Thru the Bible - #104 - Leviticus 17 - Blood for Atonement

Step inside the sacred realm of divine worship as we unravel the complexities of Leviticus 17 with an air of reverence and curiosity. Together, we probe the stringent mandates God bestowed upon the Israelites—mandates that orchestrate their sacrifices and expressly forbid the consumption of blood. Our exploration is not merely an academic exercise; it is a journey into understanding the profound symbolism of life intertwined with blood, a substance solely consecrated for atonement. These edicts are not merely ancient texts; they serve as timeless echoes of the intrinsic bond between obedience to the Divine and the social fabric of a community.

As we bid farewell to Leviticus 17, we reflect on the weighty consequences of consuming animals not slaughtered by the letter of the law. With the same meticulous attention, we discuss the purification rituals required to cleanse an individual who partakes in such meats, highlighting the stark dichotomy between ritualistic compliance and the burden of personal guilt. This conversation, steeped in the gravitas of sacred traditions, sets the stage for our next episode, where we will address the sensitive and equally crucial topic of immoral relations as delineated in Leviticus 18. Join us as we continue to examine the threads of sanctity that weave through the fabric of ancient law and modern moral compasses.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome back and thank you for joining me. Go ahead and grab yourself a glass of water, a cup of coffee, a cup of tea, and let's get into today's lesson, which will be Leviticus 17. So open up your Bible there. As always, wherever you may be hearing this podcast, give it a comment, a like. Whatever it is you need to do to spread the word. Let your family and friends know. There's a brother out here going through every book of the Bible, verse by verse. Everything is going to be in this context. That way, we get every single thing that the Lord wanted us to get out of the scriptures. As always, we will start by reading and then we will get into the lesson Leviticus 17, and let's read.

Speaker 2: 0:41

Leviticus 17. The Lord said to Moses Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them this is what the Lord has commanded Any Israelite who sacrifices an ox, a lamb or a goat in the camp or outside of it, 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 man shall be considered guilty of bloodshed. He has shed blood and must be cut off from his people. 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. The priest is to sprinkle 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. They must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols to whom they prostitute themselves. This is to be a lasting ordinance for them and for the generations to come. This is to be a lasting ordinance for them and for the generations to come.

Speaker 2: 1:48

Say to them Any Israelite or any alien living among them who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice and does not bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to the Lord, that man must be cut off from his people. Any Israelite or any alien living among them who eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from his people. 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. Therefore, I say to the Israelites none of you may eat blood, nor may any alien living among you eat blood.

Speaker 2: 2:33

Any Israelite or any alien living among you who hunts an animal or bird that may be eaten must drain out the blood and cover it with earth, 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. Anyone, whether native-born or alien, who eats anything found dead or torn by wild animals must wash his clothes and bathe with water and he will be ceremonially unclean till evening. Then he will be clean, but if he does not wash his clothes and bathe himself, he will be held responsible now.

Speaker 1: 3:24

The last time we were together we looked at the law of atonement. Today we will be looking at the blood for atonement. The point of this chapter is to remind israel that to worship god, that it was to be done his way and not how they, or even we in this time, think that it should be done. This chapter also focuses on one place of sacrifice, occult worship, sacrifice at the tabernacle and obligation not to eat blood. Now we have broken this chapter down into five parts. Part one this was commanded of God. We notice in verses one and two of Leviticus 17,. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying so. As always, you see who the Lord is speaking with Verse two speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel, and say to them this is what the Lord has commanded. Part two in order to not be cut off from his people, the animal had to be bought to the doorway of the tent. We see this in verses three through seven. Any man from the house of israel who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp or who slaughters it outside the camp and has not bought it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the lord. Before the tabernacle of the lord, blood guiltiness is to be reckoned to that man. He has shed blood and that man shall be cut off from among his people. The reason is so that the sons of israel may bring their sacrifice, which they were sacrificing in the open field, that they may bring them into the lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace, offerings to the lord. And the priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting and offer it up, the fat and smoke as a soothing aroma to the lord. And they shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat demons with which they play the harlot. This shall be a permanent statue to them throughout their generations. Now we see that the lord is very specific on on how they had to slaughter the sacrifice and where it had to be brought to. But don't overlook what we see in verse seven, when he said they shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat demons. Remember what's going on here is that the Lord is calling the people unto himself, and what he's doing is is. He is getting rid of all of the bad habits that they learned for all of those years that they were in Egypt.

