“This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke. Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.”
Numbers 19:2-3 (NIV)
I do love a good mystery. In fact, over the past year I’ve been making my way through a gritty series of mysteries by Alan Parks centered on a Glasgow police detective named Harry McCoy. I highly recommend, though only for those who aren’t squeamish about the reality of the depths of human depravity.
One of the things I’ve learned to embrace and appreciate along my spiritual journey is the mysteries of the Great Story. There are certainly things that are clearly known, but then there are pieces of the Story wrapped in mystery. As always, I am reminded of Richard Rohr’s take that mystery is not something that we can’t understand but rather something that we can endlessly understand. Because metaphor is layered with meaning, the mystery is like an eternal dance in which we can participate on this side of heaven. It can move me, inspire me, stretch me, and even wear me out at times, but the dance is never done. It’s always there waiting for me on the dance floor.
So we come to one of the most paradoxical and profound mysteries in the entire Great Story: the mystery of the red heifer. According to Jewish scholarship, this is what the sage of Ecclesiastes is referring to in Ecclesiastes 7:23 which they interpret as: “All this I have tested with wisdom… but the red heifer remains far from me.” Other Jewish scholarship simply throws up its hands and says, “It’s the Torah. Don’t try to understand it. Just obey it.”
Hmmmm. Mysterious. I love a good mystery. Let’s dance.
In short, the red heifer was taken outside the camp and slaughtered. Then it was completely burned. The ashes were used to create holy water used to purify anyone who was ceremonially unclean because they had come into contact with a corpse. What’s strange is that the priest who handles the slaughter and burning of the red heifer becomes ceremonially unclean in doing so. So what is meant to cleanse the impure because of death makes the priest who slaughters and burns the red heifer impure. The red heifer is unlike anything else in all of the Levitical rituals and sacrificial system.
As I continued to let my head and heart dance with the mystery this morning, I found myself two-stepping into the metaphor as it relates to the Messiah. There are modern Jewish groups who see the return of the red heifer ritual as a critical precursor to the coming of the Messiah and what they believe will be the building of the Third Temple in Jerusalem and the restoration of the sacrificial system. In fact, some farmers in Israel raise red heifers for this purpose.
Of course, as a disciple of Jesus, I make a turn on the dance floor with the knowledge that the Messiah has come, and I dip into the metaphor and mystery of the red heifer as a foreshadowing of Jesus’ sacrificial death in which the pure was made impure as He took upon Himself the sin of the world, and through that death the living water flowed into which I am baptized in the likeness of His death and raised in the likeness of His resurrection, cleansed and purified from sin and death.
| Red Heifer (Numbers 19) | Jesus (New Testament) |
|---|---|
| Female, spotless, red | Human, sinless, born in flesh (blood and dust) |
| Slain outside the camp | Crucified outside Jerusalem |
| Burned entirely | Body fully given—nothing held back |
| Ashes mixed with water for cleansing | Blood and water flow from his side (John 19:34) |
| Cleanses from death’s defilement | Cleanses from death itself—eternal life |
| Sacrifice must be repeated | Once for all (Hebrews 10:10) |
So, in the quiet this morning, I emerge from this dance with the mystery of the red heifer not confused or discouraged lake the Sage of Ecclesiastes, but energized by the notion that there are layers and depth of spiritual understanding that transcend my human knowledge and understanding. It speaks to me of what Jesus taught, that purity doesn’t come from avoiding death, but following Jesus and walking through it.
Thanks for dancing with me, my friend. Hope you enjoyed spinning into the mystery.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
