A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 19 (Part 1)

The ordinance of the Red Heifer

Numbers 19:1-10—1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 "This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying: 'Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never come. 3 You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, that he may take it outside the camp, and it shall be slaughtered before him; 4 and Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of its blood seven times directly in front of the tabernacle of meeting. 5 Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight: its hide, its flesh, its blood, and its offal shall be burned. 6 And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet, and cast them into the midst of the fire burning the heifer. 7 Then the priest shall wash his clothes, he shall bathe in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp; the priest shall be unclean until evening. 8 And the one who burns it shall wash his clothes in water, bathe in water, and shall be unclean until evening. 9 Then a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and store them outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for the water of purification; it is for purifying from sin. 10 And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening. It shall be a statute forever to the children of Israel and to the stranger who dwells among them. 

The ordinance of the red heifer has come up frequently in the news lately, as the Jews have been diligently searching for a suitable one for years, even going so far as to import several from Texas into Jerusalem so they may begin the process of building the Third Temple. And every time they have gotten close to finding one, they notice one little flaw that excludes it from being qualified. “What is a heifer, anyway?” Simply put, a heifer is a female cow that has not yet given birth. The red heifer prescribed here would not be red as in scarlet, but rather a brownish-red color. And it had to be without blemish “What would be a blemish?” Even something as simple as two white hairs growing next to each other or a total of three white hairs growing anywhere on the cattle would be enough to disqualify it. Any kind of eruption in the skin or eyes or any sickness would also disqualify it. And there are many Jews who are scouring the world looking for this elusive perfect beast without blemish. So what would happen if they did find one? Well, that’s where things get complicated. 

If they did find a perfect red heifer (אֲדֻמָּה פָרָה, para adumah) without spot or blemish, the calls would immediately go out to begin working on the Third Temple in Jerusalem. And that would cause a great controversy, and possibly even widespread war in the Middle East. You see, the Jews would want to build this temple atop Mount Moriah, where Abraham took Isaac to sacrifice him (Genesis 22:1-14). And the Muslim Al-Aqsa Mosque (also known as the Dome of the Rock) sits there now, as a Muslim holy site, and the surrounding Muslim nations would not be happy if Israel razed it to build their Jewish temple. One can only imagine what would happen as a result of this. All the Muslim nations would not cease to attack Israel. Even Muslims living in other countries would attack individual Jews simply for being Jewish. It would be chaos around the globe, simply because someone found a cow. But we will not speculate at this time, but rather simply study the text. 

By reading the text, we can see how diligent must the priests have been to find a specimen that would fulfill all the requirements. This, as all of the priestly work, was no easy task, as they had to examine every little inch of any candidate. If they found two or three white or black hairs; if they found a speck in its eye, if a yoke had even been placed on it; if there was anything whatsoever that made it not perfect, it was not perfect. Period! The Jewish scholar Maimonides said that between the time of the giving of Torah until the destruction of the Second Temple, only nine red heifers were used. This does not necessarily mean that only nine have ever existed, but that only nine were ever used:

 

Nine red heifers were offered from the time that they were commanded to fulfill this mitzvah until the time when the Temple was destroyed a second time. The first was brought by Moses, our teacher. The second was brought by Ezra. Seven others were offered until the destruction of the Second Temple. And the tenth will be brought by the King Moshiach (Messiah); may he speedily be revealed. Amen, so may it be God’s will. (Maimonides, “Laws of Parah Adumah”) 

If only he realized that King Moshiach has already come! Hebrews 9:13-14—13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 

“Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never come.” Not only was this heifer to be a perfect specimen physically, but it could not have been used for common work. Again, separating the holy from the profane. If it had worn a yoke that would have made it a common specimen of cattle, and could not have been used for holy purposes. Just as the Levites were set apart from their brethren to perform the holy duties of the Tabernacle, and just as the requirements of clean and unclean animals and the prohibition against wearing mixed fabrics were also pointing to the people being separate from the surrounding nations, so this red heifer was set apart to be used for purifying. And since nothing impure can make anything pure, this animal had to be pure. Which is why God lays out these specific rules for this beast. 

