Understanding the Red Heifer
“Parah Adumah”
By
District Elder M.L. Maughmer, Jr.
Numbers 19.
The Talmud (a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs, and history) claims that the red heifer sacrifice was the only one of God’s commands that King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, claimed he did not understand.
The red heifer, as well as all the other specifications in the Torah ( the most important document in Judaism, revered as the inspired word of God, traditionally said to have been revealed to Moses. The Torah, or Law, comprises the first five books of the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible. Christian Bibles incorporate the Hebrew Bible into its canon, where it is known as the Old Testament. Though different Christian denominations have slightly different versions of the Old Testament in their Bibles, the five books of Moses (which are also called the Pentateuch or "the Law") are common to them all), was an allusion which ultimately pointed to Jesus Christ, as Paul points out in Hebrews 9:13, 14: “For if the blood of bulls and of 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”?
Solomon apparently did not understand why Numbers 19 declared that the priest would be "unclean until evening." This unusual sacrifice symbolically pointed to Jesus Christ and His sacrifice because our Lord, who was perfectly sinless, judicially took upon Himself the sins of the world so that we who are sinful could become righteous before God.
The Heifer was not a sacrifice in the sense of a blood covering for sin, but was a means or a process that was to bring a cleansing from defilement, or sin. It wasn’t a substitutional sacrifice like the male goat of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), but a day by day cleansing as needed. It was a cow and not a bull.
The purification by the Red Heifer is a subject that has been a mystery even to the Jews who were given this ritual to perform. It has been understood by the Jewish Rabbis in the sense of an act of obedience. In other words do these things and do it in this way and your cleansing can be assumed. But from the perspective of the church there may be a little more insight that is not apparent to the Rabbis. Lets look first at the ritual and see if we can understand some of this mystery.
Numbers 19:1-10 “And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, This [is] 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: And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and [one] shall slay her before his face: And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times: And [one] shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn: And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast [it] into the midst of the burning of the heifer. Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even. And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even. And a man [that is] clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay [them] up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it [is] a purification for sin. And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever.
a. That they bring you a red heifer: A heifer is a cow which has never been pregnant, and thus cannot yet give milk. This is the only sacrifice that was done with a female all others were done with a par bull. They had to find one with a red color.
The Hebrew word in Numbers 19 for heifer is parah (paw raw’). This is the feminine gender of the term for "bullock." It means a cow, a kine, or a calf or young cow.
The word "red" used here (vs 2) is the Hebrew word adom’. It is related to the words adam and ground (or earth) [ada’mah]. The words "red" "Adam" and "ground" all come from the same root word. (In Lam. 4:7 the word adam is translated "ruddy"). In the beginning God made adam out of the ground (ada’mah) (Gen. 2:7). When Adam sinned all of creation was altered. The created structure of earth (ada’mah) was violated. Because of adam’s sin, the ada’mah brings forth thorns and thistles thus making adam’s tilling of the ada’mah much more labor intensive (Gen. 3:17,18,23). Finally after a lifetime of toil, adam must return to the ada’mah from which he was made (Gen. 3:19). So we see here that this red is not some fire engine or candy apple red, but in fact means the color of earth. For example the Red Clay of Georgia.
b. Without spot, wherein [is] no blemish, [and] upon which never came yoke:
These requirements made this particular animal even rarer. This red heifer, therefore, would be valuable, rare, and pure never having a yoke. It was not burdened with the labors of life. Some say this yoke also proves that Jesus was never married because this red heifer was pure never pregnant.
The red heifer was to be "without spot" and without a yoke typifying Christ’s voluntary coming to redeem us and His sinless character even though He took our sins as His own. There is a lot of misinterpretation about this. Many feel as though this spot or blemish meant that the heifer could not have any black or white hairs on it at the time of slaughter; however, the spot or blemish deals more with a physical deformity, defect or impairment. Lev. 21 : 18 – 21 (read). These are the specifications or qualifications of a priest. Since the red heifer is a type or foreshadowing of Christ who became our High Priest Heb 4:14-15 it could not have any deformities and a few black or white hairs was not a disqualifier.
c. And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and [one] shall slay her before his face.
