| Scripture |
Expanded Comments |
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| 1 And Jehovah spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, |
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| 2 This is the statute of the law which Jehovah 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. |
Red heifer – Type of the Ancient Worthies; red to teach that they were not sinless, a heifer instead of a bullock to show that it was not one of the sacrifices of the Day of Atonement. T106, T111; R4389:1
They were justified by faith--red represents the blood of Christ--they caught a glimpse of Christ's day. R1872:1
Never came yoke – Showing that the Ancient Worthies were justified, made free from the Law covenant, thus to "obtain a good report through faith." (Heb. 11:39) T110
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| 3 And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face: |
Eleazar the priest – Probably typifying the Apostle Paul. The name Eleazar signifies "Helped by God." T110
And one – Not a priest, showing that the sacrifice did not in any sense of the word represent the sacrifices of the Gospel age. T106
Before his face – Representing that one of the underpriests would so recognize and approve the sacrifices of the Ancient Worthies; as the Apostle Paul has done in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. T110
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| 4 and Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. |
Before the tabernacle – Showing that their lives were in full harmony with the Tabernacle conditions. T110
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| 5 And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn: |
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| 6 and the priest shall take cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer. |
Take cedar wood – Representing the gift of everlasting life to them. T109
And hyssop – Representing the purging or cleansing of truth. T109
And scarlet – Representing that they were justified or accepted by the blood of the cross. T109
Cast It – The ignominy heaped on the Ancient Worthies permitted the merit of the blood, the cleansing of the truth and everlasting life, to be accounted to them through faith. T110
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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 for impurity: it is a sin-offering. |
Gather up the ashes – Representing the knowledge and remembrance of their faithfulness unto death. T108
The instructions of the Ancient Worthies. T112
In a clean place – Picturing the store of blessings, instructions and help by which the Ancient Worthies will assist in the restitution work. T111
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| 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. |
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| 11 He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days: |
The dead body – Representing Adamic death. T111
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| 12 the same shall purify himself therewith on the third day, and on the seventh day, so shall he be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, and the seventh day, he shall not be clean. |
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| 13 Whosoever toucheth the dead person, the soul of a man that hath died, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of Jehovah; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water for impurity was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him. |
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| 14 This is the law when a man dieth in a tent: every one that cometh into the tent, and every one that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days. |
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| 15 And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean. |
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| 16 And whosoever in the open field toucheth one that is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days. |
Toucheth . . . a grave – Ordinary graves were covered with a stone slab and whitewashed lest someone tread upon them and be defiled. R5952:3
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| 17 And for the unclean they shall take of the ashes of the burning of the sin-offering; and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel: |
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| 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 souls that were there, and upon him that touched the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave: |
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| 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 him: and he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even. |
In water – Symbol of truth. T112
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| 20 But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of Jehovah: the water for impurity hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean. |
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| 21 And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them: and he that sprinkleth the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and he that toucheth the water for impurity shall be unclean until even. |
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| 22 And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even. |
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