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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>N U M B E R S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XIX.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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This chapter is only concerning the preparing and using of the ashes
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which were to impregnate the water of purification. The people had
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complained of the strictness of the law, which forbade their near
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approach to the tabernacle,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+17:13"><I>ch.</I> xvii. 13</A>.
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In answer to this complaint, they are here directed to purify
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themselves, so as that they might come as far as they had occasion
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without fear. Here is,
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I. The method of preparing these ashes, by the burning of a red heifer,
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with a great deal of ceremony,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:1-10">ver. 1-10</A>.
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II. The way of using them.
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1. They were designed to purify persons from the pollution contracted
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by a dead body,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:11-16">ver. 11-16</A>.
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2. They were to be put into running water (a small quantity of them),
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with which the person to be cleansed must be purified,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:17-22">ver. 17-22</A>.
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And that this ceremonial purification was a type and figure of the
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cleansing of the consciences of believers from the pollutions of sin
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appears by the apostle's discourse,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+9:13,14">Heb. ix. 13, 14</A>,
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where he compares the efficacy of the blood of Christ with the
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sanctifying virtue that was in "the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the
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unclean."</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Nu19_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu19_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu19_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu19_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu19_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu19_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu19_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu19_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu19_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu19_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Ashes of Purification.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1471.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
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2 This <I>is</I> the ordinance of the law which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath
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commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they
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bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein <I>is</I> no blemish,
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<I>and</I> upon which never came yoke:
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3 And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may
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bring her forth without the camp, and <I>one</I> shall slay her before
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his face:
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4 And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his
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finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle
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of the congregation seven times:
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5 And <I>one</I> shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and
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her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:
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6 And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and
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scarlet, and cast <I>it</I> into the midst of the burning of the
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heifer.
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7 Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe
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his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp,
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and the priest shall be unclean until the even.
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8 And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and
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bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even.
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9 And a man <I>that is</I> clean shall gather up the ashes of the
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heifer, and lay <I>them</I> up without the camp in a clean place, and
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it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel
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for a water of separation: it <I>is</I> a purification for sin.
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10 And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his
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clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the
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children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among
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them, for a statute for ever.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here the divine appointment concerning the solemn burning of a
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red heifer to ashes, and the preserving of the ashes, that of them
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might be made, not a beautifying, but a purifying, water, for that was
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the utmost the law reached to; it offered not to adorn as the gospel
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does, but to cleanse only. This burning of the heifer, though it was
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not properly a sacrifice of expiation, being not performed at the
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altar, yet was typical of the death and sufferings of Christ, by which
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he intended, not only to satisfy God's justice, but to purify and
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pacify our consciences, that we may have peace with God and also peace
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in our own bosoms, to prepare for which Christ died, not only like the
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bulls and goats at the altar, but like the heifer without the camp.</P>
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<P>
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I. There was a great deal of care employed in the choice of the heifer
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that was to be burnt, much more than in the choice of any other
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offering,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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It must not only be without blemish, typifying the spotless purity and
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sinless perfection of the Lord Jesus, but it must a red heifer, because
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of the rarity of the colour, that it might be the more remarkable: the
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Jews say, "If but two hairs were black or white, it was unlawful."
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Christ, as man, was the Son of Adam, <I>red earth,</I> and we find him
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red in his apparel, red with his own blood, and red with the blood of
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his enemies. And it must be one on which never came yoke, which was not
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insisted on in other sacrifices, but thus was typified the voluntary
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offer of the Lord Jesus, when he said, <I>Lo, I come,</I> He was bound
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and held with no other cords than those of his own love. This heifer
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was to be provided at the expense of the congregation, because they
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were all to have a joint interest in it; and so all believers have in
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Christ.</P>
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<P>
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II. There was to be a great deal of ceremony in the burning of it. The
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care of doing it was committed to Eleazar, not to Aaron himself,
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because it was not fit that he should do any thing to render himself
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ceremonially unclean, no, not so much as <I>till the evening</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>);
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yet it being an affair of great concern especially in the significancy
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of it, it was to be performed by him that was next to Aaron in dignity.
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The chief priests of that time had the principal hand in the death of
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Christ. Now,</P>
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<P>
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1. The heifer was to be slain without the camp, as an impure thing,
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which bespeaks the insufficiency of the methods prescribed by the
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ceremonial law to take away sin. So far were they from cleansing
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effectually that they were themselves unclean; as if the pollution that
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was laid upon them continued to cleave to them. Yet, to answer this
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type, our Lord Jesus, being made sin and a curse for us, <I>suffered
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without the gate,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:12">Heb. xiii. 12</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. Eleazar was to <I>sprinkle the blood directly before the door of the
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tabernacle,</I> and looking steadfastly towards it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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This made it in some sort an expiation; for the sprinkling of the blood
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before the Lord was the chief solemnity in all the sacrifices of
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atonement; therefore, though this was not done at the altar, yet, being
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done towards the sanctuary, it was intimated that the virtue and
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validity of it depended upon the sanctuary, and were derived from it.
