Scott Moore: Welcome to the "Building Faith and Family" podcast with Steve Demme.  I'm your host, Scott Moore. Thanks for joining us today. Good morning, Steve. How  are you? 

Steve: I'm well. How are you? 

Scott: My voice cracked, but I'm good. 

Steve: When folks listen to this podcast, I think it will be spring. Right now, even  though it's February when we're recording this, it's starting to feel like spring. Scott: Yeah. It's supposed to get to almost 60 today here. Easy. 

Steve: The flocks of geese are going north overhead. My dog has discovered them  and after four years, now he barks at them. The daffodils, which always come up too  soon, in my thinking, appeared over the weekend even before it got warm, and they're  four inches tall. I saw a robin just looking at me yesterday sitting in a branch when I  was out with the pups. 

Scott: Nice. 

Steve: Today, we're going to talk about water. I will introduce this by saying I wish  this was an inductive Bible study. As I understand it, deductive is when someone like  me teaches, but inductive is when it's just you and the word, and you can draw your  conclusions with the help of the Spirit. 

Ultimately, because I don't consult commentaries, nor do I use a Bible with any  commentary or notes in it, I have an inductive study every morning when I read the  Bible because it's just me, the Word, and the Spirit. 

I wish I didn't have to teach this and we could all read them together because as I  have read these passages, I have been stretched. I'm just going to say it right up  front. The conclusions I have come to have not fit into my paradigm, and I'm trying to  make my paradigm fit the scripture. 

I thought I knew what the water represented in the scripture, and I have been  stretched. I still haven't figured it out, but I'm accepting it, walking in it, and trusting  that God will help me to understand it more as I simply believe it. 

Let's pray. Father, thank you for the word of God, and thank you for the many facets  of the word. We've studied the many facets of the blood of Jesus, and now here we  are, and we're studying the many facets of water. Is it the word? Is it truth? Does it  cleanse us? All these different components. 

I pray that as we read it, that you'll help us to simply walk in it and not try to stick it in  one of our boxes. In Jesus' name. Amen. 

Scott: Amen. 

Steve: I'm going to start with this one. This is one of the ones that bakes my noodle.  It's 1 John 5-8. "Jesus is the son of God. This is He that came by water and blood.  Even Jesus Christ, not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood, and  the Spirit is the One Who testifies because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three  that testify, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and these three agree." 

I look at that verse, and I think, "Well, I know that Jesus came in the flesh. That  reminds me of the blood." I know that he was Jesus the Christ, the anointed. I know  He was conceived by the Spirit, so I get that. 

I know that the Spirit is the one that is the author of the truth, but the Spirit is also  the One that hovered over the face of the waters. I know that when Jesus was pierced,  out came water and blood. Perhaps I shouldn't say bake my noodle, but I feel like I'm  being moved out of my comfort zone. 

I don't want to leave out something in the word of God. I want to read it, and I want to  understand and comprehend it. 

Since I read my Bible every year, I'm familiar with a lot of passages about the water.  Some of these, you know, and some of these might add to your understanding, but I  think we need to understand that Scripture is the whole package, all of the Bible. "The sum of thy word is truth," it says in Psalm 119. We need to put it all together.  The people that are reading the Bible, the people to whom the Bible was written, have  an understanding of these, and we need to as well. 

Exodus 14. "Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its  normal course when the morning appeared. As the Egyptians fled into it, Jehovah  threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the  chariots and the horsemen. 

"Of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed him into the sea, not one of them  remained. But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters  being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left." 

Israel came out through water, but Israel also went in through water. It's a longer  passage. 

Joshua 4. "Jehovah said to Joshua, 'Command the priests bearing the ark of the  testimony to come up out of the Jordan.' So Joshua commanded the priests, 'Come up  out of the Jordan.' 

"And when the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of Jehovah came up from the  midst of the Jordan and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up on dry ground, the  waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks as before. "The people came up out of the Jordan on the 10th day of the first month, and they  encamped at Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. And those 12 stones, which they  took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. 

"He said to the people of Israel, 'When your children ask their fathers in times to  come, 'What do these stones mean?' Then you shall let your children know Israel  passed over this Jordan on dry ground. 

