forth under the anointing of the Lord, and it will be the sword of the Spirit, drawn by the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). It will be a sword in the believer’s mouth. This is the day of the Word of the Lord. It is a day when God’s people will honor the Word of God continually. There is going to be an exaltation of the Lord in His holy Word. This truth will continually be set before God’s remnant until, like Israel of old, the Word is bound upon their heads and around their wrists. The Word will be in their hearts and in their mouths, and they will speak it forth (Romans 10:8). New things will be created because God is going to show His people how to speak the Word of the Lord.