“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?” (Hebrews 9:13)
The Red Heifer sacrifice is one of the most intriguing ordinances to be found in the Old Covenant, for concealed within its intricate designs are profound predictions concerning the sacrifice of the Son of God. The Red Heifer sacrifice was a careful ceremony dedicated to obtaining a peculiar type of ashes that were exclusively imbued with the power to purify an unclean person. Numbers 19 is a prophetic allegory of the severity of sin and the unique remedy that the Godhead has devised for healing the sins and rebellions of Mankind. The directives for the Red Heifer ceremony are not only complex and unusual, but also deviate in key respects from the standard pattern of the animal sacrifices. This paper intends to study these types and shadows. In Hebrews 9:13, the Apostle compares the ashes of the Red Heifer to the blood of Christ. However, there are other meticulously prescribed details in that ceremony which foreshadow additional truths in the sacrifice of Christ.
The Ordinance Commanded
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” (Numbers 19:1-2).
This is the ordinance of the Law. This unusual phrase is found only one other time in the Bible (Num 31:21). It affords heightened significance to the ceremony of the red heifer sacrifice. Unlike the other sacrificial rites, this one followed no date schedule. It was commanded only on this occasion and the ceremony is never again mentioned in the Old Testament[1]. Instead, the ashes of the heifer were collected and stored for usage in future generations to cleanse the ceremonially unclean. It was a statute forever in Israel (Num 19:10). These details speak typologically of the continuing, cleansing power in the blood of Christ, whose death has been made a purification for sin (Num 19:9). It is available for every person, even for the stranger (Num 19:10). His one sacrifice (Heb 10:12) remains forever effective, being accepted, validated and treasured up before the throne of God, saving to the uttermost all those who come to Him (Heb 7:25).
Of all the many animal sacrifices that God ordained, none were so exactingly detailed as the Red Heifer sacrifice. The animal was to be selected by strict prescription – a young female cow which had never calved, all red in color, without defect or blemish, and which had never yet borne a yoke. These details contain deep symbolisms with respect to specific features of Christ, but care must be taken to appropriately correlate each type with its anti-type, that is to say, the symbol with its spiritual reality.
Types and shadows of the Old Testament normally do not directly represent a personage of the Deity. Instead they describe particular characteristics or actions of the Deity. Perhaps there are a few exceptions, but a distinctive charm of symbolism is its ability to portray unseen spiritual realities such that our minds can better grasp their significance. Another charm of symbolism is its ability to portray future events in a manner that only the Elect is able to understand these mysteries (Mat 13:11-13). In the case of the red heifer sacrifice, we should not look for a representation of Christ the person, but particular aspects of His character and actions.
Speak unto the children of Israel that they bring thee a red heifer. While Moses, Aaron and Eleazar all had roles in this sacrifice, the congregation was the party charged with selecting the animal. They were to view the heifer and prove in every detail its fitness to serve as the suitable sacrifice victim. After observing the animal carefully, they were to bring the victim to Moses and Aaron. Later, two members of the congregation were anonymously designated to kill and burn the heifer.
These details correspond to the Jewish people being directly involved in the events resulting in the crucifixion of Christ. By many devious ways and on multiple occasions, the doubting Jewish leaders searched for a fault or blemish in Jesus Christ. While the crowds watched, they tested, questioned and proved Him to be that Worthy One. Yet even as they saw Him work miracles and heard Him speak with an authority the world has never seen, they were determined to bring Him to the executioner.
The angry mob that cried out again and again, “Crucify Him, crucify Him,” and, “Let His blood be upon us and upon our children,” were fully aware that Pilate had found Jesus to be innocent, but they were beyond caring about the consequences. Israel after the flesh gave birth to the Messiah, but she rejected Him as her King and Savior. Nevertheless, a faithful and true remnant of Jews according to the flesh did accept Jesus of Nazareth as their Savior. That remnant took root downward and the sprout grew into a huge tree that has filled the whole earth. This is the true, spiritual Israel of God in which there is no distinction between bloods and races (Rom 11:5; Gal 3:28-29; 6:16).
A Red Heifer
A heifer without spot. Female sacrifices were uncommon in the Old Testament. All the significant yearly sacrifices were required to be males. The lesser, individual sacrifices such as the peace offering (Lev 3) and the sins of ignorance offering (Num 15:27) allowed for either male or female victims, but the public sacrificial animals were to be bullocks, rams or male goats. This detail agrees with the Deity being portrayed in masculine terms throughout the Scriptures. Christ was a male and He was also the ultimate sacrifice victim in the great Atonement that the Godhead had ordained by which He could justly forgive the sins of the world. This pattern is conspicuously broken by the Red Heifer Sacrifice, which designated a female sacrifice, a red heifer, as the sacred victim to be used in the purification for sin. There must be a motive for this apparent disconformity, for the Holy Spirit always communicates according to God’s perfect pattern (Heb 8:5).
The reason is both surprising and powerful. A different truth is being pre-figured by this detail and one of the most difficult enigmas for our human minds to comprehend: the human nature of Jesus Christ. Although He is “the only begotten Son of God” and so by nature is fully God, Jesus was born into the human family by a natural mother. The revelation of Scripture is that Jesus the Messiah was fully man in the physical sense and yet fully God in being and soul. Isaiah, writing by the Spirit, said His name would be, “Emmanuel, God with us” (Mat 1:23; Isa 7:14). Jeremiah said He would be called, “Jehovah, our righteousness” (Jer 23:5-6; Isa 9:6). However, the prophets also indicated that He would be human, a son of David (Isa 11:1) and a prophet like Moses (Deut 18:15).
The very first prophecy in Scripture specified that the Redeemer would come through the woman’s seed in stark exclusion of the man (Gen 3:15). This detail was reaffirmed more than three thousand years later by Isaiah when he wrote, a virgin shall conceive. Jesus had no earthly father. The Jewish rabbis however, could not come to the correct interpretation of these prophecies (see their confusion in Mat 22:41-45).
The unique birth of Christ precisely fulfilled the prophets, for God the Son was indeed born of the seed of woman, but without a male human parent. The naming of Eve’s seed (instead of Adam’s seed) is a remarkable prophetic detail, for an heir or ruler is never designated through female lineage. These facts find an important correlation in the red heifer sacrifice, for there is nothing so identifying to being human than having a mother, whose body must develop and nurture the new life for several years before it is able to survive. The female sacrifice pointing to Christ’s humanity might also be seen in another Old Covenant ceremony which prescribed a heifer to represent a man found dead without a natural cause. We will leave that for a future study, but read Deut 21:1-9.
The command did not allow just any heifer, but specified that a red (Heb-adom) animal be selected for this ceremony. It is the only sacrifice which called for a particular color of animal. Red is a euphemism for blood in the Scriptures, which seems to correlate with the flesh and blood physical nature of the Messiah (1Tim 3:16; Lev 17:11). According to Hebrew lexicons, adom comes from the root word adam, which is commonly translated man in the English Bible. There is an interesting play on words between adom (red), adam (man) and adamah (earth) when God created Adam from red dirt (see Gen 25:25-30). Thus, while the animal was female, it was to be red (Heb-adom) – “of man and earth.”
