Numbers 19:17

Numbers 19:17 says, And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel:  The ashes of the red heifer were to be used in the purification of someone who had touched a dead body, by running waterthrough the ashes.   Matthew Henry says the ashes represents the merit of Christ and the water represents the power and grace of the Holy Spirit.  Verse eighteen adds, And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave:  A clean person was to take hyssop, dip it into the water and sprinkle it over everything that had come in contact with a dead person, bone, or grave.  We are made clean today by the blood of Christ, the only One Who is spiritually clean and can wash us clean with His shed blood.  Verse nineteen continues, And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.  The clean person was to sprinkle the unclean on the third day, and then again on the seventh day, and on the seventh day he was to purify himself and his clothes as well.  The cleansing would not start until three days after the last contact with the dead, just as our cleansing by Christ will not start until we turn away from our sins and to Him.  Matthew Henry says the cleansing on the seventh day is a reminder that we need to renew our commitment to Christ as we move through our everyday life.  We are forever saved when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, but we can still be guilty of sinning after we are, so we cannot just ignore sin because we are already forgiven.  Verse twenty states, But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the LORD: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean.  The person who would not be cleansed by the water of the ashes would remain unclean and separated from the rest of the people of Israel, God's chosen people.  If we refuse to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus, which is ample to cleanse all who put their faith in Him, we will be forever cut off from the kingdom of God and His people.  Verse twenty-one adds, And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even.  The person performing the cleansing would be unclean until the evening, just as we will not be completely cleansed of sin until the return of Christ, even though we are still to witness to others about Him.  Verse twenty-two continues, And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.  Anyone the unclean person touched would be unclean until the evening.  Sin corrupts everyone it touches, even those who are followers of Christ, and we must be purified from it by the blood of Christ.  If we come in contact with sin, we must acknowledge our need for cleansing from its effects, even though all our sins are already forgiven.