“3 You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, that he may take it outside the camp, and it shall be slaughtered before him; 4 Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of its blood seven times directly in front of the tabernacle of meeting.” What would happen was Eleazar would take the animal outside the camp, along with the other priests, and they would slay it before Eleazar. The High Priest was not to slay it, but rather it was to be slain in front of him. He would simply be there to supervise. The blood was to be sprinkled seven times in front of the Tabernacle as a reminder for the priests that they were also sinners, and they needed to be cleansed before they could cleanse others (see Leviticus 8-10). That before they entered into the Holy Place, they would be reminded that they must be pure and undefiled. And that if they were not, their life would be the penalty they paid. And if that penalty were not paid, and the priest was not atoned for, he could not enter the presence of God. 

“Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight: its hide, its flesh, its blood, and its offal shall be burned.” The priests would burn the whole thing. It was not to be cut up, it was not to be apportioned. It was not even to be washed. Think about that. An animal that was to be used for purifying was not to be washed. But it was not the animal itself but rather the ashes of the burned carcass were to be purified with running water, which we will see later. But here we see another foreshadowing of Christ: slain outside the city of Jerusalem, in the sight of God the Father, and the wrath of God coming down like fire from Heaven and consuming His Son. Especially when we join these words to the next verse, in which God instructs Moses that Eleazar shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet, and cast them into the midst of the fire burning the heifer. To miss the Cross in this verse is to miss everything. For what is added to the fire? Wood and hyssop and scarlet. The wood of course is the Cross, the scarlet represents Christ’s blood. But what about the hyssop? John 19:29—Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So we have the slaughtered animal (Christ), the fire (God’s wrath), the wood (Cross), the scarlet (Christ’s blood) and the hyssop (the vinegar given to Christ). Luke 24:27—And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. Galatians 3:24—Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Again I say, the Law points to Christ! 

7 “Then the priest shall wash his clothes, he shall bathe in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp; the priest shall be unclean until evening. 8 And the one who burns it shall wash his clothes in water, bathe in water, and shall be unclean until evening.” In gathering up the ashes of the heifer, the priests were in fact handling the products of death, which defiled them. Therefore they would be unclean until the evening. If the Law said that touching anything dead made the person unclean, how much more will we, touching anything sinful—we being a holy priesthood—become unclean? Let us, rather, abstain from the death that comes from sin, that we may remain clean in God’s sight, being always ready to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1st Peter 2:5). For if we are in Christ we are holy—that word “holy” (Hebrew קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh), Greek ἅγιος (hagios)) meaning set apart, sanctified, consecrated to God. Think about that! If you belong to Christ, you have been set apart to the God of all Creation, you belong to Him, you are His, and He will guard you and protect you. He will safeguard you through this life, even if you do stumble into sin, and keep you in His mighty hand because of the sacrifice of our great Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! 

Guide me, O my great Redeemer,/pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but you are mighty;/hold me with your powerful hand.
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven,/feed me now and evermore,
Feed me now and evermore.

(“Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” by William Williams) 

9 “Then a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and store them outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for the water of purification; it is for purifying from sin. 10 And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening. It shall be a statute forever to the children of Israel and to the stranger who dwells among them.” Look at the first part of the text. “Then a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and store them outside the camp in a clean place.” It speaks of a man who is clean taking up the remains of the sacrifice and putting them in a clean place, one which has not been touched by anything dead. Luke 23:50-53—50 Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man. 51 He had not consented to their decision and deed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God. 52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. The man taking up the ashes of the red heifer were a type of Joseph of Arimathea taking up the body of the perfect sacrifice for sin and laying it in a new tomb. “And they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for the water of purification; it is for purifying from sin.” Which is a picture of how Jesus now sits in the holiest of temples, seated at the right hand of God, ever living to purify us from sin and to keep us holy who love and worship Him! 

Now, let’s think about the last part of this passage, where God says that “It shall be a statute forever to the children of Israel and to the stranger who dwells among them.” It says many times in the Law that certain aspects and commands in the Law will be “a statute forever”. Does this mean that we are to keep these statutes forever, and if so, if we do not conform to these statutes, are we then cut off from God? God forbid! Remember two things about these statutes: (1) these were made to the people of Israel at a certain time, and (2) this was the Old Covenant, which the people forsook, which God overlooked for a time, but finally made a New Covenant for all His people, both Jew and Gentile—not only the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—but as it is written, "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious" (Isaiah 11:10). The Apostle Paul echoed this sentiment when he said 6 But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, 7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, "In Isaac your seed shall be called." 8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed (Romans 9:6-8). The New Covenant has indeed been made with Israel—not Israel of the flesh, but the Israel of faith.

Part 2 next week

 

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen. 

