Today's Reading: Numbers 31:1-24

 

Purified by Water and Fire

One of Moses’ final acts as the leader of Israel was to avenge the Midianites, who had caused the children of Israel to sin against the Lord. God is taking out judgement against the Midianites...

for those actions. Moses sent 12,000 troops into Midian.  When they returned Moses ordered the purification of their captives and their spoils of war.

Repeatedly, in Scripture, we are reminded that God is holy and that any offering made to him must be holy.  It must be cleansed and purified before it can be accepted by Him.  Here, the Midianites and their belongings must be cleansed and purified before they can be received into the camp of the Israelites.  So, Moses orders cleansing by fire and by water.

We too must be holy if we are to offer ourselves to God.  And we, too, must be purified by fire and water. Our sin and uncleanness must be cleansed. Different purification methods are used by God depending on the stubbornness of the sin that needs to be removed. 

The Word of God acts as the water to cleanse our hearts of sin. In Ephesians 5:26, we are told that Christ sanctifies us (the Church), “having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.”  As we receive the Word of God, it has the power to convict us of sin and, as we confess and forsake our sin, we are cleansed before God.  Jesus said, “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” (John 15:3)

Sometimes, our sin is more stubborn.  Tenacious. Obstinate.  In those cases, God may resort to “fire” to purify our lives.  Not actual flames, but the fires of troubles and trials.  Like gold, which can only be purified and refined by intense heat, God may turn up the fires in our lives to get us to acknowledge and repent of stubborn sin.  The Lord said to Zechariah, “I will refine them like silver and purify them like gold.”  (Zechariah 13:9)

Our response to God’s purification process should be praise and rejoicing.  It means that He is working in our lives to make us holy and acceptable to Him.  As Peter said, “So that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:7)