Scripture Reading: Num. 19

DAY 1 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 2 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 3 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 4 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 5 & DAY 6 Outline　MorningRevival

«　WEEK 5　DAY 1　»

　　Num. 19:13 Whoever touches a dead person,…and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of Jehovah…. Because the water for impurity was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean…

　　Rom. 5:17 For if, by the offense of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

　　The water for impurity was to be sprinkled upon the unclean persons: those who touched a dead body, or came into a tent or were already in a tent in which a man died, or touched one who had been slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave (Num. 19:11-14, 16-20). This is a picture of the situation of the children of Israel at that time. The uncleanness of death was everywhere.

　　The impurity in [Numbers 19] does not refer to sin but to death. Death comes out of sin, and sin is the root of death (Rom. 5:12). From the sin of rebellion, death became prevailing among the children of Israel. Thus, there was the need for the water for impurity. Only the working of Christ's redemption, through His dignified and humbled humanity, with His death and the Spirit of His resurrection, could heal and cleanse the situation. (Life-study of Numbers, p. 206)

　　In [Numbers 19] a heifer is burned with other items, and the ashes are used to make a water for impurity. By reading the whole chapter we can understand that the impurity, the uncleanness, refers mainly to the filthiness of death. This water is a provision to get rid of the effect and impurity of death. Immediately after the rebellion in chapter 16, death was everywhere. In one day 14,700 people died, and their carcasses lay everywhere. In many of the tents in the camp, there were dead bodies. A man became contaminated by touching a dead body (19:11), by being present when a person died (v. 18), or by entering the tent where a dead body had been (v. 14). The entire population of two million Israelites was under the effect of death. They were all in a situation of impurity. Thus, there was the need for the water for impurity to annul the effect and impurity of death. (Life-study of Numbers, p. 203)

　　Death is an ugly, abominable thing. Therefore, we need to abstain from death….The death from which we should abstain is not mainly physical death but spiritual death….Spiritual death is everywhere. Not only sinful, worldly places but even the most moral, ethical places are full of spiritual death. According to the typology in the Old Testament, sin is not as dirty as death. If one sinned, he could be forgiven and cleansed immediately by offering a trespass offering (Lev. 5:10). But if one touched death, he had to wait a few days to become clean. From this we can see that death is more defiling than sin. However, we in the church life may think that sin is serious but that touching death is common and not serious. But in the eyes of God to touch death is the most serious thing.

　　The poison of death can damage and destroy the saints. In Romans 14 Paul says that we should not destroy the work of God by doing things carelessly (vv. 15, 20). Christ has redeemed and saved the saints, and we should not destroy them by acting carelessly. The Lord has done a lot of gracious, redemptive work on the saints in the Lord's recovery, and for years we have been working to build up the saints. No one should destroy the gracious work of Christ on the saints. No one should destroy those on whom we have been working for their building up. Would not our hearts be hurt to see the saints destroyed by the poison of death? We need to be sober, fair, calm, and kind to consider whether we are really building up the Body of Christ or unconsciously doing something to destroy God's work by spreading the poison of death. (Life-study of Leviticus, pp. 321-322, 198-199)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Numbers, msg. 28; Life-study of Leviticus, msg. 22

«　WEEK 5　DAY 2　»

　　Num. 19:2 …Tell the children of Israel to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which is no blemish and upon which a yoke has never come.

　　Rom. 8:3 …God, sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh.

　　Hebrews 10 indicates that this red heifer [mentioned in Numbers 19:2] refers to the Lord Jesus. What are the Lord Jesus' qualifications to become this sacrifice?…This sacrifice was to be without spot [defect] and without blemish and was never to have come under a yoke. Being without spot and blemish refers to His life. Never having come under a yoke refers to His work. In life He is without blemishes. In work He has never been under a yoke. In His life and person, the Lord Jesus is without spot and blemish. Not only is He without blemish, but also in His experience He is clean, that is, He has never been under a yoke. He is a clean man, and He has a clean experience. Many people are without blemish, but they have been yoked. But in His experience, the Lord Jesus was never yoked. He never touched the things of sin. He was never oppressed by sin or dominated by sin. He was never provoked to sin. He is completely free. Tonight we cannot say this for ourselves, for we are not free people. We have been oppressed by sin and have been dominated by sin. We have been provoked by sin and are not our own masters…. Only the Lord Jesus has never been put under the yoke of sin. (CWWN, vol. 29,”The Gospel of God (2),” pp. 480-481)

