2 Birds, 1 Stick, Red Thread, and a Branch

"Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:

And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water:

As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water:

And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field. " - Leviticus 14:4-7

What's this with the birds (not just one but two), the thread (it must be red), a stick (it must be Cedar), and a branch (it must be hyssop)?! It all seems arbitrary until we see Jesus!

THE PLAYERS:
Two Birds - Jesus and us. Christ set aside his glory to become one of us - completely human.¹

Ceder Wood - The cross - Christ's and ours.²

Scarlet Thread - Thread representing what keeps us bound, Scarlet representing, sin³. It is our sin that binds us, breaks our relationships, and keeps us from living free.

Hyssop - Used for sprinkling sacrificial blood, water, or whatever on the people and things around the altar⁴ - God's blessings, His word, and His will are to be applied to our daily living, not just kept as theory.

Earthen Bowl - The real, tangible, physical world in which we live.⁵

Running Water - Life, activity, constant motion.

THE ACTION:
One bird killed, his blood gathered in an earthen bowl over running water - Jesus sacrificed on the cross at a point in time and a real place while life moved on and many never noticed.

Second bird, stick, thread, and branch dipped in the sacrificed bird's blood - Our lives, our daily trials,⁷ our many sins, are to be touched by Christ's sacrifice.⁸ His "blood" is to be applied to us and all we are or hope to be and do.

Second bird release - When touched by Christ's work on the cross we are set free from sin's bondage, released to live a full, abundant life!⁹

See, those laws are not arbitrary at all - the whole Bible is a book about one man - Jesus the Christ.¹⁰

- fritz

1 - Hebrews 2:14
2 - Luke 9:23
3 - Isaiah 1:8
4 - Numbers 19:18
5 - 2nd Corinthians 4:7
7 - Luke 9:23
8 - Hebrews 9:11-12
9 - John 8:36
10 - Hebrews 8:1-6, Hebrews 9:9

Think "Covenant"

"Great are the works of the LORD ...he remembers his covenant forever." - Psalm 111:2a, 5b

God acts according to what's called a "Covenant".

Covenants, like present day legal contracts, have terms, conditions, remedies, and participants. Also like a contract it takes a purposed agreement from all participants before it is binding. Unlike contracts, once entered they last forever; or at least as long as the participants live.

In the Bible there was a covenant where God promised not to destroy the earth again with water, and where God promised land and descendants to Abraham. God made a covenant with Moses and Israel when he gave the Ten Commandments. There was a "Covenant of peace", a "Covenant of salt", a "Covenant of everlasting priesthood" - covenants all throughout the Bible, each with its special provisions, all remembered and followed by God.

Finally, God promised a "New Covenant"¹ different from all the rest - a commitment by God to put his laws into participants hearts and take them as his people forever. That's the covenant we enter when we receive Jesus as our Savior!

"But ye are come ... to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant" - Hebrews 12:22, 24

Think in terms of covenants and a lot of the Bible makes more sense.

- fritz

1 - Jeremiah 31:31-33 and Hebrews 8:8-12