mh_parser/vol_split/4 - Numbers/Chapter 19.xml

<div2 id="Num.xx" n="xx" next="Num.xxi" prev="Num.xix" progress="73.80%" title="Chapter XIX">
<h2 id="Num.xx-p0.1">N U M B E R S</h2>
<h3 id="Num.xx-p0.2">CHAP. XIX.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Num.xx-p1">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, <scripRef id="Num.xx-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Num.17.13" parsed="|Num|17|13|0|0" passage="Nu 17:13"><i>ch.</i> xvii. 13</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Num.xx-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Num.19.1-Num.19.10" parsed="|Num|19|1|19|10" passage="Nu 19:1-10">ver. 1-10</scripRef>. II. The way of using them. 1.
They were designed to purify persons from the pollution contracted
by a dead body, <scripRef id="Num.xx-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Num.19.11-Num.19.16" parsed="|Num|19|11|19|16" passage="Nu 19:11-16">ver.
11-16</scripRef>. 2. They were to be put into running water (a
small quantity of them), with which the person to be cleansed must
be purified, <scripRef id="Num.xx-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Num.19.17-Num.19.22" parsed="|Num|19|17|19|22" passage="Nu 19:17-22">ver. 17-22</scripRef>.
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, <scripRef id="Num.xx-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Heb.9.13-Heb.9.14" parsed="|Heb|9|13|9|14" passage="Heb 9:13,14">Heb. ix. 13, 14</scripRef>, 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>
<scripCom id="Num.xx-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Num.19" parsed="|Num|19|0|0|0" passage="Nu 19" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Num.xx-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Num.19.1-Num.19.10" parsed="|Num|19|1|19|10" passage="Nu 19:1-10" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Num.19.1-Num.19.10">
<h4 id="Num.xx-p1.8">The Ashes of Purification. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Num.xx-p1.9">b. c.</span> 1471.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Num.xx-p2">1 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="Num.xx-p2.1">Lord</span>
spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,   2 This <i>is</i>
the ordinance of the law which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Num.xx-p2.2">Lord</span> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Num.xx-p3">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 class="indent" id="Num.xx-p4">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, <scripRef id="Num.xx-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Num.19.2" parsed="|Num|19|2|0|0" passage="Nu 19:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="Num.xx-p5">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> (<scripRef id="Num.xx-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Num.19.8" parsed="|Num|19|8|0|0" passage="Nu 19:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>); 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 class="indent" id="Num.xx-p6">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>
<scripRef id="Num.xx-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Heb.13.12" parsed="|Heb|13|12|0|0" passage="Heb 13:12">Heb. xiii. 12</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Num.xx-p7">2. Eleazar was to <i>sprinkle the blood
directly before the door of the tabernacle,</i> and looking
steadfastly towards it, <scripRef id="Num.xx-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Num.19.4" parsed="|Num|19|4|0|0" passage="Nu 19:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Num.xx-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.20" parsed="|Luke|11|20|0|0" passage="Lu 11:20">Luke xi. 20</scripRef>) <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 class="indent" id="Num.xx-p8">3. The heifer was to be <i>wholly
burnt,</i> <scripRef id="Num.xx-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Num.19.5" parsed="|Num|19|5|0|0" passage="Nu 19:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. 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 (<scripRef id="Num.xx-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.14.6-Lev.14.7" parsed="|Lev|14|6|14|7" passage="Le 14:6,7">Lev. xiv. 6, 7</scripRef>), that the ashes of these
might be mingled with the ashes of the heifer, because they were
designed for purification.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Num.xx-p9">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 (<scripRef id="Num.xx-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Num.19.9" parsed="|Num|19|9|0|0" passage="Nu 19:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>), 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>
<scripRef id="Num.xx-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:1John.1.7" parsed="|1John|1|7|0|0" passage="1Jo 1:7">1 John i. 7</scripRef>. (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 (<scripRef id="Num.xx-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Num.19.10" parsed="|Num|19|10|0|0" passage="Nu 19:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>); 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> <scripRef id="Num.xx-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:1John.2.2" parsed="|1John|2|2|0|0" passage="1Jo 2:2">1 John ii.
