Walking on the Water With Our Messiah & Washing in the Laver -

The Israelite’s wore sandals and walked through dusty roads. It was customary to bring water so guests could wash their feet when they entered your home. It was a sign of disrespect/ dishonor if the people did not offer you water for your feet. Think and ponder what bringing guest spiritual water for their feet represents. A person with feet that had not been washed in a long time was said to be “mourning.” Sidenote: The wife, was to wash her husband’s face and feet daily. Ponder and meditate. Our face is our identity. Our feet represent our walk. Husbands need encouragement.

“Custom required a kiss of greeting, usually on the face. After the guests were seated on stools around the broad U-shaped dining couch, called a triclinium, water and olive oil would be brought for the washing of hands and feet. Only then could the grace be offered.” — Bailey, K. E. (2008). Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes

The first step involves us entering the east gate, which is the Messiah. Yeshua/Jesus said, “I am the gate/door for the sheep.” Next stop, we lay ourselves on the brazen altar of sacrifice, then wash in the Laver. Before the priest could enter the holy place, they went to the Laver, peered at their reflection in the water, and washed their hands and feet. The women were said to have collected their mirrors used for beautification, offering them for the Laver to be built. Water, looking glass.

WARNING: If the priest did not wash in the Laver, they would die.

“ Whenever they go into the Tent of Meeting or come near to the altar to minister, to present an offering made by fire in smoke to Adonai, they are to wash with water so that they do not die. 21 They are to wash their hands and their feet so that they do not die. It is to be an eternal statute for them, to him and to his offspring throughout their generations.” Exodus 30:18-21.

In Hebrew, the word Laver is kiyowr. It is the word for purification and also furnace. The Word washes us. We wash in Living Water. We peer into the mirror and see our reflection, but what is the significance of feet and water? Walking on water? Living Water that flows out of us.

“On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Yeshua stood up and cried out loudly, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture says, ‘out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:37-38.

Our Messiah washed feet before He suffered death. Peter tried to prevent him from washing his feet.

“Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!”

Yeshua answered him, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with Me.”

Simon Peter said to Him, “Master, then not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!”

Yeshua said to him, “He who has bathed has no need to wash, except the feet; he is completely clean. And you all are clean, though not every one.” He knew who was betraying Him; for this reason, He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

John 13:6-11, TLV

Yes, even a man who walked with Messiah, heard his parables, teachings, saw miracles and the dead raised to life could not get his feet clean enough.

Yeshua said, “Will you allow me to wash your feet, Judas? Can you imagine the scene? Can you imagine the torment of knowing that you betrayed the Messiah? Judas cannot handle the Laver and its looking glass, so afterward, he commits suicide.

Judas goes down in history as the one who betrayed the Messiah.

But, betrayal happens throughout the Bible. Abram betrays Sarai. Jacob betrays his father for the blessing; Laban betrays Jacob. Betrayal is associated with our egos and what we want, how we can position ourselves above others and gain their wealth, esteem, or power.

When this happens, we have feet caked up with dirt. And if we think Abba Daddy does not know about the condition of our feet, we deceive ourselves. We need His oil to soften our rough, calloused feet. We need our hands and feet softened by his anointing oil and the washing of the Word. In the natural, we can have pedicured feet and nails and still lack the nailed scarred hands and the piercing of His Spirit to change us and our reflection in the water.

With a towel wrapped around him and a basin of water, Yeshua pleads with us, “Can I wash your feet?”

We open His Word, we read His instructions, we begin to see the problem, and its staring back at us in the looking glass.

Yeshua washes his disciples feet, and our Messiah walks atop water!

Oh, friends, our Messiah is the Living Word, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was chaos and waste, darkness was on the surface of the deep, and the Ruach Elohim ( Spirit of God) was hovering upon the surface of the water. (Genesis 1:1-2, Tree of Life).

Yeshua is hovering over the face of the deep! Yeshua is the Rivers of Eden/ life. He is Living Water. . .

“Now in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”

Notice it is the 4th watch:

The Jewish day began at sundown. The daytime was divided into 12 seasonal hours, but the day division of hours was focused on the schedule of the Tamid sacrifice {daily burnt-offering}. In the first century AD, the night was divided into 4-night watches of 3 hours each:

From sundown to 9 p.m.
From 9 p.m. to 12 midnight
From 12 midnight to 3 a.m.
From 3 a.m. to dawn

A trumpet call, known as the “cockcrow,” signaled the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th watch.” (Agape Bible study). ^[1]

Peter sinks in the water, and then he denies the Messiah after the cockcrow, but for a moment Peter, like Yeshua, takes steps upon the water.

In Joshua 3, we learn that the priests placed their feet into the Jordan waters carrying the Ark of Covenant (Ruach/ Spirit hovering/Torah). The waters were overflowing their banks.

“. . . The feet of the kohanim (priests) carrying the ark dipped in the edge of the water, ¹⁶the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the town next to Zarethan” (Joshua 3:15-16). Remember Elijah did the same with his mantle. The waters parted. Just as Moses used His staff/authority and the Red/Reed Sea parted. Also, remember the upper and lower waters were divided on day two of creation.

Interestingly, according to Abarim, the town called Zarethan means “They Vex or Place Of Oppression” and the town Adam means dust man, produce and LIFE. A juxtaposition and example for all of us. The wind and the waves, the storms of life, these took Peter vision away. Sadly, when they returned to the boat (Mans safety on water) the wind/ the Ruach stopped. We must get out of the boat and take the Master’s Hand.

The Spirit hovering over the waters speaks. This Spirit longs to take chaos in our lives and bring order. The Spirit longs to penetrate us and make a clear path for us to walk in the Spirit. How can we get there?

We walk to the Laver and take our sandals off. With a keen eye, we gaze into the living water in the Laver, the refining pot, to cleanse our walk. To remove our spots and wrinkles and clean our gowns.

The mirror shows us the dirt and grime of this world that has crept in and gotten on us, and we know that to enter the Holy Place, we must wash for HIS NAME’S SAKE to be Holy and Set Apart.

He stretches out His Hand and beckons us to glide atop the Ruach Spirit, to become like an eagle who gets excited at the storm because the mighty eagle floats above the dangerous roar of the winds and waves. Author Patrica Holbrook explains it best:

“If you were to see an area filled with birds when a storm approaches, you would see two distinct reactions between an eagle and all other feathered creatures. While other birds would try to flee or hide, eagles would take off in the direction of the dark clouds. Fearlessly, the eagle would fly into the fierce winds, using the storm current to rise higher quickly. The pressure of the storm is used to help them glide without using their energy, as their wings’ unique design allows them to lock in a fixed position amid the violent storm winds.

The eagle instinctively knows it: Just past the storm, in the high heavens, there is peace and security. It is the perfect hiding place.” [1]

In Matthew 14, Peter began to SINK. “^But when he (Peter) saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink.”

May our feet be cleansed. He has supplied the water/Word, the oil, and the mirror. May you peer with me into the looking glass, wash in the Water of His Word, ride higher during the storms. Walk above the storm HAND IN HAND with YESHUA! For Messiah is hovering over the waters. He is living water.

New Releases are Available HERE and HERE

[1] https://www.ajc.com/lifestyles/religion/learn-from-the-eagle-the-challenger-the-storms/juRFhn9zZveJKZEWv2muRI/

[1] http://www.agapebiblestudy.com/charts/jewishtimedivision.htm