The Ashes of the Red Heifer

[Buzzards]

Bold by Jsta_Babbler

Numbers 19:1
And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying,
Speak unto the children of Israel,
that they bring thee
#1:a red heifer
#2: without spot,
#3: wherein is no blemish,
#4: and upon which never came a yoke:



God’s Soap Recipe
by Kyle Butt, M.Div.

http://www.apologeticspress.org/apco...13&article=517

When Old Testament instructions are compared to the New Testament explanations for those actions, it becomes clear that many of the ancient injunctions were primarily symbolic in nature. For instance, when the Passover Lamb was eaten, none of its bones was to be broken. This symbolized the sacrifice of Christ, Whose side was pierced, yet even in death escaped the usual practice of having His legs broken (John 19:31-37).

With all the symbolism in the Old Testament, it is important that we do not overlook the Old Testament instructions that were pragmatic in value and that testify to a Master Mind behind the writing of the Law. One such directive is found in Numbers 19, where the Israelites were instructed to prepare the “water of purification” that was to be used to wash any person who had touched a dead body.

At first glance, the water of purification sounds like a hodge-podge of superstitious potion-making that included the ashes of a red heifer, hyssop, cedar wood, and scarlet wool. But this formula was the farthest thing from a symbolic potion intended to “ward off evil spirits.” On the contrary, the recipe for the water of purification stands today as a wonderful example of God’s brilliance, since the recipe is nothing less than a procedure to produce an antibacterial soap.

When we look at the ingredients individually, we begin to see the value of each. First, consider the ashes of a red heifer. As most school children know, the pioneers in this country could not go to the nearest supermarket and buy their favorite personal-hygiene products. If they needed soap or shampoo, they made it themselves. Under such situations, they concocted various recipes for soap. One of the most oft’-produced types of soap was lye soap. Practically anyone today can easily obtain a recipe for lye soap via a quick search of the Internet. The various lye-soap recipes reveal that, to obtain lye, water was poured through ashes. The water retrieved from pouring it through the ashes contained a concentration of lye. Lye, in high concentrations, is very caustic and irritating to the skin. It is, in fact, one of the main ingredients in many modern chemical mixtures used to unclog drains. In more diluted concentrations, it can be used as an excellent exfoliate and cleansing agent. Many companies today still produce lye soaps. Amazingly, through God’s inspiration, Moses instructed the Israelites to prepare a mixture that would have included lye mixed in a diluted solution.

Furthermore, consider that hyssop also was added to the “water of purification.” Hyssop contains the antiseptic thymol, the same ingredient that we find today in some brands of mouthwash (McMillen and Stern, 2000, p. 24). Hyssop oil continues to be a popular “healing oil,” and actually is quite expensive. In listing the benefits of Hyssop, one Web site noted: “Once used for purifying temples and cleansing lepers, the leaves contain an antiseptic, antiviral oil. A mold that produces penicillin grows on the leaves. An infusion is taken as a sedative expectorant for flue, bronchitis, and phlegm” (see “Hyssop”).

Two other ingredients stand out as having cleansing properties. The oil from the cedar wood in the mixture provided a minor skin irritant that would have encouraged scrubbing. And the scarlet wool (see Hebrews 9:19) added wool fibers to the concoction, making it the “ancient equivalent of Lava® soap” (McMillen and Stern, 2000, p. 25).

Thousands of years before any formal studies were done to see what type of cleaning methods were the most effective; millennia before American pioneers concocted their lye solutions; and ages before our most advanced medical students knew a thing about germ theory, God gave the Israelites an award-winning recipe for soap.
REFERENCES

McMillen, S.I. and David Stern (2000), None of These Diseases (Grand Rapids, MI: Revell), third edition.

“Hyssop” (no date), [On-line], URL: http://www.taoherbfarm.com/herbs/herbs/hyssop.htm.
Copyright © 2002 Apologetics Press, Inc. All rights reserved.

