by:
06/12/2025
0
“This is the law when someone dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean seven days” (19:14). Touching a dead body in ancient Israel made a person ritually “unclean” (19:11). Even objects near the body were “unclean” (19:15). These rules emphasized the terrible disruption and tragedy of death, which sin brought into creation. The ashes of a red heifer, slain “outside the camp”, were mixed with water to cleanse the people (19:9).
Jesus entered our world and did not avoid dead bodies or sickness. Instead, he touched and healed, and finally he “suffered outside the gate” to cleanse us. He shared our sin and sorrow so that death could be swallowed up in life (Heb10:12).