The red heifer is a clever prophecy by types that the Messiah would be a man, a truth later revealed in the New Testament: Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil (Heb 2:14). These Scriptures serve to strengthen the typological correlation of red to flesh and blood, which is the fulfillment of this prophetic detail. Christ the son of God was made flesh to dwell among us (John 1:14; Rom 1:3). His mission was to open up a new and living way into the Holy of Holies, by and through His flesh (Heb 10:19-20).
The coupling of red with heifer is a remarkable typological portrayal of the promised Messiah as a man of flesh and blood. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to imagine a better way to depict this concept in the context of an animal sacrifice, for the red heifer doubly points to Jesus’ humanity, which happens to be one of the key elements this sacrifice intends to portray. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight (Col 1:21-22).
A few months after writing this section, I discovered that my idea of the red heifer as a type of the humanity of Christ is far from new. Adam Clarke comments, “Several fathers, as well modern as ancient, profess to understand the whole clearly…The red heifer with them signifies the flesh of our Lord, formed out of an earthly substance” (Clarke, Num 19:12).
Without spot, wherein is no blemish. The red heifer was to be a perfectly formed animal. Just one defect or imperfection would disqualify the animal for this sacrifice. Of course, this speaks of Christ’s perfect and sinless life, whose precious blood is likened unto a sacrificial lamb without blemish and without spot (1Pet 1:19; Heb 9:14; Eph 5:27).
The Gospels prove this point many times over, that Jesus Christ alone lived in unblameable holiness and perfection, thus becoming the one and only sacrifice acceptable to God for the redemption of mankind (Rev 5). As a man, He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin (Heb 4:15). During the week just prior to His death, the Pharisees came every day to test Him. The Sadduccees and Herodians also took their turns. Finally they gave up, for no man was able to answer Him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask Him any more (Mat 22:46).
Upon which never came yoke. This represents the voluntary nature of Christ’s sacrifice, that He is ruled by nobody and is entirely free to act at His own will and pleasure. And yet surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows (Isa 53:4; 1Pet 2:24). In bearing our iniquities and redeeming us from sin, Jesus came voluntarily to do the will of the Deity (Heb 10:7; John 10:17-18). He was not forced or required to save mankind at all. He came because He loved us, even while we were yet sinners. He came because of the joy that was set before Him (Heb 12:2); He anticipated the love, appreciation and communion of those that would choose His salvation. How difficult that is to fathom, yet how powerfully it serves to earn our undying devotion and reverence.
Uncleanness – a type of sin
Uncleanness was a ceremonial condition that would befall a person due to a particular action or physical characteristic as defined by the Law. Superficially, the laws of uncleanness might appear to be simple protocols of hygiene, but in truth they governed a set of ceremonial rules. For although uncleanness was contracted by and in the flesh, being “unclean” was in truth a spiritual condition. A person who touched a bone in the field was physically unchanged, yet spiritually he became unclean and must submit to a particular ritual to be “cleansed.”
How truly this relates to the condition of sin. It is committed in the body but imputed spiritually. Sin begins in the mind and is then acted upon in the flesh. And that’s why sin’s deepest consequence affects the soul. Guilt is not a physical condition, but is attributed spiritually, upon the soul. Adam died spiritually the moment that he sinned physically.
Throughout the laws and ceremonies of the Old Covenant, uncleanness is constantly seen to be a type of sin. It was given so that the children of Israel might learn the importance of righteous living. Leviticus 10:10 says, That ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean. The prescribed antidote for uncleanness, the water of separation, was a purification for sin (v9). Notice that the words “sin” and “uncleanness” are used synonymously.
The laws and rituals involving the clean/unclean were multiple and complicated. Among the many ways a person would become unclean was by eating or touching unclean animals, by contracting certain leprous skin issues, by various sexual conditions and by close contact with dead bodies. If someone were to touch a camel, for instance, he was instantly unclean (a camel was one of the unclean animals). An unclean person was to be put outside the camp of Israel (Num 4:1-4) and was barred from any participation in the congregation involving worship ceremonies during the full time of his/her uncleanness. Depending upon the offense, this might last until nightfall, a week, two weeks, several months, or even a lifetime.
The Jews lived in constant danger of becoming unclean. There were so many ways a person might become unclean it was virtually unavoidable, yet the Law specifically warned against intentionally becoming unclean or allowing oneself to continue in a state of uncleanness.
The laws of uncleanness were most severe and demonstrate the gravity of sin in God’s eyes, so that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful (Rom 7:13). On the other hand, it was virtually impossible to live without becoming unclean. Every Jewish person, in living his life normally, became unclean, probably often. Likewise in the New Covenant, every living person has become unclean by contact with sin (Eccl 7:20; 1John 1:8; Job 15:14; Pro 20:9). And the rules are just as strict! Under the New Covenant, just thinking malicious thoughts against another is a sin, and to even look upon a woman to lust after her makes a person “unclean.”
The comparison of uncleanness to sin is even more startling when we read that uncleanness was contagious. It could be contracted simply by touching another unclean person, or even a dish that an unclean person had touched (Num 19:22). Sin contaminates everything and it affects everyone, even the redeemed of the Lord. Christians believe that God is not to blame for the bad things that happen to us in this life – for cancer, for the deaths of innocent children, etc. Then who, or what, is to blame? The answer: Sin.
Sin has entered this once perfect world and has changed it drastically. The whole creation groans under the curse of sin and every person is continuously affected by it, both directly and indirectly. Until Christ returns and restores all things (Acts 3:21), we will live in a world of sin and sinful influences, of human uncleanness of every kind. We must learn to put difference between holy and unholy and between unclean and clean. The Spirit says, Come out from among them and be ye separate…touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you (2Cor 6:17).
One of the worst ways a person would become unclean was by contact with a dead human. The sole purpose of the Red Heifer sacrifice was to provide a means of ceremonially purifying that person. The rules were strict. If someone died in a tent, all who entered it were unclean; if a person touched a bone in the field he was unclean, if a person touched a bowl that had been near a dead body he was unclean, if he touched a gravestone, he was unclean, etc.
While touching a dead animal made a man unclean until evening, touching any part of a human corpse would make him unclean for seven days. This latter class of uncleanness seems to particularly illustrate mankind’s sinful nature, often called “the old man” (Rom 6:6; Eph 4:22; Col 3:8). Even a born again Christian who has put on “the new man” will wrestle with “the old man” while he lives in this sin-cursed world. This is what seems to be typified by the uncleanness that resulted from touching a corpse.
Consequently, this type of uncleanness could only be remedied by a ritual involving the water of separation (v9), which was a mixture of pure spring water with the ashes of the red heifer. This potion was sprinkled upon the unclean person on the third day of his uncleanness and would result in his ceremonial cleansing on the seventh day. There was no hope of cleansing for anyone who did not receive the water of separation on the third day (Num 19:12). Death was the penalty for anyone who dared to disregard his uncleanness and approach the tabernacle of God.
