Skip to content Numbers 18-19: The Red Heifer and Prophecy Mar 20 · 15 min ...more
Numbers 18-19: The Red Heifer and Prophecy
March 20, 2026 · 15 min
Unveil the significance of the red heifer in biblical prophecy and its rare occurrence since ancient times.
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Introduction and the Red Heifer 0:09 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word as our journey through the bible takes us to Numbers chapters chapters 18 and 19, with the gift comes responsibility. Verse 7 of chapter 18.0:21 Therefore, you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything at the altar and behind the veil, and you shall serve. I give your priesthood to you as a gift for service, but the outsider who comes0:32 near shall be put to death. Alright. Before we jump into, today's, study and its passage, let me just, say thank you to so many of you who have reached out either in0:43 post, on social media or emailed me expressing the sympathy, to my family and I, for the passing of, of my father. The patriarch of our0:55 family, we greatly appreciate the prayers. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the prayers and the, the sympathy, especially those who have, commented that knew my father and the kind of man1:07 that he was. 1 more request for you. Today, if you're watching this in the morning, I will be conducting his celebration of life service. We'll be celebrating the life of my father beginning 11 301:19 central time. And if you, would like, you can watch, that service on Facebook. But pray for me as I desire to glorify my heavenly father and honor my1:31 earthly father, today as we as we celebrate, his life and legacy. So I thank you for that. Alright. We're gonna look at, chapter 18, but first, I1:43 wanna take a look at chapter 19 and the red heifer. I've actually been to Shiloh in Israel where, 4 red heifers are currently1:54 undergoing rabbinical observation in accordance with the requirements of Numbers chapter 19. And if I could, I would show you the pictures as I was standing there by the red heifers. Now the red2:06 heifer was not the was not a sacrifice in since in the same sense as the other sacrifices that were burnt on the altar. It was led forth out of the camp. Now in accordance with the2:18 law regarding victims laden with the sins of the people, and thus, it was a it was a type of Christ. Now this was burned outside the camp, and the ashes were gathered and kept and then mixed with water2:30 to purify the congregation from sin. Now you've probably heard about the red heifers, as it factors into biblical prophecy2:45 nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. Been happening. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness.2:58 And from all your idols, I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a3:10 heart of flesh. Now the as many understand biblical prophecy, the water purification is needed, which requires a red heifer. Now you might3:21 think, well, a red cow, that's easy enough to find. But here in numbers 19, it provides specific requirements that must be met. Number 1, perfect in its redness,3:34 every hair, even its hooves. Okay? There cannot be any other spot in it. 3 to 4 years old, can be older but not younger. Free of any internal or external defect,3:46 which is why it requires it being over 3 years old so that the defects would be manifested, and could not have had a yoke placed on it. Now according to Jewish3:58 scholars, a red heifer was a rare find. In fact, only 9 were used between the tabernacle and the destruction of the second temple in AD 70, a span of a little over4:10 1500 years. Again, according to Jewish scholars, the tenth red heifer will be connected to the Messiah. All I can say4:22 to that is be ready. Alright. Let's go back to chapter 18 verse 1. Then the lord said to Aaron, you and your sons in your father's house with you shall bear the iniquityPriesthood: Privilege and Accountability 4:34 related to the sanctuary, and you and your sons shall bear the iniquity associated with your priesthood. Also, bring with you your brethren of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be4:46 joined with you and serve you while you and your sons are with you before the tabernacle of witness. They shall attend to your needs and all the needs of the tabernacle, but they shall not come near the articles of the4:57 sanctuary and the altar, lest they die, they and you also. Alright. So as I mentioned with the gift comes responsibility. With this opportunity comes responsibility. Aaron and his5:09 sons would be accountable for any defilement of the tabernacle. They were to guard the glory by upholding the holiness. This was not only for what they did,5:22 but for what those under their direction did. Okay? They were responsible not only for their conduct, but ensure that the others, the Levites, who were also working around the tabernacle, upheld5:34 the standards of god. Now James speaks to to the greater accountability of those who teach or lead, the greater accountability they have before god. Not only were5:45 Aaron and his sons responsible for what they did, but they were also to carry out and uphold the word of God among those who worked at their direction. This meant they had to teach the people. Alright? First,5:57 they had to teach them what God's word said and then hold them accountable to it. Verse 4. They shall be joined with you and attend to the needs of the tabernacle of meeting for all the work of the6:09 tabernacle, but an outsider shall not come near you. And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, that there may be no more wrath on the children of Israel. Behold, I myself have taken6:21 your brethren, the Levites, from among the children of Israel. They are a gift to you, given by the Lord to do the work of the tabernacle of meeting. Now we we we look at, at this6:33 before that the the Levites were given as a as a wave offering to the Lord, alright, to the priest so that they could assist in the duties of the tabernacle, but not in the holy things. Alright?6:45 There was a line they couldn't cross. Verse 7. Therefore, you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything at the altar and behind the veil, and you shall serve. I give you your priest I give6:57 your priesthood to you as a gift for service, but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death. Now don't miss this. Aaron and his sons were given a gift, the priesthood. They7:08 were given this exalted position and given the opportunity to serve and minister before the lord. It was a gift to be able to serve the lord. Even though there was a heavy weight with it, it was a7:20 gift. The ability to serve god is a