THE RED HEIFER OF NUMBERS 19 – WAS IT A TYPE OF CHRIST?

Recently one of our readers brought up an interesting topic discussing the red heifer found in Numbers chapter 19. He called this a great mystery to the Jews and Moses' most important writing. He equates the red heifer with the purifying sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He also wrote that the Jews are looking for another red heifer as precursor or a sign of the Messiah's return.

As Christians understand, Jesus died for our sins. His shed blood covers our sins like the sin sacrifices under the Torah did for the people of Israel. The difference is that Christ's sacrifice was once for all. This occurred at Passover and the New Covenant symbols are the Blood and Body of Christ symbolized in the Bread and the Wine of the new Passover. Christ became our Passover Lamb. There was no longer the need for the continual sacrifices to be offered, first for the priests then for the people. Christ did it once at the appointed time and then became our High Priest. There was no longer any need for the physical Temple, the physical priesthood, the physical altar, or any of the rituals that were performed there. It was all ended in Christ (Rom 10:4) who fulfilled all of the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms, as He said in Luke 24:44.

Our reader referred to the red heifer as purification from sin. And the passage in Numbers 19:9 does indicate that;
 

9 “A man who is clean 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.

So is there really a great mystery surrounding this and was Christ symbolized by or a type of this red heifer?

Let us look at the entire passage and discover what the story of the red heifer really is.
 

The instruction of the Lord that came to Moses and Aaron in Numbers 19:1 was called an ordinance of the law. The instruction was that the children bring a red heifer (which is a FEMALE COW NOT MALE, please note that for later). It must be without blemish , no defects. and never have worn a yoke.
 

vs3 It was taken by the Priest outside the camp and slaughtered.
vs4 The priest was to sprinkle blood seven times in front of the Tabernacle.
vs5 Then the red heifer was burned, skin, blood, flesh, innards.
vs 6 HERE IT GETS INTERESTING: The priest ADDS; Cedar Wood, Hyssop and Scarlet Wool to the midst of the fire.

vs9 Then a man who is clean gathers these ashes and they are stored in a clean place outside the camp. It is kept for the water of purification, it is for purifying from sin. These ashes were mixed with water to make a purifying solution. vs 17 “For the unclean person, put some ashes from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water over them.

The Questions: What do you get when you mix animal and wood ashes, water, and rendered fat? Lye Soap. What about adding Cedar Wood ashes? Good smelling Lye Soap. also Cedar Wood Oil is used as an anti-bacterial, fungicide. From a Wikipedia article on Cedar Wood Oil; "Cedar-wood oil is a mixture of organic compounds considered generally safe by the FDA as a food additive preservative. The oil has healing and antibacterial effects."

The by product of wood ashes when mixed with water is potassium carbonate. From a Wikipedia on potassium carbonate; "Wood ashes produce Potash (especially potassium carbonate) has been used from the dawn of history in bleaching textiles, making glass, and, from about A.D. 500, in making soap."

What about burning Hyssop too? Extremely fine aroma also used in modern colognes.  

What about adding Scarlet? In the tradition of Maimonides, he said that he Cedar wood was wrapped in the Hyssop and then bound with a scarlet yarn made of wool. A package that could be easily deposited into a raging fire on top of the heifer.

THE ANSWERS: The collected ash combination when mixed with water would be a very strong Lye Soap; anti-fungal, anti-bacterial anti-microbial sanitizer/cleanser with a pleasant fragrance of Cedar and Hyssop. The Cedar and Hyssop would act to preserve the ashes stored in a clean place from decomposition with these natural preservatives. The Ancient Egyptians used Cedar Oil in embalming due to it's powerful preserving properties. Something the Ancient Israelites would have been quite familiar with on a first hand basis at this particular time in their history having just left Egypt in the exodus.

One time when my wife and I were camping many years ago we built a campfire to cook our dinner over. The wood we used turned out to be cedar which was difficult to light but once lit burned with a very hot pink flame and smelled wonderful. The next day when we were washing our cooking pots and pans we noticed the bottoms were coated black with soot from the cedar fire. When we got them wet the soot had a very strong wonderful cedar smell. We decided the fragrance was so unique and enjoyable that we would only wash the insides of the pots and pans and not the outsides to preserve the aroma. For many subsequent years when we went camping we enjoyed the cedar fragrance on the pots and pans and reminisced about our adventure. So I can easily imagine the ashes of the heifer having that same wonderful cedar aroma I remember mixed with the fragrance of the hyssop which is strong mint. Once combined in fresh water it would have been a very pleasant smelling cleanser.

