PIECES OF THE PUZZLE - THE MYSTERIOUS STORY OF THE RED HEIFER

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Have you ever felt compelled to study the details of the sacrifice of The Red Heifer?  The study is fascinating and I keep coming back to it year after year.  If you’ve never heard of it, this was a sacrifice of a perfect Red Heifer that God commanded of Moses to make for the people in order to cleanse them before entering the Tabernacle in the wilderness.  Apparently, the ritual was put into place immediately as the Tabernacle came into use as God had instructed Moses. 

The requirements were that the heifer must be three years old and perfectly red; it must be physically free from any blemish or defect; it must never have been used to perform any physical labor; it was to be taken to a specific place outside the camp where it was slaughtered and burned; its ashes were mixed together with pure spring water to make a mixture to be sprinkled on the people for purification.

This practice started with Moses and was carried on all throughout history until the last temple was destroyed.  There have been nine red heifers and the nation of Israel is waiting on the 10^th to appear. 

Originally the people were contaminated and became impure because of the making of the golden calf.  You can read the story in Deuteronomy, Chapter nine of your bible.  To make it very short here it was a time when Moses had ascended to the mountain of God to receive the commandments of God.  The people were tired of waiting on their leader to return.  They were bored and restless, and they appealed to Aaron, whom Moses had left in charge to create a golden calf.  Miriam’s son Hur tried to persuade the people that this was wrong and they killed him for standing up to them.  Now bulls were a pagan symbol of worship in the land of Cannan and also in some areas of Egypt from where the people had just been released from slavery.  Aaron, probably afraid of the same fate as Hur, complied with their wishes and made the calf that they wished for him to make. Many scholars have pointed out too that there were Egyptians that had tagged along with the crowd as they left Egypt and that they had been secretly conspiring, persuading the people to make the calf.  Aaron was said to have stalled for time, thinking that Moses would soon return.  When that didn’t work he was said to have commanded that the people bring all their gold for it, thinking they might be stingy and not want to give it.  They complied.  It is unlikely that Aaron actually intended this calf be an idol, as he proclaimed a Feast for Yahwah after he finished making it.  (Exodus 32:5). 

At first it appeared that the people worshipping the calf seemed to associate it with the God who brought them out of Egypt.  It was said by some that the Egyptian conspirators knew magic tricks that made the calf appear to jump out of the fire.  Many believe that this was when the people’s hearts turned from worshipping God to worshipping the golden calf.  They allowed themselves to be tricked into believing a lie by sensational magic.  What ever the circumstances leading up to this, there are many theories, as time went on the truth came out.  Most of the people had wanted Aaron to make them a God to lead them because Moses had tarried so long on the Mountain.  They had allowed themselves to be deceived.  Whatever their original intentions, it becomes clear in Exodus 32:8 that the people immediately fell to worshipping the calf and violated the first commandment that God was giving to Moses on the Mountain (Thou shalt not have any other gods before Me.)

Now, God is omnipresent.  He could see the people in the camp and tend to Moses on the Mountain at the same time.  He KNEW this was going on the whole time, yet; He was giving Moses instructions of His will.  God informed Moses of his displeasure with the people and that they would die for their sins.  He told Moses that a new people, descendents of Moses would take their place and carry His will with them to the nations of the world. 

Moses was very distressed.  He prayed for God to forgive the people, reminding God of the covenant with Abraham and begging for mercy.  God decided to be merciful. 

Moses had promised the people that he would return in 40 days.  When the 40^th day arrived, Moses returned at sunset with the Commandments of God in his hands.  His assistant, Joshua was waiting on him at the foot of the Mountain.  They returned together at the end of the 40^th day after receiving the Revelation of God, just as promised.  When they approached the camp and saw what was taking place Moses threw the tablets of the commandments on the ground in frustration, breaking them into a million shattered pieces.  He took the golden calf and ground it to dust and spread the dust over water and made the people drink it.  This was his way of showing them the worthlessness of their idol and the lack of power it had.  Moses then stood at the entrance of the camp and told everyone who worshipped God to stand with him.  The entire tribe of Levi came. He then commanded those who were of God to slaughter those who had worshipped the golden calf, no matter how important those people were to them.   That day three thousand of the children of Israel lost their lives because of the sin of idolatry.