We are happy to grant permission for items in the "Inspiration of the Bible" section to be reproduced in their entirety, as long as the following stipulations are observed: (1) Apologetics Press must be designated as the original publisher; (2) the specific Apologetics Press Web site URL must be noted; (3) the author’s name must remain attached to the materials; (4) textual alterations of any kind are strictly forbidden;......

Hopefully I don't have to explain what these 4 things represent in the New Covenant

#1: a red heifer
#2: without spot,
#3: wherein is no blemish,
#4: and upon which never came a yoke:

1st Question posters
Why a Red Heifer ????

also
why a Heifer, a female, not a Bull, a Male ????

The reason I bring this to your attention; is

#4: and upon which never came a yoke:

 

the Church nor the Gospel is to be Yoked To Man nor Men

she is to be free to come and go as she pleases

 

Second; what the Soap did for the outside;

the Gospel will do for the inseide

 

[Buzzards]

Lye has many uses;

it will kill athletes feet; sterilize medical instruments, in concentrated forms, it will kill a Wart (a drop or 2 every day)  kill lice, mites, stop the spread of Iniquity (disease)  amongest the camp, in diluted form we used to use it to dip sheep, also as a Gardener knows; a mild solution of liquid soap will keep most insects off your vegies, and it ""Non-Poluting"" it won't cure Leporacy, but it will keep you from getting it

Health and Hygene

also, the ashes of the fire are good for the soil (Mild amounts) and will not kill the good worms, but will kill most of the bad ones

the Church nor the Gospel is to be Yoked To Man nor Men

she is to be free to come and go as she pleases

Second; what the Soap did for the outside;

the Gospel will do for the inside

[Samie]

Interestingly enough, Christ said no man can come to Him UNLESS the Father draws him (John 6:44), so He YOKED us to His Son on the cross, fashioning us into the body of Christ, thereby creating THE one new man: Christ the Head, humanity the Body (Eph 2:11-19).

[Buzzards]

we are not to be  ""YOKED"" to Man nor Men, Creeds, Codes, Church Law

unequally Yoked to unbelievers either

Adventist have the "Health" Message  =  Ashes of the Red Heifer

just because the Jews did not have a complete understanding doesn't mean its not part of the Gospel

get on the Internet and do some research about the benefits of  Lye

lye will also kill "Proud Flesh" takes several Lye Paks to do so; but it will

 

 

[Samie]

1 hour ago, Buzzards said:

Adventist have the "Health" Message  =  Ashes of the Red Heifer

One example of the 'Health Message' of the Hindus, circa 400 BCE.

Quote

"What need there be said of those innocent and healthy creatures endued with love of life, when they are sought to be slain by sinful wretches subsisting by slaughter? For this reason, O monarch, know that the discarding of meat is the highest refuge of religion, of heaven, and of happiness. Abstention from injury is the highest religion. It is, again, the highest penance. It is also the highest truths from which all duty proceeds. Flesh cannot be had from grass or wood or stone. Unless a living creature is slain, it cannot be had. Hence is the fault in eating flesh... That man who abstains from meat, is never put in fear, O king, by any creature. All creatures seek his protection. He never causes any anxiety in others, and himself has never to become anxious. If there were nobody who ate flesh there would then be nobody to kill living creatures. The man who kills living creatures kill them for the sake of the person who eats flesh. If flesh were regarded as inedible, there would then be no slaughter of living creatures. It is for the sake of the eater that the slaughter of living creatures goes on in the world. Since, O thou of great splendour, the period of life is shortened of persons who slaughter living creatures or cause them to be slaughtered, it is clear that the person who wishes his own good should give up meat entirely... The purchaser of flesh performs himsa [violence] by his wealth; he who eats flesh does so by enjoying its taste; the killer does himsa by actually tying and killing the animal. Thus, there are three forms of killing. He who brings flesh or sends for it, he who cuts off the limbs of an animal, and he who purchases, sells, or cooks flesh and eats it—all of these are to be considered meat-eaters." (Mahabharata 13.115)