Today, we are going to study a rare Old Testament sacrifice, and realize how it foreshadowed the atoning work of Jesus Christ. The relevant passage is found in
Number 19:1-13 (ESV) - -
1Now the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2“This is the statute of the law that the LORDhas commanded: Tell the people of Israel to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish, and on which a yoke has never come. 3And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered before him. 4And Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times.5And the heifer shall be burned in his sight. Its skin, its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, shall be burned. 6And the priest shall take cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet yarn, and throw them into the fire burning the heifer. 7Then the priest shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. But the priest shall be unclean until evening. 8The one who burns the heifer shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water and shall be unclean until evening.9And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place. And they shall be kept for the water for impurity for the congregation of the people of Israel; it is a sin offering. 10And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. And this shall be a perpetual statute for the people of Israel, and for the stranger who sojourns among them.
11“Whoever touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean seven days. 12He shall cleanse himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be clean. But if he does not cleanse himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not become clean. 13Whoever touches a dead person, the body of anyone who has died, and does not cleanse himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from Israel; because the water for impurity was not thrown on him, he shall be unclean. His uncleanness is still on him.
I placed the passage here so that you can refer back to it as needed.
Now, read
Hebrews 9:13-14 (ESV) - -
13For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify ourconscience from dead works to serve the living God.
The uncleanness referred to in the Old Testament is typical of general uncleanness (absence of life) that pervaded the thoughts of all Israelites. God had given the people strict rules and regulations about dealing with their sin (typified by uncleanness - - sin brings death). Also, everything in the Old Testament points in some way to Jesus Christ, Messiah.
The remedy for sin in the Old Testament was some sort of shedding of blood of an animal. Usually, it was a bull, a lamb, a goat, or a smaller animal. In all cases, the sacrifice had to be "the best of the flock", the purest specimen available.
A red heifer was a rare specimen, one which the Israelites believed God provided supernaturally when He wanted a red heifer sacrifice made. This rare sacrifice has only been made by the Jews a few times (Jewish tradition says 7 times) since it was first made, in the 3rd millennium after Creation. Israelites were constantly on the look-out for the appearance of a pure, red heifer, so that provision could be made to restore a person to "cleanness" after having contact with a dead body. It was the only way to cleanse the person from that type of defilement. As we look at this special animal and sacrifice, we will also make connections to the life and ministry of Jesus.
1. The red heifer had to be pure, without blemish or defect (
Numbers 19:1).
Jesus was pure and sinless, without blemish or spot. (
Hebrews 9:13-14)
2. The red heifer was purchased at a high price, according to Jewish tradition, due to its rarity. It was paid for with money from the Temple treasury.
Jesus, God's only Son, given for our salvation, cost our Father's heart dearly. (
Romans 8:32) . The 30 pieces of silver paid to Judas came from the Temple treasury.
3. The red heifer came from the flocks of Israel, not from non-Jewish people groups.
Messiah Jesus was Jewish, of the genealogy of King David. (
Matthew 1)
Some relevant background:
The first Temple was built by King Solomon, but it was destroyed by the Babylonians who leveled Jerusalem's gates and the Temple, carting off the able-bodied Jews to Babylon for 70 years of exile. At the end of that time, the Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem in 3 major waves, one of which began the rebuilding of the Temple. (This is commonly called the Second Temple.) As Ezra oversaw the reconstruction, he made provision for the red heifer sacrifice.
The Temple itself was built on Mt. Moriah, near the northeast corner of the city of Jerusalem. The closest gate was the Inspection Gate, called the Paqad (root word) or Mifquad which, in Hebrew means "to count". It was the narrowest of all the gates. It was the Inspection Gate referenced in Jesus' words in
Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV) - -
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."
The Inspection gate was next to the Sheep gate. {It was through the sheep gate in Jesus' time that the sheep and the goats would pass through, those animals designated for animal sacrifices. And, you may recall that it was through the Sheep Gate that Jesus rode on the donkey on Palm Sunday.}
When the repairs were done in Nehemiah's time, they began at the Sheep Gate and, working their way all around the city wall gate-by-gate, ended there. The last gate to be repaired was the Inspection Gate. Some Messianic Jewish scholars believe this has significance for Christ's second coming, that He will oversee the end-times judgments with this gate figuring prominently somehow.
A bridge was built from the Inspection Gate on the northeast corner across the Kidron Valley and Mt. Moriah (which was a less-tall mountain than Mt. Zion) to the sacrifice site for the red heifer sacrifice, on the Mount of Olives. The reason for the bridge is that in the Kidron Valley below the bridge were thousands and thousands of graves, the touching of which would make those who walked across them to the sacrifice site unclean.
