Chukat: Yeshua is the Messiah.

jason hindes

Numbers • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

Numbers 19:1–10

Purification

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The Red Heiffer

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Introduction

Hello Friends, it’s good to see you.

Important to the

So, this week I gots to ‘Googling’ some things. I’m not proud of it, but I did it, I googled a good chunk of my research this week.

This week I gots to ‘Googling’ some things.

Now, when I was in university they looked down upon Google research and Wikipedia was not at all an acceptable reference source. Apparently, we had to read books written by people with actual qualifications and some form of expertise in the area they were talking about.

In my hay day, when I was in university, they looked down upon such a thing and research from Wikipedia was not at all acceptable (but I did that too!). Apparently, we had to read books written by people with actual qualifications and some form of expertise in the topic they were talking about. Now whilst there isn’t exactly a recognised scholarly institution teaching Hebrew Roots, we can certainly learn from the idea that we shouldn’t just google random things to teach us about God. You wouldn’t trust a doctor without a degree, yet any random can teach you about God? I think a few issues with people (in general) would be resolved if we tried a little harder with our research. But at any rate, do as I say, not as I do, and I was doing my research on Google. I was surprised to see my research topic, the red heiffer, in the news. Interestingly enough it was the Australian news site, aptly named news.com.au, and the article was called the ‘First ‘red heifer’ born in Israel for 2000 years triggers armageddon fears’.

This week I gots to ‘Googling’ some things. I’m not proud of it. When I was in university they looked down upon Google research and Wikipedia was not an acceptable reference source. Apparently we had to read books written by people with actual qualifications. Whilst there isn’t exactly a recognised scholarly institution teaching Hebrew Roots we can certainly learn from the idea that we should

I’m not proud of it. When I was in university they looked down upon Google research and Wikipedia was not at all an acceptable reference source. Apparently, we had to read books written by people with actual qualifications and some form of expertise.

Now whilst there isn’t exactly a recognised scholarly institution teaching Hebrew Roots, we can certainly learn from the idea that we shouldn’t just google random things to teach us about God. I think a few issues with people (in general) would be resolved if we tried a little harder with our research. But at any rate, like a studious student I was doing research on Google and I was surprised to see my research topic, the red heiffer, in the news. Interestingly enough it was the Australian news site, aptly named news.com.au, and the article was called ‘First ‘red heifer’ born in Israel for 2000 years triggers armageddon fears’.

It was in the lifestyle section for things that were considered ‘weird’ and ‘unusual’. In the article an Israeli institution was on the brink of announcing that this red cow would bring the promise of purity to the world. It said that this cow heralded ‘the end of times’ and the potential rebuilding of the Third Temple. They connected it to ‘judgement day’ and commented that the Christians think it might announce the pending rapture which just might mean that everyone else would burn in hell.

Besides the pending ‘burning in hell’ part, I read the article, found myself nodding as I read it, paused for a few moments and in a moment of Australian brilliance I thought to myself ‘yeah, yeah nah…yeah’ (which translates as ‘yes’).

And then I laughed. Because so much of what was said is actually right, and that fact slapped me in the face with how ridiculous that was and yet, how true. Apparently a red cow is central to the Torah; apparently I’m ok with this.

So, we’re going to explore the mystery that is the red heiffer. Maybe, we will understand some of the claims in the article which connect the red heiffer to the end of the world, to the purity of the world, and maybe, the coming of the Messiah. I’m not sure I’m capable of doing this because it’s actually kind of complicated, but I’ll do my best. To begin, we need to understand the title of the Torah portion, ‘chukat’.

Until I see you face to face.....