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This signified the satisfaction that was made to God by the death of
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Christ, our great high priest, who <I>by the eternal Spirit</I> (and
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the Spirit is called the finger of God, as Ainsworth observes,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+11:20">Luke xi. 20</A>)
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<I>offered himself without spot unto God;</I> directly before the
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sanctuary, when he said, <I>Father, into thy hands I commit my
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spirit.</I> It also signifies how necessary it was to the purifying of
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our hearts that satisfaction should be made to divine justice. This
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sprinkling of the blood put virtue into the ashes.</P>
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<P>
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3. The heifer was to be <I>wholly burnt,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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This typified the extreme sufferings of our Lord Jesus, both in soul
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and body, as a sacrifice made by fire. The priest was to cast into the
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fire, while it was burning, cedarwood, hyssop, and scarlet, which were
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used in the cleansing of lepers
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+14:6,7">Lev. xiv. 6, 7</A>),
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that the ashes of these might be mingled with the ashes of the heifer,
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because they were designed for purification.</P>
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<P>
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4. The ashes of the heifer (separated as well as they could from the
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ashes of the wood wherewith it was burnt) were to be carefully gathered
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up by the hand of a clean person, and (as the Jews say) pounded and
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sifted, and so laid up for the use of the congregation, as there was
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occasion
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
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not only for that generation, but for posterity; for the ashes of this
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one heifer were sufficient to season as many vessels of water as the
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people of Israel would need for many ages. The Jews say that this one
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served till the captivity, nearly 1000 years, and that there was never
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another heifer burnt till Ezra's time, after their return, to which
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tradition of theirs, grounded (I suppose) only upon the silence of
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their old records, I see no reason we have to give credit, since in the
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later times of their church, of which they had more full records, they
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find eight burnt between Ezra's time and the destruction of the second
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temple, which was about 500 years, These ashes are said to be laid up
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here as <I>a purification for sin,</I> because, though they were
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intended to purify only from ceremonial uncleanness, yet they were a
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type of that purification for sin which our Lord Jesus made by his
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death. Ashes mixed with water are used in scouring, but these had their
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virtue purely from the divine institution, and their accomplishment and
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perfection in Christ, who is <I>the end of this law for
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righteousness.</I> Now observe,
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(1.) That the water of purification was made so by the ashes of a
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heifer, whose blood was sprinkled before the sanctuary; so that which
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cleanses our consciences is the abiding virtue of the death of Christ;
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it is his blood that <I>cleanses from all sin,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:7">1 John i. 7</A>.
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(2.) That the ashes were sufficient for all the people. There needed
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not to be a fresh heifer slain for every person or family that had
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occasion to be purified, but this one was enough for all, even for the
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strangers that sojourned among them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>);
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so there is virtue enough in the blood of Christ for all that repent
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and believe the gospel, for every Israelite, and not for their sins
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only, but for <I>the sins of the whole world,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+2:2">1 John ii. 2</A>.
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(3.) That these ashes were capable of being preserved without waste to
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many ages. No bodily substance is so incorruptible as ashes are, which
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(says bishop Patrick) made these a very fit emblem of the everlasting
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efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ. He is able to save, and, in order
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to that, able to cleanse, to the uttermost, both of person and times.
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(4.) These ashes were laid up as a stock or treasure, for the constant
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purification of Israel from their pollutions; so the blood of Christ is
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laid up for us in the word and sacraments, as an inexhaustible fountain
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of merit, to which by faith we may have recourse daily for the purging
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of our consciences; see
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+13:1">Zech. xiii. 1</A>.</P>
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<P>
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5. All those that were employed in this service were made ceremonially
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unclean by it; even Eleazar himself, though he did but sprinkle the
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blood,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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<I>He that burned the heifer was unclean</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
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and he that <I>gathered up the ashes</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>);
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so all that had a hand in putting Christ to death contracted guilt by
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it: his betrayer, his prosecutors, his judge, his executioner, all did
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what they did with wicked hands, though it was <I>by the determinate
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counsel and foreknowledge of God</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+2:23">Acts ii. 23</A>);
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yet some of them were, and all might have been cleansed by the virtue
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of that same blood which they had brought themselves under the guilt
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of. Some make this to signify the imperfection of the legal services,
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and their insufficiency to take away sin, inasmuch as those who
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prepared for the purifying of others were themselves polluted by the
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preparation. The Jews say, This is a mystery which Solomon himself did
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not understand, that the same thing should pollute those that were
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clean and purify those that were unclean. But (says bishop Patrick) it
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is not strange to those who consider that all the sacrifices which were
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offered for sin were therefore looked upon as impure, because the sins
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of men were laid upon them, as all our sins were upon Christ, who
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therefore is said to be <I>made sin for us,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+5:21">2 Cor. v. 21</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Nu19_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu19_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu19_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu19_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu19_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu19_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu19_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu19_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu19_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu19_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu19_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu19_22"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>11 He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean
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seven days.
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12 He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the
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seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the
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third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.
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13 Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead,
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and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>;
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and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of
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separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his
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uncleanness <I>is</I> yet upon him.
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14 This <I>is</I> the law, when a man dieth in a tent: all that come
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into the tent, and all that <I>is</I> in the tent, shall be unclean
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seven days.
