The ashes are the work of the cross. They are put into the living water (Num. 19:17) and become the water for impurity. The living water typifies the Holy Spirit. Once while the children of Israel journeyed, they struck the rock and out came living water (Exo. 17:6). First Corinthians 10:4 says that the rock was Christ. Hence, the living water refers to what flows forth from Christ, which is the Holy Spirit. Taking the living water and making it the water for impurity means that there is the need for the power of the Holy Spirit to be upon us. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, the work of the Lord will be in vain. If there are only the ashes of the red heifer without the living water, they will not be of much use. With the work of the Lord Jesus, there is still the need of the Holy Spirit. Only by the mixing together of the two will we be purified and cleansed. The Lord Jesus does not have to die again. We merely apply the efficacy of the one-time work of the Lord for our cleansing. The ashes of the red heifer represent the eternal and immutable efficacy of the Lord's work on the cross. It is this efficacy that is cleansing us. Because the Lord Jesus has died, the efficacy of His ashes becomes eternal, and by the Holy Spirit He is now applying this efficacy to us.

Every time we sin, we do not have to bring a bull to God again. The efficacy of the Lord's work two thousand years ago continues until today. By those ashes we are cleansed.

What happens if a man is not cleansed? Numbers 19:12 says, "He shall purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be clean; but if he does not purify himself the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean." Why is such a one not clean until the seventh day? The man cleanses himself on the third day, but he is not clean until the seventh day. He is not clean until the seventh day because the goal is the seventh day, not the third day. The third day is the day the Lord Jesus resurrected. After the Lord resurrected, He gave to us the word of the forgiveness of sin. What then is the seventh day? In the Bible the seventh day is the Sabbath. Hebrews 4:9 says that there is another Sabbath. This is the universal, great Sabbath, which will take place in the millennium. This means that a person who is not cleansed in the age of the Lord's resurrection will not be clean in the age of the kingdom. If he is cleansed today in the age of the Lord's resurrection, he will be clean on the seventh day, the age of the kingdom. The third day is for the seventh day. The problem is with the seventh day. The problem of eternity is settled. The problem of being God's children in this age is also settled. All other problems are settled. The only problem today is whether we will be clean in the kingdom.

At the end of this portion, Numbers 19:13 says, "Whoever touches a dead person, the body of any man who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of Jehovah." What is the tabernacle of the Lord? The tabernacle of the Lord today is not a meeting hall or some chapel. The tabernacle of the Lord today is our body. If a man destroys his body, God will destroy him (1 Cor. 3:17). If a man defiles his body, God will say, "That person shall be cut off from Israel" (Num. 19:13b). Such a person will be rejected from Israel. It does not say he will be rejected from Egypt, but from Israel. This means that at the time the children of God reign in the kingdom, such a one will be kept outside. If a person is not clean today, he will be kept outside the kingdom in the future.

Following this we read: "Because the water for impurity was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him." All the unconfessed sins and all the sins that have not passed through the blood of the Lord Jesus leave their uncleanness on the person. This uncleanness will cause one to lose his share in the coming kingdom. Conversely, those who have been cleansed by the water for impurity will be clean in the kingdom. Let me tell you one thing: No sin that has been repented of, that has been confessed and put under the blood of the Lord Jesus, and that has had the ashes applied to it, can ever raise its head at the judgment seat. The water for impurity is able to remove uncleanness because of the power of the blood in it. It is the power of redemption in this water that enables it to remove the uncleanness. Every sin that does not have the effectiveness of the Lord's redemption applied to it will leave uncleanness on the person until the "seventh day." Hence, do not let your sins remain on you. You must remove the uncleanness with the ashes of the Lord Jesus. I thank the Lord that the Son of God does not have to die for me anymore. By His ashes I am clean. But it is foolish as well as dangerous to allow any uncleanness to remain.