Daily Devotion | Numbers 19 | 2026 May 21

Title: Daily Devotion | Numbers 19 | 2026 May 21

Scripture: Numbers 19 (ESV, reference only)

Date: 2026 May 21

Speaker: Rev. John Chen

Transcribed, translated & edited by: Joseph Wang (Yufan)

All right, dear brothers and sisters, peace to you. We thank God for His grace. We have come to a new day to study the Daily Devotion. The Scripture we are studying today is Numbers chapter 19. Let us pray. O God, we thank You for Your grace. Thank You for leading us to understand, Lord, how deeply You care about Your cleanness. Lord, we ask You to show grace among us, so that we may live a holy life, and so that we may follow You and imitate You, because You are holy. In the name of Christ, amen.

Now, in Numbers chapter 19, what we see is an ordinance concerning cleansing. This object used for cleansing is rather unique. It had not been mentioned before. Previously, it only spoke of this: you needed to offer sacrifices. If you had sinned against God, if you had been defiled by uncleanness, you needed to make yourself clean through the way of sacrifice. Whether it was leprosy or some other condition, what was being spoken of was that you needed to make yourself clean through the way of offering sacrifice. But in chapter 19, God gives a way of removing sin that is actually relatively brief and relatively simple. For some sins that are not very serious in a ceremonial sense, God gives what seems to be a comparatively simpler ordinance of cleansing. It is not necessarily the case that every individual must go and offer sacrifice himself. The water for impurity can be used.

So chapter 19 is an ordinance of mercy. If you have committed something, if you have been defiled by uncleanness, what method is there that can be relatively simple, so that you do not need to make yourself clean through the way of sacrifice? It is through the water for impurity, through such a way of cleansing. So when Numbers chapter 19 is compared with the preceding passages, for example the cleansing ordinances in Leviticus chapters 11, 12, 13, and 14, and actually all the way to chapter 15, those cleansing ordinances, when compared with the water for impurity, are much more complicated. Of course, the situation is also different. The situation is different, and those cases are more serious. But in any case, God provided a more concise way to remove sin. So chapter 19 is a chapter of mercy. If you have done these things, then by a very simple way, you can be cleansed. Here, we can also read two messages.

The first message is God’s concern for His own cleanness, God’s requirement, God’s valuing of His own cleanness. God requires His people to be clean, and He also requires those who draw near to Him to be clean. This holiness—“holy” and “clean” in the Bible have two meanings. I mentioned this earlier, and I will mention it again. “Holy” means being set apart as holy unto God. To be set apart as holy means that this thing belongs to God for His use. Cleanness is another concept. Cleanness is a broader concept, meaning that ceremonially you must be clean. Of course, if something is to be consecrated to God as holy, then naturally it must be clean. So this is God’s holiness. Of course, something that is set apart as holy may at first be unclean, and therefore you must cleanse it.

So this is the difference we speak of between holiness and cleanness. Just at this point, I feel that Chinese is very good, because it uses two characters, two characters within one word, to express this. I think this is a very interesting thing. Perhaps other languages do not have this function. In Chinese it is very good: one character is “holy,” and one character is “clean,” and when they are put together, it becomes “holy-cleanness,” holiness. That precisely expresses this meaning. “Holy” expresses being set apart as holy, and “clean” expresses cleanness. So what chapter 19 speaks about is how a person can be cleansed. That is the meaning. God, of course, cares very much about His cleanness. This is the first meaning expressed here: God cares very much; God greatly values that the Israelites must be clean. Of course, God also has particular mercy on the Israelites, because He provided a very concise way for them to be cleansed. I think this is the message we need to read from this passage.

