One of the types of Christ uniquely revealed in the book of Numbers is the red heifer, which is the principal component of the water for impurity, and which signifies the redeeming Christ.
The type of the red heifer is not much talked about, but it refers to the redeeming Christ who, based on the process He went through and together with the efficacy and results of His death and resurrection, can wash away our sin and impurities.
The first type of Christ we have seen in Numbers is budding rod, which is a very positive type on a very negative background.
While there was a rebellion against Moses and Aaron by the people and some of the Levites, God came in to manifest who has God’s deputy authority, and the way He did it was in the way of life.
He didn’t manifest from the heavens who has His authority but asked the children of Israel to put twelve rods, one for each of the tribes of Israel, before God in front of the Ark in the Holy of Holies, and the rod that would bud is the one God chose and ordained.
Budding is a matter of life; the rods of the twelve tribes of Israel were dead, rootless, lifeless, and leafless, but God caused one of them to bud, blossom, and even bear fruit – ripe almonds.
On one hand we need to realise that in us there’s pride and ambition, and this causes us to rebel against the authority of God and the authority that He has ordained to represent Him on earth.
On the other hand, however, we need to be before the Lord, enjoy Him, and experience Him in His death and resurrection for the manifestation of the resurrection life.
Throughout the centuries there has been much struggle for power and for a higher position, and this ambition together with pride undermined God’s plan and damaged His people. Pride is in us all, and pride gives birth to ambition; pride makes us a top fool, and it causes us to not receive God’s blessing and His mercy.
We need to not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think but rather humble ourselves, stay away from pride, and preach Christ Jesus as Lord and ourselves as slaves to the saints.
We need to realise that the Lord Jesus, our Savior and life, has come to us and into us to serve us; He served us when He was on earth, He is among us as the One serving us, and even in eternity He will serve us as the Lamb of God.
The principle of every service lies in the budding rod, for resurrection is an eternal principle in our service to God.
We may be able to do much for the Lord and “in His name”, but whatever we can do belongs to the natural realm and is not acceptable to God. However, what is impossible for us to do belongs to the realm of resurrection, and it becomes God’s doing – His work, His service through us and in us.
Seeing how the Red Heifer Signifies the Redeeming Christ and Applying it to our Experience
The principal component of the water for impurity in Num. 19 was the red heifer; the red heifer signifies the redeeming Christ.
If we read the record in Num. 19 concerning the components of the water for impurity and the process this had to go through we will be full of praise and worship to God for our redeeming Christ.
Christ Himself is the reality of all the positive things, and in particular He as the redeeming One is the reality of the red heifer. We need to see the details and specifications of this water for impurity and see how they signify Christ and how we can apply them to our experience.
The red heifer – the color red signifies the likeness of the flesh of sin, which is for the bearing of man’s sin outwardly. Christ became in the likeness of the flesh of sin – yet without the sin in the flesh – so that He may bear our sins and sin in His flesh, terminating sin and dealing with all our sins.
Christ is the reality of the red heifer – He is the redeeming One, the One who had no sin, no blemish, no spot, but He had the likeness of the flesh of sin, and He came concerning the sin in the flesh to deal with it and remove it.
No defect – the red heifer being without defect signifies that, although Christ was in the likeness of the flesh of sin, He did not have the sinful nature.
Christ came as God becoming man; He is God putting on flesh – He put on the likeness of the flesh of sin, but He had no sin, and there was no sin or blemish found in Him. The red heifer was to be perfect, without blemish; this indicates that Christ was perfect.
The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Jews, the Romans, and the people, they tried to find fault in Him, but He was without blemish and perfect.
The red heifer having never been under a yoke signifies that Christ was never used by anyone; especially, He was never used by Satan or for Satan.
Satan came to tempt Him and cause Him to sin or slip, but He defeated Satan in His humanity, and in Him the ruler of this world had nothing. Satan tried to tempt Him and trick Him, but He always rejected his temptations, and He was never used by God’s enemy. What a God-man!
Like the red heifer, Christ was crucified outside the camp, on Calvary, a small mount outside of the city of Jerusalem (Num. 19:3; Heb. 13:12-13; Matt. 27:33). Christ was taken outside the camp and crucified, just as the red heifer was taken outside the camp.
Even such a type of the red heifer points to the redeeming Christ, the way He was dealt with and killed, and even the location this took place! Wow!
Cedar wood, scarlet strands, and hyssop as a type of Christ. The priest was to take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet strands and cast them into the midst of the burning of the heifer (Num. 19:6).
Cedar wood, a tall and dignified tree, signifies Christ in His dignified humanity. Hyssop, one of the smallest plants, signifies Christ in His humbled humanity. Scarlet, red in color, signifies redemption in its highest significance.
The high and dignified Christ and the lowly and humbled Christ in His redemption were elements for the composition of the water of impurity.
The ashes as a type of Christ and the eternal effectiveness of His redemptive work. In Num. 19:9 we see how a man (who is clean) was to gather up the ashes of the red heifer (after he was burnt) and place them outside the camp in a clean place, and these ashes were to be kept for the assembly of the children of Israel as water for impurity, for it is a sin offering.
Ashes refer to Christ being reduced to nothing; in Mark 9:12 we see that Christ as the Son of Man came, suffered many things, but was counted as nothing. This is what the Lord experienced in His human living – He suffered much, but He was counted as nothing.