In conclusion, two points are illustrated by the rigid laws of uncleanness. First, we are impressed with the firm and comprehensive requirements concerning uncleanness and the necessity of being ceremonially purified. Second, we see the incompatibility of God’s character with anything contaminated by sinful humanity. Even those things which inadvertently or incidentally were associated with an unclean person became unclean as well. Accordingly, every person involved in the ceremony of the red heifer sacrifice became unclean by participating. The man who burned the heifer and the one who gathered the ashes became unclean until evening, and even the one who later administered the ceremonial cleansing became unclean, although only until the evening (Num 19:21). Nobody was immune to uncleanness and nobody was exempted from the requirement to be cleansed. The great gulf between all-holy God and sin-spotted Man is unambiguously portrayed in the laws of uncleanness.
The Sacrificial Ceremony
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. (Numbers 19:3-7).
Among the prominent ceremonial sacrifices, the red heifer sacrifice is the only one at which the High Priest did not officiate. Instead, his son Eleazar was to be the presiding priest. Moses and Aaron participated only as witnesses. Some have speculated that Eleazar was chosen to officiate so that Aaron would not become unclean, but that idea doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. Even as High Priest, Aaron must have become unclean just like other men.
The Law did specify that the High Priest should never touch a human corpse and so become unclean for seven days (Lev 21:11), but there was no corpse in the red heifer sacrifice. I believe the distinctive detail of Eleazar officiating instead of Aaron has an important signification just as profound as the typological meaning of the red heifer which we have already discussed.
Although not the firstborn, Eleazar became chief among Aaron’s sons (Num 3:2; 3:32). He was given charge over the Levites as well as oversight of all the tabernacle, including its sacred articles and furniture (Num 4:16). After the death of Aaron, he was ordained High Priest (see Num 20). He and Joshua were charged with dividing the land of Canaan amongst the tribes of Israel (Num 34:17). His name means “God protects,” and his position as tabernacle administrator puts him among the five most important men in Israel.
In the red heifer ceremony, Eleazar might seem to be a type of God the Father watching the sacrifice of His Son. However, several important considerations indicate that Eleazar does not relate typologically to the Father, but to the Son. First, we note the anomaly of Eleazar representing the Father, given his lower position in Israel. Second, the High Priestly actions performed by Eleazar in this sacrifice (taking the red heifer outside the camp, throwing the sacred items into the fire, and sprinkling the blood toward the tabernacle) relate to Christ, our High Priest (Heb 2:17). Finally, and most significantly, Eleazar became unclean by officiating at the red heifer sacrifice, but Moses and Aaron did not.
Nevertheless, the idea that Eleazar typologically relates to Christ presents a serious paradox, for we have already firmly established that the red heifer represents Christ. The resolution is simple and yet powerful. The red heifer represents the sacrifice of Christ the Man, and Eleazar represents the spirit of Christ the Divine. For while Jesus’ human body died on that Cross over Golgotha and rose again three days later, Christ’s divine spirit never died, nor can it ever die. It was the man Christ Jesus who gave Himself a ransom for all (1Tim 2:5-6), yet in essence He is the brightness of (God’s) glory, and the express image of His person, who is upholding all things by the word of His power (Heb 1:3).
The dual nature of Jesus Christ, that He was both human and God, is an incontrovertible truth of the Scriptures which the red heifer sacrifice accurately illustrates. Furthermore, the two-part symbolism of Eleazar and the red heifer agrees also with a mysterious detail of Christ’s sacrifice which we will study next, that while Christ the man suffered in the flesh on that terrible day, Christ the Son of God suffered much more in spirit and soul. All the sins of mankind were laid upon Him; not physically, but much more tragically, upon His sinless and innocent soul.
By specifying Eleazar for the red heifer sacrifice, the Trinity is portrayed in harmony of will concerning the Atonement, a detail that would be missing if only Moses and Aaron were involved. Sometimes Joshua fills the typological third member role of the Trinity, but Joshua was not a priest and so could not officiate. Furthermore, when Joshua does appear as a type of the Deity, he represents Christ as the Deliverer. In fact, the name Jesus in Hebrew is Joshua, which means “savior, deliverer.”
Moses and Aaron brought the heifer unto Eleazar just as God in heaven fore-ordained that the Son would take upon Himself human flesh and redeem mankind. This unity of purpose is especially notable in Luke 1:35, And the angel answered and said unto (Mary), The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35).
The Atonement
True communion between unrighteous man and all-righteous God is impossible. God is perfectly holy and cannot abide in the presence of sin and iniquity. Something had to be done about Mankind’s sinful condition, which is why Christ came in the flesh – to become a sin offering for us. The Atonement was a work of Christ by which guilty-of-sin Mankind could be reconciled with all-holy God. The ceremonial details of the red heifer sacrifice help us to better understand that profound spiritual mystery.
Probably the most striking detail of this sacrifice is that Eleazar the priest became unclean by watching the ceremony. The New Testament explains that typological mystery, showing that Christ’s death was counted by God to be an unclean death. He was made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree (Gal 3:13). God hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin (2Cor 5:21). He was assigned a grave with the wicked (Is 53:9, NIV). He tasted death for every man (Heb 2:9). These verses describe spiritual realities and imply that Jesus, in bearing our sins at His death, became “unclean” in some fashion. That is an alarming statement which we will explore next, but first we need get in our minds what it means to forgive.
The act of forgiving another is never free; its cost is always equal or greater to the initial offense. Every time a person forgives a fault, misdeed, or wrong committed against him, he is agreeing to pay the cost himself. In releasing the guilty from the rightful penalty his mal-action deserves, the forgiver must suffer the wrong. A man who forgives the murderer of his wife does not gain her back; he must live without her. A man who forgives a monetary debt will never receive that money; he has consented to bear the cost of the debt himself. A man who forgives slander against him agrees to live with those harms that have spread abroad against his character. When it comes to forgiveness, this truth rules supreme: the cost of forgiving is never cheaper than the cost of the debt.
It is illogical to think that God’s forgiveness differs from human forgiveness in this respect. A key aspect of the Atonement was God assuming the debt of mankind’s sins. It is irrational to think (as some) that the Atonement was a simple declaration by God that, under a New Covenant, remission of sins would be granted to those who ask for it. What about the great affront the Creator suffered when Mankind chose to disobey Him? What about the great debt of sin that remained owing?
Praise God, there was One who was able and willing to bear the cost of that debt. We have been bought with a price (1Cor 6:20); Christ gave His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). The death of Christ was the suitable recompense for Mankind’s debt of sin. The red heifer sacrifice accurately portrays this act and shows that God is duly capacitated to forgive Man’s sins, for Christ Himself was the payment (Mat 18:23-35). This is taught in the grandest of all verses, John 3:16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. God was harmed by mankind’s rebellions but because He loved us, He provided a means to forgive, an act by which He would assume the cost of those misdeeds – the death of His only Son. The completely burned heifer typifies the sacrifice of Christ which fully cancelled the sins of man.