Then, how can one be cleansed? We need to look at what this text says. It says that the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron. He commanded the people of Israel to bring to you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish, and on which a yoke has never come. I myself have no experience of rural life, so I do not know whether this kind of heifer is common or not. It probably is not very common, or we could say it is extremely rare. This, then, is the heifer used for the removal of sin. It is to be given to Eleazar the priest and brought outside the camp. Remember this. You need to understand the location. It is brought outside the camp, and the heifer is slaughtered before him. It is slaughtered outside the camp. When I say outside the camp, I do not mean outside the tabernacle courtyard. I mean outside the whole camp of Israel. Because unclean things could not enter the camp of Israel. Eleazar the priest is to take some of the blood of the heifer with his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting. So outside the camp, he must take this blood to the entrance of the tent of meeting and sprinkle it seven times toward the tent of meeting. Yes, after he finishes sprinkling the blood, the priest must go back outside the camp, and the skin, flesh, blood, and dung of the red heifer must all be burned.

From this you should notice that it is actually somewhat like a sin offering. The act of burning it is actually somewhat like the sin offering. If the blood of a sin offering was brought into the Most Holy Place, then the whole thing had to be burned. None of that sin offering could be left. Actually, not all sin offerings had to be completely burned. We mentioned this when we spoke about the ordinances for the sin offering. Not all of them had to be burned. It was the sin offering whose blood had been brought into the Most Holy Place—its blood, its flesh, and everything belonging to it had to be burned. Now, there was only one opportunity each year to enter the Most Holy Place, so it is not the case that all sin offerings were burned. But the red heifer had to be completely burned. When it was burned, several things had to be added: cedarwood, hyssop, and scarlet yarn. The meaning here should be very clear. It should be very clear. What is cedarwood? Cedarwood expresses the furnishings in the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. The ark—the ark was made of acacia wood. Cedarwood was later used in the temple. The walls of the temple were covered with cedarwood.

Now, someone may say, “You have jumped so quickly to the temple; the sanctuary is still there.” The sanctuary was made with acacia wood because acacia wood was easy to carry. It was not heavy. But when it came to the temple, all of that wood was completely changed into cedarwood. All right, if you go and look, you will know. In short, what it intends to express is that this is something related to the temple. Then there is hyssop. Hyssop is used for removing sin. And scarlet yarn clearly expresses something red, representing the color of blood, and these are thrown into the fire in which the heifer is being burned. All right, the priest is unclean until evening, because by doing this he also becomes defiled by uncleanness. He must wash his clothes and enter the camp. The one who burns the heifer is also unclean until evening and must wash his body with water.

A clean person gathers up the ashes of the red heifer and stores them—remember this—outside the camp in a clean place. Outside the camp there is also a place that has been made clean, and the ashes are put there. Why? They are to be kept for the congregation of the people of Israel for the water for impurity. So this water for impurity is a relatively concise ritual for the removal of sin. Its purpose is that the people may remove sin through a relatively simple way. The one who gathers the ashes is also unclean until evening. This is to be a perpetual statute for the people of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them. So this ash of the red heifer can atone for sin because, within the ordinances of the Pentateuch, it is somewhat similar to the sin offering. Therefore it can remove sin.

Of course, we know that the ashes of this red heifer point to Jesus Christ. There is no problem with that. The Lord Jesus shed His precious blood. The body of the Lord Jesus represents the temple. Burned outside the camp—these words make it very easy for you to think of the Lord Jesus Christ. Especially in Hebrews, it is said very clearly: the Lord Jesus, just like the sin offering, went outside the camp and was killed outside the city gate. So this sin offering is offered outside the camp.

The ashes of the red heifer are the same. This red heifer was killed outside the camp. So in Hebrews chapter 13, verse 11, it says that the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. Verse 12 says that Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through His own blood. So the meaning is very clear: the Lord Jesus Christ is the true sin offering. And the red heifer, which is similar to the sin offering, being burned outside the camp, also has this meaning. This is a relatively simple way for the Israelites to remove sin. By using the water for impurity, sin could be removed. This is about how the water for impurity is made. The next ordinance is like this: whoever touches a dead body—and this was something relatively likely to happen among the Israelites—whoever touches a dead body needs the water for impurity in order to be cleansed. If a person dies, and dies in a tent, that also requires the water for impurity for cleansing. Whoever touches a grave, or touches bones, or touches someone who has been slain, also needs to be cleansed with water.

