Water of Purification Made of the Ashes of a Red Heifer

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Numbers 19:1) And 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 spot, in which there is no blemish, and on which never came a yoke.'"

In the last post, Aaron had been established and confirmed by God in the priesthood; and because the people had been afraid they would die if they came near the tabernacle, God had also given full instructions regarding the office of the priesthood and the priests' responsibility to bear the iniquity of the sanctuary.  Now the Lord spoke to both Moses and Aaron, telling them that what followed was the ordinance, or order or direction, of the law that the Lord had commanded when He had told them to tell the children of Israel to bring to them a red heifer, without spot or defect, and one that had never had a yoke.  The heifer was a symbol of Jesus Christ with spotless purity.  The fact that it was to be red, perhaps being more rare, made it more remarkable and seemingly perfect.  Red being the color of blood signified Christ's own blood shed for our sins.  One that never had a yoke symbolized Jesus Christ's voluntary offer to sacrifice Himself, bound by no other cords than His love for us.  All the children of Israel were to bring this heifer, as all were to have a joint interest in it, as all believers have in Christ.

(3) "'And you shall give her to Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her outside the camp, and one shall slay her before his face.'"

Eleazar was Aaron's son and was probably the second highest priest.  The heifer was brought to him, probably to keep Aaron as high priest, completely preserved from any uncleanness.  However, Eleazar himself was not to slay the heifer, but someone else in his sight; and that was to be done outside the camp.

(4) "'And Eleazar the priest shall take of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle of its blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times.'"

Eleazar was to take some of the heifer's blood with his finger, and being outside the camp, was to sprinkle the blood directly toward the tabernacle seven times.  Again this is symbolic of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  The number seven represents completeness or perfection in the Bible.  Christ's blood was shed outside the gate (Hebrews 13:12), and was a complete and perfect sacrifice for our sins by the finger of God.

(5) "'And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; he shall burn its skin, its flesh, and its blood, with its dung.'"

Someone other than Eleazar the priest was to burn the heifer with Eleazar looking on.  The heifer was to be wholly burnt, its hide, flesh, blood, and even its dung.  Dr. John Gill, in his Exposition of the Entire Bible, wrote that the complete burning of all parts of the heifer "may denote the extent of Christ's sufferings, reaching to all parts of his body, skin, flesh, and blood, and the shame and reproach that attended them, signified by dung; as well as how impure and accursed he was accounted when he was made sin for his people, bore their sins and suffered for them, even not in body only, but in his soul also; for his soul as well as his body were made an offering for sin."

(6) "'And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet, and cast them into the midst of the fire burning the heifer.'"

The priest, presumably Eleazar, was then to take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet ribbon, probably with the hyssop wrapped around the cedar wood and bound by the scarlet ribbon, and cast them into the fire that was burning the heifer.  These three things were also used in the cleansing of a leper in Leviticus 4:4.  For the significance of these three particular items, Dr. Gill referenced Maimonides, the Jewish medieval scholar, who wrote "the cedar wood, being durable, may denote the continued efficacy of Christ's sufferings; the hyssop, being purgative and of a good smell, the purging nature of Christ's sacrifice, who by himself purged away our sins, and the sweet odour thereof ascended to the Lord; and the scarlet, the sins of his people destroyed thereby."

(7) "‘Then the priest shall wash his clothes, he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp; and the priest shall be unclean until the evening.'"

Then the priest, Eleazar, was to wash himself and his clothes, and was considered unclean until the evening, but was then able to return to the camp. 

(8) "‘And the one who burns it shall wash his clothes in water, bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the evening.'"

The one who burned the heifer in sight of Eleazar was also to wash himself and his clothes, and was considered unclean until the evening.

(9) "'And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation; it is a purification for sin.'"

Then a man who was ceremonially clean was to gather the ashes of the heifer and put them in a clean place outside the camp.  The ashes were to be kept for the children of Israel as "a water of separation".  The original word translated as "separation" was "niddah" and more completely meant "rejection, impurity, filthiness", and therefore to be separated.  The ashes were mixed with water to be a purification for sin.  "Water of purifying" was referenced before in Numbers 8:7.

(10) "‘And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening; and it shall be to the children of Israel, and to the stranger that sojourns among them, for a statute forever.'"

The one who gathered the ashes of the heifer was also considered unclean, and must wash and be considered unclean until the evening.  This was to be a statute forever to the children of Israel and to any foreigner who dwelt with them.  Forever, at least until the Messiah came and shed His blood to be "laid up" for us for a continual purification for our sins.

(11) "‘He who touches the dead body of anyone shall be unclean seven days.'"

Anyone who touched the dead body of a person would be unclean for seven days, whereas it was only one day for a dead animal.  Once again I was struck by Adam Clarke's (Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible) assertion that man was no better than an animal, in this case seven times worse!

"How low does this lay man! He who touched a dead beast was only unclean for one day; but he who touches a dead man is unclean for seven days. This was certainly designed to mark the peculiar impurity of man, and to show his sinfulness - seven times worse than the vilest animal! O thou son of the morning, how art thou fallen!"

My first thought was that man was more important than an animal, and by that reasoning, more would be required.  However, I can see that I didn't have the proper respect for the sinless perfect nature of God that I should, and fully understand the filthy sinful nature of man.  Animals don't have a conscience and the ability to choose sin as people do.  Only man can have the particular impurity of sin.  Sinful acts against God are surely seven times worse than the most unclean beast.

(12) "'He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean; but if he does not purify himself on the third day then the seventh day he shall not be clean.'"

