Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood. And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off. (Lev. 17:12-14)
Since the days of Noah after the great flood, God had given all animals for meat. Here He reminds the people that they were not to consume the blood because life is in the blood. When animals were brought for sacrifice, the blood was poured out on the alter as a demonstration of the life offered unto God and the life He gives His people. When animals were killed for food, either domestic or wild, the blood was to be drained and the food cooked, that none of the blood was consumed.
God was serious about what the blood meant, not only in the animals which the Israelites consumed but also in what was offered in sacrifice. The prohibition against consuming blood not only looked forward to the cross when Jesus would shed His blood for the sins of the whole world as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, but also because God pointed to His creation of all life. This command recognized that blood is life for mammals, man, and other creatures which have blood. It actually promotes instead of prohibiting transfusions because life is in the blood, and we can share life when we give blood. Plants and insects which do not have blood are not life in the same sense as those with blood and so can be consumed but not offered for sacrifice.
Today we recognize this same prohibition for health reasons and also because Jesus shed His blood for sins and we no longer bring an animal offering for our sins. Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary has completed the need for sacrificial offerings unto God for He is the final sacrifice for sin. We still don’t consume blood because of this instruction because we still know that life is in the blood. The blood which Jesus shed for us gives us life, not in consuming it, but in trusting in what He has done for us. The ceremonial remembrance of His life and death and life again with the fruit of the vine commemorates His offering of Himself and the shedding of His blood that we who believe in Him and His finished and perfect work on that cruel Roman cross might have life and have it more abundantly. For man and those animals with blood, when there is no more blood there is no more life. For the child of God we receive eternal life when we receive His gift of His blood shed for us which has been offered unto God on our behalf that we who could not save ourselves might be saved and born again from above.
God has sent those of us that know Him out into this world to reach the lost that they might be saved from sin. He desires that His people strive to be holy and obedient unto Him that we might minister to those around us who are hurting and in need as He provides. We serve others, equipped with the Word of reconciliation and righteousness, rightly divided and fitly spoken, that they may see Christ in us, the hope of Glory. Our GOD has commanded us to love one another with an unfeigned love, even as He first loved us, and to disciple one another in the Word of GOD so that we may all grow in grace and in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Our Lord has commissioned those who are His with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to go where He sends us in the power of the Holy Spirit. As we go, we are to proclaim the Good News of forgiveness through repentance and reconciliation with the Father through faith in His Son, that those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah of GOD might have life in His Name.
GOD is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance and the knowledge of the Truth. Jesus loves you and wants to establish a covenant relationship with you that is real and personal. Surrender to Him on His terms and He will give you a brand new life of discipleship and fellowship with Him that is abundant and everlasting. GOD calls you to faith in Christ and His finished and perfect work on the Cross of Calvary to pay your sIn debt. He has provided the only way of reconciliation with GOD, forgiveness from GOD, and Salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of GOD who is GOD the Son, to give you a new life in Christ. Turn away from yourself and your sIn and turn to Him alone for eternal Life, now and always.
In Christ,
Jefferson Sweet
God was serious about what the blood meant, not only in the animals which the Israelites consumed but also in what was offered in sacrifice. The prohibition against consuming blood not only looked forward to the cross when Jesus would shed His blood for the sins of the whole world as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, but also because God pointed to His creation of all life. This command recognized that blood is life for mammals, man, and other creatures which have blood. It actually promotes instead of prohibiting transfusions because life is in the blood, and we can share life when we give blood. Plants and insects which do not have blood are not life in the same sense as those with blood and so can be consumed but not offered for sacrifice.
Today we recognize this same prohibition for health reasons and also because Jesus shed His blood for sins and we no longer bring an animal offering for our sins. Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary has completed the need for sacrificial offerings unto God for He is the final sacrifice for sin. We still don’t consume blood because of this instruction because we still know that life is in the blood. The blood which Jesus shed for us gives us life, not in consuming it, but in trusting in what He has done for us. The ceremonial remembrance of His life and death and life again with the fruit of the vine commemorates His offering of Himself and the shedding of His blood that we who believe in Him and His finished and perfect work on that cruel Roman cross might have life and have it more abundantly. For man and those animals with blood, when there is no more blood there is no more life. For the child of God we receive eternal life when we receive His gift of His blood shed for us which has been offered unto God on our behalf that we who could not save ourselves might be saved and born again from above.
God has sent those of us that know Him out into this world to reach the lost that they might be saved from sin. He desires that His people strive to be holy and obedient unto Him that we might minister to those around us who are hurting and in need as He provides. We serve others, equipped with the Word of reconciliation and righteousness, rightly divided and fitly spoken, that they may see Christ in us, the hope of Glory. Our GOD has commanded us to love one another with an unfeigned love, even as He first loved us, and to disciple one another in the Word of GOD so that we may all grow in grace and in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Our Lord has commissioned those who are His with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to go where He sends us in the power of the Holy Spirit. As we go, we are to proclaim the Good News of forgiveness through repentance and reconciliation with the Father through faith in His Son, that those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah of GOD might have life in His Name.
GOD is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance and the knowledge of the Truth. Jesus loves you and wants to establish a covenant relationship with you that is real and personal. Surrender to Him on His terms and He will give you a brand new life of discipleship and fellowship with Him that is abundant and everlasting. GOD calls you to faith in Christ and His finished and perfect work on the Cross of Calvary to pay your sIn debt. He has provided the only way of reconciliation with GOD, forgiveness from GOD, and Salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of GOD who is GOD the Son, to give you a new life in Christ. Turn away from yourself and your sIn and turn to Him alone for eternal Life, now and always.
In Christ,
Jefferson Sweet
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