Join us, if you would, once again
in the book of Numbers, The Gospel According to Numbers. I was listening
to Pastor Gary Shepard this morning and he gave me an illustration
that I want to share with you. As we study the book of Numbers,
most people think of that as the part of the law. Exodus,
Numbers, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy called the law. And Brother Gary shared this
morning the law was never given to keep. It was given to declare
us sinners. And he used the illustration
of a radar, a police radar. I don't know if that's ever caught
you or not. But a police radar does not tell
us that we're good drivers. The police radar doesn't even
tell us if we're a licensed driver. A police radar catches us when
we speed. And that's what the law was used
for. to declare us sinners. Now here
in the 19th chapter of the book of Numbers, we're shared some
thoughts about our Savior in type and shadow and picture.
And we will never find a picture or a type or a shadow that is
complete about our Savior. we will find that it's still
wanting. It still hasn't fulfilled what
we see in Christ. And that's so good of God to
do that for us. I bring to mind the scapegoat,
the sacrifice of the scapegoat. They could not. God did not permit
them to truly demonstrate His resurrected glory in taking away
sin. So they had to have two of them
to illustrate that point. One died, one was taken off in
the wilderness. So these types and shadows could
never fulfill the person Christ Jesus. But as we look here at
this book of numbers this morning, And we read about the red heifer. Much in eschatology is mentioned
about the red heifer, and it's just like the lesson we had in
the Bible class this morning. There's not a thing here about
eschatology. It's all about our Savior, the
Lord Jesus, and Him fulfilling all the requirements that were
imposed upon us, which we could not keep, and we are in desperate
need of a substitute. And if we read the whole chapter
we'll find that all of this was done so that there might be some
ashes for cleansing. The whole thing is done that
we might have, they might have some ashes for cleaning unclean
people. If you touched a dead body, if
you were in a building a dead body had been in, you needed
to be cleansed with the water of the ashes of the red heifer. So we'll get on to that. And
there's much to be said about that. But this morning, let's
look here in the book of Numbers chapter 19. And I'd like to read
down through verse nine of this. And the Lord spake unto Moses
and unto Aaron, saying, Numbers 19, verse 2, This is the ordinance
of the law, which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak unto
the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer
without spot, wherein is no blemish, And upon which never came yoke. What requirements were imposed
upon Israel? It was to be a gift from all
Israel. It was part of what all Israel
would give. And we find that this is so pictorial
that all the benefits, all of the preciousness, all of the
glories of Christ crucified is for the church. The church is
the recipient of the glories, and it is the church that identifies
the Lord. This last week I had breakfast
with a preacher, quote unquote, and he was telling me about all
the groups that look at Christ and how they all have something
about Christ. And he brought out a cup and
he said, one group's look at the cup from this side and another
group looks at the cup from this side. And I said, another cup
on top of it. And I says, everybody that's
in the body is going to agree with the head. Everybody that's
in the true body will agree with the head. So we're not going
to be in a confrontation about what scripture has to say about
the Savior. We're going to be in agreement
if we're in the body. Well, as it goes on to tell us
here, this one that had no yoke put upon him, but we're going
to find out that the yoke was imposed upon him by God Almighty. The yoke of our sin is placed
upon him. He bore our sins in his own body
on the tree. Then he goes on to say, and ye
shall give her unto Eliezer the priest, that he may bring her
forth without the camp. And he shall slay her before,
and one shall slay her before his eyes. And we just see here
what the law could not do and was not permitted to do. Eliezer was a representative
of the law. This sacrifice did not take place
on a normal altar of the tabernacle. This sacrifice did not take place
near the tabernacle. This sacrifice was not taken
care of by the priest. This sacrifice was taken without
the camp, and it was led there by Eliezer the priest, not even
the high priest, and was turned over to someone else. Now that
someone else, when we see the reality of it, the Lord Jesus
Christ was turned over to the Father. And that is what we read
about in Isaiah 53. That this punishment that was
imposed upon Him who came to lay down His life a ransom for
many. The punishment that was imposed
upon Him was imposed upon Him by His Father because His Father
must have sin paid for in order for us to be in good standing. Sin must be paid for. Now Eliezer
the priest did something. It does say that he took some
of the blood and he splattered it seven times towards the tabernacle,
towards the congregation. And we see in this that the blood
of Jesus Christ was complete. It fulfilled all the requirements. That word number seven there
has some importance throughout the scriptures. It was complete.
