Praise the Lord for the eternal and unchanging efficacy of the Lord’s redemption, the most stable thing in the universe, which can be applied to us today and at any time in the future to cleanse us from sin and uncleanness! Amen!
The ashes of the red heifer – which was burnt together with the hyssop, cedar wood, and scarlet strands – were gathered and placed outside the camp in a clean place to be kept for the assembly of the children of Israel as water for impurity (Num. 16:9).
These ashes were important; with the other offerings, after they were burned, the ashes were taken out and put away somewhere…but the ashes of the red heifer were preserved and saved in a clean place. In God’s eyes those ashes were very precious.
The red heifer signifies Christ Himself, the One who came in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, but did not have the sin in the flesh; He was perfect, spotless, without a defect, never having been used by Satan for his purposes, and He was slaughtered in an unclean place, burned by God’s judgement.
The cedar tree – far transcending over all other trees – signifies Christ as the only man glorified among men, the One who has ascended into heaven and whose excellency and uplifted and noble humanity transcend all others.
Hyssop signifies Christ in His smallness, in His humbling Himself and lowering Himself to be like us, to become near to us, and to be available to us as our Savior.
On the one hand the Lord has the highest standard of humanity, a high and uplifted humanity with a noble and dignified character; on the other hand, He was willing to become lowly, humbling Himself so that He may be available to us.
Scarlet strands imply much in typology; the color scarlet signifies the shedding of blood, referring to the redeeming work of the cross. Scarlet signifies the blood of Christ shed for our redemption in its highest significance.
Such a One, such a Christ with His person and His work, is part of the water for impurity to cleanse us from the defilement of death.
The high and dignified Christ (cedar) and the lowly and humbled Christ (hyssop) in His redemption (scarlet) were elements for the composition of the water for impurity. Praise the Lord for such a wonderful Christ!
The Ashes of the Red Heifer signify the Eternal and Unchanging Efficacy of the Lord’s Redemption
Once the heifer, cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet threads were all burned together, a pile of ashes were produced; these could not further decay or degrade, but rather they had to be kept in a special place, a clean place.
The ashes signify that the Lord’s redeeming death in resurrection is eternally efficacious; what remains after the Lord’s death and resurrection is the eternal and unchanging efficacy of the Lord’s redemption.
He died for our redemption and He was resurrected for our justification (Rom. 4:25); in resurrection He brought His blood and sprinkled it before God for our redemption (just as some of the blood of the red heifer was sprinkled before the Tent of Meeting), and His redemption became eternally effective.
The ashes of the red heifer were placed outside the camp in a clean place; this signifies that the efficacy of the Lord’s redemption remains in the place of sinners; some of the blood of the red heifer was sprinkled before the tent of meeting signifies the efficacy of the Lord’s redemption before God.
The significance of this is that Christ’s death is effective not only for our past sins but also for our future sins.
The type of the red heifer and the water for impurity is very explicit: the blood is in the ashes, and the ashes remain; so when they applied the water of impurity, the blood was also included in it.
Ashes signify the result of Christ’s death; in the Bible ashes signify something in its final form (see Lev. 6:10).
Ashes signify that something was reduced to nothing; to be reduced to ashes is to be reduced to nothing, so the ashes in Num. 19:9 signify Christ reduced to nothing.
In the eyes of men, Christ became as nothing – He was reduced to nothing (Mark 9:12), but in the eyes of God, the Lord’s redemption has an eternal and unchanging efficacy!
After the cedar, the hyssop, and the scarlet strands were burned with the heifer, the ashes were gathered up and kept in a clean place; this is what makes the red heifer unique.
Here we see the eternal efficacy of Christ’s redemption; in the type of the ashes of the red heifer that was slaughtered and burned we can see that Christ obtained an eternal redemption through His blood. Hallelujah!
What Christ accomplished in His redemption is eternally effective – not only in time, but for all time, both past, present, and future!
It is an eternal redemption, and we can now apply this redemption to our experience.
The redemption that Christ accomplished for us is most stable; the rocks on the mountains will burn and become ashes, but the Lord’s redemption will still stand. He has been burned and He is now ashes, and what He has accomplished for us is forever unchanging and incorruptible.
We can apply the Lord’s blood to our being at any time. If we become unclean by accident and there’s uncleanness in us, we don’t need to ask Christ to die for us again; we simply need to trust in the eternal and unchanging efficacy of the Lord’s redemption, and apply it to our being.
