Call Us: 423 661-4734 | Email: requests@comeandreason.com      
Red Heifer Ceremony

Red Heifer Ceremony

Recently, a listener asked me about the red heifer sacrifice—what is its significance? We find the instructions for this ceremony in Numbers chapter 19:

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: “This is a requirement of the law that the LORD has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke. Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting. While he watches, the heifer is to be burned—its hide, flesh, blood and offal. The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer. After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening. The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening. A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They shall be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin. The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the aliens living among them” (vv. 1–10 NIV84).

We must first recognize that this ceremony is symbolism, theater—an acted-out object lesson—to teach reality. The requirement of this ceremonial law was to teach us the reality of design law, but the true lesson is learned only when one decodes the symbols.

Symbols are used to teach. When you see the word “tree,” you are not actually seeing a tree; you are seeing a symbolic representation of a tree. The letters in this blog are symbols put together into words that represent concepts, ideas, and objective realities, but the words are not the reality. So, too, the symbols of the sanctuary system are designed to teach reality. There is nothing magical going on; nothing in the ceremony had any power to save sinners or cleanse them from sin—any more than reading the word “justification” or “atonement” has any power to save. The entire ceremonial system was simply representative and designed to teach reality. As the writer of Hebrews wrote:

The gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order. … But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (9:9, 10–10:3, 4 NIV84, emphasis mine).

Why did God use ceremonial symbols at that time? Because the people had just come out of slavery, and it is doubtful that the majority of them were as well educated as Moses was. It is likely that most didn’t know how to read and write. (The schools of the prophets had not been established yet.) And even for those who did, Moses hadn’t yet written the first five books of the Bible, and even when He did write them, they didn’t have mass media; they didn’t have printing presses; so it would have been difficult for them to get a copy of the Bible and study it in their homes. But they could all watch and participate in ceremonies and rituals designed to teach eternal truths.

If we want to understand the message God sent through these ceremonies, then all we need to do is accurately decode the symbols of that ceremonial language.

Decoding the Symbols

  • The red heifer, as the sacrificial animal, represents Jesus. Red represents sin (Isaiah 1:18). Thus, the overall ceremony is symbolic of Jesus becoming sin for us, even though He knew no sin, so that we can become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
  • The heifer had to be without defect or blemish as Jesus was without sin or defect.
  • The heifer had to have never been under a yoke as Jesus was never controlled by sinful man, and Jesus was not obligated to sacrifice Himself, but gave His life freely.
  • Eleazer represents the priesthood of believers (Aaron was still the high priest at this time) who go into the world to minister the gospel, to do the work of God, but in that work come into contact with evil. Thus, Eleazer needed to wash before returning to the camp. In the same way, when we do the work of God, we will come into contact with evil in the world. We will see and hear things that are repugnant to a righteous heart and mind; we will be tempted by abuse, injustice, and deception to harbor hurt, bitterness, resentment, anger, and other un-Christlike attitudes toward our enemies. Therefore, we are to daily be bathed in the waters of the Holy Spirit, truth and love, to wash away hurt, bitterness, resentment, confusion, tricks, and deceits and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (Titus 3:5).
  • The sacrifice was outside the camp representing how Jesus was crucified outside Jerusalem and that the sacrifice was for the entire world, not just those inside the camp.
  • Eleazer sprinkled the blood seven times toward the sanctuary; seven is symbolic of completion and/or perfection in spiritual things. The blood represents the sinless life of Jesus. The tent represents the way, means, method, system, plan, process whereby God restores sinners back to at-one-ment with Him. In other words, it is through Jesus, His sinless life and sacrificial death, that God takes sinners from the world and brings them back into perfection and unity with Him.
  • The entire sacrifice (red heifer) was to be burned and turned to ash, which symbolizes Jesus’ work to burn out all defects of sin when He became sin and, thereby, destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 2:14; 2 Timothy 1:10).
  • Cedar, hyssop, and scarlet wool were the items used in the ceremony to cleanse lepers. Leprosy was a symbol of sin. Leprosy does not cause direct tissue destruction but takes away the ability to feel pain so that a person touching a hot stove doesn’t pull back until they smell flesh burning. This is an accurate representation of sin, which sears the conscience and makes us insensitive to sinful choices that destroy the soul. Thus, these items are symbolic of being cleansed from sin. The scarlet wool represents the sin Jesus took upon Himself as our substitutionary Savior as well as His blood/life sacrificed to cleanse us from sin; the cedar and hyssop were believed to have healing properties and, therefore, represent God’s healing power to cure us of sin. Cedar was symbolic of fragrant incorruption—when something dies, it decays and stinks; thus, cedar symbolizes the opposite: incorruption, beauty, perfection, and health; and hyssop is symbolic of purification, what is necessary to be purified. As David prayed in Psalm 51:7, “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean.”
  • The ashes from this ceremony were collected and mixed with water to create the water for their ceremonial cleansing rituals. Again, there was nothing magical about the water. They were not chlorinating it to disinfect or decontaminate it of actual pathogens. The water was symbolic of the water of life that comes from God through Jesus and is applied by the Holy Spirit—the truth and love of God that cleanse us from fear and selfishness.

