Numbers 19

The Red Heifer Ritual

Num 19:1The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: Num 19:2 “This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded: ‘Instruct the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without blemish, which has no defect and has never carried a yoke. Num 19:3 You must give it to Eleazar the priest so that he can take it outside the camp, and it must be slaughtered before him. Num 19:4 Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of the blood seven times directly in front of the tent of meeting. Num 19:5 Then the heifer must be burned in his sight – its skin, its flesh, its blood, and its offal is to be burned. Num 19:6 And the priest must take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool and throw them into the midst of the fire where the heifer is burning. Num 19:7 Then the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and afterward he may come into the camp, but the priest will be ceremonially unclean until evening.

Num 19: 8The one who burns it must wash his clothes in water and bathe himself in water. He will be ceremonially unclean until evening. Num 19:9 “‘Then a man who is ceremonially clean must gather up the ashes of the red heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They must be kept for the community of the Israelites for use in the water of purification – it is a purification for sin. Num 19:10 The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer must wash his clothes and be ceremonially unclean until evening. This will be a permanent ordinance both for the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them.

The red heifer was the first female offering of a flock. She was to be offered as a burnt sacrifice. Her ashes were to be buried outside of the camp. The ashes would be used for the water of purification. 

Purification from Uncleanness

Num 19:11 “‘Whoever touches the corpse of any person will be ceremonially unclean seven days. Num 19:12 He must purify himself with water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and the seventh day, then he will not be clean.

Num 19:13 Anyone who touches the corpse of any dead person and does not purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. And that person must be cut off from Israel, because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him. He will be unclean; his uncleanness remains on him.

If anyone touched a corpse of a dead person, then he was ceremonially unclean. He could not participate in the offerings until he was sprinkled by the water of purification. If he refused to participate in this ritual cleansing, then he lost his Jewish citizenship.

Num 19:14 “‘This is the law: When a man dies in a tent, anyone who comes into the tent and all who are in the tent will be ceremonially unclean seven days.

Num 19:15 And every open container that has no covering fastened on it is unclean. Num 19:16 And whoever touches the body of someone killed with a sword in the open fields, or the body of someone who died of natural causes, or a human bone, or a grave, will be unclean seven days.

While on the wilderness march, if a person touched a corpse, then he would be ceremonially unclean for seven days. He could not participate in the Levitical offerings.

Num 19:17 “‘For a ceremonially unclean person you must take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for purification from sin and pour fresh running water over them in a vessel. Num 19:18 Then a ceremonially clean person must take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all its furnishings, and on the people who were there, or on the one who touched a bone, or one killed, or one who died, or a grave. Num 19:19 And the clean person must sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he must purify him, and then he must wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and he will be clean in the evening. Num 19:20 But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person must be cut off from among the community, because he has polluted the sanctuary of the Lord; the water of purification was not sprinkled on him, so he is unclean.

If Israel was marching in the desert, they could not erect the Tabernacle and sacrifice an offering every time a person became ritually unclean. Instead, they would sprinkle the unclean person with the water of purification. 

Num 19:21 “‘So this will be a perpetual ordinance for them: The one who sprinkles the water of purification must wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water of purification will be unclean until evening. Num 19:22 And whatever the unclean person touches will be unclean, and the person who touches it will be unclean until evening.’”

Sin was serious business to Jehovah. He gave His chosen people a detailed atonement system which would teach them the seriousness of sin and the need for a permanent Savior.