It's finished. It's over. There is no need for
any more shed blood of any kind. And they shall burn the heifer
in his sight, her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, and her
tongue shall he burn. And we see here how this certainly
represents the suffering of our Savior. I had an aunt. My uncle's wife was in a house
or went into a house that was on fire and she had children
in it. She lost two children in that
house, but rescued one of them, and she was burned, disfigured
burn. At that time, they didn't have
a lot of knowledge about skin grafts, so she bore the scars
on her hands, on her arms, on her face, and I'm sure other
places of her body. She was delivered, she had life,
but boy, she was marked. And people could notice that
she endured great pain in that. What this red heifer went through,
it was killed before it was placed there. Our Savior was put on
the cross alive, No man takes my life from me. I lay it down
of myself. And then we see that he incurred
the strict wrath of Almighty God for justice sake. He was a condemned sinner, if
you please. He bore our sins in His own body
on a tree, if you please, and it was a fire that consumed Him
spiritually much the same way as we see this literal fire consuming
this sacrifice. And while this red heifer is
being consumed by this fire, there are three things that are
to be cast into that fire along with it. Notice with me here
in verse six, and the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop
and scarlet and cast it into the midst of the burning of the
heifer. We're gonna spend our time there
today, but let's read verse seven, eight, and nine. The priest shall
wash his clothes And he shall bathe his flesh in water, and
afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priests shall
be unclean unto even. He that burneth her shall wash
his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall
be unclean until even. And a man that is clean shall
gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp
in a clean place. And it shall be kept for the
congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation. It is a purification for sin. Now all of this is for one people, Israel. Now we know from a natural
standpoint, from a physical standpoint, not all Israel understood. Not all Israel was ever saved. Not all Israel has ever been
saved, and yet we find that the Holy Spirit gave to the Apostle
Paul these words, so then all Israel shall be saved. And that's
what we read why the Lord has not come back at this point. Because not all Israel, spiritual
Israel, not all the elect, not all those whose names are written
in the Lamb's Book of Life have been saved yet. They have not
all heard the gospel yet. And when that happens, then this
will be wrapped up. As a curtain is wrapped up, it
will be over. Well, let's back up here to verse
six of this passage of scripture and see if we can't see a few
things in here. I wrestled with this all week. My wife will attest to this.
I wrestled with this. There's something here. Lord,
there's something. What is here? And you're reading.
You can't find out anything. And then last night, I know that's
a late hour. It was better than this morning
though. Last night, I'm reading this over and it struck me. Every one of these three items
have a commonality. Truly, there is a trinity of
items here. We could say a few things about
that. And they are different kinds of items. We could say
a few things about that, and we will. But there is a commonality
between every one of these three items. Number one, it says there
would be cedar wood. Number two, there would be hyssop.
And number three, there would be scarlet. Now we must clarify
on this scarlet for just a moment. This scarlet is a color, and
this color came from an insect, from a bug, from a worm. And
I heard a message many, many years ago that has stuck with
me on what kind of worm this was and why it was such a unique
worm that speaks of the uniqueness of our Savior. And that was when
this worm was crushed between a mortar and pedestal, that the
blood was shed and that blood did not coagulate in the air
like ours does. Now we're thankful for that.
I like my blood to stop when I scratch myself. But the blood
of this critter did not coagulate and they used this scarlet for
dyeing all of the stuff in the tabernacle. We read that word
scarlet. So the commonality of all of
these things that we read here is that they all must die before
they could be used. The cedar had to be cut down. The hyssop had to be either cut
or pulled. and the worm must die in order
to color this yarn that was used in throwing it into this fire.