The red heifer sacrifice is symbolic of Jesus becoming our sin-bearing Savior and dying to destroy him who holds the power of death, that is the devil, to destroy death and bring life and immortality to light, to destroy the devil’s work and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (Hebrews 2:14; 2 Timothy 1:10; 1 John 3:8)..

 

 

Email me the blog whenever a new one is published.

Donate online, securely via PayPal using your credit or debit card (no PayPal account needed, unless you want to set up a monthly, recurring payment).


cancel recurring payment

 

Want to use zelle instead?
See how on our
Support and Donations page.

Upcoming Events

calendar

Testimonial Post Slider

Testimony 30

God lead me to your book “The God-Shaped Brain” while I was searching for another book about the brain and then to your interview about your book on HeartWise Ministries [where] I found out about [Come And Reason Ministries]. I’m now devouring the webcasts of your Bible studies. I have been so greatly blessed and I thank God so much for your courage to speak the Truth in love no matter what. Listening to you contrast the two opposing systems (laws) and digging deep to unearth the hidden treasures in the Bible makes me so incredibly happy and I feel very blessed to be part of your Bible Study Group although I live far away. I am just so excited that there is a group of people that is spreading the Truth about the character of God and it saddens me how few realize what our Father in Heaven is really like.

Kessy B., Australia

 

Testimony 70

I have been watching you for many years and have learned to love God with all my heart. I was raised by a loving Christian mother that had been lied to about who God really was, so our religious upbringing was hell fire and damnation. As soon as I was old enough and moved out, I not only left the church, I ran as fast as I could to get away from it. Sad to say, it wasn’t until the past couple of years that I learned and understand who my Father really is and how much He loves me. I understand God’s Design Laws (which make sense) and when I’m teaching my church Bible study class, I’m able to really put to use the things I’ve been learning and Holy Spirit is leading. Thank you for introducing me to my Father of true, pure love. Everyday with Him is new and exciting. One thing that breaks my heart is that I didn’t know Him sooner. God Bless you and your ministry!

Judy Phelps, Reno, NV, USA

Testimony 16

Your seminars are still inspiring and changing our lives and we continue to share the principles we have learned from you. Your ministry has changed our lives!

E.W.

 

Testimony 58

I have been watching your videos in The Power of Love seminar and I must say these have liberated me and have improved my relationship with the Lord. I am no longer terrified of him as I was before following your teachings.

Thando N., South Africa

 

Testimony 6

I got the book “Could It Be This Simple?” a few months ago and the reading was wonderful and I was fascinated. I lent the book to a friend at work. She is having a difficult time and the book is helping her to find Jesus and I found this very exciting. She has asked me questions and I can see her life changing.

H. S., Australia

 

Testimony 24

I wanted to thank you very much for presenting your understanding of God. I’ve always been troubled by this question: Why did Jesus have to die? Since my conversion I understood that The Father & Jesus are one, I did not have issues with that. But was there not any other way to save us than for Jesus to die? I guess I actually had a question about God – if He is so wise, how come He did not find another way? I did not see the real ‘beauty’  in the cross. Only when you explained the picture in the medical context, Jesus providing medicine for my selfishness, have I started to finally ‘see the light’. Thank you so much. Your seminar, “Healing the Mind,” are absolutely marvelous & have shared them with my family and many other people, including colleagues at work. Thanks, thanks, thanks. May God bless you abundantly in your ministry.

