THE WATER OF PURIFICATION - THE SERVICE OF PRIESTHOOD.
[p. 170] THE WATER OF PURIFICATION — THE SERVICE OF PRIESTHOOD.
I have read this chapter, but not as intending to confine myself strictly to what comes out in it; for I want rather to take it up in connection with chapter 19, which brings to light the provision of the water of purification.
I read the chapter for the reason that it forms the conclusion of what may be called the first part of the wilderness, or one might even say the conclusion of the wilderness proper. The proof of that is that Aaron dies. It was a principle in regard to Israel that a certain state or order of things came to an end with the decease of the priesthood. The people were not yet arrived at the land, but the wilderness proper closes. The next chapter, when we come to it, begins with the Canaanites, the brazen serpent and so on, and, with the rest of the Book of Numbers, is occupied with another subject.
The first part of Numbers, down to chapter 20, is occupied with God’s dispositions for the people, and with their responsibility as in the wilderness but what comes more into view in the remaining part of the book is the people’s state. Not exactly their practical or responsible state, but typically the state in which the people must be to enter the land. The introduction to that is in the brazen serpent. The connection between the purpose of God and our state is very interesting. Wherever you get light in regard to God’s purpose in Christ, scripture invariably takes up in connection with it the state of the Christian. The purpose of God is not exactly in our responsibility to walk in the Spirit. The purpose of God connects itself with our state, that is, the state in which we are formed by the power of the Holy Ghost.
[p. 171] Two things overlap in the Christian: the work of God in us in relation to His purpose, and His provision for us in the wilderness. This latter part closes with this chapter.
The connecting link between chapters 19 and 20 appears to be water; but the use or application of the water is very different in the two chapters. In chapter 19 it is outward for purification; in chapter 20 it is inward for want and weariness. I connect them in my own mind with what is brought out in the New Testament in Romans 6 and 7.
What we have had before us on previous occasions has been to a large extent the bringing to light of the perverseness of the flesh, and the answer which God has given to it. We all have to learn this. Not one of us can escape these lessons. Great as the light may be that we have, you cannot avoid the discovery of the perverseness of the flesh. Ninety-nine people out of a hundred have to learn it after they are Christians. If you do not learn it before you are a Christian, you must learn it after you are converted.
The first elements we find are in the reminiscences of Egypt, and the reluctance of mind to enter into the purpose of God. Every Christian is hampered by these. The good things of Egypt, or what are thought by the flesh to be the good things, are natural to man; and the lust of them hangs about us as long as we are down here. Not that we delight in them exactly, but they revive; and we discover that we are naturally indisposed to enter into the purpose of God.
That is what came out in Israel, and God met it by bringing before His people the stability of His purpose; and if I know what the flesh is, it is at the same time a great comfort to me to be assured that God is not for a moment diverted from His purpose.
Another thing we noticed, last week, was the evil [p. 172] of the intrusion of the flesh into the things of God, as seen in the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. The priesthood was claimed by the Levites. The principle of it was the intrusion of the flesh into the service of God. In contrast to that God takes up the whole question of priesthood; bringing to light in type what the true order of priest is; and what is the attestation of the priest.
The spirit of the book of Numbers, is in a sense in strong contrast to the letter, and I will tell you how: the book presents typically things which, when the reality came in, would completely set aside the letter. When you come to Hebrews you come to the spirit of the teaching, the anti-type, and the letter is evidently and completely set aside. That comes out in a remarkable way in connection with the attestation of the priesthood. God had set up a priest after the flesh, Aaron; and yet in the budding of his rod it is seen that true priesthood must be after a new order altogether, namely, in resurrection — “in the power of an endless life”. That sets aside Aaron and his sons altogether; and this principle holds good in regard to us as Christians. We are not priests after the flesh. If Christ was not a priest after the flesh, surely we cannot be. The truth comes out in the Hebrews that we are priests because we are sons of God, that is, as risen together with Christ. Christians, as priests, are looked upon as on that footing, quickened with Christ, risen together with Him; it is to that footing, as risen, that priesthood appertains. That is the spirit and principle of what comes out here. You see how a book which gives an account of, and lays down directions for, the priesthood after the flesh contains principles that set aside its letter. The principles that come out in it involved the setting aside of the system it established. This came out so early as Numbers. Do you think [p. 173] that man could have devised such a thing? If it were of man would he, while propounding a system to the people, have underlaid it by principles that involved its dissolution?
Now we come in chapters 19 and 20 to two important elements of God’s dispositions for His people in the wilderness. The one is the water of purification in chapter 19; and the other the water from the rock in chapter 20, in answer to the cry of the people. The important point in the latter is, that the water from the rock comes forth in connection with priesthood. Thus we have God’s provision for us as left down here in a scene of death, where it is very easy to contract defilement — a dry and thirsty land, in which we all stand in need of ministration to our want and weariness. The two chapters are full of God’s grace. Nothing but grace can carry us, such as we are, through the wilderness. If there were not grace to wash our feet, to remove defilement, we should entirely fall out of the way. The Lord brings this out in answer to Peter in John 13, “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me”. The Christian soon finds out, too, that he is not enough for himself; he becomes conscious of his weakness and of need of support, and of a ministration of grace to his want and weariness. The way in which this is furnished is what these two chapters unfold, and I will dwell upon it a little, by God’s help.
