Numbers 19
1Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
2"This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying, 'Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you an unblemished red heifer in which is no defect and on which a yoke has never been placed.
3'You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence.
4'Next Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times.
5'Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its hide and its flesh and its blood, with its refuse, shall be burned.
6'The priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet material and cast it into the midst of the burning heifer.
7'The priest shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward come into the camp, but the priest shall be unclean until evening.
8'The one who burns it shall also wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water, and shall be unclean until evening.
9'Now a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep it as water to remove impurity; it is purification from sin.
10'The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening; and it shall be a perpetual statute to the sons of Israel and to the alien who sojourns among them.
11'The one who touches the corpse of any person shall be unclean for seven days.
12'That one shall purify himself from uncleanness with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and 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.
13'Anyone who touches a corpse, the body of a man who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from Israel Because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him.
14'This is the law when a man dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean for seven days.
15'Every open vessel, which has no covering tied down on it, shall be unclean.
16'Also, anyone who in the open field touches one who has been slain with a sword or who has died naturally, or a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean for seven days.
17'Then for the unclean person they shall take some of the ashes of the burnt purification from sin and flowing water shall be added to them in a vessel.
18'A clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the persons who were there, and on the one who touched the bone or the one slain or the one dying naturally or the grave.
19'Then the clean person shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify him from uncleanness, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and shall be clean by evening.
20'But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself from uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD; the water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him, he is unclean.
21'So it shall be a perpetual statute for them. And he who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening.
22'Furthermore, anything that the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the person who touches it shall be unclean until evening.'"
So let’s look at the components of this sacrifice so we have a clear idea of the commandment of God and what is involved.
1. The sacrifice must be, “an unblemished red heifer in which is no defect and on which a yoke has never been placed.”
2. The Priest was then given the heifer to slaughter and burn. Eleazar was the Priest at the time of the initiation of this sacrifice. For those who do not know Eleazar was one of the remaining sons of Aaron who was the start of the Priesthood. Remember two of Aaron’s sons died for using unauthorized fire before the LORD and were struck dead (Leviticus 10:1-3).
3. The unblemished red heifer must be killed and burned “Outside the camp”
4. “Outside the camp” or “outside the gate” is also used to speak of where Yeshua died on the cross (Hebrews 13:12). It is debated as to the exact location of Yeshua’s death, but some believe and I happen to side with them that is was on the Mount of Olives instead of the traditional church place because on the Mount of Olives is where the Red Heifer sacrifice was preformed. Also you have a view into the Temple and across to the altar that the Passover lamb would have been slain on. The Father sits on the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies and He would have been able to see His Son dying on the Mount of Olives at exactly the same time that the Passover lamb was slain, the ninth hour. I will discuss this idea in more detail when we get to the altars and their locations.
5. The priest, Eleazar, was to sprinkle the blood from the heifer in the direction of the Temple mound which is where the tent of meeting entrance is. He was to do this seven times which is significant because numbers are always significant to Hebrews.
6. The entire Heifer including its refuse was to be burned; in other words the entire sacrifice was to be consumed. Also, “The priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet material and cast it into the midst of the burning heifer”
7. Now to the cool part: The priest then must wash his clothes and bathe his body. The he can come into the camp, but he is unclean until evening. Remember all he did was kill and burn a Red Heifer sacrifice and now he is unclean until evening
8. The same ritual goes for the one who burned the sacrifice as for the priest which leads me to understand that this was more than a one-man job.
9. In fact, there would be at least three people involved. Why? “Now a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep it as water to remove impurity; it is purification from sin” The third person must be clean and he is the one who handles the ashes of this Red Heifer.
10. The “Israel shall keep it as water to remove impurity; it is purification for sin” is paramount and has ties to Yeshua’s miracle at the wedding in Canaan in the gospel of John (read what kind of waterpots they were)
11. The next significant part is how the ashes are used. They are to mixed with water and watch this, “17'Then for the unclean person they shall take some of the ashes of the burnt purification from sin and flowing water shall be added to them in a vessel. 18'A clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the persons who were there, and on the one who touched the bone or the one slain or the one dying naturally or the grave. 19'Then the clean person shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify him from uncleanness, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and shall be clean by evening.” A clean person must sprinkle the unclean. Sprinkling and hyssop are things to remember as we move forward.
12. Last, but certainly not least, is the fact that God gave this statute as a perpetual, meaning forever command, statute. “21'So it shall be a perpetual statute for them. And he who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening. Again, the clean person becomes unclean as a result of sprinkling the unclean person with cleansing sacrificial water.
Are you starting to see some of the connections with our Messiah and this sacrificial command by God? This sacrifice was to never be done away with because God calls it a “perpetual statute” (v. 21). The Salvation of the LORD is working to this day to make the unclean, clean. Why am I calling Jesus “Yeshua”? Yeshua means Salvation in Hebrew and He was Hebrew. The name “Jesus” may have been derived from a variation of the name “Zeus” upon studying it and I feel more comfortable with using His Hebrew name. I am not attempting to be legalistic about it; I am just trying to be as close to the truth of God as possible.