gift. It's not a burden or an obligation. It is indeed a privilege. It is a privilege that you and I have to serve the lord. And here's the application to7:32 us. For for those who have received the gift of salvation, it's a gift, and we have trusted Jesus as our savior, we we have been given the position of7:44 priesthood. Let me read it for you. First Peter chapter 2 verse 9, but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. So this the old testament7:56 focused on Israel, but we are a part of a holy nation that God is building his kingdom as we accept Jesus Christ as our savior. We are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a8:08 holy nation, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. You see, like Aaron and his sons,8:19 we don't set the rules. God does, and we're to follow them. We have a responsibility to God to protect the glory of God's presence by upholding8:31 his standard of holiness. Now I know we we we are not holy in and of ourselves, but we're sanctified by what? How are we sanctified? By the spirit and the word. The the holy spirit8:43 uses the word to sanctify us. That's why this journey through the word of God is so important. You, as you are open to the word of God and this is why I say every time we you open the8:55 word pray before asking the Holy Spirit to enlighten you and to show you things, because the Holy Spirit is the teacher. I'm just a guy. The Holy Spirit is the teacher. He's teaching you all things. But the word9:06 activated by the Holy Spirit Bible9:18 preparing for, the service, and, you know, he had some songs that he had clipped. I didn't know he sang, but he had a couple of old hymns that we sang many years ago when I was a kid when we started going9:30 to church. And, 1 of them was take time to be holy. Take time to be holy. We we need to take that time to be holy and devoted to the remember Jesus, you know, he overturned9:42 the, the the tables in the temple. You know, we often hear about that quoted. That was not because he was short changed by the the money changers. What he9:54 was it was righteous indignation because they had defiled the things of God. Holiness matters. With the gift comes responsibility. SoGod's Provision and Eternal Inheritance 10:06 next, next, god says, I'll also provide for you. Alright? This is encouraging. Numbers 18 8, and the lord said spoke to Aaron here, I myself has have also10:22 given them as a portion to you and your sons as an ordinance forever. So he goes through the sacrifices and and what will be theirs. He provides for them. Verse 19. All the heave offerings of the holy things which the10:34 children of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to you and your sons and daughters with you as an ordinance forever. It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord with you and your descendants with you. Then the10:44 Lord said to Aaron, you shall have no inheritance in the land, nor shall you have any port any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel. So why10:54 did the the Levites not10:54 get land that was permanently theirs? Well, there11:14 communicates that this world and all that it has to offer is is not our home and therefore should not be our focus. You know, I think of, the old hymn,11:26 this world is not my home. You know, this world is not my home. I'm just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. You see, in reality, we're just pilgrims passing through, and we've kinda lost11:38 that. You know, as I've been, reflecting the last few days, I looked back at some of the hymns that we used to sing when I was a kid, and, you know, most of them were focused on heaven. And I I listened to a lot of the11:49 praise songs today, and and I like a lot of them, but they're focused on on on this world, and this world is not our home. We are pilgrims. We're just passing through. Secondly, I think this was12:01 to continually remind them that they were to depend upon God and that he was their provision as they taught the people to walk with God. This gave them a heart for12:13 God and for the people, allowing them to be devoted and focused upon God. And this is a picture of believers. As I said, we're a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and as such, our portion is not in this world,12:25 but is in God. I mean, Colossians 3 1, if then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, by the way, making intercession12:37 for you and me. Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth. Where's your focus? For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. For we know,12:49 in second Corinthians chapter 5 1, for we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house12:56 not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 1 more thing to point out.12:57 Look at verse 27. Heavens. 1 more thing to point out. Look at verse 26. Speak thus to the Levites and say to them, when you take from the children of Israel the tithes which I have13:08 given you from them as your inheritance, then you shall offer a heave offering of it to the lord, a tenth of the tithe. Verse 28, thus you shall also offer13:20 a heave offering to the lord from all your tithes, which you receive from the children of Israel, and you shall give the lord's heave offering from it to Aaron the priest. So the Levites who were supported by the ties of13:31 the people were to give a tie to the priest. And I think the principle here is that we're to give back from give back to the Lord what we have been provided. Everything comes from the lord,13:43 and we give back to him, not not by ordinance or by by law, but by the gratitude for what we have been given. Father, we thank you for your love.13:56 We thank you for your mercy and grace. We thank you for the hope that we have in you, and and and thank you, father, for the royal priesthood as believers that we are in. And I I pray, father, that14:08 we would we would guard the glory of your presence by upholding your holiness, lord, by being sanctified by your word and by the work of the holy spirit in our14:20 lives. And so we pray for the holy spirit to teach us how to apply your word to our lives in this world in which we're living. For we pray and ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks for joining me this morning,14:32 and until next time, keep standing on the word.14:37 Today's study comes from the stand on the word bible reading plan available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day,14:49 you can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 Introduction and the Red Heifer4:27 Priesthood: Privilege and Accountability10:06 God's Provision and Eternal Inheritance
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