　　Numbers 19:2 says that an Israelite needed to bring a red heifer”without defect,” in which was no blemish and upon which a yoke had never come. The heifer being without defect signifies being without blemish or sin….The heifer having never been under a yoke signifies having never been used by the world, Satan, or sin. Only the Lord Jesus has never been used by anyone, especially by God's enemy, Satan. Unlike Him, we have been used by sin and have borne the yoke of sin from the time we were born. Before we were saved, we bore many kinds of yokes; we were used by the world, Satan, and sin. However, prior to being offered as a sacrifice to God, the Lord Jesus had never borne any yoke.

　　The red heifer [mentioned in Numbers 19:2] signifies the Lord Jesus who came in the likeness of the flesh of sin in order to bear man's sins. In verse 2 the color red represents sin (Isa. 1:18). Thus, the red heifer signifies the Lord being made sin on our behalf (2 Cor. 5:21). However, the color red was only on the skin and hair, signifying that the Lord had only the likeness of the flesh of sin for bearing our sins and did not have the sinful nature.

　　Since the Lord Jesus was a male, why is a heifer, not an ox, used here as a type of the Lord? In the Bible the male represents objective truth, whereas the female represents subjective experience. For example, males, such as Adam, Abraham, and Isaac, represent certain objective truths or testimonies; whereas females, such as Eve, Sarah, and Rebecca, represent the corresponding subjective experiences or practical applications. Hence, the Lord's redemption, as signified by the heifer, is not a matter of objective doctrine but a matter of subjective experience.

　　Numbers 19:3 says,”You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and someone shall bring it outside the camp and slaughter it in his presence.” This heifer was not offered on the altar but brought outside the camp and slaughtered there, indicating that the heifer was not offered before God but was slaughtered in a position rejected by God's people. When an Israelite became unclean, he needed to dwell alone outside the camp (cf. Lev. 13:46). The red heifer was slaughtered outside the camp where unclean people were, in order to deal with their uncleanness. This signifies that in order to deal with our uncleanness, the Lord Jesus came to the place where we were. He was rejected by men and was also crucified outside the city of Jerusalem. (CWWL, 1960, vol. 1,”Synopsis of Numbers,” pp. 292-293)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1960, vol. 1,”Synopsis of Numbers,” ch. 24; CWWN, vol. 29,”The Gospel of God (2),” ch. 25

«　WEEK 5　DAY 3　»

　　Num. 19:6 And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet strands, and cast them into the midst of the burning of the heifer.

　　Phil. 2:7 But emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming in the likeness of men.

　　Justification by faith is objective; it has to do with truth and testimony. Obedience is subjective; it has to do with life and experience. Throughout the Bible the church is symbolized by females, because the church is subjective, being related to the Lord's work in man. A heifer is used here in Numbers 19 instead of a bull because it represents another aspect of the Lord's work—His work toward man. What happened to the heifer? It was slaughtered, and its blood was taken and sprinkled seven times directly in front of the Tent of Meeting. In other words, the blood was offered to God because the work of the blood is always for God. The heifer's blood was sprinkled seven times in front of the Tent of Meeting, signifying that it was for God and for the redemption of sin. (CWWN vol. 49,”Messages for Building Up New Believers (2),” p. 325)

　　The efficacy of the red heifer's death was toward God and was able to make propitiation before God for man's sins. Numbers 19:5 says,”The heifer shall be burned in his sight; its skin and its flesh and its blood, with its dung, shall be burned.” This is different from the burning of the burnt offering in Leviticus 1:9. The burnt offering was to produce a fragrance that was acceptable to God, whereas the burning of the heifer was for the bearing of sins and for dealing with sins completely. After the red heifer was burned, the color red was no longer seen, which signifies that sins have been fully dealt with.