The “red heifer” is the subject of chapter 19. God saw fit to provide a water of purification for the people. We are all, no doubt, acquainted with the force of that. The water and the ashes — the latter carrying the witness of death — were laid up for purification: for this reason (in its application to us), that death is here, and that it is morally impossible for a Christian to go through the world having to do with things in it, without contracting [p. 174] defilement. You are continually brought into contact with death in a moral sense. Even in the circle of fellowship itself, we are brought into contact with it. We have to do there with evil; things come in which compromise christian fellowship. Flesh and evil break out; we cannot avoid having to do with these things, and the effect may be defilement. I fear that it is impossible for us, being what we are, to come into contact with evil without danger of being defiled by it. The contact may be inadvertent, like a man coming across a dead body or a bone, but you may be defiled.
I will tell why it is that we are so readily defiled. It is that the evil with which you come in contact has so much answer in yourself; and the very fact of having to do with it may come, in a way, between our souls and God.
Well, we find a divine provision to meet this. The water of purification was laid up, and it had to be applied on the third and on the seventh day. The blood of the red heifer was sprinkled once and for all before the tabernacle. God’s righteousness was vindicated, so that it is not a question of the claim of God, or of imputation, but of the practical state of the person. For that reason it is that application was needed on the third day and the seventh.
I understand that the water of purification had its value because of its connection with the ashes of the red heifer, which was a memorial of the death of Christ; and hence arises its cleansing power to the spirit and mind of the Christian. The remembrance is brought home to one’s soul of the death of Christ. Whatever you have allowed of evil in yourself Christ suffered for. The truth of this being brought home, the soul finds itself morally in contact with the death of Christ. You have the sense of what Christ died for — that we might be maintained in [p. 175] suitability to his death. The death of Christ is the standard for the Christian here: “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you”, and we have to maintain consistency with that death. You cannot sanction in yourself anything for which Christ suffered, and in that sense the death of Christ is the standard. It is the carrying out of the principle of Romans 6. You have been buried with Him by baptism to death; then you “Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus”. But that has to be maintained, and there, I should suppose, it is that the water of purification comes in.
There are two great principles or developments in us of evil, namely, lust and will; and if you have any discernment you will soon find the subtle way in which they work. If you are a person of taste you will be fond of art and tasteful things; if you are a vain person you will be fond of dress and fashion, and you may find what ministers to that every time you pass along the street. The heart of man naturally goes after the artificial system of the world, and the more you have known of the world the greater the danger. What I want to maintain is this, that it is inconsistent for the Christian to allow in himself anything for which Christ died. You have to maintain consistency with Christ’s death, and for that the water of purification is provided. The water was applied by another. The man did not apply it for himself. We are thus responsible for one another. “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye ought also to wash one another’s feet”. It has been said sometimes (and the expression reminds one of one’s weakness), that if I see a spot in another, I am responsible to remove it; we may say it is a very difficult thing to do, but we must admit the responsibility to do it.
[p. 176] As to the application on the third day and on the seventh, I suppose the first application cleanses as to the conscience; the second brings about complete restoration of soul.
That is one item of God’s provision, and connects itself, as I have said, with Romans 6. The latter brings out what you do not get in Numbers, the attitude of the Christian in regard to sin: “dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus”. I do not continue in sin; I am dead to it; but at the same time sin is in me, and I need the water of purification to maintain me in communion with God. Scripture contemplates the possibility of the Christian sinning: “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous”.
And now I pass on to chapter 20, to touch on the other very important point. The first thing to be noticed is that the people were growing old in the wilderness. Now you and I may grow old in the wilderness, and the things that we began with may, in a sense, be growing old in our estimation of them. If you go on only with what you began the wilderness with, you will become feeble, for there is not that in it which will maintain you in sustained spiritual vigour. Many a Christian began well and joyfully enough. The grace of God brought home to him that he was forgiven, saved; and he sang; he knew that he was delivered. Thus he began happily and brightly; but by the end of the wilderness journey he has become drooping and weary. The provision for the wilderness is enough for the wilderness, but you may grow old, and the power of what you began with may fade for you. One indication of this is in that Miriam died. The song that Miriam led was not so bright now as at the beginning.
I desire now to show the character of God’s gracious disposition for the people. They wanted [p. 177] water; there was no evil in that. The principle on which God was dealing with the people was grace. Priesthood in its power had come in. The water of purification had been provided, and now it was of His grace to provide water for them in the wilderness, not now to purify, but to minister to their wants and weariness. The principle of it is, that you are not under the law but under grace. We become conscious of want and weariness, and provision is made by priesthood to minister to us, so that we may be sustained in freshness and vigour.