Unlike the par bull which is a male, this is a female. We understand this by the phrase “give her unto Eleazar”. The actual killing of the heifer was carried out by Priests of the second order. Eleazar was the son of Aaron, who was then the high priest. It is much like the time of Jesus, when the chief priest and Pharisee’s sought His death and it was approved of by Caiaphas, the high priest. Yet it was the Romans who served as the workers to do the actual slaughter. The position of the High Priest was another order by this time. The second order of these priest became priest due to monetary influences, favoritism and was not an office held they way God originally prescribed.
Just as the red heifer was sacrificed "outside the camp," in contrast to all other sacrifices that took place in the Tabernacle or Temple, Jesus was sacrificed outside the city of Jerusalem, on the very spot, we believe, on which Abraham offered Isaac two thousand years earlier?
d. And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times:
Eleazar was to take a small amount of the blood and with his fingers and sprinkle it toward the tent of meeting, the holy place. Seven times, this is God’s perfect number and is Gods seal. Anything that is done seven times is a permanently fixed thing that can not be broken. It speaks of finality. Think of Joshua and the seven days of marching around Jericho, and the seven blasts on the trumpet, in Revelation the seven seals, seven trumpets and seven bowls. So here the priest makes the binding connection to the place of God’s presence, the tent of meeting. Yet some of the blood will be lost, spilled on the ground (Adamah) – just as Christ blood was spilled on the ground at Calvary.
e. And [one] shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:
The red heifer would be sacrificed in the customary fashion. Yet, the complete carcass of the animal was burnt and the ashes gathered by one observing the cleansing ceremonies before and after the gathering of ashes. The heifer itself will be burned in its entirety. It will not be separated out or the hide removed or the fat separated or anything like this. Its bones are not broken it is burned all at once. Jesus went as he was, having been inspected by the priests and the teachers of the law, and they could find no flaw in Him, yet they killed Him. It was like those that inspected the red cow for any sign of defect. And like the Heifer he became a cleansing for us all. The slaughter of the cow and its burning are a picture of the death and burial of Jesus.
The heifer was to be totally consumed with nothing remaining but ashes. This typified the extent to which Jesus would go. He offered Himself, both soul and body, as a sacrifice. When Jesus spoke of His death, He never called it a sleep as in the first death. He spoke of it as it really was—eternal death, separation from the Father, the equivalent of what the Bible calls the second death. Hell is where both soul and body are destroyed (Matt. 10:28). This is the depth to which Christ went in order to save the world. He went to hell for us. He offered His soul for us (Isa. 53:12). The burning to ashes represents the total consumption and destruction of sin and sinners (Mal. 4:1, 3). This is the full extent covered in the infinite sacrifice to which Christ gave himself! He took our place as the Sin-bearer. Yea, more than this. He became sin itself in order that He might destroy him who had the power of sin and death (Heb. 2: 14,15).
* Its blood . . . shall be burned: Unlike every other sacrifice in the Old Testament, the blood of the red heifer is burnt along with the sacrifice, instead of being completely drained out at the jugular. Blood was to be part of the ashes that would come forth from the burning of the carcass of the red heifer. It’s the blood that gives remission of sin.
f. And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast [it] into the midst of the burning of the heifer:
When the heifer was burnt, the priest would also put cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet into the fire.
i. In Leviticus 14:4-6, each of these three items are used in the cleansing ceremony for a leper. Understand that a leper was considered and had to yell unclean whenever some approached them so that they would not come closer than 100 ft. Each of these items has a special significance.
ii. Cedar is extremely resistant to disease and rot, and is well known for its quality and preciousness. These properties may be the reason for including it here - as well as a symbolic reference to the wood of the cross. Some even think the cross Jesus was crucified on was made of cedar. Remember everything points to Jesus Christ.
