Numbers 19:1-22

The children of Israel had to be constantly concerned about making sacrifices to the Lord and being sure that they were clean ceremonially before the Lord.  I am so thankful that Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient to cleanse me from all my sin and that His blood has made me clean before Him and gives me access to the presence of God.  It certainly is a high privilege to live in fellowship with God through the Word and prayer.  Christ has given us access to the Lord and we must be forever grateful for this blessing.

THE SACRIFICE FOR SIN: A red heifer had to be sacrificed by the priest in order for the sins of the people and the priest himself to have their sins covered.  The animal was to be sacrificed and burned with special objects.  Then all that was left of the animal and the ashes from the fire were to be taken outside of the camp and left there.  This sin offering was to protect the people from the wrath of God for their sin.  All who offered the sacrifice and cleaned it up afterward where ceremonially unclean until the evening of that day.  We no longer must make such sacrifices because of the death of Christ for all of us.  The sacrifice of the animal was a temporary covering of sin but did nothing to equip the sinner to be victorious over sin.  We, live with the power of the Spirit of God so that we can set sin aside and live in obedience and sweet fellowship before the Lord.

THE PURIFICATION FOR SERVICE: Those who touched dead bodies or other unclean objects were declared to be ceremonially unclean.  They were limited in what they could do until their time of purification had passed.  Only then were they allowed to resume their duties.  Those who refused to do the rituals of cleansing were to be cast out of the camp and cut off from the children of Israel.  God’s holiness must never be taken lightly.  We no longer must worry about these ceremonial cleansings because all of our sin is forgiven in Christ and we are given the opportunity to live in complete fellowship and harmony with the Lord.  When we sin our effectiveness in service may be affected but we do not need to go through rituals in order to be restored to effective service.  We must simply confess our sins and enjoy the forgiveness that God has already granted to all those who have trusted Christ.