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15 And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it,
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<I>is</I> unclean.
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16 And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the
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open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave,
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shall be unclean seven days.
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17 And for an unclean <I>person</I> they shall take of the ashes of
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the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall
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be put thereto in a vessel:
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18 And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip <I>it</I> in the
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water, and sprinkle <I>it</I> upon the tent, and upon all the vessels,
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and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a
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bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave:
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19 And the clean <I>person</I> shall sprinkle upon the unclean on
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the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he
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shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in
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water, and shall be clean at even.
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20 But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify
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himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation,
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because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: the water of
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separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he <I>is</I> unclean.
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21 And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that
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sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he
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that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until
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even.
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22 And whatsoever the unclean <I>person</I> toucheth shall be
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unclean; and the soul that toucheth <I>it</I> shall be unclean until
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even.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Directions are here given concerning the use and application of the
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ashes which were prepared for purification. they were laid up to be
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laid out; and therefore, though now one place would serve to keep them
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|
in, while all Israel lay so closely encamped, yet it is probable that
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afterwards, when they came to Canaan, some of these ashes were kept in
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every town, for there would be daily use for them. Observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. In what cases there needed a purification with these ashes. No other
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is mentioned here than the ceremonial uncleanness that was contracted
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by the touch of a dead body, or of the bone or grave of a dead man, or
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being in the tent or house where a dead body lay,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:11,14-16"><I>v.</I> 11, 14-16</A>.
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This I look upon to have been one of the greatest burdens of the
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ceremonial law, and one of the most unaccountable. He that touched the
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carcase of an unclean beast, or any living man under the greatest
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ceremonial uncleanness, was made unclean by it only <I>till the
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evening,</I> and needed only common water to purify himself with; but
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he that came near the dead body of man, woman, or child, much bear the
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reproach of his uncleanness seven days, must twice be purified with the
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water of separation, which he could not obtain without trouble and
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charge, and till he was purified must not come near the sanctuary upon
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pain of death.</P>
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<P>
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1. This was strange, considering,
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(1.) that whenever any died (and we are in deaths oft) several persons
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must unavoidable contract this pollution, the body must be stripped,
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washed, wound up, carried out, and buried, and this could not be done
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without many hands, and yet all defiled, which signifies that in our
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corrupt and fallen state there is none that lives and sins not; we
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cannot avoid being polluted by the defiling world we pass through, and
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we offend daily, yet the impossibility of our being sinless does not
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make sin the less polluting.
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(2.) that taking care of the dead, to see them decently buried, is not
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only necessary, but a very good office, and an act of kindness, both to
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the honour of the dead and the comfort of the living, and yet
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uncleanness was contracted by it, which intimates that the pollutions
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of sin mix with and cleave to our best services. <I>There is not a just
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|
man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not;</I> we are apt some way
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or other to do amiss even in our doing good.
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(3.) That this pollution was contracted by what was done privately in
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their own houses, which intimates (as bishop Patrick observes) that God
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sees what is done in secret, and nothing can be concealed from the
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divine Majesty.
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(4.) This pollution might be contracted, and yet a man might never know
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it, as by the touch of a grave which appeared not, of which our Saviour
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says, Those that <I>walk over it are not aware of it</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+11:44">Luke xi. 44</A>),
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which intimates the defilement of the conscience by sins of ignorance,
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and the cause we have to cry out, "Who can understand his errors?" and
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to pray, "Cleanse us from secret faults, faults which we ourselves do
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not see ourselves guilty of."</P>
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<P>
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2. But why did the law make a dead corpse such a defiling thing?
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(1.) Because death is the <I>wages of sin, entered into the world</I>
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by it, and reigns by the power of it. Death to mankind is another thing
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from what it is to other creatures: it is a curse, it is the execution
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of the law, and therefore the defilement of death signifies the
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defilement of sin.
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(2.) Because the law could not conquer death, nor abolish it and alter
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|
the property of it, as the gospel does by bringing life and immortality
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|
to light, and so introducing a better hope. Since our Redeemer was dead
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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
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|
under the law, to show that it <I>made not the comers thereunto
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perfect,</I> the pollution contracted by dead bodies could not but form
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in their minds melancholy and uncomfortable notions concerning death,
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while believers now through Christ can triumph over it. <I>O grave!
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where is thy victory?</I> Where is thy pollution?</P>
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<P>
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II. How the ashes were to be used and applied in these cases.
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1. A small quantity of the ashes must be put into a cup of spring
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|
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
|
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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
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|
Spirit, who is compared to rivers of living water; and it is by his
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|
operation that the righteousness of Christ is applied to us for our
|
|
cleansing. Hence we are said to be washed, that is, sanctified and
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|
justified, not only in the name of the Lord Jesus, but by the <I>Spirit
|
|
of our God,</I>
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|
<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>.
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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
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|
be purified by the ashes otherwise than in the running water.
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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
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+19:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>),
|
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|
|
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>
|
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|
|
(<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>
|
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|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+10:22">Heb. x. 22</A>),
|
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|
|
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>
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|
|
<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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