iii. Hyssop was used not only with the cleansing ceremony for lepers, but also Jesus was offered drink from a hyssop branch on the cross (Matthew 27:48), and when David said purge me with hyssop in Psalm 51:7, he had admitted he was a bad as a leper. Hyssop deals with faith, because in Egypt when the Israelites were told to put the blood of the lamb on the door post and mantle it was applied with Hyssop. Without Faith it is impossible to please God Heb. 11:6.
iv. Scarlet, the color of blood, pictures the cleansing blood of Jesus on the cross. Scarlet was used in the veil and curtains of the tabernacle (Exodus 26:31), in the garments of the high priest (Exodus 28:5-6), the covering for the table of showbread (Numbers 4:8), the sign of Rahab’s salvation (Joshua 2:21), and the color of the mocking “king’s robe” put on Jesus at His torture by the soldiers (Matthew 27:28). Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin Heb 9:22.
g. Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even.
This is what Solomon didn’t understand. The priest and the worker who burn the heifer are considered unclean. They must wash themselves and their cloths in water, and they still remain ceremonially unclean until the end of the day. Yet those who are sprinkled with this same ash will be considered clean. It is interesting that for a Jew, if you touch, or embrace Jesus, you have become unclean, yet we know that when Jesus touches you, you become pure. He is that one grace that saves us from our uncleanness, not once a year, but in our daily walk with the Lord. This points to Jesus in that those that crucified him; although they felt they were clean, but were in fact unclean and would remain unclean until the repent.
h. And a man [that is] clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay [them] up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it [is] a purification for sin.:
Watch This : It was Joseph of Aramathea and Nicodemus who had come secretly to the Lord, who then were to deliver the Lords body to its resting place, in an undefiled tomb in which no man had even been laid. They themselves would become unclean and unable to eat the Passover Meal if they had not already done so, as Jesus and his followers had.
The residue from the burning of the carcass, the cedar, the hyssop, and the scarlet fabric together would produce a lot of ash, and the ash was to be gathered and sprinkled in water bit by bit to make water fit for purification.
These ashes, which were ceremonially mixed with water, would be that which would cleanse. If you failed to follow this ritual and get cleansed, not only did you remain unclean and tainted by sin, but the holy sanctuary was also considered unclean and there was a risk of driving the Lord’s presence from among the people. So this is a picture of God’s daily grace to us, that cleanses us from our unrighteousness each time we become defiled. Unlike Yom Kippur which is once a year and is a picture of our repentance and God’s salvation. The Red Heifer is a picture of Sanctification and purification.
This is like our own water baptism, that washes away our sins. Yet baptism is part of the law and deals more with outward things than inner things and the spirit.
Numbers 19 : 11 - 13 “He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth 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] yet upon him”.
a. He who toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days: To be ceremonially unclean was not “sin,” as we might think of it; it meant that one was barred from their regular fellowship with and worship of God, and their fellowship with God’s people, until they were made clean.
b. If he does not purify himself . . . that person shall be cut off: One who was unclean needed purification, and could not ignore their condition, but was still part of the nation - unless they refused to correct their unclean condition. This deals with the church today a person may be ceremonial unclean, but is still part of the family of God and must be treated as such.
i. A wonderful parallel is found in John 13:5-11; if we are “bathed” by Jesus, we need only to have our feet washed, as they become unclean in the normal practice of life. Yet, if we do not let Jesus “wash” us, we have no part with Him. We must receive the beautiful once-for-all cleansing Jesus brings to us when we are born again; yet continually come to Him to be cleansed of the “day-to-day” things.
b. Defiles the tabernacle of the LORD: These laws were relevant to all in Israel, but especially to priests, who had the potential to defile the tabernacle of the LORD. Under the New Covenant, the Christian also has a special call to purity, because we can also defile the dwelling place of God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
Numbers 19 : 14 – 16 “This [is] the law, when a man dieth in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that [is] in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.; And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, [is] unclean.. And whosoever 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”.
