THE WATER OF PURIFICATION
[p. 268] THE WATER OF PURIFICATION
Numbers 19; 1 Kings 7: 23 - 39
Comparison of the thoughts of the sea and the laver in 1 Kings, with what we find in Numbers 19, brings out the difference between what exists in the assembly viewed in its heavenly relations and what is provided for its members in the wilderness. In the former we have volume — the sea “held two thousand baths”, and the ten lavers each “contained forty baths;” the sea is stationary, the lavers are movable. Both the sea and the bases which sustain the lavers convey the thought of great ornamentation — richness of thought and feeling, love in the administration of cleansing; whereas in Numbers, instead of quantity we have running water; it is living, active, and we have ashes; the running water is put upon them for cleansing.
Consideration of these matters will perhaps help us, especially in seaside resorts such as this where we are now. Numbers has to do with our external movements, so we have much made of death — a dead man, a dead bone — and the need for cleanness because of defilement from these — not so much holiness as cleanness; we cannot have holiness without cleanness, but cleanness is not such a strong thought as holiness, but it precedes holiness. The latter stands in connection with our inward state and the other with our outward actions. The ashes are not said to be in a holy place, but in a clean place. A clean man looks after the ashes: “they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel”, verse 17. The priestly side is recognised in the beginning. The teaching here generally applies to the believer in his outward relations, and our outward movements should be kept clean enough not to interfere with our enjoyment in the place of privilege. It does not call so much for special spirituality; it is teaching intended to be [p. 269] intelligible to the youngest believer, so that each one should be clean. A clean person can serve God. Running water is suggestive of the Spirit — we must not grieve Him.
The ashes are the testimony to the death of Christ, in which He endured the wrath of God for us. The heifer was burnt outside the camp. It was a sin-offering. Eleazar was the acting priest, “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: and one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn: and the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer”.
These three things represent the world in its bigness, its littleness, and its glory. This is a special view of the death of Christ; it is for cleansing in the wilderness. It stands by itself. Aaron being still alive, Eleazar here represents the great spiritual element in the saints. The very colour of the heifer is peculiar — it is all a question of God maintaining the saints in affection for Himself in spite of defiling conditions of the wilderness through which we pass. The female here denotes that love in relation to the sanctuary is to be maintained in the saints.
Why is it a red heifer? Red is a noticeable colour — it is not so dazzling as scarlet, but it attracts the eye; it alludes to Christ’s distinctiveness as in this world. The Lord was distinctive here. Whether you are on the beach or in the water, you must be different from other people. The Lord was always different.
We should note particularly the distinction between Numbers 19 and 1 Kings; in the latter we have the greatness of the volume of the means of cleansing. The ornamentation is on the bases of the lavers — what wealth is provided for the saints in the assembly in its heavenly relations!
We get in 2 Corinthians the saints espoused as a [p. 270] chaste virgin to Christ; so it says, in 1 Corinthians, “such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified”, chapter 6: 11. In Ephesians it is the washing of the assembly as the object of Christ’s love — that is the heavenly side. What thoughts Christ would have of the assembly in thus serving her! All these are denoted in the ornamentation of the sea. The Lord would flood our souls with these great thoughts of what He thinks of us, as He cleanses us.
“Upon which never came yoke”, Numbers 19, illustrates that the assembly is completely for another. We are delivered from the law by the body of Christ — He never came under the yoke. The assembly viewed abstractly has not come under the yoke, but severally we have come under it. How thoroughly different from all others the Lord was in this world! How easily we come under worldly influence! The gracious provisions for cleansing are most encouraging.
You have not to go to a specially spiritual brother. Of course the priest must be there, but if anything happens to you the ashes are available to yourself. Any christian who has the Spirit can apply the means of cleansing seen here, “A clean man shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on ... him that hath touched the bone”. It is just a clean person who serves, not one of the sons of Aaron here. This makes the means of cleansing more available.
Peter appropriated this means of cleansing in his own experience — when he remembered the word of the Lord he went out and wept bitterly. Mark tells us this. The Lord did not look on Peter in Mark. The word affected him. Any of us should be able to remember the word when we get defiled. In this chapter God graciously makes things convenient for a low state of spirituality. You can act for yourself and judge yourself at once even when there is no priest available. Thus the ashes are just in a clean place, not in the tabernacle.
[p. 271] A meeting like this is more than a clean place — two or three brothers or sisters speaking together in a holy way create a clean place. In this way it is possible to establish in the most ordinary circumstances conditions in the wilderness which make us superior to it.
The ashes witnessed that the fire had been effective; the scarlet and hyssop and cedar wood had all been consumed in the burning of the heifer. It is a sin-offering; it is burnt outside the camp. I am liable to act as others around me if I do not observe these principles.
The name Eleazar fits peculiarly here: it means “the help of God”.
As springing from the priestly stock, spiritually we can shed this influence, compare Galatians 6: 1. Saints coming in contact with one another can create a clean atmosphere. We can be in places and do things that others are doing, but we can do them differently, that is, after the pattern of Christ, and hence be a testimony.
“Be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind”, Romans 12: 2. The difference works out from the mind. What is depicted here is for the mind to contemplate — the way the Lord went into death to close up for the glory of God man’s world.
The cedar wood, the scarlet and the hyssop all have to be burnt — they mark what I am naturally. Even the priest is defiled by the burning of the heifer — it is to stress that sin is so bad — and the Lord Jesus was made sin for us. So I am not to find five minutes’ self-gratification in what put Jesus on the cross.