It’s a Chok Thing

To begin, let’s start with a story from the Midrash. It goes a little like this;

A gentile asked Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, "These rituals you do, they seem like witchcraft! You bring a heifer, burn it, crush it up, and take its ashes. [If] one of you is impure by the dead [the highest type impurity], 2 or 3 drops are sprinkled on him, and you declare him pure?!" He said to him, "Has a restless spirit ever entered you?" He said to him, "No!" "Have you ever seen a man where a restless spirit entered him?" He said to him, "Yes!" [Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai] said to him, "And what did you do for him?" He sad to him, "We brought roots and made them smoke beneath him, and pour water and it flees." He said to him, "Your ears should hear what leaves from your mouth! The same thing is true for this spirit, the spirit of impurity, as it is written, (Zachariah 13:2) "Even the prophets and the spirit of impurity will I remove from the land." They sprinkle upon him purifying waters, and it [the spirit of impurity] flees." After he left, our rabbi's students said, "You pushed him off with a reed. What will you say to us?" He said to them, "By your lives, a dead person doesn't make things impure, and the water doesn't make things pure. Rather, God said, 'I have engraved a rule, I have decreed a decree (chukah chakakti, gezeira gazarti), and you have no permission to transgress what I decreed, as it says "This is a chok (rule) of the Torah."

There’s this Roman, who happens to be a pagan, and he reads about the red heiffer. The pagan, like most people these days, thinks it’s a little bit odd, and so he

Rabbah Bamidbar 19:8

I quite like the story. It starts with the gentile (Roman in some versions) saying to the Rabbi, ‘you people are crazy’, and the Rabbi responding by pointing out the irony of a pagan saying such a thing. Unfortunately though, the Rabbi’s answer served the purpose of only sending the man away and the actual answer he gave to his students who enquired of him afterwards. The Rabbi’s response to his students holds a truth which just about every teaching on the Red Heiffer opens with. It’s that this law defies rationality and yet it’s a law given to us by God and one that we should obey purely because God said so. We will try to unravel the mystery somewhat with the commandment of the heiffer but it stands that God ordained such a thing therefor it is on us to obey, even if we don’t understand.

This is the meaning of the word ‘chok’, which is the singular form of ‘chukat’, the title to our Torah portion. It’s derived from the second verse of chapter 19 where it states ‘this is the ordinance of the law’. It’s the word ‘ordinance’ which is a sound translation. You might even get ‘law’ or ‘statute’ or something like that. Our English however betrays some of the nuance with the word because ‘chukat’ are a specific type of law and ordinance. These are the ones that don’t make sense; the ones that defy rationality.

‘Chok’, the sages teach is derived from ‘chukka’ which means ‘chiseling’ or ‘engraved’. In the plain sense it refers to a law chiseled in stone. The sages teach, correctly I might add, that the ‘chukat’ are special because if one performs one then it is as if the Torah is being engraved on his heart. This is because the chukat cannot be fully comprehended and if fulfilled are done in absolute faith, or simply ‘because God said so’.

Overview of the Sacrifice

What is the sacrifice itself and why the big deal?

It goes like this. God commanded Israel to find a red heiffer (a red cow), a perfect one without blemish, one that was never ‘yoked’; take it outside the camp and slaughter it, sprinkle some blood towards the Tabernacle, burn its ashes with cedar, scarlet and hyssop and then take the remaining ashes and store them in a clean place. Following this the ashes were mixed with water, which could then be used to purify unclean people and unclean objects.

Got it?

What’s important, is WHO needs the ashes of the red heiffer. There are lots of types of ‘unclean’ things and people in the Bible but not all things unclean need the water and ashes of the red heiffer. Only people contaminated by a corpse, or objects contaminated by a corpse, required the ashes of the red heiffer. Without the heiffer, there is no purification for corpse contamination.

I’ll say that again because it is central to understanding the importance of the red heiffer ritual.

Without the red heiffer, there is no purification for corpse contamination.

This is why the red heiffer is such a big deal. Death is the underlying and central concept of impurity and uncleanliness in the Bible. The main sacrifice, the main ritual for cleansing death was the red heiffer. Without it, unclean people could not be purified.

The implication is profound. You can build a Temple, you can find the priests, and it is all for naught without the red heiffer. Without it, you have an unclean Temple, and you have contaminated priests (because we’re all in a status of being unclean) and you have no means of cleansing them. This is why people go into such a fervor when a red heiffer is allegedly born. People rightly ask does this herald the beginning of something big? Does this announce the coming of a new Temple, and the One who would inhabit it?