The blessed ministry of the Spirit depends upon the priesthood. The people murmured, but what they said here was in measure true; it was not a land of vines and figs and pomegranates, and there was no water to drink. The wilderness yielded no water. The answer of God was in telling Moses to take the rod and Aaron his brother, and go and speak to the rock. In all this mere authority was of no avail. God was going to minister through the priesthood, which had been vindicated by the budding of Aaron’s rod.
Now Moses did not enter into the mind of God; he did not rise to the grace of God: he smote the rock, and for that reason he was prohibited from entering into the land. The goodness of God is seen overcoming the murmurings of the people by ministering to them in grace.
I see that same principle in Romans 7. You are attached to the priest, and it is, I think, that He may so minister to us in our weariness and weakness, as that we may bring forth fruit to God. How are you going to do this without water? Did ever a tree bring forth fruit without moisture? We want water, and that is the provision of God for us through the Priest. The people in our chapter drank; their want was met; they were refreshed.
The painful part was the way in which the failure [p. 178] fell upon Moses, though one hardly cares to speak in such a way in regard to one of the most honoured servants of God. But though Moses forfeited his entry into the land, it could perhaps hardly have been otherwise. The law could never lead man into the light of the purpose of God. Life-giving grace alone could do it. Israel was brought into the land under the leadership of Joshua; Moses passed away; so too Aaron and Miriam; none of those who brought them out of Egypt were left. They could only go into the land under one who was the figure of Christ risen.
Now they come to the land of Edom and they have to compass it. I have no new thought about this, but I think Edom does not, like the Canaanites, represent spiritual wickedness in heavenly places, nor even what was seen in Sihon and Og. Edom was a people kindred to Israel, and the latter were not allowed to touch them. It made the people weary to compass the land; but there were those with whom they were not allowed to come in conflict. It contains a lesson for us. There are those, kindred in a sense to the people of God, whom we have rather to avoid than to fight with.
Then Aaron dies, and this is the end of the question of responsibility, pure and simple. There are two aspects in which you may regard a Christian: either as responsible here, or according to the purpose of God. The Christian regarded in his responsibility here has to continue in the faith; not to be moved away from the hope — and that in a sense comes to a close in this chapter. We have seen what is God’s provision for our support in responsibility; but after this chapter we come into-the light of life, and our state in regard to that. In the first part of the book we have found what the Christian is learning by bitter experience, the perverseness of the flesh, but at the same time have seen the stability of God’s purpose. We have noticed the true character of priesthood, and the blessed dispositions of God for the people in regard to what they had to come in contact with down here.
All this is very blessed. We are in a world in which it is very easy to get defiled, among other ways by getting into a false position; for example, in association with worldly kindred. In this way people get into positions for which their faith is not equal. It is a great thing to be kept out of temptation. You will recall Peter in the high priest’s palace, he had no business there; he was not there for testimony, the Lord was. The Lord had prayed for him; and you get at the close of John’s gospel the Lord setting Peter free from the effects of his contamination, and discovering to him what had led to the failure. Peter learned thus a very serious lesson, he could no longer trust in Peter; and we have to learn the same lesson. I think we sometimes rush into positions to which we are not equal. I echo the Lord’s words: “Lead us not into temptation”. It is a great thing to be kept out of temptation; to be kept from positions for which we have not faith. Humanly speaking Peter would not have denied the Lord if he had kept out of the high priest’s palace.
There are many associations and places in this world in which I would not care to trust myself. The Lord went into many places into which I could not go, for He could not be contaminated. I can be very easily. But if contaminated there is the water of purification available. The first step of return with Peter was when he wept bitterly, and the second when the Lord spoke to him in John 21.
Then there is, besides, the danger of becoming weary in the wilderness. We need shepherd care and restoration of soul. We want the word to be so applied in the power of the Spirit as that the [p. 180] soul may be refreshed and invigorated. Have you never known that want? That want finds its answer in the practical application of priesthood. The conscience of the Christian is searched by the word of God; and priesthood comes in that you may not be weary by the roughness and dreariness of the way: “He restoreth my soul” is a beautiful expression. You get renovated. That is the effect of priesthood; and the object is that you may bring forth fruit to God. The purpose of the priest is to draw you to Himself, and in drawing you to Himself He brings you into the light of divine purpose. Now you find that when He draws you to Himself you are consciously in company with Him, and He brings you into the light of the Father’s love. If you would know anything about divine purpose it is expressed and revealed to you in Christ Himself, and there only. He draws you to Himself that you may know Him, not only as Saviour, but that you may know the divine purpose about you of which He is the pattern, and then He conducts you into the blessed liberty of the Father’s presence. He will bring you into the Father’s house by-and-by.
But that is beyond what has been before us at this time.
May the Lord give us to know experimentally the great reality of God’s provisions for the wilderness!
If the Lord enable me, we may another time view the Christian on other ground; we may travel on to the light of God’s purpose for him. That is quite another line.