2</scripRef>. (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 <scripRef id="Num.xx-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Zech.13.1" parsed="|Zech|13|1|0|0" passage="Zec 13:1">Zech. xiii.
1</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Num.xx-p10">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, <scripRef id="Num.xx-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Num.19.7" parsed="|Num|19|7|0|0" passage="Nu 19:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. <i>He that burned the heifer was
unclean</i> (<scripRef id="Num.xx-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Num.19.8" parsed="|Num|19|8|0|0" passage="Nu 19:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>),
and he that <i>gathered up the ashes</i> (<scripRef id="Num.xx-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Num.19.10" parsed="|Num|19|10|0|0" passage="Nu 19:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>); 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> (<scripRef id="Num.xx-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.2.23" parsed="|Acts|2|23|0|0" passage="Ac 2:23">Acts ii.
23</scripRef>); 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> <scripRef id="Num.xx-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.5.21" parsed="|2Cor|5|21|0|0" passage="2Co 5:21">2 Cor. v. 21</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Num.xx-p10.6" osisRef="Bible:Num.19" parsed="|Num|19|0|0|0" passage="Nu 19" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Num.xx-p10.7" osisRef="Bible:Num.19.11-Num.19.22" parsed="|Num|19|11|19|22" passage="Nu 19:11-22" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Num.19.11-Num.19.22">
<p class="passage" id="Num.xx-p11">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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Num.xx-p11.1">Lord</span>; 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Num.xx-p11.2">Lord</span>:
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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Num.xx-p12">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 class="indent" id="Num.xx-p13">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, <scripRef id="Num.xx-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Num.19.11 Bible:Num.19.14-Num.19.16" parsed="|Num|19|11|0|0;|Num|19|14|19|16" passage="Nu 19:11,14-16"><i>v.</i> 11, 14-16</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="Num.xx-p14">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> (<scripRef id="Num.xx-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.44" parsed="|Luke|11|44|0|0" passage="Lu 11:44">Luke xi.
44</scripRef>), 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 class="indent" id="Num.xx-p15">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 class="indent" id="Num.xx-p16">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> <scripRef id="Num.xx-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.6.11 Bible:1Pet.1.2" parsed="|1Cor|6|11|0|0;|1Pet|1|2|0|0" passage="1Co 6:11,1Pe 1:2">1
Cor. vi. 11; 1 Pet. i. 2</scripRef>. 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 (<scripRef id="Num.xx-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Num.19.18" parsed="|Num|19|18|0|0" passage="Nu 19:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>), 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> (<scripRef id="Num.xx-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Heb.12.24" parsed="|Heb|12|24|0|0" passage="Heb 12:24">Heb. xii.
24</scripRef>), and with it were are said to be <i>sprinkled from
an evil conscience</i> (<scripRef id="Num.xx-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Heb.10.22" parsed="|Heb|10|22|0|0" passage="Heb 10:22">Heb. x.
22</scripRef>), 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> <scripRef id="Num.xx-p16.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.52.15" parsed="|Isa|52|15|0|0" passage="Isa 52:15">Isa. lii. 15</scripRef>. 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> <scripRef id="Num.xx-p16.6" osisRef="Bible:Num.19.12-Num.19.19" parsed="|Num|19|12|19|19" passage="Nu 19:12-19"><i>v.</i> 12-19</scripRef>. 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> <scripRef id="Num.xx-p16.7" osisRef="Bible:Num.19.20" parsed="|Num|19|20|0|0" passage="Nu 19:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Num.xx-p16.8" osisRef="Bible:Num.19.21-Num.19.22" parsed="|Num|19|21|19|22" passage="Nu 19:21,22"><i>v.</i> 21, 22</scripRef>. 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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