Ezekiel 16:4 And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths.
The traditional practice in the Semitic(Hebrew-Arabic) culture at the birth of an infant was to wash the baby, rub salt and oil on the skin and wrap them with strips of cloth. Application of salt to the skin protects the newborn against foreign agents and helps with the thickening of the skin. Salting infants, though sounds strange to modern society, has been a practice from time immemorial in the Aramaic custom. The spiritual purpose of salting was for purification.
Dr. Sindhura Mandava (Dermatologist) recommends salt-baths for infants and children. Salt is a natural anti-inflammatory medication. It reduces irritation, improves blood circulation, builds healthy joints, exfoliates (remove dead) skin and helps with breathing by opening the baby’s respiratory tract. Spiritually “salt”, which represents the nature of Godliness and Christlikeness is the anti-inflammatory medication to our soul. We can never love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us without the anti-inflammatory salt of Godly love, patience and understanding. It is the gentleness that calms down hypertension when good is returned with evil. The Godly nature of goodness, compassion and forgiveness strengthens our spiritual frame and bones. A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones (Proverbs 14:30). So, take a spiritual salt-bath to grow a strong, healthy and burly soul.
Three benefits of spiritual salt bathing:
1. Inflammation: Rub the spiritual salt of forgiveness over the cuts, burns and slits from slander, sarcasm and slur. Silly comments or small wounds, as small as a paper cut, can cause serious infection to the soul if they are not treated. Ephesians 4:26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. Don’t sleep over a harsh word or hurt. Resolve it with God and with others (if possible) before you hit the bed. Spiritual salt is the medication for spiritual inflammation.
2. Exfoliation: Exfoliating is the process of removing dead skin cells from the surface of your skin. Don’t carry your past in your backpack; it will rot and make your life smelly. We relive our past every time we recollect the suffering, pain, persecution or prejudice of the past. Scrub the past with the salt of God’s Word. We can get rid of old scales, sin and skin by soaking, scrubbing and salting ourselves in the sea of God’s Word. Exfoliation refreshes and regenerates newness in our spirit.
3. Reaction: Salt-bath is a remedy for itchy skin, irritation, sore feet, sprains, stiff joints, stress and sunburn. Spiritual salt-bathing tones down our reactions to challenge, criticism and condemnations. To overcome irritation, hypertension and insinuation at work, among friends or even family, soak yourself in God’s Word. Do a word study on what is upsetting you. If you struggle with forgiveness, do a “word study” on forgiveness. As you read, meditate and recapitulate the forgiveness of Jesus, the dead skin of unforgiveness will be scrubbed away from your soul. Salt-bathing soothes the soul.
Spiritual salt-bathing exuberates God’s flavours in this cold, critiquing and coveting world.
Ezekiel 43:24 The priests shall sprinkle salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, I submit to soak myself in the Word of God to heal the inflammations of my soul, exfoliate the dead skin of sin and bring spiritual healing to my soul. Amen.
Leave a Reply