Consecrate Yourselves I: Cleansing

Joshua 3:5 

Moses died at Mount Nebo, and after thirty days of mourning for his death, the Israelites moved their camp to Shittim. The events recorded in Joshua 1-2 all happened in Shittim. There, God spoke to Joshua. God reminded him that the conquest of the promise land is God’s work. God was about to accomplish His promises to the Abraham (Josh 1:6). But God was clear that the conquest of the promise land will not be achieved by divine fiat alone. God needed Joshua to lead the Israelites. So God commanded Joshua to be strong and courageous (1:6-9).

Also, in Shittim, Joshua commissioned two spies to Jericho (2:1-24, including help from Rahab). Then they immediately left Shittim and went to the banks of Jordan (3:1). Upon arriving, they did not immediately cross. Rather, they stayed there for three days. On the fourth day, in preparation for the crossing of the Jordan river, Joshua gave instructions to the people. Yes – the people have a part in the conquest. In Shittim, God declared to Joshua that He is directly involved in the conquest. But God also had commands specific for Joshua the leader. But in the banks of Jordan, Joshua turns to the people and tells them that the conquest is not only the work of God and Joshua. The people had a role to do.

Entrance to the promise land is not something that God does for us, and we just sit back and watch God and our leaders do the work. We do not just wait for the news of the conquest. Right here, at the banks of Jordan, the promise land right before our eyes, God is telling His people: you have work to do. There are many instructions in Joshua 3, including things that the priests should do (3:6-8). But what I would like to focus on was the admonition of Joshua to all the Israelites in 3:5, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”

To be consecrated to the Lord is not something that Joshua can and will do for them. Only they can do this for themselves. Joshua can pray for them. Joshua can preach to them. Joshua can guide them. Joshua can lead them. Joshua can do all sorts of ministry to them. But there is one thing that the Israelites should do for themselves: they must consecrate themselves. This is something they must do. This is something that is true in the church as well. The pastor can do many things for the congregation. But there are things that you should do on your own. No matter how the pastor leads you to where we must go, there are things that are up to you. We might be at the banks of Jordan, about to enter the promise land, but we must realize that crossing it and attaining the prize is a responsibility of the whole community.

Joshua commissioned the people to consecrate themselves. His statement is actually repeated several times in the Old Testament. The idea of consecration for the sake of something happening the next day or few days is quite common.

§  In Joshua 7:13, the Israelites were called to consecrate themselves in preparation for the judgment of the sinner in their midst the following day (sin of Achan story).

§  In Numbers 11:18-20, they were to consecrate themselves before the miracle of quail the next day. But they are to eat meat for a whole month, until they loathe it.

§  In Exodus 19:10-11, 14-15, they were to consecrate themselves because the Lord was about to meet them in three days. It is this passage in Exodus that I would like to deal with because it provides more material to work on, and matches the expected positive outcome in Joshua 3. Perhaps the reason Joshua did not need to elaborate the command was that the Israelites already knew what to do. So we need to go back to how the people consecrated themselves in Exodus 19 for us to understand what the command meant: “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes ¹¹ and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people…’ ¹⁴ After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. ¹⁵ Then he said to the people, ‘Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations’.”

The clues to understanding what it means to be consecrated are found in the repeated statements in the verses. The first group is…“Have them wash their clothes… they washed their clothes” (19:10, 14).

To consecrate is to set apart. To consecrate ourselves to God is to offer ourselves to God as living sacrifices (Rom 12:1). It is to dedicate our whole to God. It is to devote ourselves to Him. When God said that they should wash their clothes, what did this mean? Was God mysophobic or germophobic? Was it about physical presentability? Does He care about how we look?

In one sense, it is about acceptable offerings. Contrary to the opinion of the world, God is actually choosy. If He has specific demands about animal sacrifices, would He not be strict about us when we offer ourselves to Him? In Malachi 1, it was precisely about terrible offerings that God complained about: “When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty (Mal 1:8). Reminding them about His commands in Leviticus 22:21-22 and Deuteronomy 15:21, God continued to complain: “When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the Lord. ¹⁴ “Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the Lord Almighty, “and my name is to be feared among the nations” (Mal 1:13-14).

It is important for us to realize that God desires the best from us. The world has its own view of God and who God should be. The world “acceptance” is used almost nonchalantly these days. People argue like this: “I am who I am. I do not want to change. I like who I am. I enjoy who I am. I am happy what I am. God will love me just as I am.” And so these people want to offer themselves to God and expect God to accept them, without the necessary cleansing required from them. The world wants a God who accepts “consecrated people who are full of dirt.” The world does not understand a God who requires transformation. The world does not understand a God who demands holiness. The world wants a God who accepts unconditionally.

But God’s commands are clear: Consecrate yourselves by getting rid of the dirt that you accumulated in your selves. Be clean. When we set apart yourselves to God, we should not carry our old dirt with us. The Israelites have been wandering the desert, and they have accumulated a huge amount of dirt in their clothing. In meeting God with Sinai, they were to purify themselves of the gods they have accumulated from Egypt. In the crossing of the Jordan, they were about to enter the promise land. It was time to get rid of the filth of the wilderness. They were to start anew.

The terms used for “washing” in Exodus 19 come from the Hebrew root word kabac. What’s interesting about kabac is that it is a washing that involves continuous beating. It is a term most appropriate to use when washing clothes in the river, in which the washer beats the clothes with a rock or a paddle. The idea is that the dirt is so entrenched in the fiber of the clothes that beating it out of clothes is the only way. When King David sinned against Bathsheba and asked for forgiveness, his prayer for cleansing used the same Hebrew term. When he prayed, “cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow” (Ps 51:7), he was saying that sin has permeated his entire being that God would need to beat it out of him. Kabac is not washing or cleansing that is enjoyable; it is actually a painful experience. It is this kind of washing that was required from the Israelites if they were to consecrate themselves to God.

It is totally illogical to have already crossed into the new life while carrying our old accumulated dirt. Consecration is separation from sin and being cleansed. This cleansing is a painful experience, and demands from us the willingness to be placed under God’s rod. What are you willing to give up for the sake of experiencing the “amazing things” that has prepared for you? What old sins have you been keeping with you that need to be washed away?