The cost of the Atonement was very high, which is physically evident by the manner in which Jesus lived, suffered and died. He would not have had to come as a babe, grow up in a humble cottage, live in poverty, suffer all manner of ridicule and shame, and then die a disgraceful, cursed death. He could have descended as a God should, in overpowering brightness and glory. At the very least He might have been born into nobility, lived comfortably and died honorably. Yet He chose the former option, thereby demonstrating just how much He has invested in our salvation, just how much He wants to win our love and respect. Is this not true also of the spiritual cost of forgiveness and redemption? This we intend to explore in the next paragraphs.
God is both merciful and just, yet those two attributes are difficult to reconcile in the same Person. In acting mercifully, justice must be set aside. How then can God be merciful and just at the same time? The question has a two part answer. First, God is all-good and all-wise, so His acts of mercy will be perfectly determined. Second, God’s justice is upheld by real, authentic mercy. It is not the fake, ungrounded mercy that some theologians propose. Mercy does not overlook a wrong, but chooses to bear the consequences itself. While its decision is to forgive, its action is to self-bear the wrong.
In this fashion the Atonement of Christ resolves the apparent tension between mercy and justice in the character of God. For while it was God’s mercy and love that motivated Christ’s work, the justice of God was not compromised – Jesus has agreed to bear our sins; He has paid for our debts. God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him…being reconciled…by whom we have now received the atonement (Rom 5:8-11). Mercy triumphed over judgment when God, in His great goodness, wisdom and love, provided forgiveness for sins (James 2:13). It was Christ’s work that made it all possible. And that is the Atonement.
Divine revelation does not comprehensively describe the Atonement of Christ. Some speculate it was only His physical death that redeemed Man from his sins, but I believe it was something much more expensive and dear. We can glimpse its costliness by observing the incredible scene of Jesus in Gethsemane the night before He offered up His body upon the cross. There, in unimaginable sorrow and distress of soul, He wrestled mightily with His mission. The cup He must drink was so distasteful, so unwanted, so difficult, that His sweat was as drops of blood falling to the ground (Luke 22:44).
The Gospels describe Jesus’ unfathomable inner anguish in Gethsemane in some of the deepest, strongest words conceivable – sorrowful, very heavy, sore amazed, in an agony. My soul is exceeding sorrowful, He said, even unto death (Mat 26:38). These are the most tortured, heartbreaking words to be found in the Bible. Yet they do not describe His death. No, it was not the mistreatment that He knew His body must endure the next day that troubled Him, but that incomprehensible act of God, who made Him to be sin (or, “a sin offering”) for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2Cor 5:21). The iniquities of the world were laid upon Him that night (Isa 53:6; Lev 16:21).[2]
Our limited knowledge of God and the spiritual realm makes it impossible to really understand what those verses mean. Clearly though, in some deep, spiritual way Jesus consented to bear the cost that the sins of mankind had incurred. He paid the full price of redemption so that Man will not have to suffer the just recompense for his sin, which would be eternal separation and spiritual death in Hell. As we have said, forgiveness requires an in-kind payment; the debt must be borne by the extender of mercy. I think that means that in bearing the debt of our sins Jesus suffered spiritual damage, just as the person who forgives in the physical sense will suffer personal damage.
However, an amazing feature of mercy is that authentic forgiveness often results in rewards that exceed its cost. The Scriptures show that the damage Christ suffered has resulted in overwhelming reward and honor that He would not have obtained if he had remained in heaven. Jesus knew that His suffering would bring incomparable fulfillment and happiness. For the joy that was set before Him (Jesus) endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God…Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth (Heb 12:2; Php 2:9-10). We sing of the nail-prints and scars on the hands and feet of our Savior, marks that have earned our admiration, wonder and love. Yet I think the scars on Jesus’ soul and spirit will be even more notable in honor, for they are the real battle-marks of our salvation.
Two triumphs of Christ
The Atonement of Christ dealt a two-pronged death blow to Satan and to Sin, that is, two unique and tremendous triumphs in the spiritual realm for the benefit of Mankind. These two mighty deeds roughly parallel the two incredible physical events that all Christians recognize: His death and His resurrection. Christ’s first act was to free Mankind from the clutches of their wicked owner. His second act was to take away their sins.
Both of these feats are described by the Apostle Paul in one passage. Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of his dear Son. In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins (Col 1:13-14). We could fill several pages with additional quotes.
These two feats of might (let’s call them Ransom and Pardon) are illustrated in a remarkable ritual enacted every year upon the Day of Atonement. The ceremony is detailed in Lev 16, which began with a presentation of two goats before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle. The first goat was killed as a sin offering and its blood was taken into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled upon the Mercy Seat.
The ceremony of the first goat speaks of sacrificial death and Ransom. But the ceremony of the second goat speaks of sin-bearing and Pardon, for it was kept alive. Aaron was to place his hands upon its head and confess the sins of the people over the goat and then send it into the wilderness as a scapegoat, to carry forever the sins of the people. But that is another study.
The first triumph – Ransomed from Satan
The Scriptures describe the first mighty deed of Christ as a rescue “battle” in the Devil’s kingdom[3] as the newly risen Conqueror of death wrested from Satan’s control every soul that He has chosen to save. Jesus ascended victorious into Paradise with the souls of the saints of old (Mat 12:29; Eph 4:8; Rev 12:7). It was a righteous deliverance in that Jesus paid the full ransom price of their release, for the Devil had legitimately held those souls in bondage. They had rebelled against God and chosen to follow their own way in life just as he had done so they were rightfully his (Heb 2:15). But Jesus won their release and they went free. Oh the great defeat that Satan experienced at that moment, when death was swallowed up in victory, and the power he held against guilty sinners was suddenly snatched away.
The apostle Paul described this power as “certificates of debt” that Satan held against us. Jesus paid those debts and blotted them out, taking them away by nailing them to His cross. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it (Col 2:13-15). At that moment, Satan fell as lightning, his power to justly accuse the brethren before God forever taken away. Now Jesus can rightfully redeem from Satan any person He chooses. Now the souls of the redeemed can forever sing, O death where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The deliverance price has been paid.
The Bible uses the word ransom and the related word redeem to describe man’s salvation. These terms imply that the item of possession had initially belonged to the one paying the redemption. Every man, by his own choice and action, has fallen into the clutches of Satan. His soul is held captive by him with no hope of gaining his own freedom. But Christ, by living and dying as a perfect being, has earned the right to redeem unto freedom every man whom He chooses. Satan has no voice in the matter. By paying the required ransom, Jesus has regained those souls (John 3:16: Rom 8:32).
A ransom is an arrangement made between two parties ahead of time to secure the release of victims, but the Scriptures do not portray the redemption of Mankind in that exact sense. Instead, the action of Christ in the spiritual realm is likened to a forcible takeover. Consider verses such as Colossians 2:15, Having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it, and Hebrews 2:14, Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, (Christ) also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and Mark 3:27, No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except He will first bind the strong man; and then He will spoil his house (see also Eph 4:8-10).
