It is customary for religiously practicing Jews to read from an annual cycle of weekly Old Testament readings called Torah Portions. This is said to be the same reading schedule that was taught every Sabbath in the Synagogues during the times of Jesus in the first century.

As Christians exploring the Torah portion cycle we must maintain a balance of including the Old Testament, the prophets, and the gospels in our weekly bible study.

Torah Portion Name and Readings-

Chukat is the Hebrew word for “statute” and is the name for the weekly Torah Portion reading for the Book of Numbers starting in chapter 19 verse 1 and going through chapter 22 verse 1.

Prophets and New Testament-

It is also important to point out that along with the Torah portion readings and teachings, there are what are called Haftarah portions which are readings from the Bible in the books of the prophets.  This week’s haftarah readings come from the book of Judges in chapter 11 verse 1 through verse 33.

The gospel readings incorporated with the weekly Torah portion readings come from the book of John in chapter 2 with verses 1 through 12.

Torah Portion Overview-

In today’s world, in the west, we can see an attempt to sterilize the chaos of death.  We often perform mortuary rites such as embalming to allow the body to be viewed for days or longer after it has already died.  Great pains are taken by morticians to prepare a body for a funeral so that it will look “natural”, that is, not dead.  Further more certain rituals are followed to provide small comforts.  A smile is placed on the face, the corpse is dressed in fine attire, and put into a beautiful casket.  Furthermore steps are taken to combat uncleanness such as washing the body.  We do all this as an expression of our grief and to cleanse the filth of death.  

The Torah also considers death to be an unclean thing.  When a person is exposed to death, whether through war, the burial of the dead, or the arrangement of the dead bones of a loved one, they become unclean and in need of a ritualistic procedure and sacrifice to cleanse them (Numbers 19:11).  The people of Israel were to bring a red (or brown?) cow that is perfect and has not done any farm work (Numbers 19:2).  The High Priest then takes the sacrifice outside of the camp and kills it, sprinkles some blood seven times in front of the tabernacle.  Another priest then burns the cow in the site of the High Priest with its flesh, blood, and dung, that is, every part of it.  Another priest then tosses into the fire cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet.  Both the priest that burns it and the priest that assists with the cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet must wash their clothes, bathe, and they are unclean until evening.  Then a clean man gathers up the ashes, and stores them.  He must wash his clothes and is unclean until evening.  (Numbers 19:3-9)

High Priest | Performs sacrifice and watches | No change

Priest | Burns sacrifice | becomes unclean | washes clothes and body | unclean till evening

Priest | Assists | becomes unclean | washes clothes and body | unclean till evening

Clean man | Gathers ashes | becomes unclean | washes clothes | unclean till evening

It is of note that the location is outside the camp, perhaps because the subject is death.  However, since the High Priest does not become unclean we can say that the location itself is not unclean, neither is the animal.  However, the priests that burn the animal are made unclean, and so something about the process as its being burned up with the other elements makes it unclean.  Yet the ashes seem to be less unclean than the flesh as it is burning, for the clean man who gathers the ashes does not have to wash his body but only his clothes.  Furthermore, as the Numbers 1-19 Apollos Old Testament Commentary by L. Michael Morales points out:

“The Red Heifer ceremony of chapter 19 has been the subject of much speculation since the time of the rabbinic sages, who were fascinated by the conundrum of how the ashes of the Red Heifer can purify those who are defiled and defile those who are pure (see Num. Rab. 19.1, 5; PesRK 4.6; Par. IV 4.4).”

 Perhaps it is not the ashes alone that purifies but the ashes when mixed with the waters of purification?  We cannot be sure.  Of even more note though is that even touching the waters makes you unclean (Numbers 19:21)!  There is a reason this sacrifice puzzled the greatest minds of the Jewish nation!  

What is the meaning of all this?  L. Michael Morales says in the Numbers 1-19 Apollos Old Testament Commentary:

