Charles Spurgeon Commentary Numbers 19

This ordinance was not given to Moses on Mount Sinai, but in the wilderness of Paran, after the people had broken their covenant with God and were condemned to die. You know Psalm 90—that mournful dirge we read at funerals—which is titled A Prayer of Moses the man of God. He might well write that Psalm, for he lived among a generation of people who were all doomed to die within a short time and to die in the wilderness.

This ordinance was especially appointed to address the circumstances of those who were rendered unclean by the frequent deaths that occurred. A simple and easy way of purification was to be provided for them; and the teaching of this chapter to us is that, since we dwell in a sinful world, there needs to be some simple and ready method of cleansing us, that we may be able to draw near to God.

This was not a usual sacrifice, for the beasts offered were as a rule males; but this was to be a special sacrifice. It was not to be killed by the priest, as other sacrificial offerings were; but the Lord said, "One shall slay her before his face."

This makes it a sacrifice; otherwise, it scarcely deserves the name.

All was to be burnt, and then the ashes, the essence and product of it, were to be preserved to make the water of purification needed to remove those constant defilements which fell upon the people of the camp.

So, the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, which are the very essence of him, are perpetually preserved for the removal of our daily pollution. There was also the essence of cedar wood; that is, the emblem of fragrant immortality, for cedar was an unrotting wood. And hyssop, and scarlet. There must be the humble hyssop used, yet there must be some degree of royalty about the sacrifice, as the scarlet colour signified; and all this is mixed with the blood and the flesh and the skin of the creature, to make the ashes of purification.

What a strange sacrifice this was, for even when it was offered, it seemed to make unclean all those involved with it!