The man who touched a dead body must purify himself with the water of ashes described in verse 9 on the third day of his seven day period of uncleanness.  It will become clear in a later verse that he must perform this purification on the third and seventh days of his period of uncleanness, but what this verse expresses is that if he fails to do it on the third day, he will not be clean on the seventh day, even if he should purify on the seventh day.

(13) "‘Whoever touches the dead body of any man who is dead, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD, and that soul shall be cut off from Israel; because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is still upon him.'"

If a person who had touched the dead body of a person failed to purify himself, he defiled the tabernacle of the Lord with his uncleanness, and would be cut off from Israel.  This might mean excommunication from the church, death by the government, or even death by the immediate hand of God.  In the past, whenever I have seen the word "soul" used as it is in this verse, I accepted the translators' and Strong's definition of soul as a living creature, therefore a person in this case.  However, soul does indicate so much more than a merely alive and breathing man.  The body and thus the person is a physical thing.  The soul includes our thoughts, the desires of our hearts, and our wills.  When a beast dies, there is only a dead body; when a person dies, there is also a soul that either willfully or ignorantly chose to sin.  When another person touched the dead body of a sinful soul (as all people are), and did not purify himself, he chose to defile the tabernacle of God by his irreverent inaction and the apparent disrespect in his heart.  That soul must be cut off.

(14) "‘This is the law when a man dies in a tent; all who come into the tent and all who are in the tent shall be unclean seven days.'"

When a person died in a tent, as the Israelites all dwelt in tents at that time, anyone who was there when he died, or anyone who came into the tent where he remained after he died, would be unclean for seven days.

(15) "'And every open vessel, which has no covering bound upon it, is unclean.'"

Additionally, every open container that had no cover on it would be considered defiled by the death in the air considered unclean.

(16) "'And whoever touches one who 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.'"

I don't believe there is any significance in being slain by a sword; I believe the sense is that if anyone had been killed in the open fields, and didn't just die in his home as in verse 14, that anyone who touched that body or any dead body found in the open fields, or any bones of a person, or any person's grave, was to be considered unclean for seven days.

(17) "‘And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put into them in a vessel.'"

For an unclean person they were to take the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, put them in a vessel, and add only running water.  It could be water from a fountain or a spring, etc., but not from a pool of still or stagnant water.  The original word translated as "running" in this verse was "chay" and it literally means "living, alive"; only living water could be added to the ashes for purification of sin.  What a perfect symbol of the Christ to come who would give living water:  "Jesus answered and said to her, 'If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, "Give Me a drink," you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.'" (John 4:10)

(18) "‘A clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, sprinkle it on the tent, on all the vessels, on the persons who were there, and on the one who touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave.'"

Continuing instructions for what they were to do for an unclean person, a ceremonially clean person was to take hyssop and dip it into the living water that had been mixed with the ashes of the heifer, and sprinkle it on the tent where there was a dead body, on all the open vessels inside that tent, and on all the people who were in the tent, as well as on the person who had touched the dead, or bone, or grave.

(19) "'And the clean person shall sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at evening.'"

The clean person was to sprinkle the unclean person on the third and seventh days (v. 12) of his seven day period of uncleanness.  There is some discrepancy among Biblical scholars about whether the additional purification, bathing, and washing of clothes, referred to the person who had touched the dead and become unclean for seven days, or to the person who sprinkled the unclean person, coming in contact with an unclean person, and making himself unclean for a day.  Verse 12 said nothing about bathing and washing clothes, but it seems quite reasonable that this should be done, for the unclean person to be made completely clean.  Although a later verse does stipulate that the person who sprinkled the unclean person must also wash, and would be unclean for the rest of the day, I don't think this verse was about him; if he did not bathe and wash his clothes until the seventh day, then he would have been unclean since the third day, and this verse speaks only of one who is unclean until that evening.

(20) "‘But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD; the water of separation has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.'"

The man who was unclean because of his contact with the dead, who did not purify himself in the way described above, was to be cut off from the congregation because he had defiled the sanctuary of the Lord by coming in contact with it in his unclean state.  The water of purification had not been sprinkled on him; therefore his uncleanness was still upon him (v. 13).

(21) "And it shall be a perpetual statute to them, that he who sprinkles the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he who touches the water of separation shall be unclean until evening."

Additionally, the Lord told Moses and Aaron that it was to be an everlasting statute to the people, that the person who sprinkled the water of purification must wash himself and his clothes, and would be considered unclean until the evening.  John Wesley, in his Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, wrote that it seemed strange that the same water would cleanse one person, but defile another who touched it.  However, this was to teach us that it was not the water itself that was so magical that it cleansed, but that it was in the way God appointed it to be used that purified.  Is that not always God's way?  It's all about the heart and motives of a person to follow the Lord and His instruction, and not in some ritualistic thing.  Think about how Jesus condemned the Pharisees who outwardly did all the "righteous" things required of them, but were full of hypocrisy and iniquity (Matthew 23).  The thing itself does not purify; only the Lord purifies.

(22) "And whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the soul who touches it shall be unclean until evening."

Whatever the unclean person spoken of throughout this chapter touched would also be unclean, and the person whom he touched or touched him would be considered unclean until the evening.

Matthew Henry, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, explored the reason behind why touching the dead was such a defiling thing:  "Because death is the wages of sin, entered into the world by it, and reigns by the power of it. Death to mankind is another thing from what it is to other creatures: it is a curse, it is the execution of the law, and therefore the defilement of death signifies the defilement of sin."  Thankfully our Redeemer Jesus Christ came and triumphed over death!