Each photo below corresponds to a chapter-a-day post for the book of Deuteronomy published by Tom Vander Well in January 2025 and January 2026. Click on the photo linked to each chapter to read the post.
Deuteronomy (Dec 2025 – Jan 2026)
Tag Archives: Torah
The Mystery of the Red Heifer
“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.
Numbers (Jul-Sep 2025)
Each photo below corresponds to a chapter-a-day post for the book of Numbers published by Tom Vander Well in July through September 2025. Click on the photo linked to each chapter to read the post.
Preparations
[God said to Moses:] “Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. You and Aaron are to count according to their divisions all the men in Israel who are twenty years old or more and able to serve in the army.”
Numbers 1:2-3 (NIV)
Just last week in our chapter-a-day trek through Philippians I mentioned The Exodus Paradigm. Briefly stated, the story of God leading His people out of slavery, through the wilderness, and into the Promised Land is a paradigm that repeats itself over and over again in the Great Story. As a disciple of Jesus, I see this paradigm in my own story. Once a slave to sin, Jesus freed me, but I still must wander through the wilderness of this earthly journey until one day I “cross Jordan” and enter the eternal Promised Land.
As I took a look at all of my chapter-a-day series by book, I couldn’t help but notice that the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy are missing from recent years, so I thought it’s a good time to explore the original Exodus Paradigm. Starting this morning, we journey back in time and enter the story as Moses and the Hebrew tribes have been camped below Mount Sinai. In Exodus God heard the cries of the Hebrew people from their slavery in Egypt and delivered them. In Leviticus God gave Moses The Law and instructions for setting up a radical new way of doing life together, differently than any of the other people groups around them.
Now, God is going to lead His people through the wilderness to a land He has promised them.
I’m not much of an outdoorsman. I have certainly camped, hunted, and done my share of fishing in my youth, but it’s not something that I ever got into in a serious way. I have done enough, however, to know that any kind of serious journey into the wilderness requires careful planning and preparation. You don’t just throw on a backpack and go. Especially when wandering through wilderness with dangerous wildlife, you have to be prepared for unexpected encounters with very dangerous wildlife. I suddenly have images from the scene in The Revenant when a grizzly bear attacks Leo Dicaprio running through my head.
The opening chapters of Numbers are God’s preparations for the wilderness journey His people are about to take. In fact, the title “Numbers” traditionally comes from the census, or numbering, of the people that happens multiple times in the story. In today’s first chapter, God has Moses take a census of the total number of fighting men available from each tribe.
The world of the ancient Hebrews was especially brutal and violent. Large empires like Egypt were beginning to emerge and swallow up entire regions and people groups in order to grow their empire. The Hebrews have just experienced the Egyptians chasing after them and God delivering them. There’s no promise that the Egyptians won’t recoup and come after them again. Plus, there’s no telling what violent warring people groups or communities that they will encounter. A giant, wandering nation like they are will be seen as an immediate threat, and they can fully expect to be attacked.
They have to be prepared.
In the quiet this morning, this brings me back to the metaphorical wilderness journey that is the spiritual journey through this earthly life. We just trekked through Paul’s “Prison Letters” and were reminded of the many trials and challenges he endured. I’m thankful that my life journey has not included such ordeals, but that’s not to say I don’t have my own share of challenges and trials. You do, too. We are wandering through a fallen world filled with evil, sin, and tragedy. Jesus guaranteed His followers that we would face many kinds of troubles. He said that the world would hate us the way it hated Him. I can bank on that.
Which leads me to ask: How prepared am I?
As I meditated on this question this morning it struck me how often people are surprised and unprepared when life throws them a wicked curveball. Yet, God tells me again and again to expect challenges, trials, tragedies, and tribulation along this earthly wilderness journey. They will happen. When they do happen, I’m told to rejoice, to praise, and to consider it all joy in the midst of them.
Last week in our trek through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians he told the believers to “put on the full armor of God” in preparation for the spiritual dangers awaiting us on this journey. It’s no different than what God was asking the Hebrew tribes to physically do in today’s chapter.