Speaker 1: 6:07

Part three the offering had to be where God said. We see this in verses eight and nine. Then you shall say to them any man from the house of Israel or from the aliens who sojourn among them who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice and does not bring it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, that man shall be cut off from his people. So the Lord is very clear. It had to be brought to the Lord that man shall be cut off from his people. So the Lord is very clear. It had to be brought to the doorway. It couldn't be brought on the side, it couldn't be brought to the back. Remember, they had to do everything as the Lord commanded, not how they wanted to do it. He is a God of order and he has given them the order of which to do these things.

Speaker 1: 6:49

Part four Whoever ate any blood was cut off from God's people. We see this in verses 10 through 14. And any man from the house of Israel or from the aliens who sojourned among them who eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. For I'm excuse me, 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. Therefore, I said to the sons of israel no person among you may eat blood, nor may any alien who sojourns among you eat blood. So when any man from the sons of israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, in hunting catches a beast or a bird which may be eaten, he shall pour out his blood and cover it with earth. For as for the life of all flesh, his blood is identified with his 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.

Speaker 1: 8:09

Now you know, don't overlook the blood here. It is the blood that can save your life and soul. It was true here in the old testament and is repeated in the new testament. Real, quickly turn to keep your finger right here in leviticus 17, but turn to hebrews. All right, give me, give me hebrews, and I want chapter 9, hebrews. Chapter 9 and verse 22. According to the law, one may almost say all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. So we see that it's true in the old testament. We also see it true in the new testament. And let's let's stay here for a minute, now that we're back in leviticus 17, and let's talk about this eating of blood.

Speaker 1: 9:03

Now there are some out there who will say that, well, see, this is telling us that you aren't supposed to eat animals because animals have blood in them. And when you, let's say, for example, eat a steak and you see the red inside of the steak, well, you know that's blood. Well, it's actually. That's actually not true. This is information you can look up for yourself. That is not blood that you see in the steak. You got to remember that when an animal is is slaughtered, when an animal is shed, whether it was back in those days, thousands of years ago, or today, the blood is completely drained out.

Speaker 1: 9:35

If you live around hunters and I may have talked about this before if you have any hunters in your family or you live around hunters, you would notice that when they have a deer, they hang the deer upside down and it's usually out there for a day or so. What are they doing with that? What they are doing is is that they are getting all of the blood out of the deer, so that way, when it's time to take it to be processed, or if they process it themselves, there is no blood in the deer. It's the same way with a cow when they take a cow to a slaughterhouse and they're getting it prepped, they don't just start butchering the cow and prepping the meat. They take the cow, they hang it upside down and they make sure that all of the blood is drained out of it. So when you eat it, there is no blood.

Speaker 1: 10:22

Another thing is this is that there is nowhere in these scriptures where the lord tells us not to not to eat any animals. The thing is this is that these animals had to be sacrificed and, as you, we read in in the previous uh verses that the life is in the blood and as long as there's blood flowing in the animal and the animal is alive and that is what you are not supposed to eat. But if the animal is dead and the blood has been shed, there is no life in it and it's okay to eat. Listen, the lord was not going to let this meat for these sacrifices go to waste. That's why, after genesis 3, when sin came into the world, he made it okay for us to eat meat. Where you know, in the beginning we were not eating meat, but because the lord knew that sacrifices were going to have to be made, then the lord made it OK for us to eat animals.

Speaker 1: 11:11

We will continue on part five. You were guilty if you ate an animal that was torn apart or had died, unless he washed his clothes. We see this in verses 15 and 16, to close out the chapter. When any person eats an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or an alien, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and remain unclean until evening. Then he will be clean. But if he does not wash them or bathe his body, then he shall bear his guilt, and that is pretty straightforward, is that? Uh, like it says right there, when you eat an animal that dies or is torn apart, he tells you what you had to do. You had to wash, you know you had to wash your clothes and then you yourself had to bathe in water. Okay, people, that brings us to the end of Leviticus, chapter 17.

Speaker 1: 12:04

Hope this lesson was very helpful. As always, spread the word, give it a comment wherever you remember. This podcast is pretty much anywhere you can find podcasts, and I want you all to know that. I appreciate you very much for taking time out of your morning, afternoon or evening to listen to me go through the word of god. Next time, when we get together, we will be going over Leviticus 18 laws of immoral relations. That is all for now, god bless, thank you, thank you.