June 29, 2025 - Leviticus 17:10,11 - "The Blood"

Leviticus 17:10,11

"And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul."

In these inspired words, God reveals the divine necessity of blood for the remission of sins. Every sacrifice under the law was a shadow—ordained by God—not to take away sin itself, but to point to the One true Sacrifice that could. The blood of bulls and goats could never cleanse the conscience nor reconcile a sinner to God (Hebrews 10:4), but they prefigured the Lamb of God, the LORD Jesus Christ, Whose blood alone has infinite worth and effectual power to put away sin. The Father gave His Son as His Lamb, Who was without spot or blemish, being sinless in His Person and work. By His once-for-all death, He obtained eternal redemption for every soul chosen in Him by God the Father (Hebrews 9:12). The blood of Jesus Christ, not our works, is God’s appointed means of reconciliation—and it alone makes peace (Romans 5:1,2).

Until Christ came and fulfilled the animal sacrifices, God ordained a constant flow of the blood of animals as a type and picture of the death that He should come and accomplish in the fulness of the time predetermined by God the Father, (Galatians 4:4-6). It is no accident or happenstance that God gave this law, and it was certainly not merely for culinary reasons.  The blood shed of a dying animal reminded of the curse of sin, and bore witness to the appointment to death that is the lot of all creatures in this fallen world, even animals, "For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope," (Romans 8:20).

Therefore, God instituted a law whereby the blood of innocent animals (never having sinned, yet giving their lives for sinners) should prepare the way for the true remission that would come through the ONE true Lamb of God, in HIS blood shed unto death. He was truly innocent and righteous never having sinned, and yet in fulfillment of the Old Testament animal types, gave His life for sinners. In sanctifying it in the Old Testament, God was thereby setting it apart as a type of the blood of His Holy Son Who would come, live and die for His people, and for whom that death would be their meat and drink spiritually, "For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed" (John 6:55).  

Sanctified blood, then, pointed to the Substitute of Calvary's cross. Its very nature proclaimed Christ. It shadowed forth the wrath-sustaining death of God's Eternal Son. It introduced the LORD Jesus shedding His blood unto death, that souls might live. Blood was a full symbol of the price of Redemption. Paul in Acts 20:28 declared the blood of the LORD Jesus to be the very blood of God, "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." 

Just as those of the Old Testament were not to treat the blood of animals as a common thing, so those chosen, redeemed, and called of God cannot so treat His shed blood, "Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" (Hebrews 10:29). Any that do are not only blind, but in rebellion against the ONE means whereby God has once for all, in ONE Sacrifice, redeemed, sanctified and justified His people forever, (Hebrews 10:14).

How beautifully, then, these Scriptures point us directly to the cross of Christ, where the shadow of blood sacrifices finds its glorious fulfillment. The life of the flesh is in the blood, and God required it upon the altar for atonement (a covering) until Christ should come and put away the sin of the elect (Romans 3:25,26). This was never about the blood of animals, but a divine picture of the precious blood of Christ, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world in type, picture, prophecy, and promise. In His death, the LORD Jesus fully satisfied God's justice, making propitiation for the sin of His people once and for all (1 John 4:9,10). Through His shed blood at the cross, the elect of all time were redeemed, reconciled, and justified. Here is the heart of the Gospel! Salvation was accomplished by Christ alone, for sinners chosen in Him, that they might live through Him.