Paul tells me that what I need to be spiritually prepared for the dangers awaiting me on my own wilderness journey are the following:
Righteousness that guards my heart like a breastplate
Truth as a belt around my waist
Preparedness of peace as my hiking boots
Salvation as a helmet protecting my precious head
Faith as a shield
The Word of God as a sword
How well I navigate this earthly journey has a lot to do with how spiritually prepared I am each day. Which is what my mornings in the quiet and this chapter-a-day trek has always been about.
Lace ‘em up, friend. A new day and a new work week lies ahead.
Are you ready?
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
Leviticus (Feb-Mar 2025)
Each photo below corresponds to a chapter-a-day post for the book of Leviticus published by Tom Vander Well in February and March 2025. Click on the photo linked to each chapter to read the post.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
Life “by the Book”
Life "by the Book" (CaD 2 Ki 22) – Wayfarer
Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.
2 Kings 22:10 (NIV)
I’ve been geeking out on some history of late. Over the years, I’ve often referenced one of the most significant inflection points in human history, when Roman Emporer Constantine unexpectedly declared his faith in Jesus Christ in 312 A.D. Almost overnight, followers of Jesus went from being illegal, hunted, persecuted, and scapegoated dregs of the Empire to having the most powerful earthly patron and protector imaginable. Over the next century or so, the Jesus Movement would become the most powerful institutional empire in the world. This ushered in many good things, but it ultimately also laid the groundwork for some of the most heinous and tragic events in history.
Initially, Constantine’s faith led him to do many positive things as Emporer. He established a day off for everyone in the empire, every week, as God had commanded in the Ten Commandments. Other than the Jewish sabbath, a day off each week was unheard of in the ancient world. Every weekend I can whisper a thank you to God, Moses, and Constantine.
Another thing Constantine did as the Emporer was to invest in creating copies of the Bible. There was, of course, no printing press in those days. Everything was copied by hand. A new copy of the entire Bible, both old and new testaments, would cost the average person 30 years’ wages. Copies of the Old Testament, the Gospels, and the letters of Paul were few and far between. By funding the creation of new copies, Constantine helped ensure that more and more people had the opportunity to hear the Great Story.
The Hebrew people, and later the followers of Jesus, have long been known as “people of the Book” (btw, the phrase is also used in reference to Muslims and their Quran). This Great Story is the foundation of what I believe as a disciple of Jesus.
Today’s chapter contains a historical inflection point similar to Constantine’s faith in Jesus. In 622 B.C., young King Josiah of Judah orders that repairs be made to Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. In the course of events, the high priest discovers a copy of the Law of Moses. For a couple of hundred years, the people of Judah worshipped other idols and pagan gods, even going so far as to set up altars to other gods within Solomon’s Temple. Along the way, they put the books of Moses on a shelf in the junk room and forgot about them.
When the books of Moses were read to King Josiah, they had an immediate, spiritual effect. It spurred a spiritual revival on a national scale.
In the quiet this morning, I’m thinking about this chapter-a-day journey I started 17 years ago next month. That feels like a long time, but it’s rooted in 25 prior years of being a “person of the Book.” For over forty years I’ve been reading, studying, memorizing, contemplating, meditating, and endeavoring to live each day “by the Book.” Paul wrote that the words are “living, active, sharper than any two-edged sword.” I’ve experienced that. It pierced King Josiah’s heart in today’s chapter when he heard it read for the first time. It pierces my heart again and again, deeper and deeper, the further I get in my spiritual journey.
I can’t imagine what it must have looked like for the people of Josiah’s day to live in complete ignorance of what the Books of Moses actually said.
I know a very different reality; A reality in which virtually every follower of Jesus I know has the luxury of having the Book, perhaps multiple copies, readily available.
It’s one thing for The Book to be a rare treasure that’s lost. It’s another thing for it to be an overlooked luxury ignored.
May it be said of me that I was “a person of the Book.” Not just in my reading, my blogging, or my podcasting, but in my life and relationships.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.