Perhaps this is why the Torah literally says in verse 2; ‘this is the law of the Torah’. Not, this is just another law of the Torah, but this is THE law of the Torah. It is central to overcoming the forces of impurity, without it death cannot be conquered, without it the Temple cannot be cleansed, the priesthood remains defiled, the people remain defiled, without it the future redemption cannot happen.

The future redemption my friends needs a red heiffer.

This is probably why there’s a Jewish legend about the next kosher red heiffer that is identified.

Nine red heifers were prepared from the time that the Jewish people were commanded this mitzvah until the Second Temple was destroyed. The first was prepared by Moses, the second by Ezra, and another seven were prepared from Ezra until the Temple’s destruction. The tenth heifer will be prepared by Moshiach, may he speedily be revealed, Amen, may it be the will of G‑d.

Mishneh Torah

But why? Why the red heiffer; why is a red cow so central to the Torah?

Allow me to take you through some of the reasons.

The key to overcoming death

it’s a big deal

The Golden Calf

There’s another midrash that goes like this;

A maid’s child once dirtied the royal palace. Said the king: “Let his mother come and clean up her child’s filth.” By the same token, G‑d says: “Let the heifer atone for the deed of the [golden] calf.”

Midrash Tanchuma

Give the Rabbinic Stuff

Which is to say, that in rabbinic thought, that the Red Heiffer is the atonement for the sin of the Golden Calf.

I think it helps to understand some of the rabbi’s thinking here which would include the fact that all sin in Scripture requires a price to be paid, and an atonement to be made. Every action has a reaction, and every measure is returned in full. Thus, the Golden Calf, the Great Sin, required an even greater sacrifice.

Part of the rabbi’s reasoning is quite simple. The Golden Calf is a the younger version of a Red Heiffer. As per the midrash, the red heiffer is the ‘mother’ of the golden calf come to clean up after the younger’s mistake.

The reasoning however is truly deep and I think one can be excused for getting a little mystical in trying to understand the mystery of the heiffer.

We have to understand the severity of the Golden Calf. In Rabbinic thought, Israel was returned to the Edenic state when we stood at Mt Sinai. Creation existed purely for God to dwell among man and at Mt Sinai God actually returned to Earth (in the literal sense) and intended very much on doing just that, dwelling with His people. The sin of the golden calf happened at this critical moment and alas, God could not return to the Edenic ideal. In comes the Tabernacle, (which was already ordained so don’t you be telling me it’s just reaction to our sin…), but the issue of death, which the Golden Calf brought into Israel remained. In order to access God, as in the beginning, death needed to be defeated.

The comparison to the Garden of Eden, the sin of Adam and the Golden Calf is quite true, regardless of how you view it’s relevance to the red heiffer. Before the sin of the calf was detailed, we were given a description of the tabernacle and what it would look like, following this the golden calf happened, then, in a part of the Bible that people find boring, the description of the Tabernacle is again given. In the plain understanding, the first description of the tabernacle is the blueprint, the latter description, after the sin of the golden calf, is the people actually building and making the Tabernacle.

When you drop down a level the mystery behind this is profound. The tabernacle is a picture of a human, this is a common teaching in Judaism and Christianity, so much so that the language of certain Tabernacle parts actually doubles up as a description of varoius human parts. But the first description, when you really get into it, is a picture of a man clothed in light. The second description of the tabernacle is a description of a man clothed in flesh. Thus you have the correspondence to the Garden of Eden. You have Adam as a being of light walking with God, the fall of humanity which corresponds to the sin of the Golden Calf, and then you have man dressed in flesh, as God dressed Adam in flesh post fall.

Thus, the Golden Calf symbolizes the fall of humanity and it epitomizes death, the source of all impurity. For this reason, the Red Heiffer stands as it’s counterpart, that which purifies and conquers death.

This is also probably why the Red Heiffer was ordained for Eleizar to perform and not his Father, who was the current High Priest (Aaron), and the man who presided over the sacrifice of the Golden Calf.