"'For Jehovah your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed  over, as Jehovah your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up for us until we  passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of Jehovah is  mighty, that you may fear Jehovah your God forever.'" 

It's interesting that the land of Israel had the Red Sea on one side, and the Jordan  River on the other side. Israel came out of Egypt through water. Israel came into the  

Promised Land through water. It's all I'm going to say, no comment. Now I'm going to  read a couple more passages. 

2 Peter 3. "The heavens existed long ago, and the Earth was formed out of water and  through water by the Word of God. That by means of these, the world that then  existed was deluged with water and perished.” That's the flood. 

Genesis 1:1-2. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth. The Earth  was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit  of God was hovering over the face of the waters." 

John 1:1-4. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the  Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him,  and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life  was the light of men." 

At creation, the Earth was formed out of water, and through water by the Word of  God, which we just read in John 1, almost the same language. In the beginning was  the word. In the beginning, there was water. 

I'm trying not to make too much commentary. There's a lot that's connected in those  three verses, the water, the spirit, and the word. It's something new we're introducing. The flood, Genesis 6 "Behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the Earth to destroy  all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven." 

Then in Genesis 7, "In the 600th year of Noah's life in the 2nd month on the 17th day  of the month on that day, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the  windows of heaven were opened, and rain fell upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights."  Three sources of water, the great deep, windows of heaven, and rain. Now back to 1 Peter. "God's patience waited in the days of Noah while the ark was  being prepared in which a few, that is eight persons, were brought safely through  water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt  from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience through the  resurrection of Jesus Christ." 

Here are more pieces we're introducing now. The flood cleansed the world. The flood  of waters washed away the iniquity, the sin, for the thoughts of man's heart were evil  continually, and God cleansed the Earth. It was, you might say, born again. Then it talks about the flood being associated with baptism, and I didn't make this up.  This is what the Bible says. "Baptism, which corresponds to the flood, now saves you  through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." 

We know that baptism, when we go into the water, we're dying to the old man. Our  sins are washed away -- this is what the Bible says, - and the resurrection of Jesus  Christ as we rise. 

This is our background. We have creation, we have the flood, we have Israel coming  out through water, Israel going back into the Promised Land through water. We have  the water, the blood, the spirit, and now the word of God has been introduced as a  fourth component. 

I've been reading these passages for years and holding them before God. Three years  ago, when we started studying the tabernacle, I ran across this verse, which I read  now frequently as part of my daily prayer times, and it stretches me even more. I'm  going to read it here. 

Exodus 30:18-21. They had come through the gates based on the principles of Psalm  100 -- giving thanks, praising His name, making a joyful noise, singing. Now they  have applied the blood of Jesus at the altar, which we covered in the last two  podcasts, and now they're about to enter into the tent of meeting, the tabernacle.  Here's what it says. 

"You shall make a basin of bronze with its stand of bronze for washing. You shall put  it between the tent of meeting and the altar." As you're going from the altar to the  tent of meeting, you encounter the basin of bronze. 

"You shall put water in it, with which Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and  their feet. When they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to  minister to burn a food offering to Jehovah, they shall wash their hands and their feet  so that they may not die." That verse caught me. I went, "Really? This is serious stuff." Then it says, "It shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his offspring  throughout their generations." 10 more chapters later, "He set the basin between the  tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing, with which Moses and  Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet when they went into the tent of  meeting. 

"When they approached the altar, they washed as Jehovah commanded Moses." I'm of  the opinion, actually conviction, that the water came from the rock, which followed  them, which we read in 2nd Corinthians, as we've talked about before. Now I know we're going to bake some noodles with this one. It says in Revelation 5:10  and in 1 Peter and several other places in the New Testament, "You have made us a  kingdom and priests to our God." I'm going to read now from John 13:3-10 "Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands and that He had  come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside His outer  garments, and taking a towel, tied it around His waist. 

"Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe  them with the towel that was wrapped around Him. He came to Simon Peter, who said  to him, 'Lord, do you wash my feet?' Jesus answered him, 'What I'm doing, you do not  understand now, but afterward, you will understand.' 

