Shabbat Shalom, saints of the Most High. Coming to you on a cool and cloudy Sabbath in the DFW. I pray you, your families, and your fellowships are well and blessed.
Our Parashah this week is found in Numbers 19:1-20:13. Although it covers Miriam’s death and Moshe striking the rocks out of frustration in order to give the people water, the primary focus is the Red Heifer ritual. I’ve been led to focus only on it in my thoughts and reflections on this reading.
(19.2) Yehovah gives to Moshe and Aharon the Decree of the Torah (“huqqat hattorah” or the prescribed instruction for whatever is indicated) regarding the Red Heifer which bene Yisrael was to provide. Yah commanded us to take a red heifer (“parah adummah”–expressed in the feminine, thus the heifer instead of a bull) that possessed no physical defects (“temimah” = “tamim” = complete; unscathed; blameless; without fault). (Note: Yah enumerated the standards for what made up a suitable sacrifice in Lev. 22.20-25.)
It was not to have ever borne a yoke (“ol”). There is an ancient standard of heifers that had never “drawn the yoke” to be set apart for “expiatory” gifts, as evident from 1 Sam. 6:7-14. Thus, people set apart these creatures as they represented the best available and would use them only for purification. This would be their only purpose for the duration of its life.
Of the ruddy color of the cow, Baruch A. Levine writes that it “symbolized blood” (AYB 4 Commentary; 2008). Interestingly, the sages interpreted the without blemish and with no defect mandate as a reference to the color of the animal; such that it “is completely uniform in color, without specks of white or black or without even two black or white hairs” (Milgrom, Jacob; 1990; JPS Tanakh Commentary referencing Sifrei Num. 123).
Of course, we cannot ignore the recent hoopla over the red heifers in Yisrael that many view as a foreshadowing of the rebuilding of the Temple.
(19.3) The red heifer was to be given over to the priest Eleazar’s/Elazar’s, one of Aharon’s sons, oversight. Eleazar (one of Aharon’s sons) was responsible for ensuring that the red heifer was taken outside the encampment and slaughtered in his presence.
Why Elazar/Eleazar?
He would succeed Aharon as Cohen HaGadol upon Aharon’s death (Num. 20.25-29).
The concept of “riddance” comes into play here. Riddance is the elimination of communal impurity. Therefore, the sacrifice was to be conducted remotely from the encampment. There is a “vicarious” nature attached to this sacrifice as well. It conveyed the sins and impurities of the community to the red heifer. Thus, the remains of the animal became contaminated and had to be destroyed. The regulations for these concepts of riddance and vicarious sacrifices are recorded in Lev. 4; 8-10; 14; 16.
(19.4) Eleazar the priest was to spatter (“hizzah” = sprinkle) with his finger some of the slaughtered animal’s blood toward (i.e., in the direction of) the Tent of Assembly/Meeting (“o’hel moed”) seven times. (Note: The Hebrew manuscript does not denote the number of times Elazar was required to spatter the blood towards the Tent of Meeting. The seven times in which the blood was to be spattered is an understood constant in such things as seen in Lev. 4.6, 17; 14.7; 16.14-15; Nu. 8.7.
Jewish tradition holds that Elazar/Eleazar, or the ministering priest, would be required to “consciously look at the entrance of the Temple while sprinkling the blood” (Levine).
Why Did Yah Institute This Ritual?
The nation was over-wrought with ritual impurity after the deaths of Korah, the Reubenites, and the 14,700 victims of the plague (recall Num. 16 and Torah Reading 113). Yah’s irresistible holiness mandated His people walk in a state of ritual purity, if they were to maintain any semblance of a worshipful relationship with Him. And contact with human remains, as with the deaths from the rebellion, caused most of the nation to be in a state of ritual impurity (reference Lev. 5.2-3). Yah therefore instituted this ritual to address the widespread ritual impurity that the nation brought upon herself. This was Yah’s mercy and grace in action.
(19.5) Eleazar/Elazar or the Cohen Gadol would oversee the complete burning (“sarap”) of the red heifer’s remains. Note that even the blood of the red heifer was to be consumed by the fire. Turns out that “the blood is the essential ingredient” of the red heifer’s ashes (Milgrom, Jacob; (1990); The JPS Tanakh Commentary). Even in its burned, denatured state, the blood was the only sanctioned expiatory agent to remove impurity brought on by exposure to animal and human remains. Jewish tradition adds that the Cohen Gadol must wipe his hands of the blood on the animal’s remains to ensure they wasted no blood (reference Par. Mish. 3:9, Sif. Num. 124).
(19.6) The Cohen was required to add Cedar Wood, Hyssop, and Crimson Thread/Cloth to the [Red Heifer] pyre. Yehovah has made these three ingredients an integral part of purification/riddance rites. Hyssop (Psa. 51.9) used to remove impurity and its physical makeup “retains liquid and is ideal for sprinkling” as seen in 19:18 and Exo. 12.22 (JPS Torah Commentary); the crimson or scarlet dye applied to clothes come from a certain insect found in palm tree fronds. (The focus is not on the cloth, but the color.) The Cohen Gadol’s garments and the inner curtains of the Tabernacles were colored with this dye. Cedar, when burned, emits a pleasing aroma. This troika of elements was also instrumental in the purification of lepers (Lev. 14.4, 6, 49, 51-52).