　　While the red heifer was being burned, cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet strands were cast into its midst [Num. 19:6]. Leviticus 14:4, which speaks of the cleansing of a leper, using two clean birds, also mentions cedar wood, scarlet strands, and hyssop. One of the birds was to be slaughtered in an earthen vessel over running water. The living bird, with the cedar wood, the scarlet strands, and the hyssop, was to be dipped in the blood of the first bird, which was then sprinkled on the leper seven times in order for him to be cleansed (vv. 5-7). In Leviticus cedar wood, scarlet strands, and hyssop were dipped in blood; in Numbers these things were burned in fire with the heifer.

　　Cedar wood and hyssop have the same spiritual significance in Numbers as they do in Leviticus. Both cedar wood and hyssop signify the humanity that the Lord Jesus put on. Cedar wood signifies the dignified and solid aspect of the Lord's humanity, whereas hyssop signifies the lowly and humble aspect of His humanity.

　　Colossians 1:15 says that the Lord Jesus is the Firstborn of all creation. Man is the head of all the creatures on earth. The Lord Jesus is a creature because He became a man. He became flesh, a creature, and thus partook of and was joined to creation. Therefore, in Numbers 19 the cedar wood and hyssop signify not only the Lord's dignified and humble humanity but also the entire creation to which the Lord Jesus has been joined (cf. 1 Kings 4:33).

　　The scarlet strands in Numbers 19:6 are mainly a type of sins, making them different from the scarlet strands in Leviticus 14:6. In Leviticus the scarlet strands were not burned, but in Numbers they were completely burned. In Leviticus the scarlet strands signify how the Lord Jesus died for the redemption from sins and was glorified, but in Numbers 19 the scarlet strands signify only the Lord's bearing our sins, not His glorification after His death on the cross. The cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet strands were cast into the midst of the burning of the heifer to be burned together, signifying that the sins of all creation were completely eliminated. When the Lord Jesus died, all creation and the sins committed by the creation were terminated together. (CWWL, 1960, vol. 1,”Synopsis of Numbers,” pp. 293-294)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 49,”Messages for Building Up New Believers (2),” ch. 21

«　WEEK 5　DAY 4　»

　　Num. 19:9 And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and place them outside the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the assembly of the children of Israel as water for impurity; it is a sin offering.

　　Mark 9:12 …It is written of the Son of Man that He should suffer many things and be counted as nothing.

　　Heb. 9:12 …Through His own blood, entered once for all into the Holy of Holies, obtaining an eternal redemption.

　　In Numbers 19:9 the ashes refer to the remains of the red heifer, signifying that the Lord's redeeming death in resurrection is eternally efficacious. This eternal efficacy is what remains after the Lord's death and resurrection; in other words, the eternal efficacy of the Lord's redemption is in His resurrection (cf. Rom. 4:25).

　　The ashes of the heifer being placed outside the camp in a clean place signifies that the efficacy of the Lord's redemption remains in the place of sinners, whereas the redeeming blood being brought to the front of the Tent of Meeting signifies the efficacy of the Lord's redemption before God. (CWWL, 1960, vol. 1,”Synopsis of Numbers,” p. 295)

　　In the Old Testament, sinners needed to offer up sacrifices to the Lord. If a person had offered up a sacrifice and then touched something unclean, he would become unclean again before God and could no longer fellowship with Him. What did he have to do? Another person would take some ashes of the red heifer on this person's behalf, put them in a vessel, pour in living water, mix it into the water for impurity, and sprinkle it on his body. The man's uncleanness would then be removed and his sin forgiven. When an Israelite brought a bull or a lamb to the Lord and offered it up as a sin offering, he did it because of some known sin. But the red heifer was related to another matter….The burning of the red heifer was not for past sins but for future transgressions.

　　One aspect of the Lord's work is like that of the ashes of the red heifer. The efficacy of redemption is signified by the ashes. The sins of the whole world are in it, and the blood is also in it. Whenever a man becomes unclean or has touched some unclean things, he does not need to kill another red heifer and offer it to God. He only needs to take the ashes of the red heifer that was offered once and mix them with water and sprinkle them on the body. In other words, there is no need for the Lord to do anything a second time. His redemption accomplished everything. He made provision for all of our future uncleanness and future sins.

