Slices
Prepare
As a boy my favourite part of football was slide tackling… the muddier, the better! As we journey through life we collect ‘mud’ from sin, pain, death, struggle – how much do you need a ‘wash’?
Bible passage
The water of cleansing
19 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 2 ‘This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke. 3 Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. 4 Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times towards the front of the tent of meeting. 5 While he watches, the heifer is to be burned – its hide, flesh, blood and intestines. 6 The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer. 7 After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening. 8 The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening.
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. 10 The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the foreigners residing among them.
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.’
Explore
Be honest: does this passage feel alien? It should, because we are dealing with a 3,500-year-old culture! But it’s worth persevering.
For starters there is the simple reality of disease: washing after encountering a dead body in a world without antibiotics is sensible. More importantly, did you notice the heifer was to be sacrificed whole, including the blood (v 5)? Normally the blood of a sacrifice was poured out (eg Exodus 29:12, Leviticus 4:7). But here the blood, the life of the heifer, was left in and burned to ashes. As a result, the water of cleansing made with that ash (v 17) contained a powerful sign of life. So, if the uncleanness of death is made clean by that which sustains life, what does that tell us about life and death? Which is more powerful?
We may be tempted to cope with the pain of death by minimising it as ‘nothing at all’ or being ‘in the next room’. But this ancient ritual teaches us a truth of real comfort: although death is real, life is stronger.
Respond
More powerful than the water of cleansing is the blood of Jesus, which washes us from all uncleanness and rescues us from death. All that ‘mud’ you thought about earlier – ask Jesus to clean you inside and out, and give you his new life.
Deeper Bible study
Give thanks for all you have loved, or who have ministered to you, and who have recently died.
This is a transition chapter, from the generation that came out of Egypt to those who would enter the Promised Land. Eleazar, son of Aaron, the succeeding generation, prepares the means of ritual cleansing necessary for dealing with many dead bodies in the camp. It will produce the water of cleansing that any Israelite can use when encountering dead bodies. Death is defiling in the camp where the holy God has made his dwelling. The God of Israel is a living God. Death is in the world because of sin, which is always a barrier to our relationship with God.
All the elements of the sacrifice of the red heifer are distinct to it. The colour is defined. All the animal parts are burned including the blood. There is emphasis upon blood in other parts of the ritual. We are reminded that life is in blood and that it is by blood that atonement is made.1 The ashes of the heifer, mixed together with other items, are kept to be used for purification for all who have any contact with the dead. There is a finality in death for the Israelites. The dead were removed from the camp. Israelites were forbidden from following other nations in consulting the dead or any other occult practices.2 Ancestors were respected, but not worshipped or consulted.
In Hebrews,3 the ashes of the heifer are mentioned as giving temporary cleansing, but the blood of Jesus brings eternal redemption. He, like the heifer, is slain ‘outside the camp’ (vs 3,9).4 His death is not defiling but brings healing and life. He does not avoid the dead but raises them to life. We follow him outside the camp so that, in identifying with him in his death, we may live with him for ever in the city prepared for us.
Praise the Lord for the full cleansing and the life we have in him.
1 Lev 17:11 2 Deut 18:10,11 3 Heb 9:13 4 Heb 13:12,13
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Exodus 33,34; Acts 2
Pray for Scripture Union
Please pray for Faith Guides as they begin to use the SeeKing Jesus Collection produced by the creative team within the Development Hub. Pray for them as they reach out and start to connect with schools, communities and 5- to 8-year-old children and their families.