Moses went back up the mountain and prayed to God for the next 40 days while the people mourned their dead and atoned for their sins before God.  When the 40 days were up God told Moses to hew another set of tablets.  Moses ascended to the mountain a third time for God to inscribe the commandments.  Over the next 40 days God inscribed the commandments and told Moses that He had forgiven the children of Israel.   As Moses stood on the mountain with the commandments in his hands God taught Moses how the people could make atonement for their sins through repentance and prayer.  God proclaimed thirteen attributes for the people to recite in the days of their repentance.  These are a story unto themselves, but you can read of them in Exodus 34:6-7. 

After all of this Moses invited God to go before them and to use them as His people again.  God promised a covenant to Moses.  On the tenth day of the month of Tishrei (Yom Kippur) Moses returned to the camp and brought the commandments and told the people of God’s covenant with them.   God had promised them many blessings and miracles.  Moses’ face shinned so bright that the people were frightened and looked at him in awe.  Moses veiled himself and proceeded to teach the children of Israel the Torah.

Well……I tried to make that explanation as brief as possible, but you can’t leave much out and have the whole story.  Getting back to the reason for the Red Heifer, can you see how this ritual would signify the reversal of the sin of the golden calf? 

There are many mysteries surrounding the thought and ritual of The Red Heifer.  It was originally used to purify the people, especially from the contamination of death.  Death was considered the worst impurity of all impurities, life was considered the most sacred of all pure.  Sin had brought the death of three thousand people.  Think of the form of sin here.  They let others in the culture persuade them of untruth.  Can you see that around us today?  They didn’t just get up one day and decide to be disobedient to God, it seeped in on them from worldly influences.  Are you getting a picture of this now?  Could we in the United States of America be guilty of the sin of idolatry too?  The answer is not hard.  Do we too need to be made pure from the water and ashes of a red heifer?  Well, it did happen.  Just like God was merciful to the People of Israel who followed Him, He has looked down on us today and provided a way for us to be cleansed of the impurity of death from association with the ways of our current culture.  Our Red Heifer came in the form of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. 

After years and years of God teaching His people the story in a million different ways, God sent His Only Begotten Son.  The Son of God lived out the story in every aspect of His life on earth.  Can we not look upon His life and see that He was our sacrifice, our salvation, our only hope?  The church stands like Moses and says, you who believe in God come to my side.  Take a stand and live out what you believe no matter how hard the turn may be for you.  You may have to give up some things that are dear to you in order to come out of the world.  The answer though, on the other side of the cross, is life!  Life is worth it all. Eternal life is the final gift of God to His people.  Jesus died that we may live forever.  It is a pardox, much like the paradox of the Red Heifer.

Those who administered the ashes of the Red Heifer had to contaminate themselves outside the camp with the death of the cow.  This made them impure.  In taking on these impurities from death though, they were able to cleanse the people that they served. 

In considering this I think of the people today who have willingly made the sacrifice in risking their own lives to give medical help to those who have possibly fatal diseases, such as the doctors and nurses who have recently been in the news for treating cases of ebola.  I have noted that those who know God and have gone to their jobs with the backing of prayer and the heart of a servant of God have fared much better.  Is this a coincidence?  

Such was the case with our dear Jesus who took on our sins before God on the cross.  Sin is the greatest disease there is.  He took on all of our sin.  He was pure, but he became impure for a time  with our sins on the cross in order to cleanse us from the sin we have brought on ourselves.  

The priests of the temple went through the same ironic service year after year, always teaching in their actions the mercy and justice of God.  Mercy and justice existing together are yet another form of paradox we must consider in this story.

This is only a small sampling of the stories behind the mystery of The Red Heifer.  It is said that the whole Torah can be explained just from this one story.  It contains so much more than man can even begin to understand.  It is all about being obedient and faithful to God even when you do not know or understand what is going on in your circumstances.

The amazing story of The Red Heifer is a wonderful thing to consider as we make our way through a pagan world. 

COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 45 - LAW AND GRACE ABIDING IN THE SAME TENT

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

When Sarai complained to Abram that Hagar’s attitude was his fault he looked at her and said “Hagar is your servant, deal with her as you please.” 

This was very true.  Sarai was the legal owner of Hagar, not Abram.  We know now that no person should EVER under any circumstances own another person and under God's grace we all are free people, but in those days this was not known and Hagar had been given to Sarai by Pharaoh, but also as the first and chosen wife of Abram,  Sarai by law would always be in charge of and over Hagar as the second wife/concubine through the customs and laws of the land at that time.  

