Holy Water

http://readicon.com/blessing-for-salt-and-water/

I was raised in the Catholic church.  I was at many masses where the priest walked the aisle sprinkling holy water on the people right and left.  I remember being afraid of getting really wet or getting some in my eye.  I had no idea how they made it holy; I assumed they just blessed it first.  If you look it up, it is a little more than a blessing.  There are rituals and exorcisms of salt and sometimes whole masses (services) dedicated to blessing the water used for baptism and blessing. 

The first holy water was made in the desert according to God’s recipe.  It was made from the ashes of a red heifer, hyssop, scarlet wool and wood.  The priest who created the ashes was unclean from the process until evening.  The red heifer was slaughtered outside the camp.  This was not a sacrifice for the altar.  It was to be burned to ashes outside the camp.  The priest who cleaned up the ashes was also unclean until evening.  Those priests were not the High Priest (in this case Aaron) who must keep himself free from impurity. 

The heifer was to be without defect and never yoked.  All of the animals sacrificed to God were to be perfect, without blemish.  “The tendency of people presented with commands to kill animals in ritual worship would be to use that occasion to get rid of animals that are not worth the demands of their feed and care. But the demands of the Lord are quite specific: only the very finest animals, ones that ordinarily would be used for the improvement of the herd, would be acceptable to Him.”  (Expositor’s Commentary p. 858) This calls for faith that the Lord would bless and strengthen the herd anyway, because of your obedience. The restriction on not having been yoked is new to this situation.  God is looking for this animal to be perfect and unused.  Fully dedicated to Him.  The red heifer was not common; therefore, when one was born it was to be set aside expressly for this purpose.  No one was to try to get any benefit from the animal prior to its sacrifice.  The red heifer was not only rare, its color was representative of the blood of Jesus which cleanses us from all unrighteousness. (Matthew Henry) 

As with many other sacrifices, the blood of the slaughtered red heifer was to be sprinkled.  Since this sacrifice was outside the camp, the blood was to be sprinkled toward the front of the tent of meeting.  Sprinkling the blood acknowledged that the sacrifice was done for God, in obedience to Him.  The animal to be used was a female, not a male.  Other sacrifices call for male animals (Leviticus 1:3).  (Expositor’s p. 859).  Perhaps because wickedness is characterized as a female elsewhere in the Bible (see Zechariah 5:5-11).  Wisdom is also characterized as a woman in Proverbs, ladies, so do not be overly offended (see Proverbs 8:1).  Also, it is possible that this custom is akin to the naming of ships and vehicles, which are given a female gender as well.   

The other items thrown in the red heifer fire had significance, as God does nothing trivial.   

Hyssop- “Since people in the biblical era did not have access to the products we do today, they often relied on naturally occurring resources such as plants, animal byproducts, and minerals for cleaning, cooking, food, medicine, and more. Hyssop, an herb in the mint family with cleansing, medicinal, and flavoring properties, was prolific in the Middle East and was used in a variety of ways.” (https://www.gotquestions.org/hyssop-Bible.html) 

Most of us want to be clean. Anyone who does not value cleanliness will likely get negative reactions from those they contact. The holy water in this passage is representative of a spiritual cleaner. Cleansing of God’s people is important to our righteousness before Him.  David wrote many Psalms of repentance or penitential psalms.  In these, he asks God to cleanse him, renew Him, and create in him a clean heart.  Specifically, in Psalm 51:7, David prays: “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” David is asking God to clean his soul and wipe away his sin.  (Expositor’s Commentary)  “Hyssop also appears at Jesus’ crucifixion, when the Roman soldiers offered Jesus a drink of wine vinegar on a sponge at the end of a stalk of hyssop (John 19:28–30). This was, in fact, Jesus’ last act before He declared His work on earth finished and gave up His spirit. While the hyssop stalk may have been used for purely practical purposes (i.e., it was long enough to reach to Jesus’ mouth as He hung on the cross), it is interesting that that particular plant was chosen. It is possible that God meant this as a picture of purification, as Jesus bought our forgiveness with His sacrifice. Just as in the Old Testament blood and hyssop purified a defiled person, so Jesus’ shed blood purifies us from the defilement of our sin.” (https://www.gotquestions.org/hyssop-Bible.html) 

Cedar Wood and Scarlet wool- These are more significant for their color.  “This is in keeping with the fact that the ashes contain blood, and when they are later mixed with water, the liquid will function like blood.” (NIV Application Commentary) The wood and wool function like blood, as in the blood of Jesus, because of their cleansing properties.  Why do the Israelites need the water of cleansing?  God has declared unclean anyone who comes in contact with a dead body, is near a dead body in a tent, comes in contact with mildew, or has a skin disease.  The ashes of the heifer and other items are mixed with water and hyssop is dipped in it to sprinkle on the person or item needing cleansed.  

The holy water was used to cleanse people from guilt and the dirt of sin.  This is also why they sacrificed animals.  God prescribed all of the rituals for His people to be blameless before Him.  Today, we do not sacrifice animals or burn up a red heifer to use its ashes for making holy water.  The book of Hebrews says, “The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.  How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” (Hebrews 9:13-14)

Jesus, our final sacrifice for sin; the perfect, spotless Lamb of God died for our sin.  We need only confess and trust in His substitutionary death to be right before the great God of all the universe.  Knowing Him is a deterrent to further sin.