Numbers 19:15-1915And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean. 16And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days. 17And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel: 18And 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 persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave: 19And 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 himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even. (Numbers 19:15‑19)
All these instructions about defilements, and the way of cleansing, have a very necessary and helpful application to us in this defiling scene through which we pass. Evil actions, bad words, bad stories, and defiling pictures are everywhere in this wicked world, but if our hearts are filled with. Christ and “covered over” with His love, we are kept clean in the midst of it. We are like “covered vessels,” for it is in His presence and in the enjoyment, of His holy love that we learn what sin really is, and are kept from it. But if our eyes are open to the evil sights of this world, and our ears are open to all its evil stories, and our feet are not walking in the path of separation, we become defiled. Oh, how watchful we have to be! How careful, especially as young people, that we are not carried away by this poor world, which though it may look fair and beautiful on the outside, is full of evil and wickedness. Let us “keep the covering on!”
How gracious of God to make provision for His failing people, so that if any should become defiled there was a way of cleansing for him. When anyone touched one of these defiling things, however, he was made to feel his sin, for he was to be unclean for seven days. On the third day of his uncleanness he was to go to a clean person, who was to take some of the ashes of the red heifer and put them in running water in a vessel, and sprile the defiled man. This would show us that God would have us feel what it cost our blessed. Saviour to be “made sin for us,” 2 Col. 5:21. Oh what suffering He endured when He felt the “fire” of God’s judgment against sin at Calvary, but, blessed be His Name, the fire “burned itself out” upon Him, for He exhausted all the judgment for us when “He died unto sin once.” Romans 6:1010For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. (Romans 6:10). We have noticed before, that cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop were burned to ashes with the body of the red heifer. These things were therefore in with the ashes of the red heifer with which the defiled man was sprinkled. The cedar wood — thus, great and mighty trees—would tell us of man in his greatness; and the scarlet—all man’s glory—, along with the hyssop that insignificant little weed which would tell of man’s nothingness, had all been burned to ashes wtih the red heifer. In the death of Christ, therefore, applied by the Spirit through the Word (like the running water) we learn the utter end of all that we are in nature—so-called “good self” as well as “bad self”—and Gnd would have us feel this. Therefore, in our chapter, after the man had beer, sprinkled with these ashes mixed with water on the third day, he remained unclean until the seventh day when he was sprinkled again in the same way. He would then not only feel the exceeding horribleness of sin, but also he reminded of the love that had provided for his cleansing, and that he had sinned against that love. It is not a question of a sinner being saved here, but of the restoration of a true child of God who has sinned. True restoration depends upon the practical realization of these two things; the horribleness of sin, and the cost by which it has been put away.
After being sprinkled twice with this water, the man was to wash his clothe and bathe himself in water. In figure he had to apply the Word, of which the water is a type, to his association or friendships, and to all that he did. It is not enough to feel sorry for one’s sins, but if one is in bad company, or going on with something he should not. he must apply the Word and get clear of whatever is hindering before he is “clean.”
ML 11/25/1951