Living Word
PASSAGE: NUMBERS 19:1~22
KEY VERSE: “A clean man shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They are to be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin. 9
BIBLE READING
The Water of Cleansing
19 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 2 “This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke. 3 Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. 4 Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting. 5 While he watches, the heifer is to be burned—its hide, flesh, blood and intestines. 6 The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer. 7 After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening. 8 The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening.
9 “A clean man shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They are to be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin. 10 The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the foreigners residing among them.
11 “Whoever touches a human corpse will be unclean for seven days. 12 They must purify themselves with the water on the third day and seventh day; then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on the third and seventh days, they will not be clean. 13 If they fail to purify themselves after touching a human corpse, they defile the Lord’s tabernacle. They must be cut off from Israel. Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, they are unclean; their uncleanness remains on them.
14 “This is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent: Anyone who enters the tent and anyone who is in it will be unclean for seven days, 15 and every open container without a lid fastened on it will be unclean.
16 “Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.
17 “For the unclean person, put some ashes from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water over them. 18 Then a ceremonially clean man is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle the tent and all the furnishings and the people who were there. He must also sprinkle anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave or anyone who has been killed or anyone who has died a natural death. 19 The clean man is to sprinkle those who are unclean on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day, he is to purify them. Those who are being cleansed must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and that evening they will be clean. 20 But if those who are unclean do not purify themselves, they must be cut off from the community, because they have defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, and they are unclean. 21 This is a lasting ordinance for them.
“The man who sprinkles the water of cleansing must also wash his clothes, and anyone who touches the water of cleansing will be unclean till evening. 22 Anything that an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean till evening.”
SUMMARY
God told the Israelite community how to purify themselves. The priest oversaw the slaughter of the heifer, then sprinkled the blood seven times (4), calling to mind sin offerings (Lev 4:5-7). The heifer was burned together with other red symbols (cedar, hyssop, scarlet wool) to emphasize the shedding of blood for forgiveness (Lev 17:11). The ashes would be used by the community to sanctify them so they may be outwardly clean. How much more will the blood of Jesus cleanse our consciences so we may serve the living God (Heb 9:13-14)!
Death, as a wage of sin (Ro 6:23), caused uncleanness (11-16), in terms of approaching the holy God. The whole community should help each other to be clean through observing a unique ceremony (17-22). A clean member would go outside the camp to get the ashes and prepare the water for sprinkling (17), and then “wash” their unclean neighbour. This ceremony calls to mind God’s desire to make us clean, with a new heart (Ex 36:25-26). It reminds us of how Jesus commanded us to wash one another’s feet (Jn 13:13-14). Such community life is counter-cultural. But as Jesus suffered outside the gate to make us holy, let’s go to him, bearing this disgrace (Heb 13:12-14), looking forward to his reward.
APPLICATION
I am eternally grateful to the Lord Jesus Christ for the cleansing of my soul and body through His blood. By His mercy and grace, I have received eternal life through the sacrifice of His life, my spirit has been brought to life from death. Death has been swallowed up in victory over my life.
To experience this victory in my daily life, there is a need for my soul and body to be cleansed so that I may dwell with my Lord and Saviour, learn of Him, and grow into His fullness; in power, glory, and honour.
As one who is still in this world, there is stuff that seeks to contaminate my soul and make it unfit to host the glory of God, it comes in form of lust, pride, unbelief, doubt, fear, and so on. I am reminded through this study that my reality is in the finished work of Christ and, I must rely on Him daily so that I can experience the victorious life that Is mine in Him. This is also true for many of my brethren. It is my sincere prayer that the merciful and gracious Lord will cleanse us from all forms of uncleanliness so that we may worship Him in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives in Jesus Almighty name, amen.
PRAYER: Father, thank you for the blood of Jesus that cleanses us. Help us cleanse one another so we may dwell with you in Jesus Almighty's name, amen.
FURTHER READING: JAMES 1:12
ONE WORD: ARE YOU WASHED IN THE BLOOD?.