Perhaps Sarai was just trying to see how much Abram really remembered this and took it to heart.  He had probably paid a lot more attention to Hagar than Sarai had expected.  Maybe she wanted to hear him say, “she is simply your servant, you are still my wife and the main woman in my life – I don’t care what happens to her; I only want you to be happy.”   Of course Abram didn’t state it exactly that way, but he made it plain to Sarai that she was in control of this situation that she had created with her alternative plan. 

The scriptures say that Sarai dealt with Hagar harshly.  To deal with someone harshly seems to imply abuse.  Was it possible that Sarai, who had always been known to be a kind, gentile and godly woman had abused someone because of jealousy?  We do not know for sure, but jealously can turn saints into sinners.

Jealousy often turns to hatred.  Hatred that is stored up in a heart will, in most cases, eventually cause a person to sin.   Suddenly these two emotions were more prevalent in the life of Sarai and in the life of Hagar.  Each woman was equally guilty.

Charles Spurgeon once preached an excellent sermon on this subject of Sarai and Hagar.  With the profound words he uttered way back in 1856 he pointed out  the differences between  a covenant of law and a covenant of grace.   He used the lives of Sarai and Hagar as examples to illustrate the characteristics of both covenants.  His exact words were:  “one of the most difficult things in the world is to discriminate properly between law and grace. He who knows the difference, and always recollects it—the essential difference between law and grace—has grasped the marrow of divinity. “  

Mr. Spurgeon used Hagar as an example of men living under the law.  As we all have seen, following the law is a very wise trait.  Many men seek to do so, and it becomes very apparent that those who chose to follow the law have much more quality to  their daily lives because of it.  We have noted that Hagar recognized the difference in the house of Abram and the house of Pharoah and chose to go live in the house of Abram.  In Pharoah's house there was not the same order, not an observance of the things of God that the law spells out for us.  Hagar chose to put herself under the law because she saw the good that comes of living under the law.  It was a wise choice, until she forgot herself to follow through till the end.   Adam in the garden had everything that he needed and wanted until He broke the one law that God had given to him:  “Do not eat from this tree or you will surely die.”  Everything is fine and dandy in keeping the law until one slips up, gives in to temptation and sins by  breaking  a commandment; then there is nothing but death to look forward to in the end.  

The next covenant God made with men after the one God made with Abram was the covenant of the law which was given at Sinai.  That covenant was conditional and totally depended only on what men did.  They could follow the law and live, or break the law and die.  This is so obviously illustrated by the life of Hagar.  She was a slave to the law of the land and the times in which she lived.  Everything depended on how she kept this law.  She prospered only from her own actions and the things that she did.  She could keep the will of the household of Abram and  Sarai and continue to live in peace and comfort, or she could rebel and suffer the consequences of the dangers of death in the hot and barren desert.  Everything that happened to Hagar depended upon her doing the right thing.  If she did right she would live, if she did wrong she would die.  She was a slave to the law that ruled over her.  This is a perfect picture of the covenant of the giving of the law that God later made with man.  It was all very conditional.  It had everything to do with what men did and absolutely nothing to do with what God did.

Abram, on the other hand, had already been given an unconditional covenant from God; one that involved a sacrifice and a promise of God’s unconditional love and grace.  Nothing depended on what Abram did; everything depended on what God did.  

As Abram's first and chosen wife, Sarai was living under this same covenant given to Abram.  She was living under grace, not law.  The sacrifice had been given to bear the sins and iniquities of Abram and Sarai long before Hagar had entered into the picture.   God had walked between the pieces of the sacrifices on the altar and made promises to Abram; promises that included Abram and Sarai but did not include Hagar (who would always be under the headship of Sarai which meant any blessings to Hagar would come indirectly through Sarai), even though God graciously cared for and showed mercy to Hagar because she too was now the second wife of Abram.  As the second wife, Hagar was living under completely different legal consequences than Sarai.  Hagar's consequences contained conditions.  Nothing about her fate depended on God, everything depended on what Hagar did.   She was in control of her own destiny.  It was to Sarai that the promises had been made.  These promises  to Sarai were unconditional.   Nothing about Sarai's fate depended on Sarai's actions.  Her destiny was totally out of her own hands and only in control of God.   Everything that happened to Sarai depended solely on God's mercy and kindness toward her.  

