Numbers 19

1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

2 This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying, Speak unto the sons of Israel that they bring thee a red heifer, perfect, in which there is no blemish, and upon which there has never been placed a yoke;

3 and ye shall give her unto Eleazar, the priest, that he may bring her forth outside the camp, and he shall cause her to be slain in his presence.

4 And Eleazar, the priest, shall take of her blood with his finger and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the testimony seven times;

5 and he shall cause the heifer to be burnt in his sight; her skin and her flesh and her blood with her dung shall he cause to burn.

6 Then the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.

7 Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the evening.

8 Likewise he that burns her shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his flesh in water and shall be unclean until the evening.

9 And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and lay them up outside the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the sons of Israel for the water of separation; it is sin.

10 And he that gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; and it shall be unto the sons of Israel and unto the stranger that sojourns among them for a perpetual statute.

11 He that touches the dead body of any human person shall be unclean seven days.

12 They shall remove the sin from themselves with that water on the third day, and on the seventh day they shall be clean; but if they do not remove the sin from themselves the third day, then the seventh day they shall not be clean.

13 Whoever touches the dead body of anyone that is dead and does not remove the sin has defiled the tabernacle of the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from Israel; because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean, and his uncleanness shall be upon him.

14 This is the law when anyone dies in a tent; all that come into the tent and all that are in the tent shall be unclean seven days.

15 And every open vessel which has no lid fastened upon it shall be unclean.

16 And whoever touches one that is slain with a sword in the open fields or a dead body or a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

17 And for the unclean person they shall take of the dust of the heifer that was burnt as sin and put living water over it in a vessel;

18 and a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water and sprinkle it upon the tent and upon all the stuff and upon the persons that were there and upon the one that touched the bone or the one slain or the one dead or the grave.

19 And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and when he has removed the sin from them the seventh day, he shall then wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and shall be clean in the evening.

20 But the man that shall be unclean and shall not cause the sin to be removed from himself, that person shall be cut off from among the congregation because he has defiled the tabernacle of the LORD; the water of separation has not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean.

21 And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, also he that sprinkles the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that touches the water of separation shall be unclean until evening.

22 And whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the person that touches it shall be unclean until evening.

Numbers 19 Commentary

Chapter 19

The ashes of a heifer. (1-10) Used to purify the unclean. (11-22)

Verses 1-10 The heifer was to be wholly burned. This typified the painful sufferings of our Lord Jesus, both in soul and body, as a sacrifice made by fire, to satisfy God's justice for man's sin. These ashes are said to be laid up as a purification for sin, because, though they were only to purify from ceremonial uncleanness, yet they were a type of that purification for sin which our Lord Jesus made by his death. The blood of Christ is laid up for us in the word and sacraments, as a fountain of merit, to which by faith we may have constant recourse, for cleansing our consciences.

Verses 11-22 Why did the law make a corpse a defiling thing? Because death is the wages of sin, which entered into the world by it, and reigns by the power of it. The law could not conquer death, nor abolish it, as the gospel does, by bringing life and immortality to light, and so introducing a better hope. As the ashes of the heifer signified the merit of Christ, so the running water signified the power and grace of the blessed Spirit, who is compared to rivers of living water; and it is by his work that the righteousness of Christ is applied to us for our cleansing. Those who promise themselves benefit by the righteousness of Christ, while they submit not to the grace and influence of the Holy Spirit, do but deceive themselves; we cannot be purified by the ashes, otherwise than in the running water. What use could there be in these appointments, if they do not refer to the doctrines concerning the sacrifice of Christ? But comparing them with the New Testament, the knowledge to be got from them is evident. The true state of fallen man is shown in these institutions. Here we learn the defiling nature of sin, and are warned to avoid evil communications.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 19

This chapter contains a law for making a water for purification for sin, the ingredients of which are the ashes of a red heifer burnt, about which many things are observed, Nu 19:1-10; the use of the water made of them, to purify such as were unclean by the touch of a dead body, Nu 19:11-13; some rules are given, by which it might be known who were unclean on account of a dead body, Nu 19:14-16; the manner of purifying such persons, Nu 19:17-19; and the punishment of those that should neglect purification, Nu 19:20-22.