This program of daily devotions is designed to take you through the Bible in three years. It is our desire to help you gain a better general understanding of God's Word.
Please understand that in a study this brief, we will be concerned with only the major emphases and context of the Scriptures.
Each day a devotion for one or two chapters is posted, beginning with chapter one of Genesis and going through chapter twenty-two of Revelation. You are free to print each page as it appears. If you miss a day, you may contact us and request that devotion. Please send your request, along with $.50 (p&h) for each page to:
Bruce McGee,Pastor
205 Adams
Columbia, LA 71418
HERE
Bro. Bruce's commentaries for the books of Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus are
now available in hard copy for $7.50. Just mail your request for COMMENTARY ON GENESIS to the address above.
NUMBERS
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
2 This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke:
3 And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face:
4 And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times:
5 And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:
6 And 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 even.
8 And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even.
9 And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin.
This is called "the law of the red heifer." A red heifer is a rare
The red heifer was burnt totally and the ashes stored. This way purification could
The only way a person can be made pure in the sight of God today is if he is
The priest who burnt the heifer was unclean "until the even" (verse 8).
10 And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever.
11 He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.
12 He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.
13 Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.
14 This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.
15 And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean.
16 And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
17 And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto 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 vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave:
19 And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.
20 But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the LORD: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean.
21 And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even.
22 And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.
There are varied uses of this "water of separation." A person was to come willingly
Please continue to follow along in Bible study with us.
CHAPTER 19
animal. And the purpose of this sacrifice is to provide a "water of
separation..." The water would be mixed with the ashes of this heifer and
would be used to symbolize God's purification. It is called water of
separation because those who were defiled were unable to come to the sanctuary.
Note that the red heifer was brought by "the children of Israel" (verse 2), which
demonstrates the commonality of all the people to this one sacrifice.
This prefigures the sacrifice of Jesus Christ who was offered "once for ALL"(Hebrews 10:10).
be made multitudes of times.
sprinkled withe the blood of THE LAMB - JESUS.
The pries who added the cedar, hyssop and scarlet was also "unclean until the
even" (verse 10).
They were to bathe, wash their clothes and then come receive the "water of separation."
That which made them unclean was the only thing that could make them CLEAN!
We are sinful because we don't measure up to Jesus Christ. And we can only
be cleansed by HIM!
(verses 18-20) when he had touched a dead body (verse 11), or if he'd been in the bed
with a dead person (verse 14), or when he had touched a dead man's bone or grave (verse 16).
Why need special water of purification for touching a dead person? Touching
animals didn't require this. It only required washing with regular water.
I think Romans 6:23 tells us why. "For the wages of sin is DEATH..."
When a person dies, it is because he is a sinner. We must realize that God is
JUST, and even though sin can be forgiven, one consequence of is by the LAW is DEATH.
((See Genesis 3:19, Hebrews 9:27, Ezekiel 18:4))
Death then, symbolizes just payment for sin. It is by sin and death that the devil
reigns over mankind.
But THANK GOD, He gives us a way to receive VICTORY over sin, death and the
devil.
" So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
(1Corinthians 15:54-57)
Just as God gave these (who were willing) purification, so will God give US purification
through the blood of Jesus Christ, Who was offered "once for ALL."
But the person must come willingly to receive (verse 20), or else he will be
"cut off" - or separated.
Sin indeed is sickness. But it is not the sickness that separates us from God. It is
rebellion against the cure that is offered!