Bathsheba - Her Life And Times

Bathsheba - Her Life And Times

RITUAL BATHING

A warm tub of water with a fragrance of flowers, soaking, eyes closed. That’s the sort of image conjured up in most of our minds when it comes to bathing. But in Bathsheba’s day, most bathing took place not for the purpose of physical cleanliness — people of that time had little knowledge of the spread of disease and germs through uncleanness. Most bathing took place in order to become ritually clean after a period of being unclean.

Bathsheba had just completed her monthly period. The flow of blood was finished; the seven days prescribed in Leviticus 15:19 were past, and she now needed to cleanse herself. She probably stood in or near a basin of water, using a sponge or cloth to clean herself, then either squeezing water over herself as a rinse or pouring water from a pitcher over her body.

Scripture mentions cleansing with water hundreds of times, most of them referring to ritual rather than physical cleansing. Cleansing took place after many kinds of skin diseases were healed (Leviticus 14:8), and after men and women had unusual discharges (Leviticus 15:13). Men and women both had to wash themselves after sexual intercourse in order to be ceremonially clean (Leviticus 15:18). Priests cleansed themselves before offering sacrifices (Exodus 29:4; Leviticus 8:6), and the sacrifices themselves were washed before being offered to God (Leviticus 1:9).

Physical cleansing more often took the form of washing one’s hands before eating or washing one’s feet when entering a house. Dirty, dusty roads and open sandals made foot washing something that needed to be done frequently. Since foot washing was commonly the job of the lowest member or servant of a household, Jesus modeled a splendid humility when he bathed his disciples’ feet in the upper room (John 13:5).

The Bible sometimes describes the righteous as those with “clean hands” (Job 17:9; Psalm 24:4). Cleanliness is also used in Scripture as a metaphor for being forgiven: “I am clean and free from guilt” (Job 33:9). “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7). In the end times, the bride of Christ will be dressed in “fine linen, bright and clean” (Revelation 19:8).

We live in a culture that glorifies outward cleanliness with our soaps and lotions and toothpastes and disinfectants, our bathing and brushing, our washing and wiping. But how concerned are we with inner cleanliness? Do we have clean hands but spirits filthy with hate? Do we have soft, clean-shaven legs but hearts hardened to the hurts of others? Do we have clean, blemish-free faces that seldom smile? Outward cleanliness is admirable — but only if an inward cleanliness accompanies it.