Explain my view to correspond this. The temple first built; described as a man clothed in light, the sin of the golden calf, followed by the second explanation as a man clothed in flesh.

The Red Heiffer really does then to conquer death. (maybe this is whyit is THE LAW.....)

The Polemic Against Egypt

As always, and especially in light of the above, we can understand this ritual in contrast to the cults of the dead that existed in the ancient world and the religious practices of Egypt.

I think it’s an educated guess, but it’s a good one, but the Golden Calf many say was created after the likeness of the Egyptian God Hathor. Coincidentally, Hathor was a woman with bovine ears, and was depicted often as a calf. She was associated with life and abundance, and even had a scarlet thread, a feature in the Red Heiffer sacrifice, which apparently was thought to help bind demonic spirits.

Whilst it’s a lesser framework for understanding the Red Heiffer, in context, it can be seen also as the rejection of pagan religion and the cults of the dead.

The Future Redemption

Naturally, as you’ve seen, the Red Heiffer is associated with prophecy and the future redemption. Red Heiffer language actually abounds in the Bible if you have the eyes to see it. In doing so, you will see just how important the Red Heiffer is in prophecy.

God says;

Ezekiel 36:22–28 NKJV

“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,” says the Lord God, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.

What water can be sprinkled on someone to make them clean? The water of the Red Heiffer (from the ashes of the heiffer).

The sprinkling verse here comes from Red Heiffer

The Red Heiffer even makes an appearance in the Book of Daniel;

Daniel 12:9–10 NKJV

And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.

Again, what is needed to purify people? The Red Heiffer.

Daniel even goes on to say;

Daniel 12:11–13 NKJV

“And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. “But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.

Fascinatingly enough, the phrase ‘unblemished cow on which no yoke was laid’ from verse 2 of our chapter, equals the gematria of 1335. Which just so happens to be the number of days prescribed in .

SAY THE THING ABOUT THE CLEAN PERSON NEEDING TO OFFICIATE OVER THE SACRIFICE.

And so the prophetic implications are vast and the interpretations abound.

Corresponds to leper and Day of Atonement etc.

Only a CLEAN MAN can perform the ceremony. THE FUTURE MAN IS ‘THE MAN WHO IS CLEAN’ (SHADOWS)

Include the third and seventh days and segway into the NT

The Red Heiffer in the New Testament

We will continue to learn more about the Red Heiffer sacrifice but let’s do so through the lens of the New Testament.

Due to the importance of the Red Heiffer, like the Old Testament, there’s a fair bit of red heiffer stuff going on if you have the eyes to see.

John alludes to the Red Heiffer prior to the Passover in . He says;

John 11:55 NKJV

And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.

Sure, the Bible describes a number of purifications but this certainly included, if not exclusively, the red heiffer purification. It was a process of 7 days and so many, as John describes, had to go up to Jerusalem ‘before the Passover’ in order to be clean and able to enter the Tabernacle.

In the Book of Acts the red heiffer is most likely included;

Acts 21:26–27 NKJV

Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having been purified with them, entered the temple to announce the expiration of the days of purification, at which time an offering should be made for each one of them. Now when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him,

The context here is the completion of a Nazirite vow which, unless the Nazirite touched a corpse or was near one, didn’t include a 7 (8 days for a Nazir) purification process. So what was the 7 days referring to in verse 27? The red heiffer cleansing.

The Baptism of the Dead

The heiffer makes 2 other particularly interesting appearances in the New Testament. One of the most least understood verses, which is unlocked in context of the red heiffer is;

The New King James Version Chapter 15

Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

Effects of Denying the Resurrection

29 Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?

1 Corinthians 15:28–29 NKJV

Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all. Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?

Now this has puzzled people for quite some time. In fact, I think in Christian circles this continues to baffle.

The context of the verse is Paul defending the belief in the resurrection. Christians, somehow takes verse 29 as Paul condemning some apparently pagan ritual whereby the dead were baptised. It sounds pagan, and it feels dodgy. That said, there is nil evidence of such a practice existing amongst the pagans or the Greek community at the time. Christians that argue to the pagan origin of this verse do so from a position of silence.