M. W., Australia

 

Testimony 31

It was very touching to hear the testimony of your class share how viewing God’s true character has changed their lives. My feelings are the same – there is so much freedom in knowing that God LOVES me – regardless of my… just, REGARDLESS! I’m still blown away by the true gospel, the fact that God is not ready to strike us when we fail. He is not arbitrary. He simply loves us and warns of the natural consequences because He can’t stand to see us suffer. I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS GOD!!!

Ceil V.,  UT, USA

 

Testimony 35

I am so pleased with the response your message is receiving at my church from the middle-aged to the young adults. I have given out 100 copies of the first two seminars and there are more request every week. One of my [class members] came to me after viewing the series, grateful and impressed with how easy the message was retained. He had been a Seventh-day Adventist in fear all his life, and felt like the scales were removed from his eyes after viewing the seminars. I am so impressed by the change I see in members who have received this message, we are in one accord. However, I am sadden by the negative response of the older people. I am verbally attacked anytime I talk about imposed laws, but I believe my mission is to enlightened everyone I can. I watch your Bible Study Class on YouTube every Friday night and I feel like I am apart of the class. All of you are in one accord and I am so blessed to have found you. I pray that all of you continue to spread this message and I am committed to doing my part.

Clara S., Westfield, MA, USA

 

Testimony 66

I am incredibly grateful for the transformative impact you’ve had on my life, and words cannot fully express my appreciation. Over the years, I have been an avid listener and follower of C&R and extend my heartfelt thanks for creating the C&R mobile app. It has allowed me to immerse myself in your lessons repeatedly, enabling me to grasp the profound significance about the Character of God, Design Law, the protocols for life, the reasons behind the current chaos, and Christ’s mission to restore everything. They have deeply touched me. Having studied with various churches, I came away with the perception that God is no different from the deities of ancient Greek or Roman mythology—demanding sacrifices and taking pleasure in bloodshed. Thanks to your transformative teachings, I have experienced a profound awakening to the true nature of God and the immense power of His love. It is truly a remarkable and liberating sensation to finally grasp the truth and embrace the empowering nature of God’s laws. My self-perception has become brighter and more infused with love. My journey of growth continues on a daily basis.

Chris P., Lake Mary, FL, USA

 

Testimony 4

I’m a youth leader in South Africa. We as a youth group are currently using a lot of the material on the Come and Reason site. Since we’ve started using the material, our youth group has grown.

R. V. N., South Africa

 

Testimony 22

I have found your Bible study class lectures to be very inspiring and useful as I prepare to teach class every other week. I subscribe to the podcast and download your notes on the weeks I teach. The audio and notes are such a great help in preparing. My own understanding of God’s character has grown as I teach the class. Commendations on the thought-provoking and well-prepared material Come and Reason provides. Personally, I get excited by the tie you make between the spiritual and mental/physical domains.

A.A. Corrales, NM, USA

 

Testimony 28

I have been following your Bible study class for about a year now. I must say I am impressed with how your ministry has grown. I took it upon myself to listen to all your lesson podcasts from the past and they have both enriched me physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I have learnt a lot from this class. I have also noticed how the class has grown in spiritual strength. One of the things that benefited me is that now I am not afraid of God. I use to be, but now it has melted away. The second thing is that you helped me to have a real life relationship with God. Now He is my friend that was always there and I love having him with me all the time. Thirdly, because of this class, it inspired me to take over and lead a class. I have called it “Let Us Reason Together,” adapting your inquisitive style and creating a class of free thinkers.

T. Banda, Malawi, Africa

 

Testimony 14

We really appreciate your views on the judgment and they make good sense considering our free choice.

Anonymous

 

Testimony 19

I truly believe that to know who God really is the first step to understand ourselves in a balanced and kind way, so the healing can take place. Your approach really makes sense – Thank you for your ministry!

A.M., Pittsburg, PA, USA

Testimony 9

I really enjoy with you the view of a gracious God. Thank you for sharing the work you are allowing the Lord to do in you.

L., Queensland, Australia