Numbers 19.
The God of Israel was a holy God, who could not tolerate defilement on His people, but who, in goodness, provided the means for the cleansing of the unclean. From Leviticus 11 we learn that God's people could become unclean through contact with unclean animals, and their garments had to be washed before they could be regarded as clean in the sight of Jehovah. There were many sources of defilement, both from within and without, and the detailed instructions that God gave show his great concern in regard to purity and holiness. He could not dwell in the midst of those who were defiled; they had to understand that "holiness becometh Thy house O Lord for ever."
From these instructions it is not difficult for us to learn that, if God demanded purification from fleshly defilement in His earthly people, He will have true holiness in His heavenly people. We cannot approach God in communion or worship if we are defiled in our spirits or consciences. As Christians we have no more conscience of sins; by the blood of Jesus we have been sprinkled as to our hearts from an evil conscience, but in our practical life we are to perfect holiness in the fear of God, and before this can be done we must purify "Ourselves from every pollution of flesh and spirit" (2 Cor. 7:1).
On the day of atonement the blood of bulls and goats was shed, which typified what Christ would accomplish for the securing of God's glory in relation to sin and for the blessing of His people. Such sacrifices could never take away sin, but they pointed forward to the one perfect offering that enabled God to have before Him a company of worshippers, purified in conscience, with boldness to enter His presence. Because of the infinite value of Christ's work on the cross the believer stands before God as "Sanctified," and "Perfected for ever." Nothing can set aside, or interfere in any way with, the believer's standing before God through the sacrifice of Christ; but there is another matter of great importance — the maintenance of holiness as we pass through this world.
God has not only provided for us a perfect standing before Him through Christ's death, but also the means for our being maintained in communion with Him. Should our communion be interrupted by sin, "We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous," who brings the matter before us, laying it upon the conscience, so that we may be led to confession, which brings forgiveness and cleansing. It is with this subject that the "Red Heifer" is connected. God would have us learn the great truths foreshadowed in "The Day of Atonement," and those of the "Ashes of the purification offering."
On the day of atonement the principal sin-offering was a bullock; the purification-offering was a heifer. In Scripture, the male often relates to the position that is in view, whereas the female depicts the state. Our standing before God is in the efficacy of the precious blood of Jesus, the true sin offering, which has met all the righteous claims of God's throne, and satisfied His holiness. This was typified in the sprinkling of the blood of the bullock, once on the mercy-seat, and seven times before it. When our walk is in question, defilement contracted must be cleansed by what answers to the sprinkling of the water of separation procured from the ashes of the red heifer.
The colour of the heifer was clearly specified, and as this was the only offering where this was done, it is of special significance. In Isaiah 63:2, the garments of the Lord are red. It is a scene of judgment, where the Lord is pouring out his righteous indignation upon Edom for all their pitiless acts against Israel. The heifer is red: it is chosen as the victim upon which, in figure, the unsparing judgment of God was to be poured out. In no other way could God provide the means for the cleansing of His saints in their passage through this world of unholiness and impurity.
Of the red heifer Jehovah demanded that it should be "Without blemish, wherein is no defect, and upon which yoke never came." These three features signify the perfections of Jesus. There was no blemish in Him; no charge could be brought against the holy Son of God, who was without blame, who was "Justified in the Spirit," and who offered Himself "Without spot to God." He challenged His inveterate enemies with these words, "Which of you convinceth me of sin?" How gladly would they have done so had they been able. When they brought Him before Pilate, he was compelled to proclaim His innocence. What delight the Father had in Him who never for a moment deviated from the path of implicit obedience to His will. He was the only Man who could ever say, "I do always those things that please Him" (John 8:29), and as in spirit in Psalm 16, "I have set the LORD always before me."
Moreover, there was no defect in Him; His was a holy, sinless nature that ever responded perfectly to the word of God. Before His advent into the world, the angel spoke of Him to Mary saying, "That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God"; and the Spirit of God has recorded concerning Him that "He has been manifested that He might take away our sins; and in Him sin is not" (1 John 3:5). All the inward springs of His holy nature found delight in God's holy will; His desires, feelings, thoughts, judgments and movements all answered to God's mind.
Every other man had come under the yoke of sin, but sin never entered His holy nature, or ruled over Him. Satan was able to get a point of attack against others, but the Lord could say, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." Sin had no claim on Him, nor had it power over Him. Had it not been so, the believer never could have been freed from the bondage of sin (Romans 6:14-20). Although there is sin in the nature we have derived from Adam, and we shall not be rid of it until we leave this world, either at the coming of the Lord or as being called home to His presence, we are not under sin's dominion: as having died with Christ we have been freed from its yoke. Christ was the only one who could answer to the divine requirement, "Upon which yoke never came."