The contagion of sin is emphasised here; but the water of purification is ever available for us, and we find it practically among the saints — it is the superior thing — the testimony of the death of Christ that God has established in us by the Spirit.
A day is mentioned here, and three days and seven [p. 272] days. There is a thought of a penalty. Scripture does not dwell on penalty in this sense, but you cannot shake off defilement in a second. You have to go through the needed exercise.
There is however a death penalty attached to the disregard of this cleansing, verse 13. It is not on account of getting unclean, but on account of neglecting to use the means of cleansing. It is judging yourself, but it is more than that — there is a process to go through. Peter went out and wept bitterly, but he was not really cleansed till the incident in John 21.
A defiled person not only affects himself but also those he comes in contact with. It is the contagion of the thing that is emphasised. How very strong the judgment is! “He shall bring it outside the camp, and one shall slaughter it before him”.
The blood is not taken into the sanctuary, but sprinkled before the tent of meeting. It refers to that side of the sin-offering that is within the range of my apprehension in these circumstances. The further into the sanctuary I go the deeper my apprehension of the death of Christ is, but what is done outside is seen by all — God graciously comes down to a low state of soul. It is not dependent on my depth of knowledge; by faith I see the blood has been applied. I am fit for approach though my stature may be small. Therefore there may be things we go on with for years and have never understood their character, but they may be dealt with before God when it is perceived. A sin of ignorance is a sin nevertheless, and must be judged when it is perceived.
As one gets older and reviews one’s past actions one realises that they were more offensive to God than the believer judged them to be at the time of committal. As we walk with God our sense of holiness and corresponding judgment of sin increases.
The sense of divine forgiveness makes you feel that you will never forgive yourself, and the more you have [p. 273] been forgiven the more you love Christ. The woman in Luke 7 had a terrible history, but she loved much because she was forgiven much. We may say she took account of the red heifer; she saw that Christ was different from everyone else, and said, ‘I would like to be like Him’.
We should notice here the remarkable place that deadness has — “the dead body of a man that is dead”. Coming in contact with a dead bone, we might say, is unavoidable; but what does it mean spiritually? Why should I be in the place of the dead? Christians do not die, compare John 11: 25, 26. Why should I be among those who do?
The heifer would bring in the thought of tender sensibilities with us, and if I have been in association with a man who is overtaken by the judgment of God, I have not had those sensibilities. “He knoweth not that the dead are there”, Proverbs 9: 18. Who are the people who are liable to death? Not christians — we belong to the living.
The man slain in the open field suggests a wide thought. The christian can find no excuse for contact with him. Why should I be there? He has died by violence. I belong to the realm of peace.
The general thought of female creatures for offerings is of affection. All here has to go: from the great thing, the cedar, to the small thing, the hyssop; both are objectionable.
The other side of the truth, in Kings, is glorious. You are in the realm of the heavenly order of things. Its greatness is even an incentive to keep you clean. 1 Kings promotes a moral elevation.
John 13 accords with this line: “part with me”.
The sea, according to Chronicles, held three thousand baths; it is the thought of its capacity; but we see from Kings there were at least two thousand all the time — there is plenty of water.
[p. 274] There are ten verses of description of the bases of the lavers, stressing their beautification. Then they have wheels — love uses this convenience to bring them to you — they are moveable. God is so concerned about the matter of cleansing that He has provided all this. The oxen under the sea speak of the patience of Christ in maintaining the means of cleansing.
The ten lavers suggest the sense of the responsibility which love would maintain. While there is plenty of water there, some may neglect it. So the laver must be wheeled to such, “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet”. He would go round to the disciples and wash their feet (John 13: 14) — love was acting. The lily blossoms suggest purity and life. The colocynths suggest beautification. This glorious heavenly system is full of holy dignifying thoughts. The very thought of coming to a meeting like this makes one feel differently — the thought of belonging to a system like this in Kings is in itself purifying. These ornamental features are to promote holy, heavenly sentiments in the saints. The whole system of things under Solomon in Kings is intended to promote spiritual elevation and refined sentiments. The sea is on the right side. This may suggest fortification against special pressure. The right side was the north.
One great thing in ministry is to bring the saints into an understanding of their calling. It has a very purifying and dignifying and refining effect. The bases of the ten lavers are in keeping with the magnificence of the place — the setting of the water of purification. You do not take the laver and carry it away from the bases; you will affect the man you would serve if you take all these beautiful things to him. This is the grand system of things we are connected with. Peter and John say, “Look on us” — the ornamentation was there. The person who takes the water is to enhance the thing; he [p. 275] suggests the greatness of the system. Wheels suggest power to travel easily in love; there is no fuss religiously.
The Lord’s movements in John 13 exemplify what we are saying, “He ... laid aside his garments”. He is not standing over His own as an official, but as one lower than they are. He is serving in holy moral dignity. The height of a wheel is a cubit and a half; it corresponds with one of the measurements of the ark; the half means that there is always more. If you are going to help a soul, whatever you may take there is always more than that, for love never fails.
The wheels would be well oiled — there would be no creaking! You would not seek to make out that it has cost you a great deal to come to a man to help him.
We should weigh over the apparently complicated description of the bases. I do not suppose we shall ever understand them until we correspond with them.