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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>N U M B E R S</B></FONT>
<BR>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XIX.</FONT>
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<P>
This chapter is only concerning the preparing and using of the ashes
which were to impregnate the water of purification. The people had
complained of the strictness of the law, which forbade their near
approach to the tabernacle,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+17:13"><I>ch.</I> xvii. 13</A>.
In answer to this complaint, they are here directed to purify
themselves, so as that they might come as far as they had occasion
without fear. Here is,
I. The method of preparing these ashes, by the burning of a red heifer,
with a great deal of ceremony,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:1-10">ver. 1-10</A>.
II. The way of using them.
1. They were designed to purify persons from the pollution contracted
by a dead body,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:11-16">ver. 11-16</A>.
2. They were to be put into running water (a small quantity of them),
with which the person to be cleansed must be purified,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:17-22">ver. 17-22</A>.
And that this ceremonial purification was a type and figure of the
cleansing of the consciences of believers from the pollutions of sin
appears by the apostle's discourse,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+9:13,14">Heb. ix. 13, 14</A>,
where he compares the efficacy of the blood of Christ with the
sanctifying virtue that was in "the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the
unclean."</P>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Ashes of Purification.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1471.</TD></TR>
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<P>
<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
2 This <I>is</I> the ordinance of the law which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath
commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they
bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein <I>is</I> no blemish,
<I>and</I> upon which never came yoke:
3 And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may
bring her forth without the camp, and <I>one</I> shall slay her before
his face:
4 And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his
finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle
of the congregation seven times:
5 And <I>one</I> shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and
her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:
6 And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and
scarlet, and cast <I>it</I> into the midst of the burning of the
heifer.
7 Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe
his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp,
and the priest shall be unclean until the even.
8 And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and
bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even.
9 And a man <I>that is</I> clean shall gather up the ashes of the
heifer, and lay <I>them</I> up without the camp in a clean place, and
it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel
for a water of separation: it <I>is</I> a purification for sin.
10 And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his
clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the
children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among
them, for a statute for ever.
</FONT></P>
<P>
We have here the divine appointment concerning the solemn burning of a
red heifer to ashes, and the preserving of the ashes, that of them
might be made, not a beautifying, but a purifying, water, for that was
the utmost the law reached to; it offered not to adorn as the gospel
does, but to cleanse only. This burning of the heifer, though it was
not properly a sacrifice of expiation, being not performed at the
altar, yet was typical of the death and sufferings of Christ, by which
he intended, not only to satisfy God's justice, but to purify and
pacify our consciences, that we may have peace with God and also peace
in our own bosoms, to prepare for which Christ died, not only like the
bulls and goats at the altar, but like the heifer without the camp.</P>
<P>
I. There was a great deal of care employed in the choice of the heifer
that was to be burnt, much more than in the choice of any other
offering,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
It must not only be without blemish, typifying the spotless purity and
sinless perfection of the Lord Jesus, but it must a red heifer, because
of the rarity of the colour, that it might be the more remarkable: the
Jews say, "If but two hairs were black or white, it was unlawful."
Christ, as man, was the Son of Adam, <I>red earth,</I> and we find him
red in his apparel, red with his own blood, and red with the blood of
his enemies. And it must be one on which never came yoke, which was not
insisted on in other sacrifices, but thus was typified the voluntary
offer of the Lord Jesus, when he said, <I>Lo, I come,</I> He was bound
and held with no other cords than those of his own love. This heifer
was to be provided at the expense of the congregation, because they
were all to have a joint interest in it; and so all believers have in
Christ.</P>
<P>
II. There was to be a great deal of ceremony in the burning of it. The
care of doing it was committed to Eleazar, not to Aaron himself,
because it was not fit that he should do any thing to render himself
ceremonially unclean, no, not so much as <I>till the evening</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>);
yet it being an affair of great concern especially in the significancy
of it, it was to be performed by him that was next to Aaron in dignity.
The chief priests of that time had the principal hand in the death of
Christ. Now,</P>
<P>
1. The heifer was to be slain without the camp, as an impure thing,
which bespeaks the insufficiency of the methods prescribed by the
ceremonial law to take away sin. So far were they from cleansing
effectually that they were themselves unclean; as if the pollution that
was laid upon them continued to cleave to them. Yet, to answer this
type, our Lord Jesus, being made sin and a curse for us, <I>suffered
without the gate,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:12">Heb. xiii. 12</A>.</P>
<P>
2. Eleazar was to <I>sprinkle the blood directly before the door of the
tabernacle,</I> and looking steadfastly towards it,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
This made it in some sort an expiation; for the sprinkling of the blood
before the Lord was the chief solemnity in all the sacrifices of
atonement; therefore, though this was not done at the altar, yet, being
done towards the sanctuary, it was intimated that the virtue and
validity of it depended upon the sanctuary, and were derived from it.
