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.  It was an ordinance that the wisest man in the Old Testament, King Solomon, was unable to decipher.  This portion describes another of the reasons for his confusion.

The book of Leviticus is where Jewish laws are recorded. There are five separate offerings listed there.   All of them describe a different aspect of Jesus' one perfect sacrifice.  They are:

#1. Burnt offering 

Here we have the highest aspect of the work of Christ where He is seen offering Himself up entirely to God to do His will even unto death. The whole offering, except the skin of the animal, was burnt upon the altar and all went up to God as a sweet savour. It pictures Christ who gave Himself as "a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour" (Eph. 5:2). CHRIST IS NOT SEEN HERE AS BEARING OUR SINS, but as accomplishing the Father's will, glorifying Him and vindicating the holiness and majesty of His throne. This theme is especially prominent in John's Gospel and in Psalm 40.

#2. Grain offering   

This offering typifies Christ as the PERFECT AND SINLESS MAN and presents to us His wonderful Person and His spotless life which was ever an offering of a SWEET SAVOR UNTO GOD. There was no shedding of blood in this offering so it speaks of the perfections of Christ's Person and life rather than of His death. The fine flour pictures His sinless humanity with its evenness of moral qualities, the oil pictures the grace and power of the Holy Spirit which characterized His life, while the frankincense is emblematic of the sweetness and fragrance of His Person and life.

#3. Peace offering 

This was also an offering of 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 part. Then the breast was given to Aaron and his sons and the right shoulder to the offering priest. This was man's part. Thus God and man both fed on the same offering which speaks of communion and fellowship and typifies the communion which the believer in Christ enjoys with God on the ground of the work of Christ at the cross and His blood shed there for our sins. We are at peace with God through the work of the cross and can feed upon Christ in fellowship with the Father. Luke's Gospel and Psalm 85 especially present this theme.

#4. Sin offering    

We come now to the NON-SWEET SAVOR offerings. The special feature of this offering is in the whole bullock, including it's offal, being burnt upon the ground outside the camp of Israel after the blood and fat were put upon the altar for God. This offering was for sin and pictures to us Christ who was made sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21) and endured the judgment and wrath of God against sin in our stead as our substitute. The holiness of God and the awfulness of sin are brought out in the bullock being entirely burnt up OUTSIDE THE CAMP. It pictures CHRIST, FORSAKEN OF GOD, AS OUR SIN-BEARER as given in Psalm 22 and Mark's Gospel.

#5. Trespass offering 

Here sin is looked at as a trespass against the government of God. Amends had to be made for the wrong done and the fifth part added to it. Atonement was made by the blood of the offering, and the trespasser was forgiven. This offering PRESENTS CHRIST WHO DIED FOR OUR SINS AND TRESPASSES on the cross restoring that which He took not away (Ps. 69:4). He has not only answered to God for our sins and paid our debt by His shed blood, but has added the fifth part, as it were, bringing more glory to God and more blessings to man than were had before sin was committed. This is the first view the sinner gets of the Cross of Christ. Psalm 69 and Matthew's Gospel present this aspect of the offering of Christ.

Notice anything missing?  No doubt Solomon noticed it too and was completely baffled.  Though this ordinance is a law about a sacrifice, IT ISN'T RECORDED IN LEVITICUS.  Very strange!  It only appears in Numbers.  Why?  

Numbers is all about the wilderness journey.  Right now, the Church is in the wilderness; we are on a journey.  This law describes a critical element for our blessing and success while we are here in the wilderness.  Believers are IN the world but we are no longer OF the world, and until we meet Jesus face to face, we need all the help we can get!

 

This offering, just like the sin offering found in Levitucus, contained "offal."  That is what made it a sin offering as opposed to a burnt offering.  What is "OFFAL?  A very polite English word for "dung."  The BURNT OFFERING where Jesus' perfection is offered TO the Father on our behalf does not contain any "offal."  The sin offering and the red heifer offering both represent Jesus WHEN HE CARRIED OUR SINS ON THE CROSS.

The dung didn't come from The Victim; 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.    

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

Please proceed to part 4.

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