Rather, the Hebraic context of such a verse teaches us what is really going on.

Well, the Red Heiffer cleaning is done in two parts. For the unclean, you needed to remain outside the Tabernacle for 7 days. On the third day you were sprinkled, and on the 7th day you were sprinkled. As for us today, and as for the believers of the first century, this practice has rather significant allusions to prophecy. For us, we point out the coming of the Messiah in the ‘third day’ and His subsequent return that will likewise occur on the 7th day. The two cleansings correspond to the 2 comings of Messiah. In the 1st century the train of thought was much the same. They didn’t quite have the Messiah thing down pat but the washings were considered an allusion to the resurrection of the dead on the 7th day when Messiah would come and the righteous be raised. The practice then developed within Judaism whereby a dead person would be cleansed however people would do so in anticipation of the washing (i.e. the resurrection) that would occur on the 7th day. Just like the Shabbat is a mini foreshadow of the Millennial Reign, so too the practice of the washing of the dead was done in anticipation of the Millennial Reign.

This practice is sighted elsewhere in the New Testament;

Acts 9:36–37 NKJV

At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did. But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room.

With regard to Tabitha, who died, it says they ‘washed her’. This practice, which is the same as was being done in Corinth that Paul is referring to, is derived from the laws of the red heiffer which allude to the coming King and the resurrection.

Rather than criticize the practice, Paul is simply making the point that the dead will rise on the 7th day, ‘why else would you be doing the baptism for the dead in anticipation of the 7th day?’

The Red Heiffer Ekklesia

Paul is actually quite the fan of the red heiffer imagery. It informs a decent amount of his writing. Most notable to us are the the parallels between the heiffer and the ‘God’s bride’ imagery which Paul describes in length throughout his works.

Like the heiffer, who was to be without yoke, so too Paul described the ekklesia (which means ‘congregation’);

Galatians 5:1 NKJV

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

As explained by Paul, the heiffer is also a symbol of the Church

Elsewhere, Paul says;

Ephesians 5:25–27 NKJV

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

See the red heiffer imagery? The ekklesia is sanctified and cleansed, a process requiring the red heiffer; is without spot or wrinkle, holy and without blemish. I know much of this can be generalized to many of the sacrifices but the red heiffer fits as it’s the one required to cleanse the whole congregation that involves the cleansing with water.

The meaning then when we apply this to the red heiffer? It shows us that our sin is to be put to death. The red symbolises sin. Red, in Hebrew, is related to the Hebrew word for mankind and ash represents purity. Despite the obvioius association to destruction ash is something that is a pure state having been broken down to get to that point.

Notably, the red heiffer is feminine, and on a level absolutely corresponds to each and every one of us, His bride.

Connect this to which ends with ‘So let us go outside the camp, bearing His reproach’.

The Red Heiffer and the Messiah.

So let’s finally get to it.

The Red Heiffer and the crucifixion of Messiah?

You bet your sorry backside there’s a connection (you all knew it, let’s face it).

The Book of Hebrews says;

Hebrews 13:10–13 NKJV

We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.

The reference to the red heiffer is clear. It is a sin offering, verse 9 of says so, it is the one sin offering which is sacrificed outside the camp. Here, Hebrews commends us to join Him outside the camp bearing His reproach. Understand this in light of what I said earlier, the red heiffer also corresponds to the ekkesia.

We have to understand the geography of the 1st century to really grasp this. I’m going to skip over some things that have been explained in full elsewhere and just give you a blow by blow.

‘Outside the camp’ in ancient Jerusalem was the Mount of Olives. One of the most neglected facts of Jerusalem and the Temple is the fact that so much of the sacrificial system happened ‘outside the camp’.

There is therefore a few things for you to know;

Firstly, there was an altar on the Mount of Olives called the ‘miphkad altar’. Miphkad is derived from the Hebrew word ‘pakad’ which means to count something. Miphkad is often translated as ‘census’ and in previous teachings we have demonstrated how the Miphkad altar on the Mt of Olives was the place where the people went when there was a census. It so happened to be the main highway into Jerusalem at the time. The miphkad altar was where the red heiffer was sacrificed.

