Red Heifer Purification Offering
Chukat means literally ‘decree of’ and refers to Numbers 19:1-2: “And the L‑rd spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, ‘This is the ordinance of the law which the L‑rd hath commanded saying, speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot…’” This is a totally distinctive offering known as the Red Heifer. It is unique for several reasons:- It required an animal of a specific color that no other sacrifice required.
- It was the only sacrifice that was carried out completely outside the camp of Israel.
- It was the only sacrifice that made the priests that offered it ritually unclean, but made the one that was sprinkled clean.
- It was the only sacrifice where the ashes were used again and again and not
- destroyed after one use.
The ashes of the red heifer were the means for purification for defilement from uncleanness caused by the proximity of a dead body. This was the only method to receive cleansing from this time forward. Most commentators agree that this is a very mysterious and extraordinary offering.
Next is the death of Miriam and the murmuring of the children of Israel because they had no water. Moses and Aaron were instructed to speak to the rock, and it would give water. Moses then lost patience and hit the rock with his rod instead of simply speaking to the rock. Was it because of this incident that the L‑rd told him that he would not enter the Promised Land? After all that Moses had been through, this must have hurt.
This was the changing of the guard. Aaron was succeeded by his son Eleazar, and Moses would be replaced by Joshua! Aaron is now called up to Mount Hor to die and Eleazar is anointed to become the new High Priest of Israel.
A battle with the Canaanites followed, which because of the prayer of the children of Israel, went well. Israel won a decisive victory, but the people became discouraged and spoke against G‑d as well as Moses. The L‑rd responded with another plague. He sent fiery serpents among the people, and many died, so the people came to Moses and asked him to pray.
When he prayed, the L‑rd told him to make a serpent (snake) and set it up on a pole, so that when the people that were bitten looked at the serpent that Moses had made, they were healed.
Yeshua said in John 12:32, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” This is referred to in John 3:14-15 where Yeshua is speaking to Nicodemus and is basically quoting Numbers 21:9, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: That whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” Yeshua was the fulfillment of this prophecy.