We simply need to trust in the eternal and incorruptible efficacy of the ashes and sprinkle our body with the water of life, and we will be clean! Hallelujah!
The ashes of the red heifer tell us that the past work of the cross is applicable to us today; the Lord’s redemption is eternal, unchanging, and forever effective. He had to be put to death only once, and His redemption is eternal and unchanging, always effective.
Thank the Lord that His redemption is sufficient for our whole life, and His death has taken away all our sins!
Thank You Lord Jesus for the eternal and unchanging efficacy of Your redemption! Hallelujah, the Lord’s redemption is sufficient for our whole life, for His death has taken away all our sins! Thank You Lord for dying for us on the cross and shedding Your blood for our redemption. We trust in You, Lord, and we come to You again and again to be cleansed from any sin and impurity. We praise You for the effectiveness of the cross, which covers all the needs we have now and we may have in the future! Hallelujah!
Our Uncleanness can be Removed by the Application of Christ as Water for Impurity
The ashes resulting from the burning of the red heifer were kept for the water for impurity; it was a purification of sin, or a sin offering (Num. 19:2, 4, 6, 9, 11-12).
Numbers calls this a sin offering, but it doesn’t look like the sin offering in Lev. 4; as we read about it, we realise that the water for impurity doesn’t deal with sin but with the result of sin, with a particular result of rebellion – death.
In Num. 19:11-12 we see that one who touches the carcass of a dead person or animal is unclean seven days, and there’s a two-step process to be cleansed by the water of impurity: this water was to be applied first on the third and then on the seventh day, and then he shall be clean.
But if the water of impurity was not applied both on the third and the seventh day, he shall not be clean.
The significance here is that it is not a simple matter to be cleansed from the defilement of death, it is not nearly as simple as a common sin requiring a trespass offering; the water for impurity had to applied twice, and only then the person was clean.
We need the Spirit as the reality of Christ’s resurrection to bring us into His resurrection so that we may get out of death; only resurrection can deal with death. It takes time to be cleansed from death.
If an Israelite touched something unclean and became unclean before God, a clean person could mix the water for impurity with the ashes and sprinkle it on the unclean person; this would remove the person’s uncleanness.
One got defiled by touching the body of a dead person, when someone died in a tent and he got into the tent; also, when an open vessel which had no covering tied down it became unclean.
Furthermore, whoever touched one who was slain with a sword in the open field, when he touched a dead human body or a human bone or a grave, he was unclean. It seems that it is unavoidable to not be affected by death, for so many unclean things can make us unclean.
An unclean person cannot apply the water for impurity; it had to be a clean person, someone who was cleansed.
The ashes were used to remove uncleanness; they were prepared for the future and would be used when uncleanness was detected at a later time.
This is an important thought that we find in this unique place in the Bible: Christ’s redemption with its effectiveness is a provision made by the Lord for all time to be applied to those who are impure and unclean!
The Lord’s redemption is unchanging and incorruptible, remaining forever, and our uncleanness can be removed by the application of Christ as water for impurity! Hallelujah!
Lord, we come to You as we are, unclean and impure; we apply You as the water for impurity to our being so that we may be cleansed from the defilement of death. Oh Lord, we open to You and we take You for our cleansing and purifying. We trust in Your forever unchanging and incorruptible redemption. How wonderful redemption is, oh Lord; we come to be cleansed and washed, and we come to be purified and healed. May we be sprinkled with the water of life and may Your redemption with its eternal and unchanging efficacy be applied to our being to cleanse us! Hallelujah!
This article can also be read in the Romanian language / Citiți acest articol în limba română vizitând următorul link, Slavă Domnului pentru eficacitatea eternă și neschimbătoare a răscumpărării Domnului!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Mark Raabe for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 49, ”Messages for Building Up New Believers (2),” ch. 21, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Numbers (2), week 5, The Water for Impurity.
- Hymns on this topic:
# How wonderful redemption is, / My gracious Lord, in Thee! / Not seen, nor heard, nor e’er conceived / What Thou hast done for me! / Thou art divine, mysterious, / Beyond my grandest phrase! / Redemption is so marvellous, / Beyond all pow’r to praise! (Hymns #116)
# ’Tis here Thy light illuminates / My true condition unto me; / ’Tis here Thy blood’s effectiveness / To cleanse from sin I gladly see. (Hymns #813)
# Through the eternal Spirit, Thou / Offeredst Thyself to God. / This sacrifice can ne’er grow old; / Timeless is Thy dear blood. (Hymns #1090)
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