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NUMBERS 19The Water Of Purification For UncleannessMichael HatcherIntroductionThis chapter deals with the ordinance of the red heifer. It is the remedy for contact with a dead body. Apparently, God gave this rite toward the start of the period of wilderness wanderings. Death, except for limited cases, had been suspended prior to this time. Now death returns, "with frightful rigour to reign over a doomed generation. ...If only the older generation died off in the wilderness, this alone would yield nearly 100 victims every day, and by each of these a considerable number of the survivors must have been defiled." "The quality of religion is seen in its attitude toward death. ...What should be their attitude toward death and the dead?" This ordinance helps Israel to deal with their attitude and their purification from contact with them.1-10 Rite Of The Red HeiferVerses 1-2: Jehovah delivers this ordinance to Israel through Moses and Aaron. The Israelites (in some sense the whole people) were to bring a red heifer for sacrifice. "The sacrificial animal was not to be a bullock, as in the case of the ordinary sin-offerings of the congregation (Lev. 4:14), but a female, because the female sex is the bearer of life (Gen. 3:20)." Possibly the color (red) represented blood, which is shed for remission of sins (cf. Heb. 9:22), or possibly the sins for which it was shedding its life (cf. Isa. 1:18). There are certain requirements upon the animal that they bring. It must be without spot and blemish (cf. Heb. 9:13-14; 1 Pet. 1:19). The heifer must never have been used for work under the yoke. This would indicate that it still had all its energy, and it did not need the yoke to bring it into submission to the master's will (cf. Heb. 5:8-9; 10:5-10).Verses 3-4: They were to give the red heifer to the Eleazar."Aaron, or the high priest, whose duty it was to present the sin-offering for the congregation (Lev. 4:16), could not, according to his official position, which required him to avoid all uncleanness of death (Lev. 21:11,12), perform such an act as this, which stood in the closest relation to death and the uncleanness of death and for that very reason had to be performed outside the camp.""In after times, however, it was usually the high priest who officiated on this occasion, and therefore it is quite as likely that Eleazar was designated because he was already beginning to take the place of his father in his especial duties." He was to take the animal outside the camp and it was to be killed before him. This is the only animal killed outside the camp. It is this rite that God refers to in Hebrews 13:11-12. This rite is a type of the death of Christ (dying without the gate) in which He offered His blood for our forgiveness of sins in heaven before God (Heb. 9:12). Eleazar would then take some of the blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times towards the front of the tabernacle. Possibly doing this seven times stood for perfection and completeness in this sacrifice in view of Christ's full atonement.Verses 5-6: The priest would then burn the entire heifer with cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet. In all other offerings the priest would not burn the blood, however in this rite the priest would burn the blood with the rest of the animal.Verses 7-8: After burning the heifer, both the priest and the one who burned the heifer would wash themselves and their clothes in water before coming into camp. They would then be unclean until evening.Verses 9-10: Next a man that was clean was to gather the ashes and lay them in a clean place outside the came. They would keep this for a water of separation, purification for sin (a water by which uncleanness was to be removed). This person also had to bathe himself and he was unclean until evening.11-13 General Procedure For CleansingVerses 11-12: Any man touching a dead body would be unclean for seven days. On the third and the seventh day, he must cleanse himself with the water of separation being thrown on him. If he did not cleanse himself on the third day, he would not be clean on the seventh day.Verse 13: The one who refused or failed to purify himself defiled the tabernacle (it affected the whole of the people, not just the individual). They were to cut this person off from Israel. We should learn that sin does not just affect the one individual, it will affect the whole congregation by their example and influence. Thus the urgency to, "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump" (1 Cor. 5:7a).14-22 Specific Rules Of CleansingVerses 14-16: When a person died in a tent, everyone who entered the tent and everything in the tent was unclean for seven days. If death occurred outside, when one touched the body, bones (skeleton) or even the grave he would be unclean for seven days.Verses 17-19: To cleanse the man who is unclean, a clean person must take the ashes of the burnt heifer with running (living) water and put it into a vessel. The idea of running water is water that was pure, clean and fresh, not stale or stagnant. It was with this in mind that the Hebrew writer refers to "pure water" in Hebrews 10:22. "He does not have any reference to the sanitary state of the water at time of baptism. It was water simply, not water mixed with certain materials such as the ashes in the water of purification under the Mosaic system." The clean man would take hyssop and dip it into the water and sprinkle it on the tent, all the vessels and upon the person who was unclean. They were to do this on the third and seventh day. "The twice repeated application of the holy water marked the clinging nature of the pollution to be removed; so also the repetition of the threat in the following verses marked the heinousness of the neglect to seek its removal." Additionally, on the seventh day the unclean must wash himself with his clothes in water. He would then be clean at evening.Verse 20: The punishment for neglect of purification is repeated from verse 13. Repeating the punishment makes it of utmost importance and emphatic.Verses 21-22: This was also to be an everlasting covenant or law between God and Israel. The person who sprinkled the purifying water was to wash his clothes. The person who touched the water would be unclean until evening. Also whatever an unclean person touched, including other people, would be unclean until evening. This rule also applied to other forms of uncleanness.ConclusionThe uncleanness associated with death represented sin from which the Israelites had to be cleansed. God, by His grace, set forth the cleansing from this uncleanness and in doing so typified for us the cleansing from sin which we need. The red heifer, without spot or blemish, slain outside the camp, symbolizing Christ's death outside Jerusalem to take away the sins of the world. The water of purification to cleanse the unclean, representing baptism where man today is cleansed from the stain of sin."On a particular Sabbath each year, Jews read this chapter and Ezekiel 36:16-28, to emphasize the necessity of cleanness in order to keep the Passover. Such passages helped to teach Israel that it is God who sets the requirements for approach to Him. It is only God who can make man acceptable to Him. Man cannot approach God on his own human terms and conditions. If man is rendered unfit for approach to God, only God Himself is able to provide the cleansing he needs. No wonder the author of Hebrews felt the analogy between the red heifer and Jesus (Heb. 13:11-12)." ................
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