In this episode, we cover Numbers 19 and 20. Chapter 19 especially focuses on the priests with ritual instruction from cleansing from the impurity of death. Enter in the Red Heifer Ashes and the Water of Cleansing. We also see the death of Miriam and Aaron at this point.
HAYLEY’S BIBLE BENDER:
My Bible bender of these passages was another Old to New Testament connection: Apostle Paul relates the cleansing of the ashes of the red heifer to the cleansing of the blood of Christ. In Hebrews 9:13, it says, “The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those wo were ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”
Susan connected this from Paul to what we learned here in Numbers saying, “Blood is the most potent cleansing and sanctifying agent in the Bible. The sprinkling of it on the alters in the Tabernacle were detailed throughout Leviticus. The fact that this heifer had to be red was a visual representing the reality of life and death that is so tentatively tied to every drop of blood in our bodies. Such ceremonies as the Red Heifer Ceremony, like our ceremonies (think baptism or communion), are a visual reminder expressing the deepest truths about life as the people watch them.”
What was your Bible bender? Did you learn anything new?
VERSES MENTIONED:
SHOW NOTES:
Leviticus Offerings Chart
The Journey from Kadesh-Barnea to Plains of Moab
This article was written by Hayley Mowatt, producer of Bible Book Club.