Baal worship was the practice of mixing worship of the One True God with worshiping pagan gods. Unfortunately we have not moved far enough away from the sins of our fathers. Some questions to ask yourselves at this point are: When did Sabbath get moved from Friday evening at sundown to Sunday morning? Where did the name “Sunday” come from? Why did it get moved and did God command this? How did God command us to worship Him and how does He feel about the Sabbath? Where is the celebration of Christmas commanded in the Bible? How come Easter Sunday is on and named after the day in celebration of a fertility goddess? These questions may be troubling, but they deserve some answers. I could write a whole paper on each of these subjects, but that is for another time. If you take time to do the research and you may see why I feel the way I do about these things. One must be convinced in his own mind about truth and I trust that if you seek the truth about what God has and has not commanded, He will show you.
Now that we have at least given some clarity to the particulars of Yeshua’s name, let’s look at the components of the sacrifice: a Heifer is a female cow. She is to be unblemished, red, and has never had a yoke on her. Never having a yoke on her means that she has never been trained to a certain way of work. She has not been tainted by the teachings of this world. Yeshua was not tainted by the workings of this world; He had no worldly yoke upon Him when He died. He did prescribe to the teachings of Rabbis over the teachings of the Father. He was unblemished and perfect. Yeshua died “outside the camp” of Jerusalem and He was consumed by the wrath of God on the cross.
Hebrews 13:12-13
12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.
13 So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.
Luke 22:41-43
41 And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and began to pray,
42 saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done."
43 Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.
Revelation 14:9-11
9 Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,
10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
11 "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."
Yeshua drank the full cup of God’s anger and wrath on the cross and thus was consumed because our God is a consuming fire:
Deuteronomy 4:24
24 "For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
The sprinkling is significant that the Priest does because is foreshadows that we would be sprinkled in Christ’s blood for our sins (1 Peter 1:2). There is also another account of blood sprinkling that Moses did. We will look at Hebrews and then were the author was pointing us to.
Hebrews 9:19-22
19 For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,
20 saying, "THIS IS THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT WHICH GOD COMMANDED YOU."
21 And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood.
22 And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
This account comes from Exodus when the people affirm their Covenant with God. Things in the Renewed Covenant (New Testament) usually point back to things that were shadows in the Old Covenant (Old Testament). The reason I use the terms “New Covenant” and “Old Covenant” instead of the traditional terms is because in a Hebrew mindset, there was no Testament because a “Testament” is like a will and implies that it can be changed until the Testator dies. The truth of the word of God is unchanging like our God (Malachi 3:6). If you study the Covenant of God you may also come to find out that the New Covenant is more of a Renewed Covenant than something altogether new in idea. The plan has always been for man to be close intimate fellowship with Yahweh and that is what Yeshua completed for eternity on the cross.
Exodus 24:5-8
5 He sent young men of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the LORD.
6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
7 Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!"
8So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, "Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words."
So those who are sprinkled in Messiah’s blood are cleansed for forgiveness of sin; they go from unclean to clean. So when did Yeshua show us that He was replacing the original sacrificial water with His blood in the New Covenant? We must go to the gospel of John to answer this question.
John 2
1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there;
2 and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.
3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."
4 And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come."
5 His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."
6 Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each.
7 Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." So they filled them up to the brim.
8 And He said to them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it to him.
9 When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom,
10 and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now."
This is a commonly overlooked piece of the puzzle; that the waterpots that Yeshua used to change water into wine were the very purification pots that contained the Red Heifer ashes. They were changed from water to wine thus symbolizing that purification now comes through the blood of Messiah and not Heifer ashes and water. Wine is symbolic of blood to a Hebrew. The clean (Messiah) was going to become unclean (because of our sinfulness) so that we could become clean (righteousness of God). And interesting side note is what Mary told the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it." Think Yeshua might have done this change over thing before in their household? They were a poor family and Yeshua did feed five thousand on a couple loaves of bread and a few fish. He most certainly would have provided for His family as God our Provider.
And finally we come to the transference of the guilt of our sins to Yeshua on the cross. Anyone remember the Hyssop branch. I told you it would be significant later. Let’s go back to John when Yeshua is on the cross.
John 19:28-30
28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, "I am thirsty."
29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth.
30 Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
Not only did Yeshua do this to fulfill Psalm 69, but it doubles to symbolize the transfer through hyssop of uncleanness of humanity to the clean High Priest. Interestingly enough, the priest was unclean until evening and Yeshua died before He could become clean. He died under the weight of the sins of the world and faced the wrath of God meant for us.
King David understood the importance of the Red Heifer sacrifice and that it was a shadow of the coming Messiah as he writes:
Psalm 51:6-8
6 Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me to hear joy and gladness,
Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.
One last thing to discuss is the death place of Yeshua and the altar that Yeshua was sacrificed plus the altar that the Passover lamb would have been sacrificed on at the same time as the death of our Messiah, the ninth hour. Where are these two altars and how did they come about? Well, King David purchased two pieces of land for the purpose of building altars. On a side note needed for context, altars are what sanctify the sacrifices. They are the mark of God that the earth is the LORD’s and all the fullness thereof (Psalm24:1). The word altar or altars is used 369 times in the Bible and there will be an altar when we are with Yeshua in heaven as well, we will celebrate the Feast of God (another paper):
Isaiah 56:7
7 Even those I will bring to My holy mountain
And make them joyful in My house of prayer
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar;
For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples."
