Numbers 19

Nu 19:1-22.

THE

WATER OF

SEPARATION.

2. This is the ordinance of the law--an institution of a peculiar

nature ordained by law for the purification of sin, and provided at the

public expense because it was for the good of the whole community.

Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer

without spot, &c.--This is the only case in which the color of the

victim is specified. It has been supposed the ordinance was designed in

opposition to the superstitious notions of the Egyptians. That people

never offered a vow but they sacrificed a red bull, the greatest care

being taken by their priests in examining whether it possessed the

requisite characteristics, and it was an annual offering to Typhon,

their evil being. By the choice, both of the sex and the color,

provision was made for eradicating from the minds of the Israelites a

favorite Egyptian superstition regarding two objects of their animal

worship.

3-6. ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest that he may bring her

forth without the camp--He was the second or deputy high priest, and

he was selected for this duty because the execution of it entailed

temporary defilement, from which the acting high priest was to be

preserved with the greatest care. It was led "forth without the camp,"

in accordance with the law regarding victims laden with the sins of the

people, and thus typical of Christ

(Heb 13:12;

also Le 24:14).

The priest was to sprinkle the blood "seven times" before--literally,

"towards" or "near" the tabernacle, a description which seems to imply

either that he carried a portion of the blood in a basin to the door of

the tabernacle

(Le 4:17),

or that in the act of sprinkling he turned his face towards the sacred

edifice, being disqualified through the defiling influence of this

operation from approaching close to it. By this attitude he indicated

that he was presenting an expiatory sacrifice, for the acceptance of

which he hoped, in the grace of God, by looking to the mercy seat.

Every part of it was consumed by fire except the blood used in

sprinkling, and the ingredients mixed with the ashes were the same as

those employed in the sprinkling of lepers

(Le 14:4-7).

It was a water of separation--that is, of "sanctification" for the

people of Israel.

7. the priest shall be unclean until the even--The ceremonies

prescribed show the imperfection of the Levitical priesthood, while

they typify the condition of Christ when expiating our sins

(2Co 5:21).

11-22. He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean--This

law is noticed here to show the uses to which the water of separation

[Nu 19:9]

was applied. The case of a death is one; and as in every family which

sustained a bereavement the members of the household became defiled, so

in an immense population, where instances of mortality and other cases

of uncleanness would be daily occurring, the water of separation must

have been in constant requisition. To afford the necessary supply of

the cleansing mixture, the Jewish writers say that a red heifer was

sacrificed every year, and that the ashes, mingled with the sprinkling

ingredients, were distributed through all the cities and towns of

Israel.

12. He shall purify himself . . . the third day--The necessity of

applying the water on the third day is inexplicable on any natural or

moral ground; and, therefore, the regulation has been generally

supposed to have had a typical reference to the resurrection, on that

day, of Christ, by whom His people are sanctified; while the process of

ceremonial purification being extended over seven days, was intended to

show that sanctification is progressive and incomplete till the arrival

of the eternal Sabbath. Every one knowingly and presumptuously

neglecting to have himself sprinkled with this water was guilty of an

offense which was punished by excommunication.

14. when a man dieth in a tent, &c.--The instances adduced appear

very minute and trivial; but important ends, both of a religious and of

a sanitary nature, were promoted by carrying the idea of pollution from

contact with dead bodies to so great an extent. While it would

effectually prevent that Egyptianized race of Israelites imitating the

superstitious custom of the Egyptians, who kept in their houses the

mummied remains of their ancestors, it ensured a speedy interment to

all, thus not only keeping burial places at a distance, but removing

from the habitations of the living the corpses of persons who died from

infectious disorders, and from the open field the unburied remains of

strangers and foreigners who fell in battle.

21. he that sprinkleth . . . ; and he that toucheth the water of

separation shall be unclean until even--The opposite effects ascribed

to the water of separation--of cleansing one person and defiling

another--are very singular, and not capable of very satisfactory

explanation. One important lesson, however, was thus taught, that its

purifying efficacy was not inherent in itself, but arose from the

divine appointment, as in other ordinances of religion, which are

effectual means of salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in him

that administers them, but solely through the grace of God communicated

thereby.