 Everything Hagar did depended on her own works and her own efforts; but everything that Sarai did depended only on the unconditional covenant that God had made with Abram to bless him and his family.  Sarai, though she sinned, would have pardon.  Hagar would also be blessed, but not in such an unconditional way.  Hagar would not be pardoned if she did wrong; she  would always be punished for her sins.

 Just as Sarai came into the story of Abram long before he ever knew of Hagar, we can also see that long before God gave the law on Sinai, He gave a covenant of unconditional grace to Abram, his family and all of his descendants.  We can see here that through God's wisdom grace actually came before the law, which is something that many overlook when they are thinking about God's covenants with mankind.  The picture of all of this is played out in this story of Hagar and Sarai and the covenant that God made with Abram. 

In God's original plan, Hagar (who represents the law) was never intended to be a wife.  She was meant only to be a handmaid.  This is a perfect picture of the working of the law among mankind.  Men were never intended to live under the law.  It (the law) was only supposed to be used as a servant to men, to help them, to guide them, like a handmaid.  

Sarai, the picture of grace, was the actual first and chosen wife.  By bringing Hagar into a place where she was never intended to be, Abram and Sarai mistakenly and wrongly made a case for works instead of grace.  The laws of God did not need to be given to Sarai; she had them already hidden deep inside her heart.  They were not done out of duty by her or as a burden, but done in joy as a form of worship.  But things were different for Hagar.  Hagar had to be shown the laws of God; they did not come naturally to her.  She had to be taught, sometimes harshly, the things she did not know that were not natural in her spirit.  

This covenant of unconditional grace between God and Abram was made stronger and richer many years later through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  This was a much greater sacrifice, a perfect sacrifice, one better even than the one of Abram and much better than the one from Sinai called The Law.  The law was never intended to save men; it was only designed to be a temporary handmaiden to the covenant of grace; a way to help men find salvation and mercy and ultimately; grace.   These facts are seen clearly in the details of the newer and better covenant of Christ.  

Had man never known the law, they probably would never have come to know Christ.  It was this imperfection of mankind, this inability to keep the law perfectly, that created the necessity of the sacrifice of Christ and which eventually drew mankind to Him.  The law has worked in all who know Christ just as the handmaiden, Hagar, worked in the life of Sarai.  Being the handmaiden was useful and helpful but it did not qualify her as the wife of the blessed child.  The law is meant to be helpful in leading to salvation, but it is not meant to bring the gift of salvation.  Sarai would always be the true wife.  Grace would always be and always has been the eternal gift of God to His people who seek Him with all their hearts.  We all try to follow the law and we all fail.  We need grace, there is no way around it.  It is the grace of God that brings us salvation and eternal life.    

When we know this and learn how to use the law properly; for the cleansing of our hearts, just as the handmaiden cleaned the tents of Sarai; we begin to see how to live in constant grace.  Sarai had to be responsible and put Hagar in her proper place in order to live in accordance with God’s perfect will.    Grace will always put the law into its proper place.  But the law will always strive to be the head mistress over grace,  just as Hagar struggled to lord over Sarai.  Sarai, like the grace of God, ruled her household with a firm hand.  The mistress of the law can never rise above the grace of God.  One will always be a mistress and one will always be a wife.  Grace always has and always will prevail in the end. 

Just as Sarai dealt harshly with the haughtiness of Hagar, we too must deal harshly with those who would live in the law minus grace.  We must take every step to keep grace in control of the household of our souls and law in its proper place underneath her.  

Sarai probably wanted Hagar to flee, to go to the wilderness.  Perhaps she even hoped to drive her out.  We too, who have known the beauty of the grace of God in all its fullness, must not surrender our way of life to those who would only live by works alone.  Works alone, without love and faith will not keep a house happy.  Grace must always prevail.  It has been the plan of God from the very foundation of the world when Christ first decided to give us the covenant of grace through His own precious blood.    Grace was the plan all along, long before any altar was even built.

Sarai treated Hagar harshly, and so will those of God who have to deal with those who only trust in the works of their own hands and minds and do not leave room for God's unconditional love.  

