The Blood

[B-A-C]

The Bible says the flesh of the flesh is in it's blood. No living animals can live without blood.

Gen 9:4; "Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
Lev 17:11; 'For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.'
Lev 17:14; "For as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, 'You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.'

I suppose there are cultures in the world that drink blood, but God told people not to do this.
But ever since Cain and Abel, it seems only blood appeases God.

Gen 4:3; So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground.
Gen 4:4; Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering;
Gen 4:5; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.

We aren't really told why Cain and Abel were supposed to bring offerings to the Lord. It isn't in the Bible, but perhaps He told them to do so at some point.
But we have the vegetarian offering here, and we have the meat offering here. Why did God only accept the meat offering? Perhaps God isn't a vegetarian.
All jokes aside, I can't help but wonder... was it the blood?

When Moses was contending with Pharaoh to let the Jews go back to the promised land, something called Passover was initiated.
What did the Jews do during passover?

Exod 12:3; "Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, 'On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers' households, a lamb for each household.
Exod 12:4; 'Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to divide the lamb.
Exod 12:5; 'Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.

Exod 12:7; 'Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
Exod 12:13; 'The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
Exod 12:14; 'Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance.

Again, it was the blood. It was the blood that saved them. Earlier I said this started with Cain and Abel, but perhaps even before then, Adam and Eve found out they were naked, they tried
to clothe themselves with leaves, but God Himself made them clothes from animal skins. Was blood shed to cover a sin even then?

Now there are dozens of verses in the Bible about offerings and sacrifice, how and when it should be done, who should do it.. and so on. But when we move to the New testament, one thing doesn't change.

Heb 9:22; And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Again, it's the blood.

Matt 26:28; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.
Mark 14:24; And He said to them, "This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.
Luke 22:20; And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.
1Cor 11:25; In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."

Again, a Lamb was slain. Because of this the price of sin was covered. His blood paid the price. Why blood?
Why wasn't it Jesus's hair, or skin, or bones, or even his internal organs? No it was the blood.

.. the life of the flesh is in the blood.

Luke 24:39; "See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have."

When Jesus was resurrected, He wasn't a spirit or a ghost, He had flesh and bones. But He doesn't mention that He has blood.
Now a lot of discussion over the centuries has been made about.. was Jesus completely empty of blood or not? I don't know, but whatever the case may be...
He gave enough blood to cover the sins of all the generations of the Earth since Adam and Eve.

Heb 9:22; And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Heb 9:23; Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24; For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
Heb 9:25; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own.
Heb 9:26; Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

Heb 9:18; Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood.

 

[B-A-C]

Heb 9:7; but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.

Heb 9:11; But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;
Heb 9:12; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
Heb 9:13; For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh,
Heb 9:14; how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Heb 9:20; saying, "THIS IS THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT WHICH GOD COMMANDED YOU."
Heb 9:21; And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood.

In the Old Testament, there was a tabernacle.. well, later a temple. It had chambers and chambers inside of chambers. The inner chamber was called the Holy of Holies.
This contained the Ark of the Covenant, it had something called the mercy seat on it. Once a year the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies and sprinkle blood on
the mercy seat. But this was just a man made Ark of the Covenant, in a man made temple. It was just the blood of animals, carried by a man who wasn't sinless.

But the Bible says this was just a copy of another temple in Heaven, with it's own mercy seat. This is where the ultimate high priest sprinkled the blood of the ultimate
perfect, sinless sacrifice for our sins. It wasn't until that moment that the price of everyone's sins were paid.

 

[Hekuran]

Look at the verses carefully. The purpose of blood in sacrifice is to cleanse, not to appease or make payment.

 

[B-A-C]

We might be in more agreement than you think.

Does a man who's sins are forgiven, still have the dirty stains of sin on his soul?

Is a man who sins have been washed away, still unforgiven?

So while semantically/technically they may be different. I think in practicality, they are the same.

 

[Hekuran]

@B-A-C I'm sure we are not far apart. At the same time, I'm not just playing around with words for fun.

Sometimes I hear Christian discussions of atonement that sound very pagan: Humans have sinned and displeased God. God wants to restore balance by meting out a punishment. Instead of inflicting pain on us, he can be diverted by hurting an innocent animal instead. Good for us, not so good for the sacrificial lamb.