Satan and the princes of this world would not have crucified Christ if they had known He would rise from the dead to live forever (1Cor 2:7-8). The ransom price was fixed by God, and it was perfectly just and adequate. Satan, that wicked liar, seems to have tried to rebel against God’s righteous decree, but he was thoroughly beaten – he got nothing but more certain judgment out of the deal. Jesus’ victory took Satan and his cohorts by complete surprise. Had they known it, they would not have crucified the King of glory (1Cor 2:8).
The second triumph – Pardon of sins
Christ’s second feat of might in the spiritual realm was no less important and stunning, which was to take away the sins of His people (John 1:29). In contrast to the Old Covenant reality, this was not a covering or overlooking of sins for, incredible the thought, the blood of Jesus washes a man ever-so-clean. The debt is gone, the sins have been removed (1John 3:5). Beyond our deliverance from Satan, perfect purification of soul is the unfathomable gift of God’s forgiveness. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool (Is 1:18). Unthinkable mercy, marvelous grace, amazing power. I cannot understand how God can make a black soul to be white as snow, but the Scriptures describe it in powerful terms: being born again, rising to new life, becoming a new creature, transformed in the mind, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin (1John 1:7).
By these two mighty deeds the Reconciliation was accomplished. First, Mankind was freed from Satan and second, he was thoroughly cleansed from Sin – now God and Man can commune together as at the beginning. The Atonement, or reconciliation, is that Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us (1Cor 5:7). The basic typological meaning of the Old Covenant Passover is briefly stated in one phrase – when I see the blood I will pass over you (Ex 12:13).
Was the death of Christ a punishment or a payment?
The Atonement of Christ involved tremendous suffering, mockery and death. He was whipped and buffeted, mocked and mistreated, tortured and thrust through with a sword. Yet somehow, by His stripes we are healed (1Pet 2:24). His cruel death not only frees us from Satan, it gifts us with eternal life. Sometimes we say that Jesus suffered in our place, or that He paid our penalty of sin. While those statements are valid depictions of the Atonement, they can be extrapolated to mean that Jesus suffered our punishment and that God’s wrath against sinful man was appeased by chastising Jesus[4].
There are two difficulties with that idea. First, was God actually satisfied by castigating His innocent Son instead of guilty man? In truth, that doesn’t even make sense in the human realm. Would you be appeased to see some other innocent man receive the punishment for killing your son? I wouldn’t. How incongruous and unjust the thought. In all the Old Testament sacrifices, we never see this kind of “punishment motif.” The sacrifices were never whipped, tortured, or cursed; they go meekly to a quick execution.
The second difficulty is that if God punished Jesus instead of Man, then He must have suffered everlasting death, for that is the sentence of Scripture for all who die in their sins – eternal separation from the Father. It doesn’t seem possible.
On the other hand, if Jesus’ death was the payment of another person’s debt, the enigma is more easily answered for a debt can be paid by capital obtained by another means. An example would be the king who offers high treasure, or maybe his own daughter, to the man who can overcome an enemy of his realm. The scenario which the Scriptures consistently present is God delivering up His own Son for us all (Rom 8:32). Mankind owed a great, unpayable debt to God and Jesus agreed to pay it.
Rather than a punishment, I view Jesus’ death as the correct and full payment to release the debt of sin that was owing. Punishment does not factor into the equation. Again, forgiveness is never free. The suffering death of Christ was the cost that forgiveness required. And that’s why Gethsemane was such a terrible experience and should be seared into our minds – this is what it took to blot out the certificates of death written out against every man. But now His blood can wash away our sins so that they are not found. Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift (2Cor 9:15). I feel so unworthy of it; nevertheless I rejoice that His mercy has reached down even to me.
Jesus’ death did prevent the wrath of God from falling upon the children of iniquity (1Thes 1:10). God cannot tolerate sin (see Eze 7:8-9; Rom 1:18) and His righteousness was upheld by Jesus’ death. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit (1Pet 3:18). Christ’s suffering opened the way into the Holy of Holies for every soul who has faith in Him; and so it pleased the Lord to bruise Him (Is 53:10).
Those who see the Atonement as Jesus appeasing the wrath of God by suffering the punishment that sinners deserved will often cite verses such as Romans 3:25, Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God (see also 1John 4:10). They take the word propitiation (hilasterion) to mean an appeasement, citing that usage in secular Greek writings. However, the Scriptures never use the word hilasterion in that sense. It is always used in connection with mercy, never with wrath.
In the Septuagint, hilasterion refers to the Mercy seat upon the Ark of the Covenant, which is a specific type of Christ. God said He would meet with man above the Mercy seat (Ex 25:22). Jesus is our hilasterion, our mercy seat, our propitiation (Ex 30:6). Instead of receiving God’s punishing wrath against sin, Jesus’ suffering was voluntary, righteous act that allowed God’s mercy to flow. He did not die as an appeasing sacrifice but as an atoning sacrifice, that is, through death He was able to deliver them subject to bondage (Heb 2:14-15).
We conclude that by His sacrifice, Jesus obtained the acceptable “capital” to forgive our debt (Mat 6:12). Yes, His death also kept the scales of God’s justice balanced in that He did not overlook sin, for He paid the cost of sin Himself by giving up His only begotten Son. The two estranged parties were reconciled by Jesus’ propitiation, which opened the gates of the Father’s mercy.
Eleazar becomes unclean
The typological detail of Eleazar becoming unclean by officiating at the Red Heifer sacrifice illustrates the work of Jesus in bearing our sins. This was not a simple declaration, but a real payment of the full debt of wrongs that our sin had incurred. He agreed to assume the cost that forgiveness required.
Envision the somber scene of Eleazar leading the red heifer without the camp accompanied by Moses, Aaron and a few anonymous persons. One of these killed the heifer before the face of Eleazar and then it was burned to ashes. This corresponds to the sacrifice of Christ the perfect man. Eleazar sprinkled some of the heifer’s blood before the Tabernacle, washed his clothes and body, and then became unclean until the evening. This corresponds to the experience of Christ the Divine.
The implication is that Christ became unclean in effecting the Atonement. Can it be? Maybe I’m not understanding these verses as the Spirit intended, yet the idea is supported by other Scriptures. God hath made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us (2Cor 5:21). Christ was made a curse for us (Gal 3:13). The fact that forgiveness requires an in-kind reimbursement and bearing sins is a spiritual reality fits the physical picture of Jesus in agony of soul at Gethsemane.
The unique, dual nature of Christ pictured in the red heifer sacrifice agrees with the scene of divine suffering. While fully human as He walked on earth, Christ the immortal and almighty God exists infinitely outside of space and time. These are concepts beyond the grasp of our minds. Can such a Being even die?
To frankly answer the questions of these paragraphs would require us to step beyond the bounds of human reason and into the mystical realm of the Spiritual. For that reason the Scriptures describe the Atonement in earthly terms – He tasted death for every man (Heb 2:9); He bare our sins in His own body (1Pet 2:24). Christ being separated from the Father for even a human minute would be eternity in divine units of measure. And His one-time, single death is able to atone for the souls of an infinite number of men precisely because He is God and therefore of infinite worth.
