Numbers 19 FOR SIN AND UNCLEANESS After instructions concerning the priests and Levites had been given, and the things pertaining to the roles they were to fill and the provision made for their welfare, the Spirit of God gave the procedures to follow to cleanse the common people. Uncleanness and defilement are common to working in the world and in public situations. The defilement that comes from living in the world cannot be allowed in the holy things of God. Intentionally or unintentionally, we are all going to have experiences in life that pollute us in one way or another. The symbolic cleansing by the offering of the red heifer teaches us about the actual cleansing by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ that meets our needs as we travel through this defiling world on our way to heaven.
That uniquely colored heifer speaks to us of the moral purity of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was spotless in His Person having never borne the yoke of sin. There were no scars of laboring because of sin on His shoulders because of being in the service of the world's system. No trace of sin was on Him. The type of the red heifer also indicates the moral purities in Him. There was no sin on Him, and "in Him was no sin." "He did no sin" even though He passed this sinful world. There was nothing in the world that attracted Him to be like it. The world was not attracted to Him because internally and externally He was perfect and that condemned those who were of the world. His perfections revealed the sinfulness of all around Him.
The text of scripture in this account is very precise. That defies the criticism of those who try to adapt biblical truth and spiritual principles to their own human point of view. The doctrine of complete redemption through the sacrifice of Christ only, is carefully explained, even in this type, so that we do not lower the value of Christ in any way. In the ritual sacrifice of the red heifer that was killed personally by Eleazar the priest, both the priest and the victim are types of the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It was not the priestly work of our Lord Jesus Christ when He died on the cross on earth. That was His sacrificial work on our behalf when "He suffered without the gate." We have been sanctified by His precious blood. The blood of Christ that washed our sins away once and forever, is greater than any of the types that point to that work He accomplished. In the same way Christ suffered without the gate of Judaism, it is applicable to those who "go forth" to Him today, outside the man-made religious systems of the world to identify with the rejected Jesus. The world didn't tolerate Him when He was here, and there is no reason to think the world will tolerate those who obey Him today. To "go forth unto Him" means our heart is separated from the world and its systems. We will find ourselves in an outside, despised place. "Without the camp" involves separation of life. Those who go to where he is, have no acceptance by those who love the world and the things that are in the world.
The red heifer being led outside the camp by the priest is a type of Christ when He was led "to the place which is called Calvary." What happened to the heifer typifies the complete putting away of sin and separation from the sinful world and the judgment that will come. Now the shadows have passed. Sin has been purged once for all. It never has to be repeated to meet any individual's need. Because of that finished work, our conscience has been purged. There is no need to go back over the sins of life and wonder if what Christ did enough. Life is changed when the sin question is settled. His death put away our sin. He died that He "might deliver us from this present evil world." Changed people are made pure in the sight of the holy God because of the perfections of the sacrifice. We have been "cleansed from all sin."
Eleazar, the priest, sprinkled the blood of the red heifer seven times (completion) before God. The earthly priest put cedar, hyssop and red wool into the same fire that burned the red heifer completely. Cedar can speak to us of the deity of Christ as the Son of God. Hyssop reminds us of His humanity as the Son of Man. The scarlet speaks of His royalty as the King. When we look at the sacrifice of the red heifer, many things about the Lord are given in type. Those same things that were burned with the red heifer remind us that the world of our nature, big or small things, along with the glory of man, has been done away with when we were "crucified with Christ." The cross separates us from all that is in the world.
The earthly priest had to be cleansed, but our divine Priest has finished the work of redemption forever, and has "sat down" in perpetuity at the right hand of God. The blood of the atonement had been presented to God, and has been accepted by God. The power of the blood and the sacrifice of Christ has satisfied God because of the Person and work of the Lord. The value of the sacrifice is not up to us to establish by what we feel, think, understand or appreciate. My grasp of what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross doesn't affect its value for me. We simply rest on that finished work that "cleanseth us from all sin."
The ashes of the red heifer were kept and when needed by people for cleansing from defilement by man's last enemy - death, it was there for a person to claim for himself. In a practical sense that applies to us today, the finished work of Christ makes our prayers and praises accepted when we are cleansed by the washing of the water by the Word. When we are committed to holiness and we refuse to do what we know is not the mind and will of God, the value of His work and Person means a lot to us. The cleansing effect of the work of Christ makes us face our sin first. Then it brings to our memory that which has met the need defilement has caused - the death of Christ. "The blood of Jesus Christ" has made this provision.
Those ashes of the red heifer were kept that the children of Israel would remember the goodness of God and the hatefulness of sin. Before I can come along side to help another failing believer, I must have enjoyed the cleansing power of Christ myself. That cleanses me from every defilement that contact with sin brings.
Numbers 19: 2. “This the ordinance of the law which the Lord hath commanded, saying, ‘Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke.’”
WITHOUT SPOT. A general offering is to be made. An unclean person could not approach God because he had touched a dead body. This was the strongest of all defilements because death is the final result of sin. A special sacrifice was required – a red heifer – offered by one who was not defiled.
The animal was unique. It was to be a heifer in contrast to the bulls that were used in Egypt. It was to be a red heifer in contrast to the red bulls used in Egypt that were sacrificed to appease the evil demon god. It was to be a red heifer without spot. There was to be no mixture of any other color. Every hair was to be red. It was to be a red heifer, without spot and without blemish. There was to be no imperfection on or in this animal. It was to be a red heifer, without spot, without blemish and which had never borne a yoke. It had never been used for any other common purpose.
The animal was killed outside the camp; some of its blood was sprinkled toward the front of the tabernacle and it was completely burned in the sight of the priest. Into the burning animal was thrown cedar wood, hyssop and the scarlet dye made from the scarlet worm. The ashes were gathered up and kept in a special, clean place to be mixed with water for ceremonial cleansing of one who had touched a dead body.
This is symbolic teaching foreshadowing Him who calls us to Himself “without the gate (camp).” This illustration of Christ is what He is in Himself, in contrast to the heifer in Genesis 15 that symbolizes what Christ is to the Father. The only other place in scripture where “blemish” and “spot” are found together, is in 1Peter 1:19 concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. In 1st Peter the subject is His Person. Here in Numbers the subject is His Purity. The whole animal is to be burned – a type of Jesus who is the “whole burnt offering.”
Cedar wood that is added, a long lasting, naturally scented wood, is a type of the Deity of Christ – Jesus is the Son of God. The hyssop that was added, a common plant found growing nearby, is a type of the Humanity of Christ – Jesus is the Son of Man. The scarlet that was added to the fire, a scarlet worm that was used to dye garments, is a type of the Royalty of Christ – Jesus is the “King of the Jews”; “the “King of Glory.”
The “water of separation” is a reference to the cleansing of believers by the Word of God [Ps.119:9; Ep.5:26; Ti.3:5]. The ashes refer to the finished work of Christ; there is nothing able to cleanse us from our sin except the Person and work of Christ that has been revealed to us through the Word of God. There is a daily cleansing from defilement all around us (dead bodies) and we need to apply this personally. There is the cleansing once for all (statute for ever) and the ashes indicates one has been cleansed and is accepted by God [Heb.9:12; 10:12].
“I know, O Righteous God, that the One whose blood cleanses from all sin, is the full and sufficient Sacrifice. I thank Thee for the One who suffered without the gate, and I have gone forth to Him gladly. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.”