I've exaggerated a bit. You can see this kind of logic in the worship of Baal, Molech or the Greek and Roman gods. Angry, vengeful god needs to lash out with violence to be appeased.

The descriptions of the Day of Atonement are completely different and the blood has a different function. Our human failure and sinfulness clings to us like dirt, preventing us from standing in the presence of God and excluding us from his life-giving love.

God makes an atonement. The blood of the lamb symbolises life which cleans away the stains of sin that lead to death.

Leviticus 16:1-34

 

[B-A-C]

I hear Christian discussions of atonement that sound very pagan: Humans have sinned and displeased God.

In a way I agree, a LOT of pagan rituals involve blood sacrifice. The Aztecs sacrificed their own children, various Pacific Islanders sacrificed people in Volcanoes, etc...
But we all came from the same Earthly father ( first Adam, later Noah ) it would seem we all have the same religious ancestry as well. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Meaning blood sacrifice required by God, or blood sacrifice required by pagans gods. ( Who copied who ? )

 

[Brad Huber]

In a way I agree, a LOT of pagan rituals involve blood sacrifice. The Aztecs sacrificed their own children, various Pacific Islanders sacrificed people in Volcanoes, etc...
But we all came from the same Earthly father ( first Adam, later Noah ) it would seem we all have the same religious ancestry as well. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Meaning blood sacrifice required by God, or blood sacrifice required by pagans gods. ( Who copied who ? )

That reminds me of how most archeoligists and theologians will say how the stories of the bible was copied from other texts, for instance the sumerian text of the epic of gilgamesh is older than the oldest copies of scripture, but that doesnt mean they were written first, just that they wrote down things about the flood, and embellished it to make it out that the sumerian gilgamesh was the hero of the flood. I know it would negate some of the important faith that is already in short supply, but it would be nice if hebrew texts older than the sumerian text were found about the truth of the matter, just so they cant say the hebrews copied it for their own supposedly fake religion.

 

[Hekuran]

In a way I agree, a LOT of pagan rituals involve blood sacrifice. The Aztecs sacrificed their own children, various Pacific Islanders sacrificed people in Volcanoes, etc...
But we all came from the same Earthly father ( first Adam, later Noah ) it would seem we all have the same religious ancestry as well. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Meaning blood sacrifice required by God, or blood sacrifice required by pagans gods. ( Who copied who ? )

Thats true. In the Bible the blood has a different role to pagan sacrifices. For pagan religions, the blood is for the god - to appease his anger.

In the Bible, the blood is for us - to cleanse us from the deadly stains of sin.

 

[B-A-C]

I think cleansing is a part of it...

Rev 7:14; I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
1Jn 1:7; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

but not all of it. We were "purchased", "redeemed" and "justified" by the blood also.

Col 1:20; and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Eph 1:7; In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

Rev 12:10; Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.
Rev 12:11; "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.

Rev 5:9; And they *sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

Rev 1:5; and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood—

1Pet 1:18; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,
1Pet 1:19; but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

Rom 5:9; Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

Acts 20:28; "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

The blood "IS" the New Covenant.

Heb 13:20; Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord,
Heb 10:29; How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

1Cor 11:25; In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."

John 6:54; "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:55; "For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.
John 6:56; "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.

Luke 22:20; And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.
Mark 14:24; And He said to them, "This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.
Matt 26:28; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.

There is a lot more here, but the cleansing of the blood is just a part of it.

 

[Hekuran]

Yes, there's no single "right" way to talk about blood and its role in restoring us to God, and mapping out all the ways that it's used in biblical metaphors is a complex task needing lots of sensitivity. In my first post i presented it in black and white terms to make a point and hope to stir up some thoughful discussion.

And, as always, read and meditate on what the Bible actually says, not what we think it says or what other people have told us it says.

Bless you @B-A-C - you've pushed me to think hard about good things.

 

[B-A-C]

Rev 14:18; Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe."
Rev 14:19; So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God.
Rev 14:20; And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses' bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles.

Now of course in this passage, it isn't Jesus's blood being discussed here. Rather the enemies of God. But still, that's a lot of blood. It's difficult to even imagine that much blood.