Eleazer the priest was to bring the heifer outside the camp, and it was to be slaughtered "Before his face," but not by himself. Christ's priestly work did not properly commence until He took His place on high, after His sacrificial work was ended; even as is written, "If He were on earth, He should not be a priest" (Heb. 8:4). Nevertheless, Eleazer brings the victim outside the camp to the place of slaughter, and as it was slaughtered before him we are to learn that the priest is intimately connected with all that transpires, for in the antitype, the victim and the priest are one. As bringing the heifer outside the camp, Eleazer takes the part of the offerer, reminding us of the Scripture already quoted, "Christ who through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God" (Heb. 9:14).
Death having taken place, the priest acts, sprinkling with his finger the blood that has been shed. In this ceremony, the blood was sprinkled seven times before the tent of meeting, which indicates that the only way of approach to God is through the blood of the One who was slain outside the camp. As we pass through this world of defilement, God would have us ever to realise that His relations with us depend upon the work of the cross. His claims have been met by the precious blood of Christ, and only in virtue of that precious blood can God, who is infinitely holy, go on with us as we journey through the wilderness to His rest.
It was only once a year, on the Day of Atonement, that blood was sprinkled in the holiest. If the anointed priest, or the whole congregation, sinned, the blood of the sin offering was sprinkled in the holy place, before the veil. This was necessary for the restoration of the communion that the sin had interrupted; but God's relations with His people were not broken even if communion had been: His relations with Israel rested on the blood sprinkled year by year on the mercy seat, and before it. The blood of the red heifer did not even go into the holy place, for it was not our approach as worshippers that is there in question, but rather our dealings with God in our walk day by day.
Neither the slaughter, nor the burning of the heifer, is a priestly action; but both are in the sight of the priest. All: its skin, its flesh, its dung and its blood, were reduced to ashes in the burning. The judgment of the cross which Christ endured was a consuming judgment, and nothing less than this could have provided the means for cleansing the saints of God from the defilement of this world through which they pass. This should enable us to realise in some feeble way the awfulness of defilement in the sight of God.
Into the midst of the burning of the heifer the priest cast cedar-wood, hyssop and scarlet. When the leper was cleansed these same three things were dipped in the blood of the bird that was slain. The cedar in Scripture is the greatest of trees, and the hyssop a plant of little intrinsic value; indeed, they appear to be regarded as the extremes of nature, for Solomon "Spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall" (1 Kings 4:33). Scarlet, in which Saul clothed the daughters of Israel, speaks to us of the glory of the world: in mockery, the soldiers of the governor clothed the Lord Jesus with a scarlet robe.
We therefore learn from this burning that all the things of this world, from what is of great value in the eyes of men to that which is of little account, together with all the glory of the world, have gone from before God's eye in the judgment of the cross. Paul had the truth of the burning of the red heifer in his soul when he wrote, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I unto the world" (Gal. 6:14). All the things in which the man of this world finds his life and pleasure will come to an end; but faith views them as already gone in the cross of Christ. Are we attracted by the world and its glory, or do we see it all as reduced to ashes in the death of Christ? The blood on the cedar, hyssop and scarlet, when the leper was cleansed, teaches us that the world and all connected with it is stained with the blood of Him they crucified and slew.
The ashes, gathered by a clean man, were to be laid up in a clean place outside the camp. Is not the Spirit of God emphasising that all who have to do with the things of God must be clean? No service of any kind in divine things can be taken up lightly: we must ever keep in mind that our God is a holy God, and will have all His servants to take character from Himself. If God calls upon any of His people to touch the ashes — the means He has provided for restoring to communion those who have become defiled — they must themselves be clean. Even if we engage in prayer publicly, it is to be with the lifting up of "Holy hands." Those whose lives are not pure, or who have in any way become defiled, should not even engage publicly in prayer until there has been the removal of what has defiled.
All who were engaged in this work of purification required to be cleansed, for we cannot have to do with sin in any way without feeling its defiling influence upon the spirit. Even those who were least engaged, the man who gathered the ashes, and the man who sprinkled the ashes (verses 10, 21), required to wash their garments and were unclean until the evening. We must be free from every trace of contact with sin, even in others, before we can have communion with God, or serve in His holy things. The priest, and the man who burned the heifer, were most deeply involved in the service of preparing the water of separation, therefore they were not only to wash their clothes, but to bathe their flesh in water.
Eleazer, whose normal service was in the tabernacle, brought the heifer outside the camp to be slain and burned; after cleansing he was to come into the camp. God's holiness demands that those who are nearest to Him must have the utmost regard for the maintenance of purity: the slightest defilement on a priest could not be tolerated in the camp of Israel. The more deeply we are engaged with the service of restoration, the greater is the need for feeling the cleansing and refreshing influence of the word of God in our own souls. God has called us to holiness: Peter tells us that we are "A spiritual house, an holy priesthood … a royal priesthood, an holy nation" (1 Peter 2:5, 9); while Paul exhorts us to perfect "Holiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor. 7:1).