4. The red heifer was inspected until its third year, to make sure that no blemish or spot was found on it.
Jesus' earthly ministry paralleled this, in that it lasted 3 years.
5. The red heifer was taken out of the Census/Inspection Gate, across the bridge, to the site of the sacrifice.
Jesus carried the cross to the Inspection Gate, where Simon the Cyrene was pressed into service to carry it through the gate, outside the city, to Golgotha.
{Read the following scriptures from the four gospel accounts, for verification of this.
Luke 23:26; Mark 15:20-21; Matthew 27:31-32; John 19:16-18. }
Note from
Numbers 19 that the red heifer could not be sacrificed within the city walls.
Many believe that the site of Golgotha was at the other end of the bridge, in or near the place on the Mount of Olives where the red heifer sacrifices had been made over the centuries since the days of Moses.
5. There was a clear line of sight between the doors of the Temple and the place of sacrifice of the red heifer. The heifer was positioned on the altar so that its head was facing the front of the Tent of Meeting and later the front doors of the Temple, across the bridge. The priest cut the heifer's throat with his right hand and collected its blood in his left. He then dipped his finger in the blood and flung it toward the Temple 7 times. (
Numbers 19:4)
As Jesus hung on Golgotha, on the Mount of Olives, he faced the front of the Temple. At the moment He gave up the ghost, crying "It is finished!" the doors of the Temple stood open, the Passover lamb was being sacrificed by the High Priest and the veil in the Temple's Holy of Holies was ripped in two, from the top to the bottom. (
Matthew 27:51)
6. Other key elements of the red heifer sacrifice: cedarwood, hyssop, scarlet yarn.
Tradition and some scholars say the vertical beam of Jesus' cross was made of cedar. As he hung on the cross, and expressed his thirst, a sponge was soaked in vinegar, placed on the end of a hyssop stalk, and lifted to his lips (
John 19:29). As Jesus was scourged, leading up to his crucifixion, a scarlet robe was place on him (
Matthew 27:28). Then, at the foot of the cross, soldiers gambled for his garments.
7. The red heifer's body was burned and the ashes placed in a clean jar. At the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit unites with us, baptizing us with holy fire. This is for our cleansing and purifying and for sealing us as members of the Bride of Christ.
The jar was then placed in an unused, newly-hewn grave for 3 days. For each red heifer sacrificed, a newly-hewn resting place was made. Jesus' body was laid in a newly-hewn grave, belonging to Joseph of Arimathea, and after 3 days, He rose again.
8. After the third day, the ashes of the heifer were mixed with water, and then that "sacred water" was kept on hand for the purification. It was also sent all throughout the kingdom of Israel, to be used for its designated purification purpose. Water in the New Testament is associated with salvation. Baptism is a symbol of the salvation decision that has taken place. (See
Ephesians 5:26 and Psalm 51:1-10.)
9. Here is another mystery surrounding this rare sacrifice: those who participated in the offering of it became unclean through the offering of it. King Solomon marveled that he, in all his wisdom, could not understand this (
Ecclesiastes 7:23). How does a sacrifice that provides cleansing make the ones offering the sacrifice unclean? Red is often associated with sin, in the Bible (
Isaiah 1:18), and the red heifer offering was a sin offering (
Number 19:9). Also, there was no requirement given to Moses that those making the red heifer sacrifice be Levitical priests, (although they most often were). Of course, the pagan Romans carried out the actual crucifixion of Jesus, while the Jewish religious leaders instigated, and were in agreement with, the act.
10. Finally, orthodox Judaism today holds that a red heifer sacrifice must be made before the next Temple can be rebuilt and Temple service resumed. Further, they believe the Temple must be rebuilt before their Messiah can come. Therefore, the orthodox Jews continually are searching for the elusive red heifer. As Christians, we believe that our Savior, Yeshua Mashiach, fulfilled this mystery, this red heifer sacrifice, through His death on the cross, His burial and resurrection. We further believe He will return to the Mount of Olives again, when He returns in fulfillment of
Zechariah 14:4-17.
In closing,
Hebrews 9:23-28 (NIV) - -
23It 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. 24For 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. 25Nor 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. 26Otherwise 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. 27Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28so 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.
Sources:
Beth HaShomer Ministries - - The Red Heifer Sacrifice: Prophetic Implications, April, 2018.
http://www.templeinstitute.org/red_heifer/introduction.htm
https://bamacru.com/2012/04/10/why-hyssop-at-the-cross/
http://www.golgotha.eu/RedHeifer.aspx
https://www.gotquestions.org/red-heifer.html
https://prophecyinthenews.com/articles/the-gates-of-jerusalem-have-a-story-to-tell/