So let's look at a few of these things about this. We find that
exactly the same three items were used over in the book of
Leviticus chapter 14 for the cleansing of a leper. So would
you join me in the book of Leviticus chapter 14. Going back here to
the book of Leviticus chapter 14 verses 1 through 7, it shares
with us that if a leper had been cleansed, this is what he must
go through. Now over in the New Testament,
the Lord healed a leper and says, go show yourself to the priest
and do according to the law. Well, if they carried this through,
this is exactly what had to happen there. Here in the book of Leviticus
chapter 14 verse 1, The scripture says, and the Lord
speak unto Moses saying, and I like that as we read through
the scriptures. This is Jehovah speaking to someone. This is
the word of the Lord. And as we were going through
the book of Leviticus, we referenced many times that the book of Leviticus
has the actual words of the Lord more than any other of the books
in the Bible. Now we know that it was all given
by the Holy Spirit. Holy men of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Spirit. God moved upon them and gave
them the word. It was recorded and by God's
marvelous grace it was preserved and we get to hold it in our
hands today. Even this way. All right. This shall be the law of the
leper in the day of his cleansing. Now this isn't how he's cleansed,
but in the day of his cleansing, this must take place. So when
the Lord healed that leper, he said, go show yourself to the
priest. I'm convinced that he went down there and the priest
had to do this. Well, it says here, he shall be brought unto
the priest, and the priest shall go forth out of the camp, and
the priest shall look, and behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed
in the leper, then shall the priest command to take for him
that is to be cleansed two birds, one alive and clean, Now, excuse
me, two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, scarlet, and
hyssop. And the priest shall command
that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running
water. And aren't you glad this doesn't
have to happen today? All of this didn't save a soul,
but their pictures, types, and shadows, the gospel preached
in picture form. One bird must be slain over running
water, in an earthen vessel. Where did Christ give His life
a ransom for many? On an earthen vessel. And He
is the running water. He is the water of life. and
it shall be killed over running water, and he shall sprinkle
upon him that is to be cleansed from leprosy seven times, and
shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose
over the open field. Oh, let's back up. As for the
living bird, verse six, he shall take it and the cedar wood and
the scarlet and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living
bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over running
water, And he shall sprinkle upon him that was cleansed from
the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and
shall let the living bird loose into the open field. Now what
did the scapegoat do? confessed the sins of Israel
over the head of the scapegoat, took him off into the wilderness
by the hands of a fit man, and released him, and never to be
seen again. Well, there's only one that could
do that, and that's our Savior, the Lord Jesus. Well, as we look
at this, we find that the first thing that's listed is cedarwood.
Now, cedar has many qualities, great qualities. If we read in
the book of 1 Kings, we find, and we'll read just a few verses
of it, there's much to be said in chapters 5, 6, and 7 about
how much cedar wood was used in the building of that temple
under Solomon. Well, the cedar was known for
its beauty. The cedar is known for its height. The cedar is known for its strength.
The cedar is known for its delightful scent. Ever opened up a cedar
chest? And you know what? The cedar is known for its ability
not to rot and to keep bugs away. You don't have to put that mothball
in your clothes, just put it in a cedar chest. Anyway, goes
on, it was used extensively in the building of the temple. Turn with me if you would to
the book of First Kings, First Kings. Chapter 5, 1 Kings chapter
5, and we notice here as Mike was bringing out this morning
that temple under Solomon, I dare say probably Solomon, I don't
think he moved one stone, I don't think he cut one board, but we
call it Solomon's temple. But this temple that Christ made,
he is the architect, he is the foreman, he's the builder, he's
the cutter, he's the hewer, he's the all and in all for all his
saints in the church, the living body of Christ. Well, here in
1 Kings 6, excuse me, chapter 5 and verse 6 it says, now therefore
command thou, this is Solomon sharing with Hiram, command thou
that they, now notice this word, H-E-W. You take living trees in Lebanon
and you hew them down. You cut them down. Hew me cedar
trees out of Lebanon, and my servants shall be with thy servants,
and thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all
that thou shalt appoint. For thou knowest that there is
not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians. And it came to pass, when Hiram
heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly and said,
Blessed be the Lord this day, which hath given unto David a
wise son over his great people. And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying,
I have considered the things which thou sendest to me for,
and I will do all the desire concerning the timber of cedar
and concerning timber of fir. In chapter 6, would you turn
there with me of the book of 1 Kings, chapter 6 and there
in verse 9. Chapter 6 and verse 9, so he
built the house and furnished it and covered the house with
beans and boards of cedar. throughout and through in. There
were posts made of cedar. There were supports made of cedar.
There was rafters made of cedar. In all of this, we see the greatness
of our God. We see the power of God, the
height of God. We see the smell of God. We see the beauty of God. We
see all of these things displayed as the cedar was cut into boards
and placed in this, Temple under Solomon's reign and it just goes
on and on if you read chapters 5 chapter 6 and chapter 7 But
before any of that could be used they must be hewn down They must
be fell and then they must be cut into boards and then they
must be brought and the wonderful thing about it is when they were
brought in not one of them had to have a Shaving taken off of
it. It was all worked off site The
stones were hewn off site, the boards were shaved off site,
and everything fit together with perfection because we don't add
one thing to the temple. We don't add one thing to the
tabernacle, and we don't add one thing to the church. We are
the thing that is added. The Lord adds daily to the church
such as should be saved, and he's the one that makes us fit
to be in the church. We do not. If you will turn with
me to the book of, oh, where is this? Oh, 1 Kings, back up to 1 Kings
chapter four. 1 Kings chapter four. And verse 29, 1 Kings chapter
4 and verse 29. Remember one of the items that's
going to be taken in. And several of the commentators
said that the hyssop was tied to the cedar by the scarlet thread
and cast in. That's as good as anything. But here in the book of 1 Kings
chapter 4, and God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding
much and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the
seashore. And you know what the Lord said?