a. This [is] the law, when a man dieth in a tent: The practice of quarantining all those who come into contact with a dead body was a wonderful public health measure as well. Those potentially contaminated would be set aside until it could be seen if they contracted a disease from the dead body.
b. Every open vessel, which has no cover fastened on it, is unclean: In fact, this principle extended to every open vessel - which could potentially harbor disease causing organisms. If near a dead body, those vessels would be declared unclean and thus destroyed, reducing the danger of communicable disease.
c. Shall be unclean: What was inherently unclean about a dead body? Simply that death is the result and positive proof of sin (Genesis 2:15-17, Romans 5:12). Death is like sin made visible.
i. In someone touched the carcass of a dead animal, he was unclean for less than one day (Leviticus 11:24, 27, 39). But if one touched a dead human, he was unclean for seven days! Man is indeed greater than the animals - especially greater in sin.
ii. Our contact with a dead body also makes us unclean. In Romans 7:24, Paul cries out in frustration of defeat in sin: Who will deliver me from this body of death? We can only be delivered from the body of death if we receive and walk in the precious work of Jesus on our behalf.
Purpose
Numbers 19 : 17- 19 “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 thereto in a vessel:. 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, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave:. And the clean [person] shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even..
a. They shall take some of the ashes of the heifer: We know that this is the entire heifer.
b. And at evening he shall be clean: Thus, ashes of the red heifer (which the ingredients all speak of the work of Jesus on our behalf), combined with water (which speaks of the work of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit) combine together to bring cleansing. It can cleanse even the uncleanness brought about by death.
i. All this cleansing is a precious picture; but the reality is in Jesus: For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 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? (Hebrews 9:13-14)
Let’s see something miraculous here:
Numbers 19 : 19 “The man who is clean is to sprinkle the unclean person on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he is to purify him. To understand this you really must have a little knowledge of the different Feast. The number 3 represents completeness/fullness the number 7 is God’s number represents perfection and finality.
In Leviticus 23, the feast days of the Lord are described. There were seven days that were to be a Holy convocation, a Holy gathering. These are the days of the Lord:
1 The first day of Unleavened Bread 2.The seventh day of Unleavened Bread 3.Pentecost 4.Rosh Ha Shannah or Trumpets 5.Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement 6.The First day of Sukkot or Tabernacles 7.The Eighth day of Sukkot which is Simchat Torah, the eighth day.
The purification with the ashes of the Red Heifer was to take place on the third day and the seventh day. Looking at this list may bring us yet another picture of Gods plan and His timing. The third day of the Holy yearly cycle is Pentecost. This is when both the old covenant, the law, was given and the new covenant when the Spirit was poured out on the believers and the church began. In the Old Testament 50 days after the Children of Israel came out of Egypt the Law was given, in the New Testament 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ the Holy Ghost (New Covenant) was given We must remember that the things that are connected to Jesus are New covenant, which speaks to the Spirit and not just the outward things.
So the first step of our purification is on our Pentecost experience as we receive the Holy Ghost, remember this is the 3rd day of purification. The completion of it is on the seventh day, when we are delivered from the body of sin and death, in the Rapture. So let’s look for a moment to the picture that is painted for us in the seventh day of convocation which is the eighth day of the feast of Tabernacles.
The feast is known by the following names.
1. The feast of In-gathering 2. The feast of the Final harvest 3. The time of our dwelling (with Him) 4. The season of our Joy 5. The feast of dedication. (because the Temples were dedicated on this feast)
On the eighth day (8 means new beginnings) there is the extra day, which is known as the holding back, the time to tarry (wait = serve) in His presence. It is a picture of the beginning of a new time, as well as the ending of a previous time. It is the end of the Torah reading cycle and the beginning of a new one.