　　What do the ashes signify? In the Bible, ashes signify something in its final form. Whether a bull or a lamb, its final form after being burned is ashes. Ashes are very stable; they do not corrupt into something else. We cannot corrupt or destroy ashes.

　　The ashes of the red heifer signify the eternal and unchanging efficacy of the Lord's redemption. The redemption which our Lord accomplished for us is most stable. Do not think that rocks on mountains are stable. Even rocks can be burned into ashes. Ashes are more stable than rocks. The ashes of the red heifer signify the Lord's redemption which He has prepared for us. It is forever unchanging and incorruptible. We may apply it any time. If a Christian touches something unclean by accident and there is uncleanness in him, he does not have to ask the Lord to die for him again. He only needs to trust in the eternal and incorruptible efficacy of the ashes and to sprinkle his body with the water of life, and he will be clean. In other words, the ashes of the red heifer tell us that the past work of the cross is applicable for our use today. We also can say that the effectiveness of the cross covers all the needs we will ever have in the future. These ashes are specifically for the future. Only one red heifer needs to be burned, and it only needs to be burned once. Its ashes are enough to cover one's whole life. Thank the Lord that His redemption is sufficient for our whole life. His death has taken away all our sins. (CWWN, vol. 49,”Messages for Building Up New Believers (2),” pp. 326-328)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 49,”Messages for Building Up New Believers (2),” ch. 21; Life-study of Leviticus, msg. 42

«　WEEK 5　DAY 5　»

　　1 John 1:7 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 every sin.

　　John 7:38-39 He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. But this He said concerning the Spirit…

　　According to Numbers 19, whoever touched death or was defiled and thus became unclean needed to be sprinkled by the ashes mixed with running water in order to be clean (vv. 11-14, 16-20). The running water typifies the Holy Spirit. Whenever we, the people of God, are defiled, we need to allow the Holy Spirit, who is compounded with the eternal efficacy of the Lord's redemption, to be applied to us in order to remove our uncleanness. This corresponds to 1 John 1:7….This means that if we realize that we have sinned, we should take the blood of the Lord Jesus in order to wash away our sins for the purpose of restoring the fellowship between God and us. (CWWL, 1960, vol. 1,”Synopsis of Numbers,” p. 295)

　　Numbers 19:12 says,”He shall purify himself with it on the third day and on the seventh day, and then he shall be clean; but if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he shall not be clean.” Here the third day signifies resurrection, and the seventh day signifies completion. If we are defiled, we need to be in resurrection in order to allow the Holy Spirit to apply the efficacy of the Lord's redemption to us. Defilement is related to the old creation. Hence, in order for us to be purified, we must be in resurrection; if we remain in the old creation, we cannot be purified. On the third day the water for impurity was sprinkled, and on the seventh day the unclean person became clean. This signifies that after we apply the efficacy of the Lord's redemption in resurrection, we will become clean according to the time of completion.

　　According to Numbers 19, both the Israelite who gathered the ashes and he who sprinkled the water for impurity became unclean (vv. 10, 21). This signifies that when we help a defiled brother to be purified, although we may be clean, we should realize that we are dealing with sin. Since it is possible for us to be defiled, we should be warned and deal with this matter before God.

　　Numbers 19:19 says that when the defiled person was purified, he needed to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water. Moreover, the person who sprinkled the water for impurity also had to wash his clothes (v. 21). Bathing in water signifies dealing with oneself, and washing one's clothes signifies dealing with the entirety of one's conduct. Whenever we are defiled and commit a sin, we should be in the Holy Spirit and allow the Spirit to apply the efficacy of the Lord's death to us in order to remove our defilement before God. We should also have a fresh dealing with ourselves and with the entirety of our conduct. This must be done not only by the person who needs to be purified but also by those who help him to be purified.

　　[In verses 14 through 16] a man dying in a tent signifies that in God's eyes all men are dead in the flesh (cf. Matt. 8:22; Luke 9:60). Our physical body is like a tabernacle (2 Cor. 5:1), and everything that belongs to us is unclean. Every natural man is a man who”dies in a tent” [Num. 19:14]; his physical body is a tent, and the one who is in the tent is dead. Thus, everything that is joined to a natural man and is in contact with him is unclean.