We have seen from the beginning of their story how Sarai and Abram were constantly reminding everyone who came and went as guest in their tents that ALL things came from God and nothing about Sarai and Abram was to be praised or thanked.  They would remind all who thanked them to only direct their thanks to God.  This is because God’s spirit lived inside both of them.  Their lives and all of their days were simply an act of worship.  If they breathed, they worshipped.  Not so with Hagar.   Hagar, in all her selfish ambitious learning had not even grasped this concept that was being lived out constantly before her eyes both day and night.  She thought that she had the power within her own flesh to make things legal and right.  Law can never completely do this, only grace is able to accomplish it.  Grace is a gift from God, no man owns it and only God can grant it.  To receive grace, one must seek God’s face and ask  for it. 

Sarai’s attitude, no matter how much she sinned, would always win out above Hagar’s.  Even though both Sarai and Abram had temporarily forgotten for a short time and made a huge mistake, they had before and after this time always sought the face of God.  If you belong to God His grace allows for mistakes in judgment, because in the end those who have the spirit of God living in them always return to God. 

As Spurgeon so eloquently put it; “law is the road which guides us, not the rod which drives us.”    The law, like the picture of Hagar in this story, is good and eloquent when it takes its proper place.  If Hagar had remembered her place, she would not have had any trouble with Sarai.  Her actions would have been totally different.  Grace will always show the law its proper place.  It is important to remember that Hagar (the picture of the law) was never a free woman, and Sarai (the picture of grace) was always free.  Works (such as Hagar brought to the table) will never set you free, but will always keep you a slave.  Grace (what Sarai brought to the table) will make you free indeed. 

It seems this is why Sarai was not criticized for dealing harshly with Hagar.  Still, you have to wonder what this concept of dealing “harshly” implied.  A concubine that had been made a wife could enjoy the pleasures of a wife until the baby was born without being treated like a servant.  Her position was honored and elevated at that point.  Sometimes she would never return to being a servant, but would help her mistress in raising the child which she produced.  This would be the most desirable and highest attainable position for a concubine.  It would require great humility.  This might have been what Hagar had anticipated and expected, but she lacked the grace and humility to carry it out.  This attitude that Hagar brought into the household was definitely not what Sarai had in mind at all.  

Hagar let this fleshly formed change of events with the twist of fate in her favor go straight to her head.  Some people do not do well in handling success, especially the first time that they taste it.  Hagar had to brag, and she had to flaunt her new found power.  She had to get into Sarai’s face with it.  She became very legalistic in her thinking.  That was her biggest mistake.  She went from being a sweet, humble, agreeable young servant girl looking up to her mentor to being a prideful, arrogant, boastful, haughty concubine. 

There are seven things the Lord hates; haughty eyes, lying tongues, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush to evil, false witness and the stirring up of dissention among brothers.  It would appear that perhaps Hagar had a lot of these traits lurking in her personality.  She had hidden them well up until this point in time, but they all came tumbling forth when she found herself pregnant with Abram's child.    

Perhaps Hagar even took every opportunity to embarrass Sarai publicly.   Perhaps she gossiped about her behind her back.  Perhaps she was angry and rebellious in her words and actions toward her.  Perhaps she openly stated to Sarai that she would never be the true mother of her child.  Who knows what could have gone on? Perhaps she threatened Sarai’s life?  Things would have really been easier for Hagar if Sarai accidently had a fatal fall and never recovered.

This is all speculation of course; no one really knows everything that went on in those tents during those days.   From everything we have read and studied about Sarai, it is clear that these situations were not common occurrences in her household before Hagar was with child.  The beautiful, peaceful, joyful atmosphere that surrounded Sarai’s tents as she baked her bread and welcomed her guest with extreme hospitality must have shifted a whole lot during this time.  A different kind of cloud must have settled over the area where these two women dwelt together, and Abram must have spent a lot of time looking after the flocks instead of sitting in the tents.   It is possible, in all of her years as the wife of Abram, that this might have been the first time Sarai had ever encountered pure rebellion, or anyone who hated her.  She must have stewed inside as she considered how to handle the situation that was causing great grief to her once well-run and peaceful household.  Making your own plan instead of waiting on God's plan will always steal your joy.  Grace always provides pardon, but sometimes we still have to live with the consequences of our own actions.  Grace just helps us to deal with the grief of our sins and allows us to keep on walking closer and closer to God as we do.