These ashes were kept for the water for impurity; it was a purification of sin, or a sin offering. And the impurity referred to here was not only that of sin but that of death, which became prevailing among the children of Israel (Num. 16:49), so they needed the water for impurity.
The ashes being placed outside the camp in a clean place (Num. 19:9) signifies the efficacy of the Lord’s redemption which remains in the place of sinners.
The fact that the redeeming blood was brought to the front of the Tent of Meeting and was sprinkled there signifies that Christ’s redemption is effective before God, and God is satisfied with Christ’s redeeming work.
On one hand the efficacy of the Lord’s redemption is applied to us, the sinners, and on the other, this redeeming blood is eternally effective before God.
The application of the water for impurity. When someone became unclean by being in contact with death (either a dead person, a dead situation, or a dead animal), he had to take the ashes of the burning of the sin offering, and running water was to be added to them in a vessel (Num. 19:17).
The running water signifies the Holy Spirit in the resurrection of Christ. This shows us that, if we touch death, either suddenly or unknowingly, whenever we are aware of death or being in death, we need to apply Christ’s redemption and take Him as the reality of the red heifer.
Only the working of Christ’s redemption, through His dignified and humbled humanity, with His death and the Spirit of His resurrection, could heal and cleanse the situation from the uncleanness of death. In the water for impurity there’s the efficacy of Christ’s redemption with the washing power of the Spirit of His resurrection.
Thank You Lord Jesus for becoming like us, in the likeness of the flesh of sin, so that You may bear our sin, deal with sin, and condemn sin in the flesh. Thank You for having a dignified and high humanity, yet being lowly and humble; as such a One, You accomplished redemption for us. Thank You Lord for being crucified for us outside the camp, for You offered Yourself to God through the eternal Spirit. Hallelujah, we can today apply the redeeming Christ to our being and we can be healed and cleansed from the uncleanness of death.
The Holy Spirit Applies Christ’s Redemption to us to Cleanse us from Uncleanness
Whenever we, God’s people, are defiled by death, we need to come to the Lord, and we need to allow the Holy Spirit to be applied to us to cleanse us and wash us.
As seen in the type of the red heifer, the main component of the water for impurity in Num. 19, the Holy Spirit is compounded with the eternal efficacy of the Lord’s redemption, and when we apply Him to our being, our uncleanness is removed.
On one hand we need to see and appreciate the process that Christ, the reality of the red heifer, has passed through, and on the other, we need to apply this One with all He has passed through to our being.
What Christ has done is eternally effective before God and is to be applied to us, the sinners.
When we are defiled and realise this, we need to come to the Lord, take Christ as the reality of the red heifer, and allow the Holy Spirit to be applied to us to remove any uncleanness from us.
Simply by coming to the Lord and praying and reading His word, we are washed, we are cleansed, and any impurity is being removed from us.
In 1 John 1:7 we are told that, if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin. When we realise that we have sinned, when we are aware that we are defiled, we need to take the blood of the Lord Jesus to be washed and cleansed from our sins for the purpose of restoring the fellowship between us and God.
Our defilement and sin causes us to be cut off from our fellowship with God, so God provides a way for us to come back to Him.
He Himself became a man, He put on the likeness of the flesh of sin, He dealt with sin in the flesh, and in resurrection He became the Spirit compounded with all the elements of His divinity, humanity, human living, crucifixion, death, and resurrection.
The blood that He shed on Calvary two thousand years ago is still effective today, speaking more than any other blood; this blood speaks for forgiveness of sins and cleansing from impurity.
We simply need to come to the Lord in the light and apply the blood of Christ, and the Holy Spirit will apply Christ’s redemption to our being so that we may be cleansed from any impurity, sin, and uncleanness. Hallelujah!
Lord Jesus, we come to You as we are; we want to walk in the light so that we may have fellowship with You, and Your blood cleanses us from every sin. Thank You Lord for shedding Your blood on the cross for our redemption. Thank You for becoming the Spirit to apply the blood to our being and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, sin, and defilement. Amen, Lord Jesus, we just come to You and we allow the Holy Spirit to apply Christ’s redemption to our being so that we may be washed, cleansed, and purified, and we may continue in fellowship with God!
Read this article / blog post in Romanian – puteți citi acest articol și în limba română la următorul link – Cristosul răscumpărător ca realitate a vițelei roșii ne curățește de impuritate.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1960, vol. 1, “Synopsis of Numbers,” ch. 24, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallisation-Study of Numbers (1), week 10, The Major Types and the Prophecy concerning Christ.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Dear Lord, how precious is Thy blood, / Of the New Testament! / By it God’s blessings we receive, / And we with Him are blent. / “Tis by Thy blood we’ve been redeemed, / And by it sanctified. / Now is our conscience free from sin, / From dead works purified. (Hymns #1090)
# Precious blood whose full redemption / Makes us nigh to God; / Precious blood, our way of glory, / Praise and laud. (Hymns #1004)
# ’Tis the blood Thou shedd’st for us, / That our sins may be forgiv’n; / ’Tis the cov’nant made for us, / That Thy blessings may be giv’n. / Thou didst drink the cup of wrath, / Thou hast tasted death for us, / Thus the cup of blessing bought, / As the portion gained for us. (Hymns #223)
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