WHERE THE ASHES ARE POURED OUT

"Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt." (Lev 4:12)

UNDER THE LAW, provisions were made for a "anointed priest" [high priest] who sinned, "bringing guilt upon the people" (4:3). In particular, these were sins "of ignorance," or unintentional sins (4:2). Their effect, however, was that the people were led into the same sins, thus bringing "guilt upon the people." Sin does have a tendency to spread. The procedures for dealing with this kind of sin were very detailed. The priest was to (1) bring a young bullock without blemish for a sin offering. (2) The bullock was to be brought to the door of the tabernacle. (3) The hand of the priest was to be put upon the head of the bullock, and it was to be killed "before the Lord." (4) The priest took the blood of the bullock and, with his finger, and sprinkled it before the separating veil seven times. (5) Some of the blood was put on the horns of the altar of incense. (6) The remainder of the blood was to be poured out at the bottom of the altar of burnt offerings. (7) All of the fat was removed from the bullock, together with both kidneys and the lobe of the liver, and burned on the altar of burnt offering. The skin of the bullock, together with the head, legs, entrails, and offal were to be carried outside of the camp to a place that was ceremonially clean. Our text specifies that place to be "where the ashes are poured out." There the remainder of the bullock was to be burned "on wood with fire" (4:3-12).

THE "ASHES" OF REFERENCE were from the sin offering, and were to be carried outside of the camp to a ceremonially clean place (Lev 6:10-11). This was also the procedure to be followed when a "red heifer" was offered to the Lord for sin (Num 19:9-10). These ashes speak of an effective sacrifice that was made once, and could not be made again. The ashes of what was offered to the Lord could not be kept within the camp. Further, what remained of following sacrifices had to be burned where the ashes of the first sacrifice were poured.

THE PROCEDURE SPEAKS TO US of our approach offering to the Lord. What is given to Him must not be kept by us, as though it was owned by us. Whether it is our bodies (Rom 12:1-2), our minds (Rom 7:25), our will (1 Cor 9:17), or our possessions (Heb 13:16), we must take what remains of those things to where the remembrance of the greater sacrifice of Christ can be found. Our sacrifice is made acceptable upon the "ashes," so to speak, of Christ's sacrifice.

EACH BELIEVER SHOULD make a place in his heart – a clean place that does not compete with worldly interests – where the spiritual "ashes" of Christ's atoning sacrifice are recalled with vividness and power. When relinquishing our hold upon what we give to the Lord, that is where we should go: where the ashes have been poured out.

IN THIS WAY, we will fulfill part of the requirements God has specified in Hebrews 13:13. "Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach." That text refers back to the text in Hebrews 13:15 – "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name."

OUR TEXT (Lev 4:12) is a depiction in type of cutting loose from the world, and identifying with ashes! Once the bullock was burned, it could only be serviceable to God. It had no more earthly use. If you are able to see it, there is something in that procedure for you.

– Given O. Blakely