This signified the satisfaction that was made to God by the death of
Christ, our great high priest, who <I>by the eternal Spirit</I> (and
the Spirit is called the finger of God, as Ainsworth observes,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+11:20">Luke xi. 20</A>)
<I>offered himself without spot unto God;</I> directly before the
sanctuary, when he said, <I>Father, into thy hands I commit my
spirit.</I> It also signifies how necessary it was to the purifying of
our hearts that satisfaction should be made to divine justice. This
sprinkling of the blood put virtue into the ashes.</P>
<P>
3. The heifer was to be <I>wholly burnt,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
This typified the extreme sufferings of our Lord Jesus, both in soul
and body, as a sacrifice made by fire. The priest was to cast into the
fire, while it was burning, cedarwood, hyssop, and scarlet, which were
used in the cleansing of lepers
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+14:6,7">Lev. xiv. 6, 7</A>),
that the ashes of these might be mingled with the ashes of the heifer,
because they were designed for purification.</P>
<P>
4. The ashes of the heifer (separated as well as they could from the
ashes of the wood wherewith it was burnt) were to be carefully gathered
up by the hand of a clean person, and (as the Jews say) pounded and
sifted, and so laid up for the use of the congregation, as there was
occasion
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
not only for that generation, but for posterity; for the ashes of this
one heifer were sufficient to season as many vessels of water as the
people of Israel would need for many ages. The Jews say that this one
served till the captivity, nearly 1000 years, and that there was never
another heifer burnt till Ezra's time, after their return, to which
tradition of theirs, grounded (I suppose) only upon the silence of
their old records, I see no reason we have to give credit, since in the
later times of their church, of which they had more full records, they
find eight burnt between Ezra's time and the destruction of the second
temple, which was about 500 years, These ashes are said to be laid up
here as <I>a purification for sin,</I> because, though they were
intended to purify only from ceremonial uncleanness, yet they were a
type of that purification for sin which our Lord Jesus made by his
death. Ashes mixed with water are used in scouring, but these had their
virtue purely from the divine institution, and their accomplishment and
perfection in Christ, who is <I>the end of this law for
righteousness.</I> Now observe,
(1.) That the water of purification was made so by the ashes of a
heifer, whose blood was sprinkled before the sanctuary; so that which
cleanses our consciences is the abiding virtue of the death of Christ;
it is his blood that <I>cleanses from all sin,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:7">1 John i. 7</A>.
(2.) That the ashes were sufficient for all the people. There needed
not to be a fresh heifer slain for every person or family that had
occasion to be purified, but this one was enough for all, even for the
strangers that sojourned among them
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>);
so there is virtue enough in the blood of Christ for all that repent
and believe the gospel, for every Israelite, and not for their sins
only, but for <I>the sins of the whole world,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+2:2">1 John ii. 2</A>.
(3.) That these ashes were capable of being preserved without waste to
many ages. No bodily substance is so incorruptible as ashes are, which
(says bishop Patrick) made these a very fit emblem of the everlasting
efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ. He is able to save, and, in order
to that, able to cleanse, to the uttermost, both of person and times.
(4.) These ashes were laid up as a stock or treasure, for the constant
purification of Israel from their pollutions; so the blood of Christ is
laid up for us in the word and sacraments, as an inexhaustible fountain
of merit, to which by faith we may have recourse daily for the purging
of our consciences; see
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+13:1">Zech. xiii. 1</A>.</P>
<P>
5. All those that were employed in this service were made ceremonially
unclean by it; even Eleazar himself, though he did but sprinkle the
blood,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
<I>He that burned the heifer was unclean</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
and he that <I>gathered up the ashes</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>);
so all that had a hand in putting Christ to death contracted guilt by
it: his betrayer, his prosecutors, his judge, his executioner, all did
what they did with wicked hands, though it was <I>by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+2:23">Acts ii. 23</A>);
yet some of them were, and all might have been cleansed by the virtue
of that same blood which they had brought themselves under the guilt
of. Some make this to signify the imperfection of the legal services,
and their insufficiency to take away sin, inasmuch as those who
prepared for the purifying of others were themselves polluted by the
preparation. The Jews say, This is a mystery which Solomon himself did
not understand, that the same thing should pollute those that were
clean and purify those that were unclean. But (says bishop Patrick) it
is not strange to those who consider that all the sacrifices which were
offered for sin were therefore looked upon as impure, because the sins
of men were laid upon them, as all our sins were upon Christ, who
therefore is said to be <I>made sin for us,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+5:21">2 Cor. v. 21</A>.</P>
<A NAME="Nu19_11"> </A>
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<P>
<FONT SIZE=+1>11 He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean
seven days.
