Fullers’ Soap
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Matthew 5:8
Do you know anyone who’s pure? Really pure? Sexual purity is not culturally popular. Virginity before marriage and faithfulness in marriage are often ridiculed; pornography is readily available.
What’s more, purity of heart includes more than abstaining from sexual immorality. It includes many internal traits, including honesty and authenticity, that can’t be always be detected in our actions.
None of us can be pure on our own. And yet, the blessings of the Beatitudes are attainable, here and now, on this side of heaven. That’s why Jesus lived a sinless life and died in our place so that His purity could be credited to us. He gave Himself for us “to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:11-14).
How does Jesus purify us? The prophet Malachi said the Messiah’s coming would be like “fullers’ soap” (Malachi 3:2 KJV). The fuller took dirty, smelly raw wool from newly shorn sheep and washed it so that it became white and clean. The Hebrew words used in Malachi are kabac which means “to wash (by treading), be washed, perform the work of a fuller” and boriyth which means “lye, potash, soap, alkali (used in washing).”*
Some translators call fullers’ soap laundry soap. But don’t picture a modern washing machine gently swishing clothes in soapy water. Fullers’ soap may be better compared to dishwashing detergent, or Boraxo—a coarse soap used for cleaning especially dirty hands or clothes.
In biblical times, fullers didn’t have bars of soap or soap flakes. They dipped the fleece in ashes and caustic alkalies. Then they stomped on the fleece with their feet or beat it with rocks to remove impurities. Finally, they bleached the fleece in the sun.
Sometimes we feel like we’re being stomped on, beaten by rocks, or rubbed with abrasive soap. But all the difficulties and suffering we experience are part of the purifying process that will make us like Christ (Philippians 1:6; 1 John 3:2). And we need it daily.
Do you depend on a one-time prayer, when you first confessed your sin, to keep you clean? Or do you come daily to the Fullers’ Soap of prayer and Bible study to be purified?
DIG DEEPER:
How can we live pure lives according to Acts 15:9, 2 Corinthians 7:1, 1 Peter 1:22, and 1 John 1:9?
According to Titus 2:11-14 and Revelation 19:7-9 how do we, the Bride of Christ, make ourselves ready for His Second Coming, the marriage of the Lamb?
Read John 13:4-11 and 15:3. The word sometimes translated “clean” in these verses is translated “pure” in the Beatitudes. How do Jesus’ words to the disciples in the upper room address our need for purification?
Jesus says the pure in heart will see God. Who saw and publicly acknowledged Jesus was God in Matthew 16:16 and John 20:28? Someday we’ll see Him face to face, but even now where can we glimpse Him at work in our lives?
Nancy J. Baker
* Dictionary and Word Search for kabac (Strong’s 3526)” and strongs=H3526 >for boriyth (Strong’s 1287)”. Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2013. 26 Jun 2013. < http:// www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=H1287 >