In the Book of Ezekiel he describes a sin offering and give the ‘place’ where the sacrifice would occur. Ezekiel says;

Ezekiel 43:21 NKJV

Then you shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and burn it in the appointed place of the temple, outside the sanctuary.

The appointed place? It’s translated from the word ‘miphkad’, the appointed place outside the camp where sacrifices were completed.

Secondly, nearby to the Miphkad altar was the ‘house of ash’ where the ashes were placed for the red heiffer (also a place in the Temple but here too).

Thirdly, corresponding to the Miphkad altar was the Miphkad gate into Jerusalem which connected to the Temple. From the miphkad gate there was a bridge over the Kidron valley. This allowed the priests to pass over the valley, which was a burial site, without becoming impure.

As this place, the Mt of Olives, was the main highway into Jerusalem it was also the place where the crucifixions took place. The Romans wanted to capitalize on the prime real estate when they were trying to send a message.

When Yeshua was sacrificed, just like the red heiffer he was selected in the Temple grounds.

He was led out by way of the miphkad gate; the gate of the counting.

No yoke could come upon Yeshua. Amazingly, he would have passed the gate of counting unyoked as Steven carried his cross beam.

The red heiffer was completely red as our Messiah was completely red.

Red is also the symbol of sin, as Messiah bore your sin.

Hebrews 9:13–14 NKJV

For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

The red heiffer, actually, in an amazing paradox that consumes the study of the heiffer, actually renders the priests that officiate over it, unclean. Meaning that the clean person, who does the sacrifice and facilitates the cleansing, becomes unclean, as the unclean person, who needs the cleansing, becomes clean.

And so Messiah took on our impurities, our sin, our death, and cleansed us all.

Hebrews 9:13–14 NKJV

Fascinatingly enough, the ritual of the red heiffer allows a person, who is not a priest, to officiate over the slaughter of the heiffer (this is truly unique).

As it was with the Romans, who were not priests, who officiated over the slaughter of Messiah.

says that the blood of the sacrifice must be sprinkled in front of the Tabernacle. Literally, it says the blood must be sprinkled in the face of the tabernacle. Commentators agree that the priest, when doing so, had to be on a spot on the Mt of Olives looking into the Tabernacle, into the face of God.

Imagine that for a moment if you mind. Messiah hung there dying. It was Passover, so thousands walked passed him with their backs turned to Him; the kidron valley runs red with the blood of thousands of Passover sacrifices, and Messiah hangs there looking into the face of God.

God is enthoned on His throne, He has his two cherubims by Him, and in a ghastly and striking parallel God in the flesh hung on the cross with his two ‘cherubim’ beside him. Amongst many things the scene of the crucifixion parallels the symbolism of the Holy of Holies.

In the same spot, on the Mt of Olives, when David was exiled, he wrote the words that Yeshua quoted;

Psalm 22:1 NKJV

My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?

Yom Kippur

The Red Heiffer, if we’re going to make connections to Messiah, should be understood in context of the Yom Kippur Sacrifice too.

Let’s be brief for the sake of brevity but in the Old Testament, one of the few things that connects to and parallels the Red Heiffer is the Yom Kippur sacrifice. Both of them have elements of ‘riddance’ as the scholars put it. By ‘riddance’ what they’re referring to is the aspect of the sacrifice where the ‘impurity’ is symbolically sent away from the Tabernacle. So with the red heiffer, it wasn’t enough to simply sacrifice the cow which was symbolically death, it had to be sent away to occur. Just like Yom Kippur, a sacrifice alone wasn’t enough, one of the goats had to be sent away far from the Tabernacle itself.

For further study, the red heiffer also corresponds to the sin sacrifice of the high priest, the purification sacrifices of the priesthood, the cleansing of the leper and Yom Kippur. Any surprises to see the relationship between the red heiffer and the high priest, the inauguration of the priesthood and the prophetically loaded cleansing of the leper?