A greater than Solomon is here. That Queen of the South came
up and gave exceeding hard questions, and the conclusion of all her
visit was, not half has been known. Solomon's wisdom, and
in verse 31, for he was wiser than all men, than Ethan the
Ezraite, and Haman, and Chokol, and Darda, and sons of Mahol,
and his fame was in all nations round about. And he spake 3,000
proverbs, and his song were 1,005. Now we have the chiefest of his
songs called the Song of Solomon. Number one song of all time.
And then he says, this is what his illustrations were used of. And he spake of trees. What do you think he said about
trees? They're created by the Almighty
and they illustrate a point about my Savior. They spoke about trees,
from cedar trees, that is in Lebanon. And then he says, even
unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall, from the highest
and most noble to the most insignificant shrub that sprouts itself out
of the walls. You know, the Dalles has one
thing that many other cities don't have, and that is they
have a lot of retaining walls. There's retaining walls on almost
every street, on one side of the street at least. And if you
watch these old ones, there's stuff growing out of them. Well,
just think of that. Hyssop growing out of the walls.
It's just there by God's grace and God's grace alone. Now, we
find that this Solomon, as he spake about it,
he incorporated it in his wise sayings. He had much to say about
this cedar wood from Lebanon, the smell of the cedar wood,
the strength of the cedar wood. He had seen it in application
as the temple was being built. And then he switches and said
he had some things to say about the hyssop, the hyssop. Well, let's look at a couple
of things about the hyssop. It too, it too must be cut in
order to be used. The first time we run into the
term hyssop is found in the book of Exodus chapter 12. Has to
do with the Passover. They took the blood of that lamb. Turn over there with me if you
would to the book of Exodus chapter 12, verse 22. Exodus chapter 12 and verse 22,
this is a plant. Hyssop is a shrub of the mint
family. This shrub was combined with
the cedar and wrapped probably with that scarlet thread and
cast into the fire that was consuming the red heifer and the ashes
of all of this would be brought together and used for purification
in the future. Here in the book of Exodus chapter
12, and there in verse 22, we read these words after they had
selected a lamb without spot, without blemish, set it aside
for three days. Then on the appointed day, they
slew the lamb and caught the blood of the lamb. And this lamb
was going to be supper. Don?t break a bone of it. Keep
it together. Roast it with fire. How often
we find the Lord speaking of His own position before God as
He bore our sins on the cross. And then they take that blood.
Now, I?ve had preachers tell me You know, we have to put the
blood out there for God to see. The head of the household did
that. And who's the head of the church? Who took the blood? And who presented the blood?
Christ Almighty. We have nothing to do with that
except being cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. Here in Exodus
chapter 12 and verse 22, And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop.
Well, how did they get that hyssop? Well, they either cut it, or
they did like we often do, just jerked it and brought a bunch
of hyssop. And they dipped that hyssop into
blood, and they used it as a paintbrush across the doorposts and the
mantels of their house they were living in. And everyone in Israel
did that. Head of the house did that very
thing. And God said, when I go through
the land, I'll pass over you. Now, if I don't see the blood,
there's going to be a death in that home. And we see all of
Egypt did not have that prescription given unto them. It was not relevant
to them. I've made all things, yea, even
the wicked for the day of evil. We read in Psalm 51. Psalm 51. This psalm is a psalm
of David. As he brings his petitions to
the Lord, Nathan the prophet, I don't know about you, but if
I'd been told by God to go to the king and tell him, you've
done wrong. He's the king. Who am I? A prophet of God. He went to David, and the end
words were, thou art the man. Now David's writing about that.
In Psalm 51 verse 7, he reads, we read this. Purge me with hyssop,
and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter
than snow. Now he's not asking for salvation. The Lord has already saved him.
But he is asking, as we do, there in the book of 1 John, my little
children, I would that you sin not. But if or since you sin, we have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. What
does this hyssop mean? It means that God, in His good
grace, purges us from our sins. Now He doesn't purge us after
we've committed them today, and then after tomorrow, that was
taken care of at the cross. But we are reminded on a daily
basis that it was the blood of Jesus Christ pictured by this
hyssop with blood going across the doorpost for the sign to
Almighty God. These are mine. This is mine. This is my child. Thou shall
not have anything to do with him like that. Go to Egypt and
do that there. But here, they're my people.