12 He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the
seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the
third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.
13 Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead,
and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>;
and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of
separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his
uncleanness <I>is</I> yet upon him.
14 This <I>is</I> the law, when a man dieth in a tent: all that come
into the tent, and all that <I>is</I> in the tent, shall be unclean
seven days.
15 And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it,
<I>is</I> unclean.
16 And 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.
17 And for an unclean <I>person</I> they shall take of the ashes of
the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall
be put thereto in a vessel:
18 And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip <I>it</I> in the
water, and sprinkle <I>it</I> 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:
19 And the clean <I>person</I> 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.
20 But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify
himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation,
because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: the water of
separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he <I>is</I> unclean.
21 And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that
sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he
that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until
even.
22 And whatsoever the unclean <I>person</I> toucheth shall be
unclean; and the soul that toucheth <I>it</I> shall be unclean until
even.
</FONT></P>
<P>
Directions are here given concerning the use and application of the
ashes which were prepared for purification. they were laid up to be
laid out; and therefore, though now one place would serve to keep them
in, while all Israel lay so closely encamped, yet it is probable that
afterwards, when they came to Canaan, some of these ashes were kept in
every town, for there would be daily use for them. Observe,</P>
<P>
I. In what cases there needed a purification with these ashes. No other
is mentioned here than the ceremonial uncleanness that was contracted
by the touch of a dead body, or of the bone or grave of a dead man, or
being in the tent or house where a dead body lay,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:11,14-16"><I>v.</I> 11, 14-16</A>.
This I look upon to have been one of the greatest burdens of the
ceremonial law, and one of the most unaccountable. He that touched the
carcase of an unclean beast, or any living man under the greatest
ceremonial uncleanness, was made unclean by it only <I>till the
evening,</I> and needed only common water to purify himself with; but
he that came near the dead body of man, woman, or child, much bear the
reproach of his uncleanness seven days, must twice be purified with the
water of separation, which he could not obtain without trouble and
charge, and till he was purified must not come near the sanctuary upon
pain of death.</P>
<P>
1. This was strange, considering,
(1.) that whenever any died (and we are in deaths oft) several persons
must unavoidable contract this pollution, the body must be stripped,
washed, wound up, carried out, and buried, and this could not be done
without many hands, and yet all defiled, which signifies that in our
corrupt and fallen state there is none that lives and sins not; we
cannot avoid being polluted by the defiling world we pass through, and
we offend daily, yet the impossibility of our being sinless does not
make sin the less polluting.
(2.) that taking care of the dead, to see them decently buried, is not
only necessary, but a very good office, and an act of kindness, both to
the honour of the dead and the comfort of the living, and yet
uncleanness was contracted by it, which intimates that the pollutions
of sin mix with and cleave to our best services. <I>There is not a just
man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not;</I> we are apt some way
or other to do amiss even in our doing good.
(3.) That this pollution was contracted by what was done privately in
their own houses, which intimates (as bishop Patrick observes) that God
sees what is done in secret, and nothing can be concealed from the
divine Majesty.
(4.) This pollution might be contracted, and yet a man might never know
it, as by the touch of a grave which appeared not, of which our Saviour
says, Those that <I>walk over it are not aware of it</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+11:44">Luke xi. 44</A>),
which intimates the defilement of the conscience by sins of ignorance,
and the cause we have to cry out, "Who can understand his errors?" and
to pray, "Cleanse us from secret faults, faults which we ourselves do
not see ourselves guilty of."</P>
<P>
2. But why did the law make a dead corpse such a defiling thing?
(1.) Because death is the <I>wages of sin, entered into the world</I>
by it, and reigns by the power of it. Death to mankind is another thing
from what it is to other creatures: it is a curse, it is the execution
of the law, and therefore the defilement of death signifies the
defilement of sin.