The Torah is read from the preacher’s pulpit known as the Bema Seat (place of authority). This is all a picture of the Bema judgment and our beginning to dwell with Jesus in the Millennial Kingdom. It would therefore also be after the final victory for the believer has been won, deliverance from the flesh, the body of death. Being delivered from the body of death he is now cleansed for service to the Lord. Could this seventh day of convocation, the eighth day of the Tabernacles, be the day of our redemption - I guess only time will tell?
Every thing the Lord does is for a reason, to show us something, to reveal some other aspect of Himself or His plan for us, and the two days chosen to complete our purification must be viewed the same way. It was the third and the seventh days that they were to be washed in the Ashes of the Red Heifer, washed in the waters of Jesus – Pentecost & Harvest.
We wait now for the washing on the seventh day. Maybe that is the eighth day of Tabernacle for us, the seventh day of the Lords Holy days the day that looks forward to the Bema judgment when believers works of righteousness are rewarded by the Lord. Pentecost was expressly for those who would become the church – the body of Christ. Perhaps the seventh day, the day of lingering with Him, the end of the cycles of time, the beginning of eternity, will be the conclusion for the church age, the dispensation of Grace, the Rapture.
Numbers 19 : 20 -22 “But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the LORD: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he [is] unclean. And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even. And whatsoever the unclean [person] toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth [it] shall be unclean until even”.
a. The man who is unclean and does not purify himself: This shows that uncleanness cannot correct itself. The unclean man will not just become clean. He must do something, and he must do what God says must be done in order to be clean. His own plans or schemes for cleansing mean nothing.
b. He who sprinkles the water of purification: Those who help others to become clean must walk in cleanness themselves. The one who regards the water of cleansing as a common thing (he who touches the water of purification) will himself be regarded as unclean.
c. Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean: Uncleanness was easily transmitted, but cleanness had to be deliberately sought. Uncleanness is what every man, woman, boy, and girl are for David said in Psalms 51:5 “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me”. However, if we seek for Him we shall find Him and He will make you whole.
SUMMARY: The heifer, unlike the par "bull," was not usually used in the Old Testament as a sacrificial animal. The red heifer was the exception. This animal was slaughtered and burned outside the camp (Num. 19:1-9). The ashes were preserved for future use. The ashes were to be kept for a "water separation," or a "purification for sin." (vv 9, 17-22). That ceremony was to remove defilement incurred through contact with the dead (vv 11-16). In Hebrews 9:13 is found a referral to this custom when writing of the effectiveness of Christ’s blood for the forgiveness of sins.
The red heifer was similar to, yet different from, the other offerings for sin. Nevertheless, the purpose was the same. It was a sin offering. However, the blood was not individually applied to the sinner. The blood is mentioned only in relationship to the sacrifice, when the priest sprinkled it toward the tabernacle seven times. Neither was the heifer offered within the confines of the court as were the other sacrifices. The blood of this slain animal was not carried into the first apartment of the tabernacle. It was not sprinkled before the veil. Neither was there a fingerprint, a blood print, placed upon the horns of the altar of incense as a record of the sin committed, confessed and forgiven.
The sacrifice of the red heifer was not directly connected with the regular and usual worship service of the sanctuary. The offering of the red heifer was not only for the Israelite, but also for the stranger or gentile among them. (Num. 19:10). This offering was not a regular offering, only an occasional ceremony. It was universal in its scope.
The ceremony of the red heifer is most significant in the creation-fall-redemption model. Man was cast out of the paradise garden of Eden. At the end of his life he was consigned to the ground from which he came. But Christ, the second Adam, who was above all law, came under the law to redeem man. He went outside the gate to become the curse of God in order to redeem Adam’s failure. The red heifer was to be one upon which a yoke had never been placed. This signified the voluntary offering of Himself for us. The only cord that bound Him was the cord of His own love for us. Christ was above all law. But He came under the jurisdiction and the condemnation of His violated moral law.
The red heifer was a congregational, or corporate, offering (Num. 19:1). It was to be offered outside the camp as an impure thing, typifying Christ who was made to be sin and a curse for us. He suffered outside the established order of things (Heb. 13:12). Outside the camp, Christ as the son of Adam (earthy-red) came in red apparel—red with His own blood which was the blood of mankind, red with the blood of His enemies. Although enemies, He reconciled us to God, through His death (Isa. 63:1-3; Rom. 5:10).