All right, concerning the ordinances about uncleanness here, namely, uncleanness from contact with death, we mentioned this last time, and we will repeat it here again. God hates death. God is not pleased with death. In the eternal God there is eternal life. God detests death. Everything connected to God has life. Conversely, whatever is not connected to God is death. So here we are able to understand the biblical concept: if a person is not connected to God, then he is connected to death. Satan represents death. The things of the world, the material things of the world, worldly things—for example, the high-rise buildings we see, beautiful houses, beautiful trees, luxury cars, wealth—if these things are not used by the people of God, then in fact they are defiled with the breath of death, because in the end they will all pass away. This is something we need to know and remember.

In fact, this matter of death also appears in pagan religions as though it were something very unusual. This includes being defiled by the dead and touching the dead. It seems that this was also regarded by them as a kind of ceremonial uncleanness. It seems to have this kind of meaning as well. Yes, in fact, that is the case. Why? Because it comes from general revelation. What God loves is life. What God loves is being connected to Him. Therefore, anyone who believes in Jesus Christ will have eternal life, while the one who does not have Jesus Christ must face death. Of course, as we have said, our understanding of death and life is not quite the same as the biblical understanding. In our understanding, death means no longer moving, as if disappearing. That is what we call death. But in fact, the concept of death spoken of in the Bible is completely not like this. A person’s soul is still moving. After a person dies, at the final judgment, he will still have a body joined to him, and he will be thrown into the lake of fire in hell for judgment. So we must have this concept: in the Bible, life and death do not mean motion and lack of motion. They do not mean existence and disappearance. Rather, it is about being connected to God. To be connected to God is life. To be cut off from God is death. This is what we must remember. We must adjust this worldview. What is life? It is being united to God. We believe in Jesus Christ, and we have life. Those who abandon God, those who do not have God, who spend all day in the world thinking about eating well and drinking well—these people are people of death. But they will ultimately die, and their final death is not disappearance, but going into the lake of fire in hell to bear God’s eternal punishment. This is what I am saying about the concept of death and life. God hates death. Therefore, whatever has to do with death is unclean. What does it need? It needs to be cleansed with the water for impurity.

Here you also need to notice that cleansing is divided into two steps: one is on the third day, and one is on the seventh day. He must first be cleansed on the third day, and then wait a few more days before, on the seventh day, he can truly be clean. So you see, notice that a person’s cleansing uses seven days as a cycle. Seven days is a cycle. In the middle there is a halfway point. On the third day, he first has to remove sin and be cleansed. After waiting several days, then he can truly and completely be clean on the seventh day.

I think this is an especially interesting type. What does it typify? I think it is like us Christians. At the moment we believe in Jesus, we are cleansed, right? This is somewhat like the third day. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day. Yesterday, in the passage we studied, on the third day Laban came to pursue Jacob, and on the seventh day he caught up with him. In the same way, on the seventh day we will truly be clean. That is, because of Jesus Christ’s resurrection on the third day, we believe in Jesus in this present life, and we receive eternal life. We have already received it now. But when will this true cleansing be completed? It will be on the seventh day, that is, when our life comes to its end, then we will truly be clean. I think the meaning here is very clear. But perhaps if you do not make this connection, you may pass over it very quickly. Why does he need to be cleansed twice? I think this typifies the Christian life of sanctification. At the moment we believe in the Lord, it is like being cleansed by the Lord on the third day. But then, are you completely clean? You are clean, but you have not yet truly and concretely obtained this cleanness. When will you obtain this cleanness? On the seventh day, when we see the Lord face to face. So our present life is from the third day to the seventh day. I think this is a very interesting meaning, a meaning that shows this: in this present life, we live as those who have already been cleansed by the Lord, but we have not yet fully obtained this cleanness. In this present life, we still must, as in the wilderness, endure the trials of this world. We enjoy the mercy and help God gives us within the already and the not yet, so that in the end we may be sanctified. I think the meaning should be very clear as to why it happens twice.

