The Blood of Atonement

Finished up the first half of Leviticus

From the inside of the tabernacle, looking out 從裡面往外面看 – because God's dwells amongst a sinful people, the tabernacle must be purified of their sin and uncleanness.

Focus is more theological, emphasis on the priests and the meaning of the sacrifices

We are moving on to the second half

From the outside of the tabernacle, looking in 從外面往裡面看 – because the people have God dwelling among them, they are to be holy in their lives.

Focus is more practical, emphasis on the people's lives.

This chapter is kind of a hinge that links the two [把兩半連接起來]

It sounds like much that has come before with explanation of blood and focus on sacrifice.

Yet it also is focused on the individual Israelite and what he should do rather than on the priests and how they are to respond.

We learn in this chapter two important truths about the worship of God:

1) Sole worship of the Lord – animals must be sacrificed at the tabernacle

2) Solemn appreciation of atonement – blood must not be eaten

Sole Worship of the Lord 單單敬拜耶和華 (v. 1-9)

Avoiding idolatry 避免偶像 (v. 3-7)

Background: The Israelites were currently sacrificing to "goat idols" 山羊鬼 (v. 7)!

This reminds us back earlier in Exodus 32 when Aaron made a golden calf金牛像. There it was the priest's (Aaron's) sin. That was followed by all sorts of laws to the priesthood.

Now we find idolatry in the people and not in the priests—so we see after this a lot of laws directed to the people to prevent them from further idolatry!

Much of the laws we find are really about preventing idolatry!

This should warn us of the danger of idolatry in the fallen human heart!

This law is likely referring to all killing of sacrificial animals, not just when sacrificing

Whether they wanted to offer a sheep to the Lord, or to have lamb for dinner that night, it still had to be slaughtered at the temple.

This is to avoid all possibility of idolatry 避免拜偶像的所有機會

The priest comes up and asks, "Who did you sacrifice that to?" "Oh, ahh, it was to the Lord of course!" or "It was just to eat!" This possibility is removed 沒有這個可能了 since all sacrificial animals were killed at the tabernacle.

All meat they wanted to eat was to be brought as a peace offering (v. 5)!

This would be reasonable only since they ate so little meat, and they are always nearby the tabernacle. [This law is changed in Deut. when they are about to enter the land, since they might be far from the tabernacle and that is just unreasonable! The principle stays the same.]

They were taught thus to be thankful for all they receive as a gift from God.

The punishment: "cut off from the people" 「從自己的族人中被剪除」

The penalty of idolatry is direct judgment from God himself.

Haven't quite explained this phrase yet, but it appears quite often from here on out. This punishment occurs four times here in chapter 17, once each section! (God takes this chapter very seriously!)

Most of the time we see this phrase it is for sins that are more of the secret kind, others would not really know about them. Who would know if you offered sacrifices in secret, or if you ate blood?

The point is not that Israel was supposed to put them out of the society 逐出, or that they were to put them to death; but that God himself would execute the punishment.

He doesn't say when or where, but if that person continued in sin and did not repent, then God would himself cut them off.  

This is the first commandment!

"You shall have no other gods before me!" 「除我以外，你不可有別的神」 (Ex. 20:3)

Our hearts have a tendency 傾向 toward idolatry!

John Calvin said that our hearts are idol-making factories 偶像的製造廠.   The thoughtful深深思考過的 believer knows this and senses his heart's tendency to worship others.

The NT says "covetousness is idolatry" 「貪心就是拜偶像」 (Col 3:5). 1 John ends with these words: "Little children, keep yourselves from idols" 「孩子們，你們要保守自己遠離偶像」 (5:21), but the context has nothing to do with idolatry! This last verse is the first time the whole letter mentions idols!  

Trusting in / desiring other things more than God is idolatry.

The one you trust in is your god. The thing you look to in order to justify yourself, to prove your value to others is your god.

Martin Luther said that the first commandment is really about justification by faith.[1]   If you are not trusting in God alone to justify you and accept you entirely by his grace, then you are trusting in other things to save you and are worshiping other gods.

"The Lord didn't save us out of Egypt, the goat-idol did!"  "Jesus didn't save us entirely, my own good works did." Do you see the resemblance?

You most likely are not tempted to worship in the temples you walk by. (I hope not!) But you most likely are tempted to trust in other things and thus make them your gods.

Worship the Lord alone! Know you are accepted by grace alone! He is our only Savior!