I protected them with my blood, and I will purge them. And he
was purged of our sin, and we were purged of our sin at the
cross. No. If we're really saved, we'll
only ask for baptism once. Now, I made a profession of faith,
and when the Lord saved me, that was one of the things I needed
to get done. I needed to be baptized. But
it was once. I'm not baptized every Sunday,
but you know what? Every once in a while, we have
a communion service. The other element, the other
And we remember on a daily basis that it is God that saved us
from our sins. It is His shed blood that continues
to save me. It is His broken body that continues
to save me. I was saved, I am being saved,
and I shall be saved. We're purged by hyssop, if you
please. Turn with me to the book of Numbers,
excuse me, Hebrews chapter nine. Hebrews chapter nine. Over in
the New Testament there, the book of Hebrews chapter nine,
verse 14. Hebrews chapter nine and verse
14. The blood of Jesus Christ shall
purge us. Purge me with hyssop. Oh May
this be a symbol and may it be the true and living Christ that
laid down his life a ransom for me in the well Verse 12 neither
by the blood of goats and calves Hebrews chapter 9 verse 12 neither
by the blood of goats and calves But by his own blood he entered
in once into the holy place having obtained Don't you like that? having obtained eternal redemption
for us. For if the blood of bulls and
of goats and the, what? Ashes of a heifer, sprinkling
on the unclean sanctify to the purifying of the flesh. Now we're
gonna see that the ashes of a heifer were used to cleanse, to sanctify,
to give a symbol of, You touched a dead man, you're around a dead
body. You have to have this happen. Verse 14. How much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God? Now, what does that mean? You
know, God has the ability of getting rid of all of the false
ideas we ever had about how people are saved. He purges our conscience
from dead works. He causes us to not go there
anymore. He causes us not to settle down
there anymore. He causes us to trust Him and
trust Him alone. He is our sacrifice. He is the
one that has cleansed us. He is the one that has put our
sins away. So we don't go, well, I better go do some things for
my sin. No, go to God. purges us from dead works. Oh,
that hyssop was used to purge. Purge me with hyssop and I shall
be clean. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
us from all sin and that purges us from dead works. Thank God
we don't go back to that. We don't fall back to that. We're
given the grace to move on from that. And then the last thing
was a scarlet thread. That scarlet comes from that
critter, the blood of that critter. You know, it says in Psalm 22
and verse 6, join me there, we're going to read three verses, two
verses. One is found in the Psalms, Psalm
22 and verse 6. Psalm 22. Now this is exactly the same
word for that word scarlet that we found over there in the book
of Numbers chapter 19 and verse 6. Scarlet thread. Scarlet. Psalm 22 and verse 6. Here's the same word. Which one
is it? Worm. Worm. Who's this speaking about? Christ. I am a worm and no man. A reproach of men and despised
of the people. I am scarlet. I am bloody. I am a worm and no man. Now,
turn with me to Isaiah 41. Isaiah chapter 41 guess who gets
called his name now Isaiah 41 verse 14 Isaiah 41 verse 14 fear not thou
worm Jacob Same word worm And ye men of Israel. I will help
thee saith the Lord And thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Who does
he save? Worms. We could get a little more illustrative
here. Maggots. They're just not any good that
could be said about a believer. And after we're saved, we don't
expect any good to be said about us. Except in Christ Jesus, He
is our worm. He is our sacrifice. He is the
beauty. Though your sins be as scarlet,
same word, they shall be white as snow or as wool. All these items were useful only
after a death. All three of these items were
cast into the fire with the heifer. And Christ cast into the fire
of judgment is an illustrative point for us to remember. And
Jesus Christ fulfilled every requirement. He was the dead
cedar. He was the dead hyssop. He is
the dead worm. He is dead, dead, dead on our
behalf. He died the death of the judgment
of our sins. God placed upon Him. And isn't
it a wonderful time to say our next Sunday will be the resurrection
of that dead one? He is not here, for He is risen. The Lord is sitting at the right
hand of the Father. What does that all mean? It means
God was very satisfied, completely satisfied, totally satisfied
with the death of His Son to pay the price of all the sins
of all His people for time and for eternity. He continues to
cleanse us from all sin. His blood is so efficacious that
it takes care of everyone, all of them. And he had the ability
of taking all the sins of his people in the future and combining
with them of all the sins of those saints in the Old Testament
and have them placed upon him. And when God the Father consumed
him with righteous fire, judgment fire, all the sins of all his
people were put to death in the death of Christ, never to be
remembered again. Now, Lord willing, after next
Sunday, we'll go back here to the book of Numbers and look
at the rest of this chapter about the ashes of a red heifer. Brother Mike, if you'll come.