Types and Details of the Red Heifer Sacrifice
Bring her forth without the camp. The Red Heifer sacrifice is the only sacrificial ceremony that took place entirely outside the camp. Even the blood was administered outside the camp, although sprinkled towards the tabernacle. This detail correlates with Jesus’ experience while on earth. Although a sincere and dedicated Jew, He clashed spectacularly with the deteriorated form of Judaism that existed in His day. He lived a life outside the camp of religious Israel and was subsequently put to death outside the walls of Jerusalem by religious Israel (Heb 13:11-12). His teachings, though true and unassailable, were too controversial for them to accept.
One shall slay her before his face. The Old Testament Scriptures frequently use the term “before the LORD,” or, “before His face,” to illustrate the all-seeing eyes and wisdom of God. Often the Law stated that the sacrifices were to be offered “before the Lord,” a fact which provides another hint that Eleazar represents the divine spirit of Christ (see Lev 1:3; Deut 25:2). The significance of the red heifer being slain “before the face of Eleazar” accents that he was in full knowledge and agreement with that event. Any man might slay the heifer, showing that while God did deliver up His Son, He was killed by wicked hands (Acts 2:23). The fact that the slayer is left un-named leaves the impression that all mankind is guilty of the death of the Son of God.
Eleazar shall sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle. The Old Testament worship system was nothing without the tabernacle (or its later expression, the Temple). The Ark of the Covenant within the Holy of Holies represents the Tri-une God in His holy dwelling place of heaven. Sprinkling the blood seven times towards the tabernacle typifies the complete purification or taking away of sins (Pet 1:2; Heb 9:13; 10:22). The sacred sacrifice was first designated and consummated, and then it was presented to God who accepted it in Heaven (1Pet 3:18; Heb 7:27).
And one shall burn the heifer in his sight. Burning the entrails, skin, and dung of the sacrifice victim was normal, but here the entire animal was burned. This action represents the fullness of Christ’s sacrifice, for His body was completely offered (Heb 10:5). This is the only sacrifice in which the blood (what was left over from the sprinkling ceremony) was to be burned. Usually the blood was poured out at the base of the altar.
The priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer. These three elements are closely connected to the day of Christ’s sacrifice, when they put on Him a scarlet robe (Mat 27:28) and crucified Him upon a cross of wood. Then, using a branch of hyssop (John 19:29), they gave Him to drink. While there may be typological meanings to each of these, the initial parallel is compelling. The same elements were also required in the ceremonial cleansing of a leper (Lev 14).
Cedar wood was noted for its beauty and longevity; it was the most noble and valuable of all woods. The Temple of Solomon was famous for its majestic, hand-hewn cedar beams and planks; it also had doors and paneling of fir and olive wood. By contrast, the structure and furnishings of the Tabernacle were made of shittim wood overlaid with gold. Interestingly, the New Testament does not use the word “wood” in connection to the cross; it is simply called xulon, a tree (Acts 5:30; 10:39; Gal 3:13; 1Pet 2:24). The same word Greek word is used in the Septuagint version of Numbers 19:6 (lit, “cedar tree”).
Scarlet was also used extensively in the Tabernacle, almost always accompanied by blue. In truth, the scarlet was a piece of wool dyed red (Heb 9:19). The dye was made from a particular worm that secretes a reddish fluid. Scarlet was used by wealthier families and by royalty, and that is why the soldiers put upon Jesus a scarlet robe and a crown of thorns to mock His claim to being the King of the Jews.
Hyssop is always mentioned in contexts of spiritual cleansing and the remission of sins (i.e. Ps 51:7). Hyssop was a lowly plant, for the Scriptures say that Solomon studied trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out from the wall (1Kings 4:33). It was used in several Old Testament ceremonies, including the Passover, the cleansing of lepers, and twice in the Red Heifer sacrifice (Ex 12:22; Lev 14). Hyssop was used as an applicator, or means of administering the blood and/or the water of separation, but in the ritual of cleansing the leper and in the burning of the red heifer it appears as a stand-alone element.
Taken together, these three elements speak of honor, value, royal pedigree and humility of service, all in connection with spiritual cleansing from sin. These were burned up with the heifer and the ashes collected would have contained their ashes as well. Jesus laid down His own desires and submitted to the will of the Father. There in Gethsemane He prayed, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt (Mat 25:39). The Apostle Paul writes, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death (Php 2:8). Jesus himself said, The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many (Mat 20:28).
Isaiah, although writing many years before the Cross, graphically describes Jesus’ self-denial and service: Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows…He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed…the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all…for the transgression of my people was He stricken…Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin…He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities…He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors (Isaiah 53).
Cedar, scarlet and hyssop. Gold, frankincense and myrrh. These triplets bookend the Savior’s earthly life. At His birth, He received gifts fit for a Prince; at His death He gave the tithes of a perfect Sacrifice.
The Water of Separation
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. (Numbers 19:8-10)
The sacrificial ceremony of the red heifer resulted in a store of sacred ashes endued with the power to cleanse an unclean person. Typologically this parallels the work of Jesus Christ, who gave His life on the cross of Calvary in devising a way that the souls of mankind could be washed clean of their sins. The next section describes the cleansing ritual – how the ashes were mixed in pure water and then sprinkled upon the unclean person for his purification. Note here however, that the ashes of the heifer speak of the multi-faceted work of Christ to develop the means and power whereby the stain of our sins can be forever washed away.
Ashes are an appropriate symbol to represent the cleansing, redeeming power of Christ’s sacrifice, first because they speak of suffering and death, and second because ashes are virtually indestructible and long-lasting; they will neither rot nor decay.
The ashes were all that remained of the fire-consumed flesh, blood, entrails and dung of the heifer, as well as the burned residue of the wood, hyssop and scarlet. Jesus offered Himself completely – He gave His body to the executioners and poured out His soul unto death. It was a sacred, pure and holy sacrifice – able to save to the uttermost all who have His cleansing blood sprinkled upon them (Is 53:12; Heb 7:25). This is God sending His Son to be the propitiation for our sin (1John 4:10), which is simply another way of saying that Jesus bare our sins in His own body on the tree (1Pet 2:24), and that God hath made Him to be sin for us (2Cor 5:21). By His sacrificial death, Christ gained the power to cleanse our sin-stained souls and so make us acceptable to God, which is a truth beautifully typified by the water of separation sprinkled upon the unclean – it is a purification for sin (v9).
The two men who took care of the ashes became unclean until the even. In the Old Testament, a person became unclean by touching something unclean – in this case the ashes of the red heifer. The two men who cared for the body of Jesus also became unclean. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were rich, influential men who believed in Jesus, but they did not confess Him openly for fear of their countrymen. The injustice of Jesus’ death however, stirred their hearts to willingly do what the Law said was the most defiling of all actions, touching a dead body.
While all Judaism gathered with their families around the Passover lamb supper that night, Nicodemus and Joseph removed the bloodied body of Jesus from the cross and anointed it with myrrh and aloes. Then they wrapped it in linen and placed it in a new tomb. For this, they would become unclean for one week, during which they could not approach the Temple nor attend the festivities of that holy week of Unleavened Bread. Yet these two knew that something more important than the Feast of Unleavened Bread had taken place and that Someone greater than the Passover was present. Reverently they cared for the body of Christ. Today Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea are remembered for doing at last what they should have done earlier – actively confess that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the Son of God.