Avoiding man-made worship 避免人造的敬拜 (v. 8-9)

They should not try to ordain their own priests / replace the priesthood!

They should not make their own altar and start doing their own sacrifices. They must be brought to the tabernacle and done by the priest.

You must come to God in the way he has commanded. We see his wisdom and his kindness in doing this—it prevents them from worshiping a false god / having a wrong understanding of God.

The tabernacle reveals God's holiness; sacrificing in your backyard doesn't 在後院獻個祭卻不會.

Do you notice that God prescribes 吩咐 how he should be worshiped?

We live in a day when people want to define worship however they want and do things however they think is best.

"As long as it works," "As long as it ‘wins' 贏得 people to ‘know Jesus,'" (however they choose to define these things)! God cares very much about how we worship him.

In a way, this prevents against a different kind of idolatry: making God in our own image, coming to God on our own terms [用自己的方式來親近神]. Either way, it belittles the true God.

Main point: true worship of the true God

We must have no other gods before him.

This doesn't only mean we only sing songs with "Jesus" in it.

We must love him with all our heart and seek to honor him with our lives.

This means also we only trust in him for salvation; we know we are justified by his grace through faith alone, not by our good works.

Solemn Appreciation of Atonement (v. 10-16)
對救贖充滿莊重的感恩

The next two sections deal particularly with blood, and is very clear about one thing: they were not supposed to eat blood at any time.

The law

This command is for all animals' blood, not just sacrificial

He even includes animals that you hunt: make sure you "pour out its blood" 「放盡牠的血」 (v. 13).  This is why you shouldn't eat animals found dead or strangled 勒^lei1死, because their blood was not poured out.

All of this section is really about verse 10-11 – do not eat any blood. Why?

Two facts about blood that are the foundation for this prohibition (v. 11)

1) The life is in the blood 生命是在血裡

If you take out the blood, there is no more life. God designed us this way, so that blood represents our life. Out of respect for life, to not belittle life, they were to not eat blood.

Notice that the command to not eat blood is not in chapter 11 with the instructions about what animals they may eat. Blood is a different category; it applies to any animal.

2) God appointed blood to be used for atonement 神指定血可以用來贖罪

The blood is for atonement, by virtue of the life killed. Blood demonstrates life has been taken, someone has died; and not just died, usually refers to violent death 暴力死亡. (This reveals the serious nature of the penalty of sin.  Rom. 6:23 – "The wages of sin is death" 罪的工價就是死!)

These two principles (the value of life and the use of blood in atonement) are the basis 根基 for the command to not eat blood.

What about today? Can / should we eat blood today?

I think in America you can teach this passage without really thinking much about whether or not you have to apply it today. Most Americans would not even think to eat blood.

However, here in Taiwan with 豬血糕 you have to think about questions like this!

It might be easy to just skip right over this and say it doesn't apply to us and is fulfilled in Christ, but I think the issue is a little bit more complicated than that.

The trajectory 發展

Genesis 9:4

The first time that God allows 准許 meat to be eaten, he refuses the eating of blood. The reason here is about respecting life and not belittling it.

This command is given to the entire human race, as it were, since it is right after the flood, and Noah is kind of like a new Adam.

This command came before Moses and was not only for Israel. They were to respect life.

Leviticus 17

Our passage adds that the blood is not just the life, but that the life is given as a substitute in atonement. The focus here is on atonement.

It is to be given to God for atonement; so it is holy, special, should not be eaten.

Acts 15:19-21

This prohibition is repeated in the NT, but in an interesting place. It happens in Acts 15 at the "Jerusalem Council" 耶路撒冷的會議. They had ruled that the Law was not necessary to keep for salvation (v. 1)—we are saved by grace (v. 10-11)! (Praise the Lord!)

Yet, they wrote to the Gentiles to abstain from four things, blood being two of those four things! (v. 20)

The reason given there (v. 21) appears to be that this would offend the Jews. They are not required to keep the whole law, but they can avoid these sensitive issues out of love.[2]

This is one issue: an issue of sensitivity. Out of love for people who think that blood is connected to sacrifices, the early church counseled to abstain禁戒.

More central: The blood of Christ

The more central issue is that we regard the blood of Christ as precious.

The sacrificial blood of the animals points forward to the blood of Christ in his death. The point of the OT law was not ultimately to regard the blood of animals as precious, but the blood of Christ as precious. This must be the ultimate point here.

So the most important conclusion is that we regard the sacrifice of Christ as precious beyond measure and something we do not regard lightly!