In the Epistle to the Hebrews the ashes of the Red Heifer are referred to along with the in offerings of the Day of Atonement:: "For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (9:13-14). The sprinkling of the water of separation had to do with a particular kind of purification, even from the defilement of contact with death. There were special ceremonies for the cleansing of the leper, and for the purification of a woman who had borne a child; these required blood sacrifices, as did also the Nazarite when the days of his separation were fulfilled. Some forms of uncleanness could only be removed by a trespass offering; where self-will manifested itself in the things of God there was neither sacrifice nor cleansing, the sinner was cut off (see Lev. 5:2-3; Lev. 7:20-21; Lev. 22:3).
Even if a man touched the carcase of a clean animal that had died, he was unclean until the evening (Lev. 11:39). It is one of the exceptional cases where cleansing of some kind was not demanded. Another exception is that mentioned in Leviticus 15:11, "And whomsoever he toucheth who hath the flux and hath not rinsed his hands in water he shall wash his garments, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the even." In the former case, the animal was "Clean," and in the latter the hands were clean. The washing of garments and the bathing of the flesh do not require the help of another; the sprinkling of the water of separation demanded the service of "A clean person"; the cleansing of the leper, and the other ceremonies which had a sacrifice, required the service of a priest.
How often we need to wash our garments! Our habits are so easily defiled, it may be almost imperceptibly, through contact day by day with a defiling world. It may be, as in this type, that our garments require to be washed through contact with sin in those we have been endeavouring to help. Has not the apostle Jude this in mind where he writes, "And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh?" When we are more deeply involved with sin, so that the spirit is defiled, it is essential that we have the purification that answers to the bathing of the flesh in water.
When the apostle Paul wrote to the saints at Corinth the first time, he emphasised in the first chapter of his epistle the truth of the cross. Naturally, the Corinthians thought very highly of "The wisdom of the world." To them it was the scarlet, that which was so highly prized by men, but which was reduced to ashes in the burning of the Red Heifer. The apostle tells us in this chapter that "The Greeks seek after wisdom," and that God had said, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to naught the understanding of the prudent." Was it not in the cross that God destroyed the wisdom of the wise? It is the preaching of the cross that God uses to bring salvation to those who believe; and this preaching exposes the vaunted wisdom of men to be but ashes.
The cedars of Lebanon were excellent, mighty and noble; and are we not reminded of them in those great men of the world of whom the apostle says; "For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble (are called)?" And do not "The weak things of the world … and base things of the world, and the things which are despised" remind us of the hyssop, which was of little or no value in this world? Few of the great have been divinely chosen, but there are many of the weak; what characterises them as men in the flesh has gone in the cross of Christ, even as it is written in Romans 6:6, "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with (Him)," Paul, though one of the called, viewed himself in relation to what he was as in the flesh. with all his many distinctions, as "Crucified with Christ."
In our chapter we have the special case which required the sprinkling of the water of separation — where defilement had come through touching "The dead body of any man." Num. 19:11. Some details are given in Num. 19:14-16, "This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent … and whomsoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days." As we have already noticed, there are different means used for purifying the unclean: the sprinkling of the ashes of the Red Heifer is confined to defilement contracted by contact with the dead:
We learn from the words of the Lord Jesus what contact with the dead means. When Jesus called a certain man to follow Him, he answered, "Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father": but Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:59-60). Man. in his natural estate, without divine life in his soul, is" Dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1). Those who are called of the Lord are to be engaged with the things of God, and are not to be defiled with the associations of the men of this world, even if they embrace those who are nearest to us in natural ties. This does not mean that we are to renounce natural relationships, which have been formed by God. Into these we are to bring the grace of Christ; but they are not to be allowed to hinder us in the path of God's will. Nor are we forbidden to keep company with the men of this world, "For then," says Paul, "ye must needs go out of the world." Our call from God, "Unto the fellowship of His Son," has put us outside all the voluntary associations of the men of this world.
There are different kinds of associations in which the men of the world are bound together, religious, cultural, intellectual, social, political, and many others: the Christian's place is outside of them all. The tent may refer more to the gatherings of men for social, religious and such purposes. Do we not have an illustration of this in Sardis, to which the Lord says, "Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead?" (Rev. 3:1). This church portrays Protestantism after it had lost the spiritual power that marked it at the time of the Reformation, and although it had the outward marks of fidelity, it was possessed of a cold, lifeless formalism in which there was so little for Christ that He speaks of it as dead.
