Hebrews 9:13

‘For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled, sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh,’

There was, of course, a sense in which the earthly ordinances, the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of the ashes of the heifer, which contained the blood, had catered for the defilement of men and women. They had been outwardly effective. Through them those who had sinned, and those who had had contact with death, could be restored to contact with the congregation of Israel, and thus with the means of worship and atonement, and could once again partake in the ritual. It was so because God had appointed it so. It was not through any intrinsic worth of the sacrifice (for that was symbolic) but He had appointed that it would be so.

But these ordinances could never cleanse within, they could only cleanse the outward flesh. They could never be truly effective. They set men and women apart as outwardly ‘holy’, making them ‘clean’ outwardly so that they had acceptance in the congregation of Israel. They were, by God’s appointment, a way of restoration, but they were not a way of being transformed within. For they could never purify the heart, making men clean within. They were a picture of what would be, not a genuine means of purifying (Hebrews 1:3), of propitiation (Hebrews 2:17), of dealing with sin (Hebrews 7:27) and cleansing (Hebrews 1:3). That awaited the great High Priest to come.

The blood of goats and bulls represented the many sacrifices for sin, and for guilt, and for atonement. The blood of burnt offerings and peace offerings and guilt/trespass offerings was sprinkled on or around the altar (Leviticus 1:5; Leviticus 1:11; Leviticus 3:2; Leviticus 3:8; Leviticus 3:13; Leviticus 7:2), the blood of the special guilt/sin offering prescribed for certain offences in Leviticus 5:1-4 was sprinkled on the side of the altar (Leviticus 5:9), and in the case of a sin offering on behalf of the anointed priest or the whole people it was sprinkled before the veil (Leviticus 4:6; Leviticus 4:17). On the Day of Atonement the blood of the sin offerings was sprinkled on the Mercy Seat within the veil (Leviticus 16:14-15) and on the altar to purify it (Leviticus 16:19). But in no case was the blood sprinkled on people. That only occurred at the sealing of the Sinai covenant (Exodus 24:8), and in the case of the cleansing of a leper, where the blood was that of a bird. Thus the ‘sprinkling of many that be defiled’ cannot refer to the blood of the sacrifices mentioned in Hebrews 9:13.

What was sprinkled on men for the removal of defilement was the water of purification which was prepared by putting the ashes of the red heifer, which were specifically said to contain the blood (Numbers 19:5), and which were kept in a clean place outside the camp of Israel until they were to be used, into a vessel along with ‘living water’ - (spring water which bubbled out of the ground) whence it was sprinkled on those who were unclean through contact with death (Numbers 19:17-21; compare also Numbers 8:7 for its use in the cleansing of the Levites). Thus the blood of bulls and goats sanctified because it atoned. The blood was presented at the altar in order to demonstrate that the sacrifice had been carried out. But what was sprinkled in order to remove uncleanness was the combination of the ashes of the heifer (which contained the blood) mingled with ‘living’ water (untainted spring water).