"Peter said to Him, 'You shall never wash my feet.'" Jesus answered him, 'If I do not  wash you, you have no share with Me.' 

"Simon Peter said to Him, 'Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.'  Jesus said to him, 'The one who has bathed does not need to wash except for his feet,  but is completely clean.'" 

I know this may be a stretch, but I think that at that point, Jesus, Who was going to be  crucified the next day, was setting apart His disciples as priests. He was washing their  feet, just like Moses and Aaron washed their sons' feet, because they were priests. 

Every time these priests went into the tabernacle or offered an offering on the altar,  they washed their hands and their feet. Jesus was telling them, "I'm setting you apart  as a priest." I'm giving you some commentary in this. Sorry. 

I think that makes sense for the first time because why did He wash their feet? I used  to think, "Well, He's just giving them an example, that you serve one another." I think  that's totally legitimate. However I think there was more going on, which they didn't  take in yet. 

I love that sentence that says, "You don't know what I'm doing now, but afterward, the  Holy Spirit will make you understand because you are a kingdom. You are priests." It  was Peter who said that we were priests in his epistles. Peter knew that there was  more going on. He didn't know what it was, but later, he understood. Now, I have one, two, three more pages of scriptures. I'll maybe tease you with a  couple of these because this is the kind of things that when you take the whole Word  of God and you put them together, it paints a picture that you wouldn't get if you just  read one or two passages. 

As a husband, I know the scripture teaches me in Ephesians 5:25. "Husbands, love  your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her that He might  sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that He  might present the church to himself in splendor without spot, or wrinkle, or any such  thing that she might be holy and without blemish." 

Washing of water with the word. It says in John 15:3, "Similarly, you are clean because  of the word that I have spoken to you." Now we have another component introduced,  the washing of water with the word. I'm going to stop there, and let's pick this up the  next podcast. 

Just to pull it all together, I think that the water has many facets, just as the blood has  many facets. The first thing that pops into my head when I think of water, I think of  washing my hands. I think of taking a shower. I think of bathing. 

Then in scripture, I also think of baptism. I think of washing in the word, which I don't  understand that, but I know that when I read the Bible, I sense that something has  happened to me that's different. When I look upon the importance and the...Wow,  when you think about it, creation through the water. Israel in and out, out of Egypt,  into the Promised Land through water. 

Then you think of the flood, through water. There's a lot of water in the Bible. Then  you have the water of truth. I haven't even come to some other good ones yet. Not  that they're not all good. What are you taking in so far today, Scott? Scott: That phrase has always baffled me, the washing of the water with the word, or  washing with water. I forget how it's phrased now. That whole concept, I never quite  got. I'm still not sure I understand the mystery of it, but it's there. Then when I think  of water in the biblical context, my mind immediately goes to springs of living water  and the river of life, is that just sounds awesome. I want that. 

Steve: Amen. See, I can hardly stop here. I'll just read one more. We read this all the  time. John chapter 3:3, and then I'm going to skip forward, and read verses 5-6.  

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom  of God. 

"Truly, truly, I say to you," says this twice, "unless one is born of water and the spirit,  he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That  which is born of the spirit is spirit." See, that's another piece. Born of water and the  spirit. 

Does that mean baptism? Does that mean the word of God? Does it mean, yes,  everything plus? I'm going to go with the last answer. Let's wrap it up. Father, thank you for your word, which we know does impact us. Just reading it gives  us faith, and according to what we've been reading, perhaps cleanses us. We're  washed in the word. We're washed in the truth. We're born from above through the  word and the spirit. 

We're not able to comprehend it all, but I believe it's more than just mysterious. I  believe it's true. I believe that you help us as we embrace it and hold it before you that  you'll unpack it for us just as we need to have it unpacked. Bless us now today. Give  us a good week in Jesus' name. Amen. 

Scott: Amen. That's our show for this week, folks. Thanks for joining us for the  Building Faith and Family podcast with Steve Demme. If you have a question for the  show, email Steve at sbdemmme@Gmail.com. Thanks for joining us. Have a great  week.