Numbers 19:1-22 - The Remedy Of Death

1 . The circumstances under which the ordinance was given.

2 . The choice of the victim.

3 . The manner of sacrifice.

4 . The application of its cleansing virtue.

I. AS TO THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF TIME AND PLACE . Consider—

1 . That the ordinance of the red heifer was given not at Sinai, but in the wilderness of Paran, the region of exile, of wandering; the land of the shadow of death, which was but the ante-chamber of the tomb and of eternal darkness to that generation. The whole Levitical system had been given in the wilderness, but in the wilderness as a land of liberty to serve God, and as the threshold of the promised land of life flowing with milk and honey. Even so Christ was given to us when we lay in darkness and the shadow of death, living in a world whose prince was Satan, wherein was no rest, and wherefrom was no escape, save into the gloomier land beyond the grave.

2 . That it was given at a time who, Israel lay under condemnation for rebellion, and under sentence of death; when death, who had been restrained for a season, was let loose upon them with multiplied terrors to prey upon them until they were consumed, filling the minds of them that lived with horror and despair. Even so Christ was given unto a dying race, lying under the wrath of God for sin, and in perpetual bondage through certain fear of coming death. Death was the universal tyrant whose terror sickened the boldest heart and saddened the uneasy mirth of the gayest.

3 . That it was given at a time when the routine of sacrifices and holy rites was abandoned, partly as out of their power to maintain, partly as useless for such as were alienated from God and appointed to die. How should men eat the passover who had but escaped from Egypt to perish miserably in a howling wilderness? Even so Christ was given to a race which had little belief and less comfort in its religious rites, Jewish or Gentile; which knew itself alienated from God, excluded from heaven; which had tried all outward and formal rites, and found that they could not deliver from the fear of death. Even the Divinely-given, religious system of Moses had not a word to say about the life to come, could not whisper one syllable of comfort to the dying soul.

II. AS TO THE CHOICE OF VICTIM . Consider—

1 . That the victim was ( so far as could possibly be ) one, and one only; in striking contrast to the multiplicity and constant repetition (with its consequent difficulty and expense) of the ordinary sacrifices of the law. One red heifer availed for centuries. Only six are said to have been required during the whole of Jewish history; for the smallest quantity of the ashes availed to impart the cleansing virtue to the holy water. Had it indeed been possible to preserve the ashes from unavoidable waste, no second red heifer would ever have needed to be offered. Even so the sacrifice of Christ is one, and only one, as opposed to all the offerings of the law; and this because the availing power of it and the cleansing virtue of his atonement endure for ever, without the slightest loss of efficacy or possibility of being exhausted.

2 . That the victim was a heifer, not a male animal, as in almost all other cases. Even so we may believe with reverence that there was a distinctly feminine side to the character of Christ, a tenderness and gentleness which might have been counted weakness had it not been united with so much masculine force of command and energy of will. And this was necessary to the perfect Man; for whereas Eve was taken from out of Adam after his creation, this points to the subtraction from the ideal man of some elements of his nature, so that man and woman only represent between them a complete humanity. As, therefore, we ever find in the greatest men some strongly-marked feminine traits of character, so we may believe that in Christ, who was the second Adam, and (in a special sense) the seed of the woman, this feminine side of the perfect ideal was fully restored.

3 . That the victim was red. Even so our Lord, as touching his bodily nature, was of that common earth, which is red, from which Adam took his name. Moreover, he was red in the blood of his passion, as the prophet testifies ( Isaiah 63:1 , Isaiah 63:2 ; Revelation 19:13 ).

4 . That it was without blemish. A matter about which the Jews took incredible pains, three hairs together of any but the one colour being held fatal to the choice. Even so our Lord, even by the testimony of Jews and heathens, was without fault and irreproachable ( John 7:46 ; John 18:23 ; John 19:4 ; 1 Peter 2:22 ).

5 . That no yoke had ever come upon it. The innocent freedom of its young life had never been harshly bent to the purposes and plans of others. Even so our Lord was never under any yoke of constraint, nor was any other will ever imposed upon him. It is true that he made himself obedient to his Father in all things, to his earthly parents within their proper sphere, and to his enemies in his appointed sufferings; but all this was purely voluntary, and it was of the essence of his perfect sacrifice that no constraint of any sort was ever put upon him. It was his own will which accepted the will of others, as shaping for him his life and destiny.