At any rate, the intersection between the heiffer and Yom Kippur, in light of Messiah’s death is amazing.

Yeshua was chosen in place of Barnabas which was symbolic of the two Yom Kippur Goats. Messiah even had the lot placed upon His head like in Yom Kippur which in Messiah’s case was an acrostic for YHWH in Hebrew corresponding to the lot for YHWH in the Yom Kippur sacrifice.

Like the Yom Kippur sacrifice Messiah’s blood was dashed upon the holy of holies.

Hebrews 9:12 NKJV

Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

Messiah’s blood, as with the other sin sacrifices, was also spilled in the Holy Place of the Temple.

So it was Judas Iscariot, one of the priesthood.

Matthew 27:3–6 NKJV

Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!” Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself. But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood.”

The money that Yeshua was bought for was equated to blood, thrown down in the Temple. The Greek quite specifically refers to the ‘inner part’ of the Temple, the Holy Place where the altar was.

That Judas was in the Temple were only priests could go?

Well, Judas was not a fisherman and indicates that Judas had some status. It says he was ‘one of the twelve’ but rather the Greek is saying he was ‘chief’, or ‘first in status’, amongst the apostles. As was the custom for priests, he took the best seat at the table by Yeshua’s side at the Last Supper, the place for a priest.

I’ll remind you, the sacrifices were bought for by the priesthood, and only a priest could dash the blood in the Holy Place, and so it was with Judas.

Fin.

Connect this to which ends with ‘So let us go outside the camp, bearing His reproach’.

The parallels and the imagery is endless when it comes to Messiah and the fulfillment of all things.

Understand the New Testament Geography

But let’s return to our earlier understanding where we noted that the Red Heiffer is a symbol of death being conquered and where we made the connection to the Garden of Eden. Again, for the sake of brevity I will just make my point, but, the tree of life, which was the contrast to the great sin of Adam, connected to the golden calf, the contrast to the red heiffer, is the symbol of the menorah. Meaning, plainly put, the Menorah is a symbol of the tree of life.

Imagine Messiah on the tree with the two beside him.

How many arms are up in the air? 6.

How many arms are on the Menorah? 6

And in the centre of the menorah you have what is called the ‘servant’ candle which was used to light every other candle.

So it is with the crucifixion where the symbol being shown is that of the tree of life which conquers death.

Make no mistake. Yeshua is the Messiah. He is the greatest example to humanity. He is the tree of life amongst us and the embodiment of purity. He is the definition of righteousness and of all that we should strive to be.

He is our King, enthroned in the Holy of Holies were His blood was spilled for us. Our King, humble enough to be taken outside the camp to have us turn our back on Him and to suffer for us. Oh how we are not worthy of Him yet He seeks us all. He is the One who bore our sin and in the ‘great exchange’ took upon our impurity so that we could all be cleansed and know life.

Yeshua is the Messiah.

God sits on the throne, he has his two cherubims by his side, and so it is, in a symbolic sense my friend, with Messiah who is God in the flesh, paralleled by the Temple, surrounded by His two ‘cherubims’.

That probably has something to do with the mystery of the red heiffer.

Go through the process quickly again

Explain the Miphkad Altar and the House of the Ashes

Some of the Similarities;

There are plenty worth making

Some Different Similarities;

Lead out by the priests

Simon carried the cross (He could not be yoked)

Killed in the sight of God(outside the gate) ‘Why have you forsaken me!’ As the people walked past him with their backs turned. ....

The RED was sin and He was the one who bore our sin. This is the PARADOX OF THE RED HEIFFER. IT IS ANSWERED IN MESSIAH BOI. One made pure while another made impure

The Cross is the Tree of Life. The two men / the two churubim. He CONQUERED DEATH but surely he was stricken.

The Intersection with the Yom Kippur Sacrifice

It’s in the OT

Also in the symbolism of Yeshua’s resurecction

JUDAS; the priest who paid for the sacrifice, and who scattered the ‘blood money’ INSIDE THE TEMPLE

He is the one who ascended to the Temple upstairs

This is probably why this is called THE STATUTE OF THE TORAH.

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