What about the red wool yarn? Scarlet had significance in the priestly functions in the Temple. The priest had scarlet threads on his robe. The priests had scarlet threads in their windows. Scarlet was the color of royalty. There are several possibilities, even as simple as they had a lot on hand and it was used to conveniently bundle the wood and hyssop.

SECOND QUESTION: Was the solution called the "Water of Purification" for the purifying from sin? Lets look a the pertinent verse in two translations.

(NIV) 9 “A man who is clean 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. For purification from sin is indicated. What about other translations?
 

(KJV) 9 Then a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and store them outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for the water of purification;[a] it is for purifying from sin. Both agree. But what does the original Hebrew record? My Interlinear Bible says nothing about sin in the original Hebrew. It reads," ...for a water of impurity. it is a purging offering."

The original writer of the book of Numbers tells us this was actually  a cleansing solution to be used to cleanse and purify.  Like Purell today or anti-bacterial Bath Soap? Or even stronger like Lye Soap. Did the Scarlet tread merely brand the ash powder as the Lords for use by the Israelites and foreigners among them? I think so.

SECOND ANSWER: The Water of Purification was not used in the covering of Sin. The Sprinkling of  Blood was for that purpose and came from the blood of the Sin Offering. The Water of Purification was to purify physical ceremonial uncleanness ONLY so an unclean person did not wander into the Tabernacle and defile it. This is a practical application because meats were being processed and eaten in the Tabernacle by the people of Israel and the Priests. Germs could easily spread causing illness and death if the area where the meats were processed and eaten were not kept very clean so those coming into the Temple must be clean.

Let’s look at the actual scriptures that list the uncleanness this water is to purify. Note there are no violations of the Decalogue listed here, so these thing are NOT sins according to the law.


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 on the 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 man who is ceremonially clean 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 man who is clean 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.”




We see that this purification is for ceremonial purification so that no one who is unclean or exposed to something that could harbor germs or may pass germs to others goes into the Tabernacle and defiles it. That is a serious infraction that requires banishment from the camp of Israel.

There were already provisions made for one who sins unintentionally called a “Sin Sacrifice.” This was given in detail in Leviticus 4:1-35. Sin sacrifices were with a bull, a MALE or a MALE goat for a priest who sins. But for the common people who sin they bring a female kid. The original Passover Lamb that the Israelites sacrificed and painted it’s blood on their door posts so the Death angel would pass over them was a male only without blemish of the first year.




So does this red heifer in some way symbolize Jesus as our Passover? As a purification for sin? We cannot conclude this from the context of Numbers 19 as we have read. While there were specific sin sacrifices already and shed blood for the atoning of the priests and the people’s sins. This water of purification was for ceremonial purposes only and not for sins committed by breaking a law. As a final proof the original Hebrew does not refer to “sin” at all.


The lesson we can learn from the red heifer and the water of purification is that the cleansing was only external from external uncleanness. It did not cleanse the person internally from sin nor was it intended to.

Jesus said Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees who lived this way;

Matthew 23:23-25 (NIV) 23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and

Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the

outside of the cup and dish, but inside

 they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 

 Hebrews 9:11-28,

 ¹¹ But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here,^[a] he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. ¹² He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining^[b] eternal redemption. ¹³ The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. ¹⁴ How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,^[c] so that we may serve the living God!

 ¹⁵ For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

 ¹⁶ In the case of a will,^[d] it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, ¹⁷ because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. ¹⁸ This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. ¹⁹ When Moses had proclaimed every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. ²⁰ He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.”^{[e] 21} In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. ²² In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

 ²³ It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. ²⁵ Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. ²⁶ Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷ Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, ²⁸ so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. 

In conclusion verse 13 we see again that the ashes of the Red Heifer were strictly for the outward purification. The blood of Christ was for the inner purification from Sin. So the Red Heifer could not symbolize Christ or His atoning sacrifice.