Much is written about the red heifer and the end times. In short, commentators say the Temple instruments must be purified by a solution containing the ashes of a completely red heifer. In Matthew 24, Christ says that when the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel occurs, there “shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time (v 21).” For this abomination to occur, there must be daily sacrifice in the Temple, and therefore, there must be a Temple, making commentators believe the red heifer is a clear sign of the end times. Many are aware of this ritual of the red heifer, but do they know the mystery of its significance?
Numbers 19 begins with the law of the red heifer, one of the most difficult to comprehend in the Torah. Tradition calls it “hok,” a statute that seems to have no reason, at least one that’s humanly understandable. The ritual law of the Red Heifer is for purification from coming in contact with a dead person. The priest sacrifices the heifer without blemish (no other colored hairs but red) outside the camp, throws hyssop, cedar wood, and a scarlet thread onto the heifer as it is completely burned up. The ashes are mixed with pure living water, and sprinkled using a hyssop branch on the third and seventh day on the one who has come into contact with a corpse. Called the “water of separation,” the person then washes in the mikveh and will be clean the following evening.
The priest who presides over the ritual becomes unclean even though he has not come in contact with a dead body. This paradox is the fulfillment of Christ and His sacrifice outside the camp, that delivered us from death. He is not only our Great High Priest, but also the defect-free sacrifice. Hebrews 13:12 says “So too Jesus suffered outside the gate, in order make the people holy through his own blood.” Hebrews 10:22 explains, “Let us approach the Holiest Place with a sincere heart, in full assurance of faith—with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscious and our bodies washed with pure water.” We are washed from the contamination of sin and death by Jesus’ own death on our behalf.
This is about the separation of life and death. The person being purified in the red heifer ritual was sprinkled with the “water of separation,” and they were no longer associated with death, but life! In the Hebrew, the word “hok” comes from a verb meaning to “engrave,” just as a statue is carved from stone, so also behavior can be engraved into the human mind. In God’s wisdom, He set forth laws that form our behaviors and they can become so deeply carved into our being that they change our behavior. The red heifer ritual was to impress all those who saw or underwent it that holiness is found in life, not in death, which Christ defeated on the cross. And that’s the mystery of the red heifer.
