Hello and welcome to the Women’s Weekly Bible Challenge. I’m Lisa Ann Spencer.
Today’s topic of Bible study is Foot Washing. Why Foot Washing? It is a Bible topic that deals
with 2 particular women in the Scriptures, and another particular kind of woman mentioned by the Apostle
Paul.
Grab your Bible 📖 and a Notebook 📔, and perhaps your favorite
cuppa ⛾, and let’s dig into the word of God.
Using a free, on-line concordance, I searched the phrase “wash feet” at BlueLetterBible, finding 33 results in 14 verses. The BibleGateway online
concordance listed 21 results that were relevant to our topic.
WASHING THE FEET WITH WATER
The first time 'washing the feet' is mentioned is in the first book of the Bible.
Genesis 18:4 Let a
little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves
under the tree:
This section of scripture is titled, 'The Three Visitors'. This refers to three heavenly visitors, including the LORD himself. If we continue reading the passage, we see Abraham hurrying to tell
Sarah to make three cakes and a young man to dress a calf. Abraham presented this meal to the three
visitors, but there is no mention of him actually fetching water to wash their feet. It is possible that Abraham could have directed a servant to fetch water for the visitors, but the scripture doesn't tell us that. We could also assume that the phrase “wash your feet” is a
figure of speech in this passage. The meaning would involve partaking of a meal. Scripture is not clear in this particular passage, so we must look further.
By comparing other verses in our search, we do begin to understand
that foot-washing appears to be a custom or a courtesy offered to travelers,
whether they are strangers or brethren, and it is frequently associated with travelers, lodging and a meal:
THE LAW OF MOSES
Foot-washing was incorporated by God into the Law of Moses
for the High Priest of the nation of Israel, and his sons. The end result for failing to obey this law
resulted in the death penalty as punishment!
Exodus 30:19 For
Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: 20 When they
go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that
they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering
made by fire unto the LORD: 21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet,
that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and
to his seed throughout their generations.
ABIGAIL OFFERS TO WASH THE FEET OF THE KING’S SERVANTS
The first woman associated with foot-washing is Abigail. I would encourage you to pause here and read 1 Samuel Chapter 25.
Let’s review the highlights of her story:
1 Samuel 25:3 Now the
name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife was Abigail: and she was a
woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was
churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.
David, who had recently been anointed by Samuel to be king over Israel, was on the run from King Saul with over 400 men. They were hiding out in the territory of northern Israel. When they were in need of supplies, David sent 10 of his young men to inquire from Nabal at Mount Carmel. Nabal, who was a very wealthy man, pretended as if he did not know who David was, while slyly accusing him of
rebellion against King Saul. When David
heard this from his young men, he and 400 of his mighty men, strapped on their swords and headed toward
Nabal and his sheep-shearers, determined against them for evil.
One of Nabal’s young men, who understood what was happening, ran to tell Abigail. This is how Abigail responded:
1 Samuel 25:18 Then
Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and
five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred
clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses. 19
And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But
she told not her husband Nabal.
Abigail met David with this blessing and fell on her face, bowing
herself to the ground. She interposed on
behalf of the men of her household. Interestingly, she
asked David to lay Nabal’s iniquity on her, and then she asked David to forgive
her trespass. She rehearses what she
knows about the prophecy spoken about David; that he was the anointed King of Israel, and how the LORD was with him (I Samuel 16:13; 18:12). As with many women in the Bible, I believe she also knew about the promise of the coming King, the Messiah, out of the tribe of Judah from which David arose (Genesis 3:15; 49:10).
Nabal knew all this too, but he did not believe God's word, so he
acted foolishly. Abigail believed the
truth of God's word, and therefore she behaved wisely.
She knew that God would strike down David’s enemies, and she knew her
husband was an enemy of God! This is why we see her asking David to remember her when God fulfills His word (1 Samuel 25:30-31).
David accepted Abigail’s gift and thanked her for preventing
him from shedding innocent blood.
That night Nabal threw a party and got drunk. Abigail waited until the next morning to tell
Nabal what had happened. He was completely unaware that David and his men would have killed him and all his male servants if Abigail had not intervened. When Nabal heard this, his heart died and he became as a stone. (A good King James Bible word is "astonied", not to be confused with "astonished;” see Ezra 9:3-4.) Ten days later,
the LORD smote Nabal, and he died.
David heard the news of Nabal’s death and sent for Abigail
to be his wife. This is her response:
1 Samuel 25:41 And
she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let
thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.
Is Abigail literally offering herself, as the wife of David, to wash the feet of David's servants? I do not believe that is the point of this passage. There is so much more to this story than what appears on the
surface. Abigail represents the
believing remnant of Israel that will be ready when Jesus, the King, returns to
claim His kingdom. Nabal represents unbelieving Israel who will be confederate
with the antichrist and oppose Jesus at His return. Abigail is doing much more than submitting
herself to the man, David. She is
submitting herself to the word of God!
The phrase “washing the feet” is used here as an example of
complete humility and submission before the Lord.
David, as a man, is no different from any other man, as we shall see in a very familiar reference to foot-washing in regards to King David’s sin.
THE INTIMATE MEANING OF FOOT-WASHING
In 2 Samuel, chapter
11, in an attempt to try to hide his adultery, King David tried to convince
one of his mighty men, Uriah, to go home and “wash his feet”.
2 Samuel 11:8 And
David said to Uriah, go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah
departed out of the king’s house, and there followed him a mess of meat from
the king.
There is a proverb with which Uriah may have been familiar;
describing what was really taking place:
Proverbs 23:3 Be not
desirous of his dainties: For they are deceitful meat.
We know when David used the phrase “wash thy feet” it is a
figure of speech. King David meant for
Uriah to go home and know his wife, so that Uriah and the world would think
Bathsheba had conceived by her husband when she was already with child by King
David.
📔NOTE: Again, we see an association with foot-washing and a meal as David sent meat home with Uriah.
FOOT-WASHING IN THE BLOOD
In Psalm 58:10 we
see that Jesus is going to wash His feet; not in water, but in the blood of His
enemies!
The righteous shall
rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: He shall wash his feet in the blood of the
wicked.
It is interesting that the Exodus 30 passage we read earlier specifically mentions washing in water. Was it necessary to say water? It seems so, since there is another type of washing in the blood.
The last Old Testament reference in Song of Solomon
Song of Solomon 5:3 I
have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I
defile them?
We will return to this passage in next week's lesson, as it has a strong tie to a familiar reference in the New Testament. We will end Part 1 of our study here. As a challenge for next week, you may like to use a concordance search for the words "foot", "feet", and "wash", so that you may discover these things for yourself.
SUMMARY OF FOOT-WASHING IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
I am quite
certain that people literally washed feet in many biblical references,
but it also appears to be a figure of speech in certain other passages. Just as we say we are going home to “kick our shoes
off” or “kick back and relax”, we understand that certain phrases in the Bible can also be used
literally and figuratively.
Next week we will consider the New Testament results for Foot-Washing Part 2, especially as it concerns certain women in the Bible. I look forward to seeing you then.
The material covered in this Blog can be viewed here:
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