It shall be kept for…a water of separation. The Hebrew word for separation (niddah) is found about 25 times in the Old Testament, and usually refers to the monthly period that a woman was to separate herself from the congregation on account of her uncleanness. On a handful of occasions, niddah is translated filthiness (2Chr 29:5) or uncleanness (Zech 13:1). It is an unusual word choice, for it implies that the water of separation, like the red heifer and its ashes, was somehow unclean.
Instead of the water of separation, some Bible versions call it, the water of cleansing (NIV), but that contradicts the meaning of niddah. Other versions translate, the water for impurity (NASB), and, the water of sprinkling (see LXX). However, rendering it “the water of separation” is doubly consistent, first to the normal usage of the word in the Scriptures and second to the context of this chapter, for not only did the men who cared for the ashes become unclean, but even the mediator became unclean by sprinkling the water of separation upon the unclean person.
The water of separation was an unclean water that made one clean. It is a detail without parallel in the many ceremonies and rituals of the Old Testament[5], yet it is vividly depicted in this passage. The water of separation was not a perfectly pure and holy water – it was a mixture of pure with uncleanness, and thus was to be kept in a clean place but without the camp.
So while the unclean person was made clean by receiving the water of separation, the one who applied it was made unclean until evening. Eleazar became unclean by observing the sacrifice and sprinkling its blood towards the tabernacle. The two men who gathered the ashes became unclean. In fact, any clean person who at any time came in contact with the water of separation became unclean (v21). All of these careful typological details strongly reinforce our earlier proposition that the Atonement hurt the Savior deeply in body, soul and spirit. His death was counted by God to be an unclean death; He was made a curse for us (Gal 3:13). His actions made us favorable in God’s eyes because He carried away our sins.
Compare the red heifer offering to the sin offering, which was a most holy sacrifice. Anyone or anything that would touch the flesh thereof shall be holy, and even if any of its blood would sprinkle a garment, it too would become holy (Lev 6:25-27). The typology of the sin offering is focused upon the power of Christ to take away sins, while the typology of the red heifer sacrifice speaks also of His identity and of the great cost that was required to attain that power.
Lay up (the ashes) without the camp in a clean place…for a statute forever. These ashes, so sacred that they were to be laid up by a clean man in a clean place yet so unclean that they made the clean man who touched them unclean, were profoundly holy and effective to entirely cleanse the defiled. The details demonstrate the deep and unfathomable nature of the Atonement, where actions and experiences in the physical realm are intertwined with activities and encounters in the spiritual realm. Jesus’ body was laid in a new tomb outside the camp of Israel, but it did not remain there for long. He rose victorious from the dead and now stands in a heavenly temple prepared to sprinkle the water of salvation on all those who come to Him (1Pet 1:2). For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens (Heb 7:26).
Purified the third day, cleansed the seventh day
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 (Numbers 19:11-13).
An unclean person could only become clean by having the water of separation sprinkled upon him on the third day of his condition. The third day speaks of Jesus’ resurrection, and the sprinkling speaks of spiritual cleansing, which is one of the basic significations of baptism in the New Testament.
We said earlier that the two aspects of the Atonement parallel the two physical feats of Christ, and these verses agree by firmly linking the resurrection of Christ to spiritual cleansing – sprinkled on the third day but effectually cleansed on the seventh day. The resurrection of Christ is essential to man’s salvation, for while His death might atone for a man’s sins in life, without His victorious resurrection there is no hope of everlasting atonement. There is no power in a dead Savior. Paul emphatically writes, If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins (1Cor 15:17).
Another crucial link between purification and resurrection is plainly seen in Romans 4:25, [Jesus Christ] was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. In other words, man’s purification from sin is dependent upon the resurrection, because Christ, our ever-living High Priest, continues to daily intercede and purify those He has redeemed (Heb 4:14-16; 8:1-2). Yes, Jesus offered Himself just once as the perfect sacrifice of atonement, but He is alive forevermore and constantly at work in heaven on behalf of the saved. The following verses further demonstrate Christ’s ongoing work of atonement in mediating between God and Man:
- For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us (Heb 9:24).
- Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them (Heb 7:25).
- Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people (Heb 2:17).
- And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled In the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight (Col 1:21-22).
Jesus is the vine and we are the branches; spiritual life is only possible by being connected to that living Vine which is constantly feeding us, sustaining us and cleansing us. The water of separation applied on the third day speaks of the Atonement of Christ sprinkled upon the sinner and the four-day wait to cleansing implies His continuing work of reconciliation and intercession (2Tim 1:12). See another beautiful picture of Christ interceding in heaven on behalf of the saints in Rev 8:1-5.
After applying the water of separation on the third day, the unclean person had to wait until the seventh day before he was declared clean. Only then was he able to enter again into the camp and congregation of Israel. This seems to pre-figure the final redemption and cleansing of the believer at the Great Consummation (Rev 6:9-11). Christians pass through this world as heirs of all, yet they have still not rece received the inheritance, that seventh day Sabbath rest that awaits the people of God (Heb 4:9). For every man, it is essential that the water of separation be applied on the third day in order to receive eternal cleansing. Ye must be born again, Jesus said. Only these will experience that purification which must wait for the day when God makes all things new.
Perhaps we can further relate the four days of waiting to the everlasting Gospel, for the end of this Age will usher in that heavenly rest where perfect, spotless purity will finally reign everywhere and forever. He is coming with the clouds, and His reward is with Him, to give every man according as his work shall be (Rev 22:12).
But if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean…that soul shall be cut off. The importance of being cleansed on the third day cannot be over-stressed, and two points come clearly into focus by this warning. First, there is just one way to be clean, which corresponds to the One mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1Tim 2:5), neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Second, we note the seriousness of the sinful condition as it relates to the final redemption of the body: flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption (1Cor 15:50). This vile body must be changed and fashioned like unto His glorious body (Php 3:21), and the two-step procedure is clearly shown. Cleansing and purification must be applied for in this life, or the final redemption and heavenly rest will not be accomplished.
Whosoever…purifieth not himself…defileth the tabernacle of the Lord. Avoiding uncleanness in the days of the Law was a difficult and burdensome command, for the risk of defilement was ever-present. In fact, all of the laws of the Old Covenant were strict, exacting and uncompromising. They show that God requires full obedience!
Some say that in the New Covenant that is not so, and that Jesus’ obedience counts for our own obedience. Yet Jesus said, Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven…Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven (Mat 5:20; 7:21).
Both the Law of Moses in the Old Testament and the Law of Christ in the New Testament emphatically teach that every man is responsible to approach Christ and petition for his own cleansing. The old Law said, He that…purifieth not himself…his uncleanness is yet upon him. The new Law agrees, for the apostle John saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, [standing] before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands…These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. While Jesus does sprinkle the unclean so he can be free of his sins, there are things the sinner must do in order to be fully and finally cleansed.