Spite of the state of the church as a whole, the Lord can say, "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy." Are not these faithful few like the covered vessels in the tent? In Numbers 19:15 it is written, "Every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean." Does not this suppose that there were covered vessels which Jehovah viewed as clean? Those who have received light from God cannot associate with the religious systems of Protestantism today; but it behoves us to be careful what we say of God's saints in it. If we went there it would be to defile our garments; but there are "A few" whom the Lord can view as being undefiled, though of Sardis.
Another illustration of this matter is found in 2 Timothy 2, where the apostle Paul likens the great profession of Christendom to "A great house," where "There are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour." We cannot get out of the great house, else we should leave the Christian profession, but we can be separate from everything in it that would defile our garments. The individual who would be loyal to Christ is to purge himself from association with vessels of dishonour, which means separating from the circles where these vessels are. Having separated from such defiling associations, we are to "Follow righteousness, faith, love, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart." In calling upon the saints to purge themselves, the apostle is really sprinkling the water of separation.
If in the opening chapter of 1st Corinthians the apostle Paul engages the saints with what was cast into the burning of the Red Heifer, in 2nd Corinthians 6 he is again found sprinkling the water of separation, where he writes, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? … Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." This seems the answer to Numbers 19:18, "And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there." It may be that the 1st Epistle would answer to the sprinkling of the third day, and the 2nd Epistle to the sprinkling of the seventh day, spoken of in Numbers 19:19.
Paul was indeed "A clean person," faithful to the Lord and to His saints, and the meekness and lowliness of spirit that are pictured in the hyssop, which was used to sprinkle the water of separation, were much in evidence in him. Just before touching the subject of separation in 2 Corinthians 6, he speaks of himself "As unknown, and well known … as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and possessing all things."
The clean person is also spoken of in Galatians 6:1, where it is written, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness." But the spiritual was to take the hyssop and sprinkle the water of separation, for the spirit of meekness was enjoined. These two conditions are necessary, purity and the spirit of meekness, in the one who seeks to restore others, or his work is likely to be unfruitful.
Defilement is not to be treated lightly, and this is impressed upon us in the seven days that one defiled remained unclean. Nothing was done until the third day, then the first sprinkling of the water of separation took place. God would have the solemnity of defilement to come home to the conscience during the three days. This having been done, the work of purifying commences; and during the remaining four days, the exercise deepens in the soul towards full restoration, which is accomplished on the seventh day.
On the seventh day, there is first of all the second sprinkling of the water of separation, which completes the service of the clean person, then "On the seventh day, he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even." This is also found in 2nd Corinthians, for after Paul had sprinkled the water of separation in chapter 6, he writes in the beginning of chapter 7, "Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us purify ourselves from every pollution of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in God's fear." 2 Cor. 7:1. It is the same in 2nd Timothy 2, "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work." 2 Tim. 2:21.
"One that is slain with a sword in the open fields" brings to mind the words that were spoken by the Lord to Peter, "Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword" (Matt. 26:52). Here the Lord warns His own of the danger of adopting the weapons of the world. Such weapons are unworthy of Him whom we serve. But is there not also the danger of Christians becoming defiled by becoming members of political parties or of societies for the defence of something in this world? There are numerous defence associations: masters unite to protect their interests; craftsmen, like Demetrius the silversmith and his fellows (Acts 19) combine to safeguard their gains, and societies are formed for the protection of rights, children, animals, and many other things. The Christian is not to defile himself by touching such things.
The three cases which follow may indicate different degrees of contact with what pertains to the dead, but defilement results from all. One may plead that he has not been deeply involved in the associations of the world, he has not touched a dead body, but only a bone — just some little thing. Another might say that his contact with the things of the world was not intimate, it was as if he touched the place where the dead were laid. "A man … overtaken in a fault" (Gal. 6:1) might illustrate the defilement caused by touching a bone or a grave.
If an unclean person refused in self-will the divine provision that had been made for his cleansing, "That soul shall be cut off from among the congregation; because he hath defiled the sanctuary of Jehovah: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean" (ver. 20). Whether in Israel, or in Christianity, uncleanness cannot be tolerated where God's Name is owned. There are associations utterly inconsistent with the profession of Christianity, and one who continues in them has no claim to the fellowship of saints. One such association is referred to by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10, where he writes, "Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and the table of devils" (1 Cor. 10:21). If any in Corinth, or elsewhere, persisted in associating himself with the worship of the heathen temple, he forfeited the privileges of Christian fellowship.
How careful we should be regarding our associations. God has called us "Unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord," and this is the only fellowship that God owns. As members of the "One body" we have been brought into living union with every true Christian on earth, so that we might enjoy together the privileges and blessings that God has given us. These privileges can only be rightly enjoyed as we walk together in holiness, and in the light of the great truths that have been revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures.
Wm. C. Reid.