III. AS TO THE MANNER OF SACRIFICE , Consider—

1 . That the red heifer was led outside the camp ( or city ) of God to die in an unhallowed place—a thing absolutely singular, even among sacrifices for sin. Even so our Lord, by whose death we are restored to life, suffered without the gate ( Hebrews 13:12 ); partly because be was despised and rejected, but partly because he was an anathema, made a curse for us, concentrating upon himself all our sin and death; partly also because he died not for that nation only (whose home and heritage was the holy city), but for the whole wide world beyond.

2 . That the heifer was delivered to the chief priest, and by him led forth to die, but slain by other hands before his face. Even so our Lord was delivered unto Caiaphas and the Jewish priesthood, and by them was he brought unto his death; but he was crucified by alien hands, not theirs,—God so over-ruling it ( John 18:31 ),—yet in their presence, and with their sanction and desire.

3 . That the death of the heifer was not in appearance sacrificial, but became so when its blood was sprinkled towards the sanctuary by the finger of, the priest. Even so the death of Christ upon the cross was not made an atoning sacrifice by its outward incidents, or even by its extreme injustice, or by the hatred of the Truth which prompted it; for then it had been only a murder, or a martyrdom, and not equal to many ethers in the cruelty shown or the suffering patiently endured; but it became a true propitiatory sacrifice by virtue of the deliberate will and purpose of Christ, whereby he (being Priest as well as Victim) offered his sufferings and death in holy submission and with devout gladness to the Father. As the priest sprinkled of the blood with his own finger towards the sanctuary, and made it a sacrifice, so Christ, by his will to suffer for us and to be our atonement with God, imparted an intention or direction to his death which made it in the deepest sense a sacrifice ( Luke 12:50 ; John 17:19 ; Hebrews 9:14 ; Hebrews 10:8-10 ).

4 . That the heifer was wholly consumed with fire, as was the case with all sin offerings for the sins of many, as a thing wholly due unto God. Even so Christ was wholly given up by himself unto that God who is a consuming fire, a fire of wrath against sin, a fire of love towards the sinner. In this flame of Divine zeal against sin, of Divine zeal for souls, was Christ wholly consumed, nothing in him remaining indifferent, nothing escaping the agony and the cross (cf. John 2:17 ).

5 . That, contrary to the universal rule, the blood of the heifer was not poured away, but was burnt with the carcass, and so was represented in the ashes. Even so "the precious blood" of Christ which he shed for our redemption did not pass away; the cleansing virtue of it and the abiding strength of it remain for ever in the means and ministries of grace which we owe to his atoning death.

6 . That cedar, hyssop, and scarlet were mingled in the burning. Even so there are for ever mingled in the passion of Christ, never to be lost sight of if we would view it aright, these three elements: fragrance and incorruption, cleansing efficacy, martial and royal grandeur. If we omit any of these we do wrong to the full glory of the cross; for these three belong to him, as the Prophet, the fragrance of whose holy teachings has filled the world; as the Priest, who only can purge us with hyssop that we may be clean; as the King, who never reigned more gloriously than on the tree (see So Numbers 3:11 ; Matthew 27:28 ; Colossians 2:15 ).

7 . That the priest himself and the man that slew the heifer became unclean, contrary to the usual rule. Even so the Jewish priesthood and the heathen soldiery who slew our Lord, albeit he died for them as well as for others, yet incurred a fearful guilt thereby ( Acts 2:23 ).

IV. AS TO THE APPLICATION OF THE EXPIATION . Consider—

1 . That the ashes were, so far as could be presented to the senses, the indestructible residue of the entire victim. including its blood, after the sacrifice was completed. Even so the whole merits of Christ—the entire value and efficacy of his self-sacrifice, of his life given for us, of all that he was, and did, and suffered—remain ever, and abide with us, and are available for our cleansing.

2 . That the ashes of the heifer were laid up, but not by the priest, or by any one concerned in its death, without the camp in a clean place. Even so the merits of Christ and the efficacy of his sacrifice are preserved for ever; yet not in the Jerusalem below, nor by any agency of them that slew him; but he himself (see 4.) hath laid them up for the use of all nations in the Church which is "clean," as governed and sanctified by his Holy Spirit.

