THE BIBLICAL FOUNDATION OF THE USE OF HOLY WATER

The Jordan River with the snow capped Mt. Hermon. The photo below shows Pope Benedict XVI blesses the Ground Zero in New York City and blesses the People with Holy Water using plant branches as done by Moses and Aaron.

HOLY WATER

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In Scripture, Water is used to Cleanse, Purify, and Heal Human Beings:

1) Water that has been blessed:

Exodus 23:25 You shall serve the LORD your God, and I WILL BLESS YOUR bread and your WATER; and I will take sickness away from the midst of you.

2) Priest using “holy water”:

Numbers 5:17 and the priest shall take HOLY WATER in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. [KJV/ NIV/ Amplified]

3) The unclean remain so until the “water for impurity” is sprinkled upon them:

Numbers 19:9,13-20 Whoever touches a dead person, the body of any man who has died, and does not cleanse himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from Israel; because the water for impurity was not thrown upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him. "

Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days… thus on the seventh day he shall cleanse him, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and at evening he shall be clean. "But the man who is unclean and does not cleanse himself, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, since he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD; because the water for impurity has not been thrown upon him, he is unclean.

4) Elisha makes the water “healed” (KJV) or “purified” (NASB) or "wholesome" (RSV):

2 Kings 2:19-22 (KJV) And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren. And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.

So, the idea of “holy water” and its use is not foreign to Scripture. Notice from the third passage that a person remained unclean until water was sprinkled upon him.

This points to an important 4-fold purpose for water in Scripture:

1. Life-Giving:

Genesis 1:2 Water is the first element hovered over by the Holy Spirit.

Genesis 2:6 Trees, plants & vegetables started sprouting after God watered the earth.

Genesis 2:10-14 Paradise is fertile due to the River of Life and its 4 branches. [Revelation 22:1]

2. Cleansing:

Genesis 7 Yahweh cleansed the world by the Great Flood

Leviticus 14:8-9 Water cleanses the healed lepers

Leviticus 14: 50-52 Priests cleanse the house of the sick with water: HOUSE BLESSING!

Leviticus 15:13-1513 “When the man with the discharge is healed, he must count off seven days for the period of purification. Then he must wash his clothes and bathe himself in fresh water, and he will be ceremonially clean. On the eighth day he must get two turtledoves or two young pigeons and come before the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle and give his offerings to the priest. The priest will offer one bird for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. Through this process, the priest will purify the man before the Lord for his discharge.” [NLT]

Numbers 8:7 Do this by sprinkling them with the water of purification, and have them shave their entire body and wash their clothing. Then they will be ceremonially clean. [NLT]

Numbers 19:12 They must purify themselves on the third and seventh days with the water of purification; then they will be purified. But if they do not do this on the third and seventh days, they will continue to be unclean even after the seventh day. [NLT]

Numbers 19:18-19 Then someone who is ceremonially clean must take a hyssop branch and dip it into the water. That person must sprinkle the water on the tent, on all the furnishings in the tent, and on the people who were in the tent; also on the person who touched a human bone, or touched someone who was killed or who died naturally, or touched a grave. On the third and seventh days the person who is ceremonially clean must sprinkle the water on those who are defiled. Then on the seventh day the people being cleansed must wash their clothes and bathe themselves, and that evening they will be cleansed of their defilement. [NLT]

2 Kings 5:14 So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child’s, and he was healed! [NLT]

Psalm 51:7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. [NIV]

Ezekiel 16:4 On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. [NIV]

Ezekiel 36:25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. [NIV]

Ephesus 5:26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,

Hebrews 10:22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts SPRINKLED to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

3. Purifying:

Exodus 29:4 Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water. [NIV] [Exodus 40:12]

Exodus 40:30-32 He placed the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing, and Moses and Aaron and his sons used it to wash their hands and feet. They washed whenever they entered the Tent of Meeting or approached the altar, as the LORD commanded Moses. [NIV]

Leviticus 11:32 When one of them dies and falls on something, that article, whatever its use, will be unclean, whether it is made of wood, cloth, hide or sackcloth. Put it in water; it will be unclean till evening, and then it will be clean.

Leviticus 16:4 He is to put on the sacred linen tunic, with linen undergarments next to his body; he is to tie the linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are sacred garments; so he must bathe himself with water before he puts them on. [NIV]

Leviticus 16:24 And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people. [KJV]

Leviticus 16:26 And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp.

Leviticus 16:28 And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.

Leviticus 22:6 The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water.

Numbers 19:7-8 “Then the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water. Afterward he may return to the camp, though he will remain ceremonially unclean until evening. 8 The man who burns the animal must also wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and he, too, will remain unclean until evening.” [NLT]

Numbers 31:23 that is, all metals that do not burn—must be passed through fire in order to be made ceremonially pure. These metal objects must then be further purified with the water of purification. But everything that burns must be purified by the water alone. [NLT]

Deuteronomy 23:10-11 If there be among you any man, that is not clean by reason of uncleanness that chanceth him by night, then shall he go abroad out of the camp, he shall not come within the camp: But it shall be, when evening cometh on, he shall wash himself with water: and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp again. [KJV]

John 2:6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. [NIV]

Hebrews 9:19 When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. [NIV]

4. Healing:

2 Kings 5:14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. [KJV]

Isaiah 35:5-7 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. [KJV]

John 5:4 (KJV) For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

John 9:6-7 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. [KJV]

This is very significant, considering that demons were considered “unclean spirits” (cf. Mt 10:1; 12:43; Mk 1:23,26-27; 3:11,30; 5:2,8,13; 6:7; 7:25; 9:25; Lk 4:33,36; 6:18; 8:29; 9:42; 11:24; Acts 5:16; 8:7) and any person was unclean if possessed by one. It only makes sense that something that cleanses, purifies, and heals can be put to good use against something as unclean as a demon.