(19.7-8) The Cohen and the assistant who aided in the burning ritual or “hatta’t” (aka sin offering) were required to wash their clothes and bathe. This instruction is linked to Moshe’s command to the wash their garments in preparation to receive Yehovah in three days (Exo. 19:10). There is a similar instruction that was given to the Levites in anticipation of their ordination to the Priesthood (Num. 8.7). These (i.e. Elazar and the one who burned the Red Heifer) would be ritually impure until sundown. Why? With the transference of the impurities of the nation onto the sacrifice, the Cohen and any who assisted him in the ritual would become impure in the process of administering the ritual. Thus, these underwent the prescribed process of washing their clothes and bathing in order to regain their ritual purity and be permitted back into the encampment. These were still not permitted to partake of the holy meals of the Levites until after sunset.
(19.9-10) The text directs that “a clean man” (aka “ish tahor”, i.e. one who was ritually clean) would follow, gather up the ashes of the “hatta’t” (i.e. the sin offering) and store them (i.e. “lemismeret” or store them for safekeeping) in a clean (i.e. “tahor”) location outside the encampment. (Note: it appears that this gatherer of ashes did not have to be a cohen.) This ritual was to be a perpetual procedure/requirement for the “waters of impurity” (aka “mayim niddah”). Some refer to the solution that would derive from these ashes being put into water for purification purposes as “water of lustration”. It was considered to be a “hatta’t” (i.e. a sin offering). A purification offering. The gatherer and storer of the ashes would also become unclean, requiring that he to wash his garments at the conclusion of his assigned task. It is generally accepted that this one would be required to bathe as well.
The significance of this ritual or “hatta’t” applied to both the Israelite and the resident alien. Any who were of the commonwealth of Israel had to be purified in the event they came into contact with death. Failure to do so would cause the community to devolve into a state of ritual impurity and risk defiling the sanctuary premises.
(19.11-13) These three verses inform us that exposure (the text specifies touches or comes close to human remains (Jewish tradition defines close as a shadow’s length) rendered an individual impure for seven days (specifics on what contact with human remains would cause someone to become ritually unclean is delineated 19:14-16). On the 3rd and 7th day of an individual’s impurity, a clean person must spatter the waters of impurity using hyssop (19:17-19), and on the 7th day they must wash their garments and bathe themselves. Upon completion of this ritual that one will be deemed clean. The one who becomes impure through contact with human remains and who doesn’t comply with this ritual is cut off from the midst of the assembly of Yisrael (19:20). The spatterer of the waters of impurity is deemed unclean until sundown and is required to wash his garments (19:21-22).
It seems that the Jewish sages were baffled by the meaning of this chuqqot or statute. Torah scholar, teacher, and writer Tim Hegg of Torah Resources explains the sages’ baffled view of this chuqqot as “how, on the one hand, can the ashes of the Red Heifer purify those who are defiled, while at the same time render those who administer the ashes unclean?” (Hegg, T., Studies in the Torah-Numbers 4, p.141). We who are of Mashiyach, however, are not baffled by the various nuances of the Red Heifer ritual.
Clearly, the Red Heifer ritual was a mysterious foreshadowing of Master Yeshua Messiah. The likely reason our Holy God chose to deal with the issue of His people becoming ritually unclean when they come in contact with human remains is because death is the primary byproduct of sin.
Rav Shaul wrote: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom 6:23-1 KJV)
We indicated previously that the red coloring of the heifer was symbolic of blood. Abba Yah stated that life is in the blood (Lev. 17:11-14). Thus, He dealt with the effects of sin (i.e. death), as He did directly with sin, through the application of the blood of an innocent being. In the case of our ancient, wilderness cousins, it was through the slaughter of innocent animals and the application of their blood. However, the once and for all time solution for sin and its byproduct death is found in the blood of Yeshua. Yeshua is not a Red Heifer. The Red Heifer ritual informs us that our God is a God of life. Like sin, He abhors death. Hegg writes that sin stands in direct opposition to the Creator (ibid., p. 142). Sin and death is overcome by the shed blood of Yahoshua Messiah.
In Hegg’s commentary on this passage, He points out 7-aspects of the Red Heifer instructions that served as direct foreshadows of Master Yahoshua:
- The heifer’s red color represented efficacious blood that would purify the unclean soul.
- The flawlessness of the animal represented the sinless life and being of Yahoshua Messiah.
- The sacrifice of the Red Heifer outside the encampment was a direct fulfillment of our Master being crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem.
- The entire remains of the Red Heifer being consumed by fire was symbolic of our Master’s sacrifice and ministry being wholly dedicated to the will and purpose of His Father, Yehovah Elohim.
- The addition of the cedar wood, hyssop, and crimson thread were symbolic of the purification that Master Yeshua’s sacrifice would bring to the one who placed their trusting faith in Him. These generated an pleasing aroma when burned, pointing to the acceptance of Yeshua’s sacrifice by our Heavenly Father.
- The priest and assistants performing the ritual were deemed ritually unclean. This symbolized Yeshua taking on to his being the impurities and sins of all humanity throughout history.
- The sacrifice of the Red Heifer symbolized the reality that human death is overcome only through death. Humanity’s salvation comes only through the death and shed blood of Yeshua Messiah. Man walks in righteousness when he dies to self. Life out of death, as Hegg so eloquently writes, “is the picture of Messiah, who through death, would conquer death for all who come to Him for salvation” (ibid., p. 145).
May you have a blessed Shabbat beloved of Yeshua HaMashiyach.