Applying the water of separation
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. 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 (Numbers 19:14-19)
As we noted at the beginning of this paper, the red heifer sacrifice contrasts the profusion of mankind’s sinful condition to the sinless perfection of the tri-une God. Anyone who touched a dead human body, either knowingly or innocently, became immediately unclean. And there was just one way to remedy that condition. This speaks of the need for a reconciling, reuniting action so that all-righteous and holy God can once again commune with Mankind that has corrupted his way.
This is the Atonement defined. We may struggle over the details, but the transcendental truth is that by the death and resurrection of Christ the Son, the state of Mankind has changed. Christ has opened up a way of salvation, a means whereby a man can be freed from Satan and have everlasting communion with God.
The clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean. Here the atonement is made personal, as in the forgiveness of a man’s individual sins. It typifies Christ’s atoning sacrifice, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29), applied to me and to you. The atoning sacrifices under the Old Covenant could only cover a man’s sins, and constantly looked forward to the reality. However, the atoning sacrifice of Christ takes away a man’s sins.
Sprinkling was an important part of many Old Testament rituals, and is spiritually associated with purification. It also speaks of obedience and action, for although the blood of Christ has been properly produced and offered to all, unless it is appropriated by the sinner it is useless to him.
- Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water (Heb 10:22).
- Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ (1Peter 1:2).
Mixing water with the ashes of the heifer and then applying it to the unclean by means of a branch of hyssop symbolizes the everlasting atonement provided by the sacrifice of Christ applied to the sinner who would be clean. The ashes are a token of the broken body of Christ offered for us, the water typifies the Word of God, and the hyssop is a symbol of the submission and self-sacrifice that must accompany true repentance.
The two parts, water and ashes, become one symbol in the water of separation. Water is a common symbol for the cleansing power of the Word of God (Eph 5:26), yet the sinner has an action to perform too. He must see his sinful condition by looking into the mirror of God’s Word and be washed (James 1:22-25). The water which flowed from Christ’s side at His death is a token of that ever-flowing cleansing fountain.
Instead of a little water mixed with ashes from time to time, Zechariah prophesied of a day when a never-ending and abundant fountain would be opened to the house of David for sin and uncleanness (here is that same, rarely-used word, niddah). This reflects the unceasing intercession of Christ with the constant work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer: instructing, warning, comforting, guiding, revealing.
The ashes, as we have said, speak of death and suffering. At communion we commemorate the death of Christ, but it is good to remember His whole work: His sinless, good and perfect life fully submitted to doing the will of the Father, yet deeply couched in suffering, shame and self-denial. Those physical indications surely have a corresponding reality in the invisible spiritual realm. Mixed together, they are the purification for our sin.
Perhaps the two aspects of the Atonement are typologically visible even in the present verses, for while the blood of the red heifer was sprinkled toward the tabernacle, the ashes of the heifer were used for purification. These two actions, while distinctly described, cannot be separated. They are like two sides of a single coin. Christ’s one payment that released mankind from His debt of sin also ransomed him from the power of Satan. His one sacrificial act effected deliverance and purification. This concisely expresses how Jesus’ death reconciled the estranged state of God and man.
The importance of cleansing
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 (Numbers 19:20-22)
The one that refused to be cleansed was to be cut off from Israel. He hath defiled the sanctuary of the Lord by approaching it being unclean. Jesus is in heaven now, officiating as our intercessory High Priest before the Throne of God, but the one who refuses or neglects to keep himself clean brings shame to the sacrifice and church of God.
The sacrifice of Christ will not atone for a person who continues to live in sin, or to put it in Old Testament terms, there is no longer a hope for the man that shall be unclean. The phrase indicates that this is a person with full knowledge of his uncleanness and the prescribing manner of cleansing, yet decides to remain unclean. Hebrews 10:26 says, For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins (NASB).
It shall be a perpetual statue unto them. Numbers 19 closes with a solemn statement that the water of separation was to be a continuing ordinance for the children of God under the Old Covenant, just as the cleansing blood of Christ remains a perpetual statue to the children of God under the New Covenant. And just as the actual water in the separation action under the OC would only be valid after exact conditions were met as detailed in the ashes of the heifer ceremony, so too the blood of Christ was only acceptable after exact conditions were met as He demonstrated in His perfect, sinless life. Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1Cor 15:57).
In conclusion, the red heifer sacrifice offers one of the clearest typological parallels to the Atonement of Christ to be found anywhere in the Scriptures. It portrays both the deity of Christ and His humanity, but it especially illustrates the human side of this One who would become the reconciliation between God and man. The red heifer sacrifice also elucidates the two great works of Christ in atoning for Mankind, as well as the two-step process of eternal redemption.
We close as we began: the power is the blood of Christ.
[1] The Jewish Mishnah (written about A.D. 300) claims that there were nine Red Heifer sacrifices during the era of the Law (Parah 3.5), and that the ashes of this first heifer lasted until the time of Ezra. While it seems logical that the ashes would eventually require replenishment, the Old Testament never mentions another Red Heifer sacrifice.
[2] In His special sign to Abram (see Gen 15), the Holy Spirit hid facets of Jesus’ sacrificial death. While that chapter deserves its own study, we note two parallels with the present topic. First, the horror of great darkness which Abram felt parallels the agony of soul which Christ endured in the Garden. Second, the deep sleep that fell upon Abram as the sun was going down parallels the death of Christ at the same time of day. This was earlier foreshadowed by Adam’s deep sleep (Gen 2:20) that gave birth to Eve (a symbol of the Church).
[3] The details of Abraham’s surprise night-battle against five kings to rescue the family of his nephew Lot from being carried into captivity seems to typify Jesus delivering the souls of sinners from Satan (see Genesis 14).
[4] Boettner expresses this view of the atonement: “Far from being the passive sufferer that He appeared to those who witnessed the crucifixion, He was upholding the pillars of the moral universe by rendering full satisfaction to divine justice. For as the sinner’s substitute and in his stead Jesus stood before the awful tribunal of God,–before the Judge who abhors sin and burns against it with inexpressible indignation. Justice severe and inexorable was meted out.” Boettner’s polished words draw an emotional picture that does not conform to the Scriptural one, for he implies that God in wrath directed His servants to punish Jesus. Moreover, one wonders at the paradox he has created – Jesus appearing to suffer passively while actually rendering full satisfaction to divine justice. It is much more consistent to see Jesus’ submission unto death as the perfect sacrifice to redeem Mankind. Viewing His physical suffering helps us understand His spiritual suffering, for the two correspond (instead of contrasting).
[5] One event does contain a similar type of “the unclean making one clean.” When the children of Israel suffered from a plague of poisonous snakes, God provided an antidote by commanding Moses to put a serpent upon a tree. Any person who was bitten by the snakes would be made whole simply by looking at the brazen serpent. Satan is represented throughout the Scriptures by a snake (Gen 3:1). How does looking at the unclean make one clean? The typology is revealed in Hebrews 2:14, through death [Jesus destroyed] him that had the power of death, that is the devil. The event that made Mankind whole was the serpent defeated by Christ at the Cross.