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 5 (Part 2)

Finally, the third group, those who had become defiled because of a corpse. (Numbers 5:2). In Mark 5:35-41 (also Matthew 9:23-36 and Luke 8:49-55) we read about a young girl who was dead that Jesus brought back to like. Mark 5:35-41—35 While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house who said, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?" 36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not be afraid; only believe." 37 And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. 38 Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly. 39 When He came in, He said to them, "Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping." 40 And they ridiculed Him. But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying. 41 Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, "Talitha, cumi," which is translated, "Little girl, I say to you, arise." 42 Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age. And they were overcome with great amazement.

She was dead and Jesus touched her. He touched a corpse, which should have made Him unclean, right? Think back to 1^st Kings 17 when Elijah takes a dead boy in his arms and brings him back to life. 1st Kings 17:18-22—18 So she said to Elijah, "What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?" 19 And he said to her, "Give me your son." So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. 20 Then he cried out to the LORD and said, "O LORD my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?" 21 And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the LORD and said, "O LORD my God, I pray, let this child's soul come back to him." 22 Then the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived. Elijah touched a corpse, making him unclean, no? Then we have 2^nd Kings 4, when Elisha revives a boy who had died. What did he do? 2nd Kings 4:32-35—32 When Elisha came into the house, there was the child, lying dead on his bed. 33 He went in therefore, shut the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the LORD. 34 And he went up and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands; and he stretched himself out on the child, and the flesh of the child became warm. 35 He returned and walked back and forth in the house, and again went up and stretched himself out on him; then the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. Here we see prophets touching a dead body and not becoming defiled. But why? The Law says that anyone touching a dead body becomes defiled. So according to the Law, these must have remained isolated until sundown. But they didn’t. And here is why:

Elijah, Elisha and Jesus were prophets. They had the Spirit of God upon them to do the work of God. They were not touching these bodies to bury them, which would have been the natural thing to do. They were bringing these bodies back to life to show the power of God and to prove themselves to be prophets. This is why when Paul raised Eutychus in Acts 20:9 he does not become unclean, first because the Law had been done away with, second because he was doing the work of God, showing signs and wonders that God was working in the Gentiles and that they too would be among the people of God.

Another person we need to consider from the Gospels is Joseph of Arimathea. Matthew 27:57-60—57 Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. 58 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. 59 When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed. Of all the commentaries I have read about this passage, none of them talks about How Joseph of Arimathea would have been defiled by handling a corpse. Numbers 19:11—He who touches the dead body of anyone shall be unclean seven days. He had to have known this. Mark 15:43 calls him a prominent member of the Council. The Sanhedrin. So he would have known that touching Jesus’ dead body would have caused him to be unclean for seven days.

So why would he do it? Very simple, really. Because he knew that Jesus was setting him free from the Law he had so devoutly followed all his life. It says in Luke 23:51 that he was waiting for the Kingdom of God. He knew that this was no ordinary man, that this was the Son of God, that, as Jesus said, He would rise again the third day, that it was not the Law that brought life, but faith in Jesus. And He had to be buried, as His last act of obedience, before sundown, so He would not defile the Passover.

Deuteronomy 21:23—His body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God. Do we ever think about Jesus being accursed by God? But He was. The ever obedient Son of God was cursed by God. There are so many Scriptures that tell us this. So many texts in the Bible tell us that He became a curse for us. Isaiah 53:4-5, 10—4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed…Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him. Galatians 3:13—Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"). Then of course 2nd Corinthians 5:21—For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Now Joseph of Arimathaea did not have these last two verses in his Bible, having only what we call the Old Testament. Yet he took this curse down from the tree, wrapped it up and laid it in his tomb. And was therefore defiled, having touched a corpse.

Yet he was not defiled after Christ rose on the third day. In talking about one who had been defiled by a corpse, listen to what it says in Numbers 19:12—He shall purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean. When did Christ rise from that tomb? The third day. So Joseph would not have had to purify himself anymore, as Christ cleansed him on that third day. By His stripes we are healed.

