Cleansing

Prevent slipping back into the old ways - Leviticus 1:10 – 1:17 (commentary)

A woman once wrote that at a garage sale she had spotted a handsome antique copper kettle for only $2.50. It was badly tarnished, so she asked the woman running the sale if the discoloration would come out. She cheerfully offered to try some copper cleaner on it and disappeared …

The ashes of a heifer used to purify the unclean - Numbers 19:1 – 19:22 (commentary)

Laws had been given whereby a person coming in contact with a corpse would be considered unclean and disqualified from religious life and service for a period of seven days. These regulations about “clean and unclean, for those under the law,’ are spelled out in detail in Le …

The Chief Priest - Zechariah 3:1 – 3:10 (commentary)

In the fourth vision Zechariah sees Joshua the high priest standing before God. Joshua’s filthy garments are exchanged for clean robes; Satan’s accusations against him are rejected by God. This vision can be divided as follows: (1) The details of the vision (vv. 1-5); and …

Jesus Cleansing of the Temple - Luke 19:45 – 19:48 (commentary)

Every Jewish man coming to Jerusalem for the Passover feast had to pay a temple tax. Many types of currencies were circulating, and, since only special temple coins were acceptable, money changers could charge a fee and make handsome profits at the expense of the people. …