The blood of Christ is central to our understanding of atonement

The NT often talks about the precious blood of Christ; a classic verse is 1Pe 1:18-19, we were "ransomed…with the precious blood of Christ" 「得贖…是憑著基督的寶血」

This does not mean the actual blood of Jesus saved us, that the liquid 液^ye4體 itself has some special/magical power魔術!

But blood does symbolize the death of Christ. We sing about the blood of Christ shed for us. In Communion we drink the cup represents Jesus' blood.

So I think it makes sense that out of solemn appreciation of the Christ's sacrifice that accomplished atonement, we abstain from eating blood.

To treat blood as common might possibly belittle what Christ has done for us.

Where does that leave us?

Can we or should we eat blood?

I think "should we" is a better question than "can we". I'm not convinced 不能確信說 this is a sin; I cannot say "you cannot eat". I think this is a gray area灰色地帶.

But should we? I personally think that love for our brethren as well as solemn appreciation of Christ's sacrifice teach us to abstain from it.

Solemn appreciation of the great sacrifice of Christ, how much the NT talks about his blood, I think leads us to not treat blood as common.

Love I think leads us to avoid something that might offend others (perhaps from a Jewish, Muslim, 7th Day Adventist 基督復臨安息日會, Catholic, etc. background).

I would counsel 勸勉 you to abstain in love and solemn appreciation of Christ.

Let us be quick to surrender our own rights: 1Co 8:10-13 shows the heart of a true Christian – I will "empty myself" (remember Christ in Phil 2!) of what I think are my rights in order to show love to others.

Let us be slow to judge others: Romans 14:4-5, 22-23. (I am personally fine with eating steak, but not with eating 豬血糕, since blood is not an intentional ingredient; it is just part of the meat.) Use discernment and be guided by solemn appreciation and love

Be quick to surrender your rights, and slow to judge others.

How shall we do this? If you choose to abstain, what shall you do if someone offers it?

"No, we Christians don't eat that! That's pagan!" Please don't say that! That condemns the person who offers it to you! That focuses on the external. That is ritualism 儀式主義.

"No thank you, I prefer not to." That might lead them to ask "why?" which might be an opportunity tell them about the blood of Christ that was shed for your sin, and out of solemn appreciation of atonement, you choose to abstain from blood.

Whatever you do, don't turn this into a way to judge one another. Don't focus on the external, focus on the heart. A selfish heart that does not consider others is surely wrong. A judging heart that condemns others is also surely wrong.

If I were to spend the whole time talking about whether or not we can eat blood today, I think that would miss a more central point:

Conclusion: Solemnly appreciate atonement!

Whether you think that includes abstaining from blood, I leave up to you to decide. But it at least includes the following:

We solemnly appreciate Christ's blood in Communion

Remember Jesus' words: "This cup is my blood of the covenant這杯是我的血，是為立約的; drink it你們都喝吧!" (Matt. 26:27-28)

Do you cherish Communion? Or do you skip Communion? Do we think of it as a needless ritual? Or is it something precious and very important to us? There we proclaim the Lord's death and remember him!

Christian, do you look forward to Communion? It is a precious time to fellowship as a church, and to declare once more that we partake in Christ and need his mercy!

Is this not the true meaning of this passage? That we are to regard his blood as holy and precious and remember him and keep trusting in him and live for him?

But even before this… 但首先呢…

We solemnly appreciate his blood first by believing!

Unbelievers will give an account 交帳 to the Lord one day for having rejected his blood and regarded it as worthless, insufficient, unworthy, common.

Anyone who does not believe in Christ and put their trust in him on account of his death will bear their sin! They will have "trampled underfoot the Son of God" 「踐踏神的兒子」

Listen to the terrifying 令人震驚 words of Hebrews 10:26-31.

If someone regards his blood as common and leaves him into a life of sin, even though they had a full knowledge of the truth, that person is helplessly under God's judgment (and only God knows when someone is that far "gone" 偏離).  

This should make us fear and run to Christ for mercy, to daily trust in him to preserve us! This should make us have a solemn appreciation for Christ's atonement!

Conclusion

Rev 1:4-5 – How have you been released from your sins? By his blood!

God has released you and set you free from wrath, and from the enslaving nature of sin. How did he do it? "By his blood"! It is done!

So rejoice! Worship the Lord! Look to him alone and treasure him alone!

There is power in the blood of Jesus! He set us free so that we could be free indeed! Look to Christ—it is all by grace!  Have a solemn appreciation for Christ and live for his glory!