What’s In Your Water: part 3 Of 9

Numbers 19: 5
“Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight: its hide, its flesh, its blood, and its offal shall be burned.”

We’ve been studying the law concerning the ashes of the red heifer.  We have seen that it completely baffled King Solomon, the wisest man in the Old Testament, and that he was unable to decipher it, to his chagrin.  In this portion of our study, we’re going to discuss another of the reasons for his confusion. 🧐

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The Book Of Laws.

Leviticus is the book where Jewish laws are recorded.  There are many different laws recorded, the most prominent being those in the first five chapters of the book.–The Holy Spirit listed five separate offerings in its first five chapters, each describing a different aspect of Jesus’ one perfect sacrifice.  They are listed below with a brief explanation:

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#1. The Burnt offering

This is the highest aspect of the Christ’s work.  He is depicted as offeringHimself up entirely to God to do His will, even unto death.

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#2. The Grain offering.

This offering typifies Christ as the PERFECT AND SINLESS MAN.  It presents to us His wonderful Person and His spotless life, which was ever an offering of a SWEET SAVOR UNTO GOD.  It was that spotless life that qualified Him to be our perfect sacrifice.It was the only offering with NO ANIMAL included as it speaks of the perfections of Christ’s Person and earthly life, rather than His death.  Fine flour represents His sinless humanity with its evenness of moral qualities, oil being a typology of the grace and power of the Holy Spirit which characterized His life.  Frankincense is emblematic of the sweetness and fragrance of His Person and life.

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#3. The Peace offering.

This offering, like the first two, was also a SWEET SAVOR TO GOD. The blood, the fat and the kidneys of the offering were put upon the altar as “the food of the offering made by fire unto the Lord” (Lev. 3:11). This was God’s portion.  The breast was given to Aaron and his sons and the right shoulder to the offering priest. This was man’s part. 

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Thus both God and man fed on the same offering, which speaks of communion and fellowship. It typifies the communion which believers in Christ enjoy with our God on the grounds of the work of Christ at the cross and His blood shed for our sins.

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We Have peace with God as a result of the work of the cross.  We can feed upon Christ in fellowship with the Father. Luke’s Gospel and Psalm 85 especially present this theme.

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#4. The Sin offering.

This offering is NOT SWEET SAVOR offering as the whole bullock, including it’s offal, burnt upon the ground OUTSIDE THE CAMP.It is a depiction of what we are, sinners because of Adam’s sin.  It typifies Christ Who was made to be sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21), enduring the judgment and wrath of God against sin in our stead as our substitute.

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It was entirely burnt up OUTSIDE THE CAMP as CHRIST, FORSAKEN OF GOD, AS OUR SIN-BEARER, died outside the gates of Jerusalem.

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#5. The Trespass offering.

This offering is also NOT as SWEET SAVOR to God.  It covered trespasses (what we DO) against the government of God. Amends were to be made for the wrong done and the fifth part added to it:  120 percent restoration!

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This sacrifice also covered sins of which the offerer was unaware.  Jesus put all Israel under this offering when He said from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

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For a more in-depth study on the Five Offerings Of Leviticus, you may follow the link below to a complete study on that topic:

https://emmausroadministries.international/2017/01/21/the-five-offerings-of-leviticus-part-1-of-10-introduction/

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What’s Missing?

So, those are the only offerings regarding right sacrifices listed in Leviticus.   Notice anything missing?  Yep, you guessed it:  The Law concerning the Ashes of the Red Heifer isn’t there. 🤯  No doubt that fact didn’t escape Solomon’s notice which completely baffled him.  😳

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That’s odd!  Though it is a law concerning a sacrifice to the LORD, IT ISN’T RECORDED IN LEVITICUS.  It only appears in Numbers.  Why?  🤔The Hebrew Language gives us a big clue! 😃

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Wilderness Journey.

In Hebrew, the word for the name of this book is,  “Midbar.”  It means “Wilderness.”  Numbers is all about the wilderness journey of the children of Israel.

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But……wilderness is also a typology of our journey through this world.  

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Right now we, the Church, are in the world:  In other words, in the wilderness.  Like the Israelites wandering in the desert, we are also on a journey.  This law describes a critical element for our own blessing and success while we are wandering around here in the wilderness.  You see, even though we are IN the world, we are no longer OF the world; and until we meet Jesus face to face, we need all the help we can get!

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Offal.

This offering, just like the sin offering found in Levitucus, contained “Offal,” or dung, which is what made it a sin offering, as opposed to a burnt offering.

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What is “OFFAL?  A very polite Old English word for “dung.”  The BURNT OFFERING where Jesus’ perfection is offered TO the Father on our behalf does not contain any offal.  Both the sin offering and the sacrifice of the red heifer represent Jesus WHEN HE CARRIED OUR SINS ON THE CROSS. The dung didn’t come from The Victim, obviously; IT CAME FROM US. He Who knew no sin and did no sin, took ALL our sins upon Himself and was punished for ALL OF THEM in His own body.  All the judgment, all the wrath and all the righteous indignation that we deserved, He took in our place so that we would be spared.

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Divine Exchange.

When we receive His GIFT of righteousness, we get the good we don’t deserve because Another took ALL THE BAD we do deserve in a Divine exchange.  THAT’S GRACE!  That’s the Gospel!  That really is GOOD NEWS!

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You may proceed to part 4 to if you wish to continue this study. We are going to decode the meaning of the cedar, hyssop, and scarlet:

https://emmausroadministries.international/2020/11/24/whats-in-your-water-part-4-of-9/