The ashes could certainly last more than 20 years, but whatever.
Has anyone ever tested ashes to see how long it would last?
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust......
Ezekiel 27:30
They will make their voice heard because of you;
They will cry bitterly and cast dust on their heads
They will roll about in ashes;
LUKE CHAPTERS 19, 21, 23 AND REVELATION "DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM 70AD"
Matthew 11:21
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
Luke 10:13
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
Revelation 18:19
“They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great City, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth!
For in one hour she is made desolate.'
Lam 2:10
The elders of the daughter of Zion
Sit on the ground and keep silence;
They throw dust on their heads
And gird themselves with sackcloth.
The virgins of Jerusalem
Bow their heads to the ground.
Kindgdom Bible Studies Ashes of a Red Heifer Part 1
Numbers 19 is a most unusual chapter in the Old Testament. All the offerings in the Bible are bullocks and rams, but here there is an exception - a heifer, a female cow who has never given birth. All the offerings in the Old Testament are slaughtered and offered to God, but this offering of the red heifer, though killed and burned, is very different from the rest. While all others are offered to God to meet current claims - that is, the sin-offering, the burnt offering, or the peace offering according to the need of the day - the red heifer alone was not for the present need. It was offered to meet future needs. The ordinance of the red heifer stands alone. While other sacrifices are often brought before us, this one is recorded in no other part of Israel's history.
Through Moses and Aaron the Lord commanded the people to bring a red heifer - one without spot or blemish and which had never been under the yoke of service - and present it to the High Priest. The High Priest in turn gave the red heifer into the hands of Eliezer the priest to be taken outside the Camp and slaughtered there in his presence. It was not one of the sin-offerings of the Day of Atonement, nor was it one of the offerings of the people subsequent to the Day of Atonement - indeed, it was no "offering" at all, for no part of it was offered on the Lord's altar or eaten by the priests. It was sacrificed, but not in the same sense, nor in the same place, as these offerings - in the Court. It was not even killed by one of the priests, nor was its blood taken into the Tabernacle of His presence. The red heifer was taken outside the Camp of Israel, and was then killed and burned to ashes, - flesh, fat, hide, blood, etc. - except a little of the blood taken by the priest and sprinkled seven times toward the front of the Tabernacle (Revised Version). While the body of the heifer was being incinerated, Eliezer was to throw cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet thread into the burning fire. When all was consumed, the ASHES of the heifer were not brought into the Tabernacle, but were left outside the Camp, gathered together in a heap, and apparently accessible to any of the people who had use for them. Under the prescription of the law, a portion of the ashes was to be mixed with running water in a vessel, and a bunch of hyssop dipped into this water was to be used in sprinkling the person, clothing, tent, vessels, etc., of any one who contracted ceremonial defilement through touching or approaching a dead body. Thus, any one who became legally unclean through touching a dead body, was cleansed or purified by being sprinkled with water containing some of the ashes of the heifer. This "water of separation" could be used for other purification purposes. According to Num. 31:21-13, metal vessels captured among the spoils of war could be cleansed from idolatrous contamination by being passed through the fire and then sprinkled with this water.