Watch what Yeshua says about the altar in Matthew:
Matthew 23:15-22
15 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.'
17 "You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?
18 "And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.'
19 "You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering?
20 "Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it.
21 "And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it.
22 "And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.
Yeshua loved to use comparisons and He is pointing out to the Scribes and the Pharisees that they do not understand the order of sacrifice from God’s perspective. The altar sanctifies the offering, the temple sanctifies the gold, and He (God) who dwells in the temple sanctifies the temple. The altar holds preeminence over the sacrifice and without an altar there is no sacrifice. So the question then becomes, what altar was the sacrifice of Yeshua our Messiah made on? Back to King David and His land purchases.
The land bought for the Temple Mount
1 Chronicles 21:18-30
18 Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
19 So David went up at the word of Gad, which he spoke in the name of the LORD.
20 Now Ornan turned back and saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. And Ornan was threshing wheat.
21 As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out from the threshing floor and prostrated himself before David with his face to the ground.
22 Then David said to Ornan, "Give me the site of this threshing floor, that I may build on it an altar to the LORD; for the full price you shall give it to me, that the plague may be restrained from the people."
23 Ornan said to David, "Take it for yourself; and let my lord the king do what is good in his sight. See, I will give the oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for wood and the wheat for the grain offering; I will give it all."
24 But King David said to Ornan, "No, but I will surely buy it for the full price; for I will not take what is yours for the LORD, or offer a burnt offering which costs me nothing."
25 So David gave Ornan 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site.
26 Then David built an altar to the LORD there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And he called to the LORD and He answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.
27 The LORD commanded the angel, and he put his sword back in its sheath.
28 At that time, when David saw that the LORD had answered him on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he offered sacrifice there.
29 For the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were in the high place at Gibeon at that time.
30 But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was terrified by the sword of the angel of the LORD.
David paid 600 shekels of gold for this land and altar site. Gold signifies divinity thus this is where the Temple would have been built. The tabernacle was in the high place at Gibeon which was inaccessible because of the sword of the angel so David bought a new location for the tabernacle. Now to the altar for Yeshua:
The land bought for Yeshua’s sacrifice
2 Samuel 24:18-25
18 So Gad came to David that day and said to him, "Go up, erect an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite."
19 David went up according to the word of Gad, just as the LORD had commanded.
20 Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants crossing over toward him; and Araunah went out and bowed his face to the ground before the king.
21 Then Araunah said, "Why has my lord the king come to his servant?" And David said, "To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be held back from the people."
22 Araunah said to David, "Let my lord the king take and offer up what is good in his sight. Look, the oxen for the burnt offering, the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood.
23 "Everything, O king, Araunah gives to the king." And Araunah said to the king, "May the LORD your God accept you."
24 However, the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing " So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
25 David built there an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Thus the LORD was moved by prayer for the land, and the plague was held back from Israel.
David bought a second altar location for fifty shekels of silver. Silver signifies redemption or salvation. This is why Joseph put a silver cup in the bag of his youngest brother, Benjamin. Joseph was his families’ redemption from the famine and his story points us to the story of our redemption in Messiah. This altar purchased by King David was to be the altar of redemption for our Messiah.
I certainly do not claim to have all the answers, but I hope at least I have raised some questions. Why have you never heard this before in your church? Certainly what you have heard has been good if it has been in line with God’s word. There are four Hebrew levels of understanding Scripture that Non-Jewish believers are vaguely acquainted with if that from what I have found. And this may go a ways in explaining why we have not been taught at this level; not out of direct intention, but merely a lack of knowledge and revelation. The four levels are as follows:
Pshat (פְּשָׁט) — the "simple meaning" of a verse or passage
Remez (רֶמֶז) — "hints" of a deeper meaning beyond just the literal words
Drash (דְּרַשׁ) — "interpretation"; unraveling midrashic meaning by comparing words and forms in the passage to similar occurrences elsewhere
Sod (סוֹד) — the "secret" or mystical meaning of a passage, as given through inspiration or revelation
"Pardes (Jewish exegesis)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 9 Jan 2008, 06:25 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 11 Jan 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pardes_%28Jewish_exegesis%29&oldid=183128440>.
So you see that there really is more than meets the eye. That is why we study the Scriptures individually as well as corporately. We do this so that we interpret correctly and remain on the path of truth not going to the left or to the right.
Joshua 1:6-8
6 "Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.
7 "Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.
8 "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
Yeshua is the true “Red Heifer Sacrifice” to make the unclean clean. He was consumed by the holy wrath of God an unblemished and unyoked sacrifice for the sins of humanity to sprinkle us clean by His blood. To end I will share an interesting fact that warmed my heart when I heard it: traditions say that the red Heifer had to be three years old before it could be eligible for sacrifice. Yeshua’s ministry lasted approximately three years before He died.
Shalom
Jason G. Brown
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