All offerings are for God, and thus their blood is to be poured out. This is the only sacrifice whose blood is first sprinkled directly before the tabernacle and then burnt up. Most offerings are of male bulls and goats. But this sacrifice alone is a heifer, a female cow. Most sacrifices have no color specification. But this sacrifice has to be of a specific color; it must be a red heifer. Most sacrifices are offered on the altar. Only this sacrifice is burned outside the camp. Other sacrifices are for the forgiveness of sins. But the second half of this sacrifice is for cleansing. The five offerings of Leviticus describe the Passover lamb. They are prepared for sinners. This is why they are recorded in Exodus and Leviticus. This sacrifice, however, is prepared for the people of God. This is why it is recorded in Numbers. It is a sacrifice for the experience of God's people in the way of the wilderness. The other sacrifices are for sin. Only this sacrifice is for the filth in the wilderness. Other sacrifices are male animals. This sacrifice is female. Everything that is related to sinners is male, and everything that is related to God's people is female (Deut. 21:3-9). Leviticus 5:6 says that a female goat can be offered up as a trespass offering. The trespass offering is not just for sinners, but is frequently for believers. It is not like the sin offering, which is strictly for sinners. The trespass offering is for both sinners and believers. When something is offered up for God's people, it can be female. This is the regulation in the Old Testament.

This sacrifice, though dealing with man's offenses toward God, is actually offered up for believers. The color red signifies redemption before God. This sacrifice is not offered on the altar, because it is not for sinners. A sinner has to pass through the altar before he can come to God. This sacrifice is burned outside the camp. The camp is the place where the people of God are. Hence, the camp is a type of the church. To be outside the camp is to be cut off from the fellowship. But if you are cut off from the fellowship, a sacrifice is waiting for you. This is a sacrifice to deal with the believers' sins. It is for the restoration of fellowship.

Let us now consider the sacrifice itself. This sacrifice is of two parts. In the first part, the blood of the sacrifice is offered. In the second part, the sacrifice is burned. The first part begins from the second half of Numbers 19:2. "Tell the sons of Israel to bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no defect, and upon which a yoke has never come." All those who understand the Bible know that this refers to the Lord Jesus. Hebrews 10 indicates that this red heifer refers to the Lord Jesus. What are the Lord Jesus' qualifications to become this sacrifice? Numbers 19:2 says that this sacrifice was to be without spot and without blemish and was never to have come under a yoke. Being without spot and blemish refers to His life. Never having come under a yoke refers to His work. In life He is without blemishes. In work He has never been under a yoke. In His life and person, the Lord Jesus is without spot and blemish. Not only is He without blemish, but also in His experience He is clean, that is, He has never been under a yoke. He is a clean man, and He has a clean experience. Many people are without blemish, but they have been yoked. But in His experience, the Lord Jesus was never yoked. He never touched the things of sin. He was never oppressed by sin or dominated by sin. He was never provoked to sin. He is completely free. Tonight we cannot say this for ourselves, for we are not free people. We have been oppressed by sin and have been dominated by sin. We have been provoked by sin and are not our own masters. The Lord Jesus has no spots. Only the Lord Jesus has never been put under the yoke of sin.