Numbers 19
God institutes the red heifer purification ceremony for cleansing from contact with a dead body. The heifer is burned completely and its ashes mixed with water to create purification water. Anyone who touches a corpse is unclean for seven days and must be sprinkled on the third and seventh days.
NumbersChapter 19 of 3622 versesBerean Standard Bible
In this passage: Israel
Read Numbers 19 and keep notes on it in Doxa's Daily Faith Steps.
Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
“This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded: Instruct the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red heifer that has no defect and has never been placed under a yoke.
Ashes of a red heifer for ceremonial cleansing — how much more the blood of Christ
“For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that their bodies are clean,”
Read Hebrews 9:13›Give it to Eleazar the priest, and he will have it brought outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.
Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting.
Then the heifer must be burned in his sight. Its hide, its flesh, and its blood are to be burned, along with its dung.
The priest is to take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer.
Then the priest must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; after that he may enter the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean until evening.
The one who burned the heifer must also wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and he too will be ceremonially unclean until evening.
Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to gather up the ashes of the heifer and store them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They must be kept by the congregation of Israel for preparing the water of purification; this is for purification from sin.
The man who has gathered up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he will be ceremonially unclean until evening. This is a permanent statute for the Israelites and for the foreigner residing among them.
Whoever touches any dead body will be unclean for seven days.
He must purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third and seventh days, he will not be clean.
Anyone who touches a human corpse and fails to purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the LORD. That person must be cut off from Israel. He remains unclean, because the water of purification has not been sprinkled on him, and his uncleanness is still on him.
This is the law when a person dies in a tent: Everyone who enters the tent and everyone already in the tent will be unclean for seven days,
and any open container without a lid fastened on it is unclean.
Anyone in the open field who touches someone who has been killed by the sword or has died of natural causes, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.
For the purification of the unclean person, take some of the ashes of the burnt sin offering, put them in a jar, and pour fresh water over them.
Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle the tent, all the furnishings, and the people who were there. He is also to sprinkle the one who touched a bone, a grave, or a person who has died or been slain.
The man who is ceremonially clean is to sprinkle the unclean person on the third day and on the seventh day. After he purifies the unclean person on the seventh day, the one being cleansed must wash his clothes and bathe in water, and that evening he will be clean.
But if a person who is unclean does not purify himself, he will be cut off from the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. The water of purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.
This is a permanent statute for the people: The one who sprinkles the water of purification must wash his clothes, and whoever touches the water of purification will be unclean until evening.
Anything the unclean person touches will become unclean, and anyone who touches it will be unclean until evening.”
Read next
How to Hear God’s Voice: A Practical Guide for BelieversScripture is the record of a God who speaks. This guide covers how to hear Him today and keep what He says.Cross-references for Numbers 19
““Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone with a skin disease, anyone who has a bodily discharge, and anyone who is defiled by a dead body.”
“I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.”
“But 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 all sin.”
“let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
“For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that their bodies are clean,”
Cross-references from OpenBible.info, licensed CC BY.
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