Washing Feet and The Day of Atonement

[Mr. M]

The tenth day of the seventh month was an appointed time for the glory of the Lord to appear over the Ark of Testimony. The Lord was seated between the cherubim above the Ark, which was His footstool. The cover of the Ark was the place where atonement was made by the sprinkling of the blood of sacrifice.

A heavy cloud of incense was to protect the High Priest from the presence of the Lord.
Leviticus 16:12&13. He is to take a fire pan full of coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord plus two handfuls of sweet powdered incense and bring it within the curtain. Then he is to put the incense on the fire before the Lord, so that the cloud of the incense may cover the atonement cover that is on the Ark, so that he does not die.
The blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled across the cover of the Ark, the footstool of the Lord’s invisible throne.
Thus, the High Priest performed a washing of the Lord’s feet, which were defiled by the sin’s of the land.
Leviticus 26:12. I will set My tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.
How literally should we take this statement: “I will walk among you”?
Deuteronomy 23:12-14. Also you shall have a place outside the camp, where you may go out; and you shall have an implement among your equipment, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and turn and cover your refuse. For the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you.
VERY literally.
Washing of Feet in a Figure
John 13:14&15. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.

The washing of feet, as a figure taken from the Day of Atonement, represents the act of forgiving.
Leviticus 16:30. For on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. From all your sins you will be clean before the Lord.

John 15:3. Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

The washing of one another’s feet, has this meaning: as you have been forgiven, so you must forgive.
Matthew 6:14&15. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 18:35. So also My heavenly Father will do to you, unless each of you, from your hearts, forgives his brother.
Whose feet have you washed today?

 

[Mr. M]

Luke 17:CLV
1 Now He said to His disciples, "Incredible is it for snares not to be coming. Moreover, woe to him through whom they are coming!"
2 An advantage were it to him if a millstone were lying about his neck and he were pitched into the sea, rather than that he should be snaring one of these little ones."
3 Take heed to yourselves. Yet if your brother should be sinning, rebuke him, and if he should ever indeed repent, forgive him."
4 And if he should ever be sinning against you seven times a day, and if he should ever be turning about seven times a day to you, saying 'I am repenting,' you shall be forgiving him."

 

[Mr. M]

John 20: (CLV).
21 Jesus, then, said to them again, "Peace to you! According as the Father has commissioned Me, I also am sending you."
22 And saying this, He exhales and is saying to them, "Get holy spirit!"
23 If you should be forgiving anyone's sins, they have been forgiven them. If anyone's you should be holding, they are held."

 

[Mr. M]

Mercy Is Strength

Psalm 18:1. I will love You, O Lord, my strength.
Such a beautiful sentiment expressed here in the translation of this verse.
Examining the Hebrew, we find these words: Racham YHVH Khayzek
Racham is used 47 times in the OT, and means mercy and compassion. Yet in one single verse, it is translated Love. Welcome to that verse. Translators are very effective in presenting the Psalms of David in beautiful, poetic language. However, what this actually says is

"(In) The mercy of the Lord is (my) strength."
So why the outlier translation of racham? The problem for the translation is the word khayzek, and relating mercy to strength. The dictionary definition of mercy is clemency, forbearance, forgiveness. This is only the correct understanding from the perspective of a man of the earth, who understands earthly things. From the perspective of the one granting the mercy, in this case the heavenly Father, it is an impartation of strength.
Consider this verse:

Zechariah 10:6. I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph. I will bring them back, because I have mercy on them.

We can now condense this verse to 'strength and salvation are found in the mercy of the Lord'. A statement that is not the least bit controversial.

Now we can apply this knowledge to a parable of Jesus in Matthew.
Matthew 18:23-27. Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.

First consider how this falls on the ears of His listeners. How unlikely a scenario! Can a ruler dare sully his reputation by allowing someone to walk away with this great debt forgiven outright? Rulers tend toward ruthless in their reputation out of necessity. If he becomes known as someone who just wipes away someone's debt, he will surely be taken advantage of by others.

For the sake of His parable, this serves Jesus well, because in this scenario, the One granting the mercy is His heavenly Father.
When Moses asked the Lord to reveal His name unto him, he received this description of The Father's desired reputation:
Exodus 34:6, 7. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.

Our Heavenly Father, unlike a king of the earth, can afford to be merciful and gracious, and desires to be known as such. However, He makes it clear that He by no means clears the guilty. This is why people were instructed in the Gospels:
Matthew 3:8. Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance.

Returning to the parable, we now find the servant who received forgiveness engaging in unacceptable behavior.
Matthew 18:28-34. But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.

Notice that we cannot question the king's authority here. He can forgive a debt today, and cast into torment the following day for the same debt, made worse by unrepentant behavior. Now comes the stern warning to all who call themselves believers:

Matthew 18:35. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.

And yet we hear taught "the unconditional love" of God. This defies the very nature of a covenant relationship. Even the most lackadaisical Christian knows the Lord's prayer, but the words of Jesus given in commentary after this prayer, makes the same demand.

Matthew 6:14, 15. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
And so this:
Matthew 5:7. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
James 2:13. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

 

[Mr. M]

The tenth day of the seventh month was an appointed time for the glory of the Lord to appear over the Ark of Testimony. The Lord was seated between the cherubim above the Ark, which was His footstool. The cover of the Ark was the place where atonement was made by the sprinkling of the blood of sacrifice.

A heavy cloud of incense was to protect the High Priest from the presence of the Lord.
Leviticus 16:12&13. He is to take a fire pan full of coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord plus two handfuls of sweet powdered incense and bring it within the curtain. Then he is to put the incense on the fire before the Lord, so that the cloud of the incense may cover the atonement cover that is on the Ark, so that he does not die.
The blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled across the cover of the Ark, the footstool of the Lord’s invisible throne.
Thus, the High Priest performed a washing of the Lord’s feet, which were defiled by the sin’s of the land.
Leviticus 26:12. I will set My tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.
How literally should we take this statement: “I will walk among you”?
Deuteronomy 23:12-14. Also you shall have a place outside the camp, where you may go out; and you shall have an implement among your equipment, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and turn and cover your refuse. For the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you.
VERY literally.
Washing of Feet in a Figure
John 13:14&15. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.

The washing of feet, as a figure taken from the Day of Atonement, represents the act of forgiving.
Leviticus 16:30. For on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. From all your sins you will be clean before the Lord.

John 15:3. Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

The washing of one another’s feet, has this meaning: as you have been forgiven, so you must forgive.
Matthew 6:14&15. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 18:35. So also My heavenly Father will do to you, unless each of you, from your hearts, forgives his brother.
Whose feet have you washed today?

John 13:6-16.
6 Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?”
7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now,
but you will know after this.”
8 Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!”
Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”
9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”
10 Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean;
and you are clean, but not all of you.”
11 For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean.”
12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again,
He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?
13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.
14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.
16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master;
nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.
17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

 

[Mr. M]

Washing of Feet in a Figure
John 13:14&15. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.

The washing of feet, as a figure taken from the Day of Atonement, represents the act of forgiving.
Leviticus 16:30. For on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. From all your sins you will be clean before the Lord.

John 15:3. Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

The washing of one another’s feet, has this meaning: as you have been forgiven, so you must forgive.

Fellowship with Him and One Another 1 John 1:
5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you,
that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness,
we lie and do not practice the truth.
7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.