TOPIC: THE WATER OF CLEANSING.
PASSAGE: NUMBERS 19:1~22
KEY VERSE: “A clean man shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They are to be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin. 9
BIBLE READING
The Water of Cleansing
19 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 2 “This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke. 3 Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. 4 Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting. 5 While he watches, the heifer is to be burned—its hide, flesh, blood and intestines. 6 The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer. 7 After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening. 8 The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening.
9 “A clean man shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They are to be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin. 10 The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the foreigners residing among them.
11 “Whoever touches a human corpse will be unclean for seven days. 12 They must purify themselves with the water on the third day and seventh day; then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on the third and seventh days, they will not be clean. 13 If they fail to purify themselves after touching a human corpse, they defile the Lord’s tabernacle. They must be cut off from Israel. Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, they are unclean; their uncleanness remains on them.
14 “This is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent: Anyone who enters the tent and anyone who is in it will be unclean for seven days, 15 and every open container without a lid fastened on it will be unclean.
16 “Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.
17 “For the unclean person, put some ashes from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water over them. 18 Then a ceremonially clean man is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle the tent and all the furnishings and the people who were there. He must also sprinkle anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave or anyone who has been killed or anyone who has died a natural death. 19 The clean man is to sprinkle those who are unclean on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day, he is to purify them. Those who are being cleansed must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and that evening they will be clean. 20 But if those who are unclean do not purify themselves, they must be cut off from the community, because they have defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, and they are unclean. 21 This is a lasting ordinance for them.
“The man who sprinkles the water of cleansing must also wash his clothes, and anyone who touches the water of cleansing will be unclean till evening. 22 Anything that an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean till evening.”
SUMMARY
God told the Israelite community how to purify themselves. The priest oversaw the slaughter of the heifer, then sprinkled the blood seven times (4), calling to mind sin offerings (Lev 4:5-7). The heifer was burned together with other red symbols (cedar, hyssop, scarlet wool) to emphasize the shedding of blood for forgiveness (Lev 17:11). The ashes would be used by the community to sanctify them so they may be outwardly clean. How much more will the blood of Jesus cleanse our consciences so we may serve the living God (Heb 9:13-14)!
Death, as a wage of sin (Ro 6:23), caused uncleanness (11-16), in terms of approaching the holy God. The whole community should help each other to be clean through observing a unique ceremony (17-22). A clean member would go outside the camp to get the ashes and prepare the water for sprinkling (17), and then “wash” their unclean neighbour. This ceremony calls to mind God’s desire to make us clean, with a new heart (Ex 36:25-26). It reminds us of how Jesus commanded us to wash one another’s feet (Jn 13:13-14). Such community life is counter-cultural. But as Jesus suffered outside the gate to make us holy, let’s go to him, bearing this disgrace (Heb 13:12-14), looking forward to his reward.
APPLICATION
I am eternally grateful to the Lord Jesus Christ for the cleansing of my soul and body through His blood. By His mercy and grace, I have received eternal life through the sacrifice of His life, my spirit has been brought to life from death. Death has been swallowed up in victory over my life.
To experience this victory in my daily life, there is a need for my soul and body to be cleansed so that I may dwell with my Lord and Saviour, learn of Him, and grow into His fullness; in power, glory, and honour.
As one who is still in this world, there is stuff that seeks to contaminate my soul and make it unfit to host the glory of God, it comes in form of lust, pride, unbelief, doubt, fear, and so on. I am reminded through this study that my reality is in the finished work of Christ and, I must rely on Him daily so that I can experience the victorious life that Is mine in Him. This is also true for many of my brethren. It is my sincere prayer that the merciful and gracious Lord will cleanse us from all forms of uncleanliness so that we may worship Him in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives in Jesus Almighty name, amen.
PRAYER: Father, thank you for the blood of Jesus that cleanses us. Help us cleanse one another so we may dwell with you in Jesus Almighty's name, amen.
FURTHER READING: JAMES 1:12
ONE WORD: ARE YOU WASHED IN THE BLOOD?
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