(2.) Because the law could not conquer death, nor abolish it and alter
the property of it, as the gospel does by bringing life and immortality
to light, and so introducing a better hope. Since our Redeemer was dead
and buried, death is no more destroying to the Israel of God, and
therefore dead bodies are no more defiling; but while the church was
under the law, to show that it <I>made not the comers thereunto
perfect,</I> the pollution contracted by dead bodies could not but form
in their minds melancholy and uncomfortable notions concerning death,
while believers now through Christ can triumph over it. <I>O grave!
where is thy victory?</I> Where is thy pollution?</P>
<P>
II. How the ashes were to be used and applied in these cases.
1. A small quantity of the ashes must be put into a cup of spring
water, and mixed with the water, which thereby was made, as it is here
called, a <I>water of separation,</I> because it was to be sprinkled on
those who were separated or removed from the sanctuary by their
uncleanness. As the ashes of the heifer signified the merit of Christ,
so the running water signified the power and grace of the blessed
Spirit, who is compared to rivers of living water; and it is by his
operation that the righteousness of Christ is applied to us for our
cleansing. Hence we are said to be washed, that is, sanctified and
justified, not only in the name of the Lord Jesus, but by the <I>Spirit
of our God,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:11,1Pe+1:2">1 Cor. vi. 11; 1 Pet. i. 2</A>.
Those that promise themselves benefit by the righteousness of Christ,
while they submit not to the grace and influence of the Spirit, do but
deceive themselves, for we cannot put asunder what God has joined, nor
be purified by the ashes otherwise than in the running water.
2. This water must be applied by a bunch of hyssop dipped in it, with
which the person or thing to be cleansed must be sprinkled
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>),
in allusion to which David prays, <I>Purge me with hyssop.</I> Faith is
the bunch of hyssop wherewith the conscience is sprinkled and the heart
purified. Many might be sprinkled at once, and the water with which the
ashes were mingled might serve for many sprinklings, till it was all
spent; and a very little lighting upon a man served to purify him, if
done with that intention. In allusion to this application of the water
of separation by sprinkling, the blood of Christ is said to be the
<I>blood of sprinkling</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:24">Heb. xii. 24</A>),
and with it were are said to be <I>sprinkled from an evil
conscience</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+10:22">Heb. x. 22</A>),
that is, we are freed from the uneasiness that arises from a sense of
our guilt. And it is foretold that Christ, by his baptism, shall
<I>sprinkle many nations,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+52:15">Isa. lii. 15</A>.
3. The unclean person must be sprinkled with this water on <I>the third
day</I> after his pollution, and <I>on the seventh day,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:12-19"><I>v.</I> 12-19</A>.
The days were reckoned (we may suppose) from the last time of his
touching or coming near the dead body; for he would not begin the days
of his cleansing while he was still under a necessity of repeating the
pollution; but when the dead body was buried, so that there was no
further occasion of meddling with it, then he began to reckon his days.
Then, and then only, we may with comfort apply Christ's merit to our
souls, when we have forsaken sin, and cease all <I>fellowship with the
unfruitful works of</I> death and <I>darkness.</I> The repetition of
the sprinkling teaches us often to renew the actings of repentance and
faith, wash as Naaman, <I>seven times;</I> we need to do that often
which is so necessary to be well done.
4. Though the pollution contracted was only ceremonial, yet the neglect
of the purification prescribed would turn into moral guilt: <I>He that
shall be unclean</I> and shall <I>not purify himself, that soul shall
be cut off,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
Note, It is a dangerous thing to contemn divine institutions, though
they may seem minute. A slight wound, if neglected, may prove fatal; a
sin we call little, if not repented of, will be our ruin, when great
sinners that repent shall find mercy. Our uncleanness separates us from
God, but it is our being unclean and not purifying ourselves that will
separate us for ever from him: it is not the wound that is fatal, so
much as the contempt of the remedy.
5. Even he that <I>sprinkled the water of separation,</I> or
<I>touched</I> it, or <I>touched the unclean person,</I> must be
<I>unclean till the evening,</I> that is, must not come near the
sanctuary on that day,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:21,22"><I>v.</I> 21, 22</A>.
Thus God would show them the imperfection of those services, and their
insufficiency to purify the conscience, that they might look for the
Messiah, who in the fulness of time should by the eternal Spirit offer
himself without spot unto God, and so <I>purge our consciences from
dead works</I> (that is, from sin, which defiles like a dead body, and
is therefore called a <I>body of death</I>), that we may have liberty
of access to the sanctuary, to serve the living God with living
sacrifices.</P>
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