“Given that the heifer’s ‘blood’ (dāmāh) is to be burned (v. 5), along with cedar (wood with a reddish hue) and a scarlet thread (v. 6), the cow’s redness likely serves to emphasize the blood aspect of the ashes, especially since blood is the main agent of cleansing in all other purification offerings—it increases symbolically ‘the amount of blood in the ashes’ (Milgrom 1990: 158). There is, moreover, a paronomasia link formed between the words ‘red’ (’ădummā) and ‘blood’ (dām) (Humann 2011: 108–109). In Genesis, ‘the man’ (hā’ādām) is formed from the ‘dust’ (‘āpār) of the ‘the ground’ (hā’ădāmāh) (2:7), judged to return to ‘the ground’ (hā’ădāmāh), from ‘dust’ to ‘dust’ (‘āpār) (3:19), and warned that whoever sheds the ‘blood’ (dām) of ‘the man’ (hā’ādām), by ‘man’ (’ādām) his ‘blood’ (dām) will be shed (9:6)—all three texts employing paronomasia. Humann, therefore, suggests that the ‘red cow’ (pārāh ’ădummā) which is reduced to ‘ashes’ (’ēper) is symbolically linked with the primeval story of man, with the heifer’s incineration likely being an elaborate symbol of human mortality (2011: 109): ‘What is depicted in the ceremony is the reversal of the creation of man, a return to the dust of the earth.’”

This is an amazing point I believe.  The ashes of the red heifer symbolize the reversal of creation.  These, mixed with water then remove the uncleanness of death!  What is it about the reversal of creation when mixed with water that causes the cleanliness of death to be removed?  I believe it goes back to the garden!

The garden of Eden was a sacred garden inside the land of Eden.  The sacred garden was located to the east of Eden (Genesis 2:8) and a river ran through Eden and through the garden and split into four rivers.  This tells us that the river ran west to east, through Eden to the garden.  This concept is mirrored in the ancient near eastern sacred gardens found around Mesopotamia.  There would be a temple from which flowed water through a sacred garden.  In the sacred garden, were planted all kinds of plants often obtained by the king when he conquered his enemies.  The garden of Eden mirrors this image or shall we say this image mirrors, the garden of Eden?  I believe these temple complexes were an ancient memory left over from the garden of Eden.  The only thing that was missing was a temple.  Now in the ancient East temples were often built on mountains or high places, and for this reason mountains were synonymous with temples.  Ezekiel helps clear this up for us.  

Ezekiel 28:13-14 (ESV) 

You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared.  You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.

You were in Eden… You were on the holy mountain of God…you see, there was a mountain!  This mountain, I believe, was the temple or perhaps the place where God came down to earth to walk in the garden (think of a ziggurat).  Indeed the garden of Eden is painting a picture for us!  

The book of revelation paints the same picture when Eden is restored.  it says there is no temple for Yeshua is the temple (Revelation 21:22) and from the throne of Yeshua comes water and on either side of this river or trees of life.  In other words, the garden of Eden is restored.  

Revelation 22:1-2 (ESV) 

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Could it be that this sacred procedure of the red heifer is a prophecy that one day death will be reversed through water, that is, sacred water will feed a tree of life?  We cannot say for certain, but it is an interesting idea.

However, we can say for certain that Christ Jesus has cleansed us from death.  That is, although we die, we are clean and can enter to the holy place (Hebrews 10:19)!  It is because He has cleansed us that we can serve as priests in spiritual worship (1 Peter 2:5, 2:9).  We do not need a red heifer ritual to cleanse us because our Lord has made us clean through His eternal sacrifice!  Let us glory in Him and love Him for how great He is!  

Torah Portion Scriptural Highlights-

• Numbers 19:1 The cleansing sacrifice of the red heifer

• Numbers 19:11 Death and the cleansing ritual

• Numbers 20:1 The death of Miriam

• Numbers 20:2 The people rebel over water

• Numbers 20:10 Moses strikes the rock instead of speaking to it

• Numbers 20:14 Edom doesn’t let Israel go through their territory

• Numbers 20:22 The death of Aaron

• Numbers 21:1 Arad dedicated to destruction

• Numbers 21:4 The people complain against the Lord and poisonous snakes harm them, the people are healed by looking at the bronze image of a serpent

• Numbers 21:10 The ancient song from the Book of the Wars of Yahweh

• Numbers 21:21 The Amorites attack Israel and are defeated and Israel takes their cities

• Numbers 21:33 Israel defeats the giant Og of Bashan

• Numbers 22:1 Israel arrives at the plains of Moab

Haftarah (Prophets) Scriptural Highlights-

• Judges 11:1 The Judge Jephthah and his rash vow

Brit (Gospel) Scriptural Highlights-

• John 2:1 Jesus turns water into wine with purification waters

Bibliography

Numbers 1-19 (Apollos Old Testament Commentary | ApOTC) by L. Michael Morales.  Chapter 19

Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary.  HEIFER, RED

Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary.  WATER FOR IMPURITY

Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch.  RED HEIFER

To Watch an overview of this week’s Torah Portion CLICK HERE