So the leper, the one with a discharge, the one who is defiled by a corpse is made clean by faith in Christ. But what if one is not willing to be made clean? What if there is one in the church that wants to keep sinning? Those are the ones we put outside the church. Numbers 5:3— “you shall put them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camps in the midst of which I dwell”. What do we do with one whom we find out is committing some sin? Do we just say “Oh, you’re committing this sin, we’re going to kick you out!” Do we berate them for being so weak and fleshly? God forbid! We do not simply cast them out; we plead with them and exhort them to repent of their sin, that they may repent of their sin and ask Christ for forgiveness. Matthew 18:15-17—15 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.' 17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.” Do we forget to do this sometimes? We hear of a brother or sister who is sinning, and instead of going to them and pleading with them to repent, we simply shun them, or berate them, or speak to them snidely. We may gossip about them, we may ignore their phone calls or texts or emails. What good does that do? For us, the person, or the church? What does it do for God’s name? What does it show the world who does not know Christ? All it does is lend credence to the old saying, that “the church is the only army that shoots its wounded”. So we could actually say more accurately, do we neglect to do this? Because it is a hard thing to do, and can be quite messy. But it is something that needs to be done to keep the church as pure as can be.

On the contrary, we must forgive the one who sins. Because, guess what? You’re no better! Ephesians 4:32—And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Let those last five words sink in, God in Christ forgave you. Forgave you of what? Of your sins. And yes, however how highly you think of yourself, it is far, far too high. Christ calls Himself the Son of Man. And what does He say in the Psalms? Psalm 22:6—But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people. If the Son of Man thought Himself a worm, how dare we think we are any better? How about it, are you better than your Savior? How dare we not forgive others?  What has someone done to you that is worse than what they did to our Lord? Charles Spurgeon said this when preaching on Ephesians 4:32—

…it should make our eyes fill with tears to think how we have grieved our God, and vexed his Spirit. Some of us have had so much manifest forgiveness, so much outward sin forgiven, that for us to forgive ought to be as natural as to open our hands. After such forgiveness as the Lord has bestowed on some of us, we should be wicked servants indeed if we were to take our brother by the throat and say, “Pay me what thou owest.” We should deserve to be given over to the tormentors by our angry Master if we did not count it joy to pass by a brother’s fault.

You may say “well, what if one does not repent of the sin they are in?” We’re getting there. We don’t put someone outside because of any physical abnormalities. Being a leper or having an issue of blood does not make someone unclean. Even now, a sin does not put us outside the love of Christ. Constant, habitual sin is a different story. That must be dealt with. Why? Simple. Numbers 5:3—that they may not defile their camps, in the midst of which I dwell. It’s why Paul wrote his first letter to the Church at Corinth. Because there was so much sin going on there that he had to correct it. Why did he have to correct them? God is love, right? He doesn’t care about our sins, He just wants us to be happy. Wrong. God is love, yes, but God is also a God of Justice and a God of Wrath. He does not want—first of all—ANY sin in His church, and He will not abide having constant, habitual sin running rampant through His church. He has told us what to do with such people. 1st Corinthians 5:11-13— 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner --- not even to eat with such a person. 12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore "put away from yourselves the evil person." You can have friends who are not Christian. You can go over to their house for dinner. You can have them at your house. But one who is called a brother in Christ—do not eat with them. Why? To show that this person is not walking in a way that is worthy of them being called a brother in Christ. It has to do with church discipline, something that seems to be lacking in today’s churches.

And it is for that reason that many outsiders look at the church with disdain, and even mockery. Think about Christ’s example. Yes, He ate with sinners and tax collectors and harlots. That was the knock against Him from the Pharisees. However, did He say that it was okay for them to remain that way? No. He preached repentance from sin. Those sinners and tax collectors came to Him, ate with Him, and repented of their sins. But the Corinthians, they didn’t see anything wrong with having dinner with a known sinner. And they did not beg for him to repent. That was the problem. That was what Paul was addressing here. Their acceptance of sin in the church. David Guzik says this of this passage in 1^st Corinthians—

In the culture of that day (and in many cultures today), eating with someone is an expression of friendship and partnership. In some cultures, if a man eats at your table, you are bound to regard him as a friend and a partner. Paul warns the Corinthian Christians they cannot continue in Christian fellowship with a notorious sinner who calls himself a Christian.

A local body of believers is where sheep go to get fed. It is not to entertain goats. Because, like they say, “what you win them with is what you win them to.” If you win them with lasers and smoke machines and man-centered preaching, you will have to keep them by using bigger and better lasers and smoke machines and man-centered preaching. But here’s the thing: if they come back because of the lasers and smoke machines or man-centered preaching—and not because of Christ and His work of forgiveness—did they really even change? Or were they just entertained? See John 6:26. There aren’t a lot of songs out there about church discipline, because it’s not a pleasant subject. But in order to keep God’s name from becoming defiled, it must happen.

Part 3 next week

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.