So we can also imagine this. If this person, right, if he is a clean person, a person who has touched a dead body, then between the third day and the seventh day, what kind of feeling does he have? It is the feeling we Christians have. On the one hand, he knows that he has already been cleansed. He will soon be able to return into the camp of Israel. But right now he still cannot go back. He must continue to keep himself holy. During this period, he absolutely must not go touch a dead person again. He must not come into contact again with someone who has been slain. He must not touch a grave again. He has to be especially careful about this, because during this time he first has to be shut outside the camp. He cannot enter the camp of Israel. Only when the seventh day is complete can he enter the camp of Israel. So this is an experience in the wilderness, just like the experience of our Christian spiritual life. We are now in the wilderness, and together we wait to enter that eternal heavenly home, the camp of Israel, the heavenly Jerusalem. This is what is being spoken of by the third day and the seventh day.

Then what will happen if a person is not cleansed? Verses 20 to 22 say this very clearly: the one who is unclean must be cut off from among the people. He must have the water sprinkled on him. If the water is not sprinkled on him—he must go and have the water sprinkled on him. If the water is not sprinkled on him, he will be cut off. In addition, if he touches the water for impurity, he will also be unclean until evening. So, with an ordinance of cleansing, one must be especially careful. This water for removing sin is only useful when it is sprinkled on a person. You cannot go and touch this water for removing sin. If you touch it, you also become unclean.

In addition, we should also notice that the one who sprinkles the water—here it does not say that it must be a priest. It only says in verse 18 that a clean person shall take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it, and that is enough. So here, because this kind of matter might occur rather often, if only the priests were to do it, then the priests would have no time at all to serve. Therefore, a clean person could do it. And here there is another meaning you need to notice: God cursed the Israelites so that they would fall dead in the wilderness. Therefore, matters involving death, during those forty years, should have happened frequently among them. So there is this relatively concise way of removing sin. The water is sprinkled, and sin is removed. After seven days, it is done. This is a comparatively simple way.

In chapter 19, we need to notice that this very clearly points to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the true red heifer. The atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ is effective. These things—the cedarwood, the hyssop, and the scarlet yarn—being thrown into the fire in which the heifer is burned, all these things show the suffering and affliction of the Lord Jesus Christ for us. The Lord Jesus had mercy on us. He was nailed to the cross for us and washed away all our uncleanness. All the uncleanness we have been defiled by in this world, all these impurities, are finally removed in the water for impurity of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank God. We thank God that He has had mercy on us in this way and has shown grace upon us. We express our thanks to Him.

Then what is the way to express this thanks? I think Hebrews writes this especially well. The following verses in Hebrews chapter 13 especially tell us how we should respond to the removal of sin that the Lord Jesus has given us. For example, beginning from verse 13: “Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.” Since the Lord Jesus suffered for us outside the city, what should we do? We also should go out to Him and suffer outside the city gate. We also should put to death our old self. Then verse 14 says that here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. We should continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God through Jesus, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name. And we must not forget to do good and to share, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. So here, this comes to Hebrews chapter 13, the later part.

In the final closing section, the author of Hebrews—who is usually thought to be Paul—makes very clear how we should respond to God’s love. In this present life, what kind of life should we live? In this wilderness life, in this period between the third day and the seventh day, what should we do? We should bear the reproach of God, put to death our old self, and hope to return to that lasting city. We hope to return to the camp of Israel. We hope to return to the heavenly home. This is the feeling of our hearts. May God help us, through this ordinance of the water for impurity, to know Christ more deeply, and also to live a holy life more deeply. All right, today’s sharing will simply stop here. Thank you, everyone.