3 . That the ashes of the heifer when mixed with "living water" were made a purification for sin unto Israel to deliver them from the bondage of death. Even so the merits of Christ and the virtue of his atonement are available for all, through the operation of the Holy Spirit ( John 4:10 ; John 7:38 ), to purify front all sin, and to set free from the power of death.

4 . That when any unclean person was to be purged, it must be done by "a clean person," not by any one having need of cleansing himself. Even so the cleansing efficacy of Christ's atonement must be applied to the sinful soul only by one that is clean, and not by any one under like condemnation with himself. And this "clean person" can only be Christ himself, who only is holy, harmless, and undefiled ( Job 14:4 ; Job 15:14 ; Romans 3:23 ; Galatians 3:22 ); wherefore the sprinkling of purification from sin and death can only be effected by Christ himself.

5 . That the clean person did not apply the water for purification with his finger, as when the priest sprinkled the blood, but by means of hyssop, a lowly herb used as an aspergillum (cf. Exodus 12:22 ; 1 Kings 4:33 ; Psalms 51:7 ). Even so it hath pleased the Lord to apply the cleansing virtue of his blood and passion to souls unclean not directly and personally, as he offered his sacrifice of himself to the Father, but through lowly means and ministries of grace, by means of which he himself is pleased to work (cf. John 4:1 , John 4:2 ; John 13:20 ; John 20:21-23 ; 1 Corinthians 10:16 ; 2 Corinthians 2:10 ; 2 Corinthians 4:7 ; Galatians 3:27 ).

6 . That the unclean person was to be sprinkled on the third day and on the seventh day ere he was wholly cleansed from the savour of death. Even so must the cleansing virtue of the atonement come unto us in the twofold power,

CONSIDER , FURTHER , WITH RESPECT TO THE INFECTION OF DEATH —

1 . That the Jews were taught most emphatically and most minutely to regard death as a foul and horrible thing, the slightest contact with which alienated from God and banished from his worship. Even so are we taught that death is the shadow of sin ( Romans 5:12 ) and the wages of sin ( Romans 6:23 ), and the active enemy of Christ ( 1 Corinthians 15:26 ; Revelation 6:8 ; Revelation 20:14 ), and that the death of Christ was an awful mystery connected with his being made "sin" and "a curse" for us ( Matthew 27:46 , and the Passion Psalms passim ). Yet in the law the horror is concentrated upon physical death, whereas in the gospel it is removed from this and attached to the second death, of the soul.

2 . That whoso came into contact, even indirectly, with the dead, or even entered a tent where any corpse lay, was unclean a whole seven days. Far from being able to give any of his own life to the deceased, he himself was infected with his death. Even so are we powerless of ourselves to do good to the spiritually dead beside us, but rather are certain to catch front them the contagion of their death. None can live (naturally) among those that are dead in trespasses and sins without to some extent becoming like them.

3 . That this rule applied as much to the Levitical priests as to any other; nay, the very high priest who superintended the sacrifice, and the man who applied the holy water, became themselves unclean. Even so there is none of us, whatever his office may be, or howsoever he may be occupied about religious things, that does not contract defilement from the dead world and the dead works which are around him. Our Lord alone could utterly disregard the infection of death, because in his inherent holiness he was proof against its infection.

4 . That there was no cleansing for those defiled with death but by means of the sprinkling of the ashes. Even so there is no deliverance from the sentence and savour of death which hath passed upon us but through the sprinkling of the blood of Christ.

5 . That if any was not purified in the appointed way, he did not simply forego a great benefit to himself, he incurred the wrath of God as one that wantonly defiled his sanctuary. Even so that Christian who will not seek cleansing for his uncleanness and the hallowing of the precious blood does not only sin against his own soul, remaining in alienation from his God; he grieves the Spirit of God, and provokes him to anger, as one that despises his goodness, and mars by his state and example the sanctity of God's living temple, which is the Church ( Matthew 22:11-13 ; John 13:8 , John 13:10 , John 13:11 ; 1 Corinthians 3:16 , 1 Corinthians 3:17 ; Ephesians 2:20-22 ; Hebrews 10:29 ).