The ashes were sufficient for all the people. When a person or a family needed purification, a fresh heifer was not required to be sacrificed. One was sufficient for all, including the sojourning stranger (Num. 19:10). So the sacrifice of Christ is sufficient for everyone. It is everlastingly efficacious. There is enough virtue in His sacrifice for the sins of the world. (1 John 2:2). The ashes were stored for all future needs. So the sacrifice of Christ is laid up for us as an inexhaustible fountain of merit to which we have daily access for the purging of our consciences (Heb. 9:13,14; Zech. 13:1).
Further, the red heifer was offered alone. Christ was all alone. There is but one sin-bearer and He trod the winepress alone. He endured the contradiction (hostility) of sinners (those he came to save) against himself, alone (Heb. 12:3).
And it is of interest here to note that the person who offered the red heifer himself became unclean. The only way he could be purified was by the ashes of that offering. So it is with those who crucified Christ. Man became guilty and defiled by sacrificing Christ. And it is by that very same sacrifice that the sin and guilt which crucified Him cleanses us. It is by virtue of the same blood which we shed, on Calvary, that we are cleansed from our guilt through faith. The sacrifice of Christ pollutes the clean (those who suppose they are so) by their guilt in crucifying Him; and that same sacrifice cleanses those who are unclean. Christ went outside the camp of heaven and became the accursed of God for the fallen human race. In His being cursed, He redeemed us from the curse (Gal. 3:13). He was "made to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."(2 Cor. 5:21).
The sacrifice of the red heifer was the cross in type. It was designed to create an influence in favor of the cross, even where there was no interest. It was the means to move the world. That sacrifice, accomplished outside the camp of Israel, was witnessed by heathen passers-by. The offering was itself a call to all who were unclean, and helpless and perishing. It was an invitation to come for purification. It drew the attention of those outside the confines of the camp of Israel as well as Israel. It was the gospel declaration to "Look unto Me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth!" (Isa. 45:22).
The crucified Christ draws everyone to Himself (John 12:32). A person must exert himself from being drawn to Christ or he will be pulled to Him. One must willingly take and keep himself away or he will be led to the foot of the cross. More than this, he will have to tear himself away from the mighty drawing influence of the Holy Spirit. God has made it hard for the willful sinner to be lost.
The red heifer, sacrificed outside the camp, was the gospel of Jesus Christ hanging upon the cross for the lost race. In the Levitical age it was the message, the doctrine, the argument and the warning to the impenitent. It was encouragement for the defiled and the sorrowing. It was the hope of every believer. It was designed to awaken an interest in the minds of men to cause them to fix their eyes on Christ. Christ and Him crucified was typified in the sacrifice of the red heifer. And in this type there was no other like it that was so characterized by clear, precise and terse expression of the far-reaching gospel of Christ crucified.
The red heifer was pre-eminently a Wilderness type of Christ. It was God’s provision for defilements along the way, and it prefigures the blessed provision of Christ to meet our need in passing through a defiling, filthy world of spiritual death on our way into the fullness and image of God. Understand that we are affected by the spiritual death we encounter daily in our everyday world. Often times we are bombarded by sinful thoughts, engrossed in earthly things, dealing with ungodly men, listening to ungodly talk, reading unspiritual emails, and listening, rather intentionally or not to dirty jokes. We are surrounded by sin and perverseness and there is a stunting affect on the soulish emotions and the spiritual awareness that will make us unclean and heavy in or worship and praise; therefore, a time of quietness, seasoned with prayer and praise, is needed to cleanse the emotions and restore the conscious awareness of God. Hebrew 9:13 – 14 “For if the blood of bulls and of 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.”
District Elder M.L. Maughmer, Jr
Ohio Southern District
O.G.C.O.G.I.C.
