WASHED IN THE BLOOD
Opening Prayer
Jesus, as I draw near to you today, I trust you to draw near to me. Help me to sense your presence.
Read LEVITICUS 17
Eating Blood Forbidden
17 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them: ‘This is what the Lord has commanded: 3 Any Israelite who sacrifices an ox,[a] a lamb or a goat in the camp or outside of it 4 instead of bringing it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the Lord in front of the tabernacle of the Lord—that person shall be considered guilty of bloodshed; they have shed blood and must be cut off from their people. 5 This is so the Israelites will bring to the Lord the sacrifices they are now making in the open fields. They must bring them to the priest, that is, to the Lord, at the entrance to the tent of meeting and sacrifice them as fellowship offerings. 6 The priest is to splash the blood against the altar of the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting and burn the fat as an aroma pleasing to the Lord. 7 They must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols[b] to whom they prostitute themselves. This is to be a lasting ordinance for them and for the generations to come.’
8 “Say to them: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice 9 and does not bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to the Lord must be cut off from the people of Israel.
10 “‘I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people. 11 For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.[c] 12 Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner residing among you eat blood.”
13 “‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing among you who hunts any animal or bird that may be eaten must drain out the blood and cover it with earth, 14 because the life of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, “You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off.”
15 “‘Anyone, whether native-born or foreigner, who eats anything found dead or torn by wild animals must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be ceremonially unclean till evening; then they will be clean. 16 But if they do not wash their clothes and bathe themselves, they will be held responsible.’”
Footnotes
- Leviticus 17:3 The Hebrew word can refer to either male or female.
- Leviticus 17:7 Or the demons
- Leviticus 17:11 Or atonement by the life in the blood
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
‘Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings’ (Hebrews 10:22).The restrictions on making sacrifices in the first part of the chapter are understandable. If individual Israelites made their own sacrifices, it would be easy for offerings to the Lord to be confused with the sacrifices that nearby foreigners made to their own gods. Soon the Lord’s people would be worshipping false gods. Limiting the ways in which sacrifice could be made ensured the purity of worship.
The ban on the consumption of blood and the strict instructions on slaughtering animals for meat may seem less obvious. Blood, however, was central to the sacrificial system. Essential to life, it was used as a symbol of purification in the Day of Atonement (v. 11). When an animal was slaughtered for meat, it had to be done in such a way that the blood was drained from it, so that no one would consume it (v. 14b).
Imagine the shock of observant Jews, brought up on this teaching, when Jesus said, ‘Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you’ (John 6:53). The blood of animals, never a permanent solution to sin, pointed to Jesus’ sacrifice (see Hebrews 10:4). Symbolized by the shedding of his blood, to ‘drink his blood’ meant to appropriate for oneself the benefits of his sacrifice.
Apply
‘There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains’ (William Cowper 1731–1800).
Closing prayer
Thank you, Precious Savior, that by your stripes, I am healed, I am redeemed, I receive eternal life.
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