　　Chapter 19 reveals that we, the people of God, should continually allow the Holy Spirit to apply the efficacy of Christ's redemption to us so that we may be purified… Whatever is in us and whatever comes in contact with us is unclean. Every part of our inner being is also unclean. In order for us to serve God, we should continually learn to allow the Holy Spirit, who has been compounded with the efficacy of Christ's redemption, to be sprinkled on us so that we may be purified. (CWWL, 1960, vol. 1,”Synopsis of Numbers,” pp. 295-297)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1960, vol. 1,”Synopsis of Numbers,” ch. 24

«　WEEK 5　DAY 6　»

　　Rom. 3:24 Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.

　　Eph. 1:7 In [the Beloved] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of offenses, according to the riches of His grace.

　　Heb. 9:12 And not through the blood of goats and calves but through His own blood, entered once for all into the Holy of Holies, obtaining an eternal redemption.

　　Ashes are the final state of everything in the world. I am not referring to the facts of chemistry, but to our everyday experience…. When something has reached its very end, and cannot be changed to something else anymore, it is ashes.

　　Everything of the heifer is burned. Note particularly the blood. In these ashes are the skin, the flesh, and the blood. This means that in these ashes are the redemption of Christ and the eternal efficacy of His redemption. Christ is eternally efficacious before God. He has become the ashes. The shedding of His blood is eternally efficacious. Even the blood has become ashes. The work of redemption is finished. The red heifer portrays the Lord's redemptive work, and this work has now become ashes. (CWWN, vol. 29,”The Gospel of God (2),” p. 483)

　　From Numbers 19:11 on we are told about the function of the ashes….Verse 9 tells us about this water for impurity.”And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and place them outside the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the assembly of the children of Israel as water for impurity; it is a sin offering.” The impurity spoken of refers to the impurity of touching a dead body. Why is touching a dead body considered an impurity? It is because death is the evidence of sin. Without sin there would be no death. Therefore, where there is death, there is also sin. A dead body means that sin has done its work. The result of the work of sin is death. For this reason, the Old Testament uses leprosy as a symbol of curable sin and a dead body as a symbol of incurable sin. When a man is dead in sin and trespasses and therefore dead in his flesh, he is a dead body. The Lord Jesus talked about these dead ones. He said to let the dead bury the dead (Matt. 8:22). If you touch these dead ones, if you have intercourse with the world, if you build up a friendship with it, and if you have your living among it, you are touching dead bodies. If you touch dead bodies, you will surely be infected and defiled with impurities. When Christians sin and fail through touching the world, the ashes are needed.

　　The ashes are the work of the cross. They are put into the living water (Num. 19:17) and become the water for impurity. The living water typifies the Holy Spirit. Once while the children of Israel journeyed, they struck the rock and out came living water (Exo. 17:6). First Corinthians 10:4 says that the rock was Christ. Hence, the living water refers to what flows forth from Christ, which is the Holy Spirit. Taking the living water and making it the water for impurity means that there is the need for the power of the Holy Spirit to be upon us. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, the work of the Lord will be in vain. If there are only the ashes of the red heifer without the living water, they will not be of much use. With the work of the Lord Jesus, there is still the need of the Holy Spirit. Only by the mixing together of the two will we be purified and cleansed. The Lord Jesus does not have to die again. We merely apply the efficacy of the one-time work of the Lord for our cleansing. The ashes of the red heifer represent the eternal and immutable efficacy of the Lord's work on the cross. It is this efficacy that is cleansing us. Because the Lord Jesus has died, the efficacy of His ashes becomes eternal, and by the Holy Spirit He is now applying this efficacy to us.

　　Every time we sin, we do not have to bring a bull to God again. The efficacy of the Lord's work two thousand years ago continues until today. By those ashes we are cleansed. (CWWN, vol. 29,”The Gospel of God (2),” pp. 484-485)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 29,”The Gospel of God (2),” ch. 25