The Sanctity of Blood

     Perhaps the most succinct discourse on the significance of blood is found in the book of Leviticus.

     Over the years this column has referred to the following passage several times because the truths contained therein are applied throughout the Scriptures.

     “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.”  Leviticus 17:11

     God subsequently instructed Moses to tell the people that anyone who kills a clean animal or bird to eat must not partake of its blood, but rather shall pour it out and cover it with dust.  This law was reinforced throughout the Old Testament.

     “For it (blood) is the life of all flesh.  Its blood sustains its life.”  Leviticus 17:14

     Therefore, the loss of blood means that life cannot be sustained resulting in death.

     Recall when Adam and his wife were banished from the garden because of their sin of disobedience, God had exchanged the clothing they had provided for themselves with new covering.

     “So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden…to guard the way to the tree of life…Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin and clothed them.” 

Genesis 3:21, 24

     The tunics of skin to cover Adam and his wife confirmed that an innocent animal had been slain, i.e. had lost its life and blood in order to cover their nakedness.  Note also that it was God who provided their tunics.

     As we progress to the brothers Cain and Abel we see a similar story.  Cain was a tiller of the ground while Abel was a keeper of sheep.

     The brothers each made an offering to the LORD.  Like his parents Cain made an offering of the fruit of the ground while Abel offered a lamb, the firstborn of his flock.

     “And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering.”  Genesis 4:4-5

    

     God confronted Cain and reminded him that if he had obeyed His instructions, all would have been well with him.

     “…If you do well, will you not be accepted?  And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door.  And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”  Genesis 4:7

     The offering of blood would have overcome sin.

     Cain was angry and took his anger out on his brother and slew him.

     “And He (God) said, ‘What have you done?  The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.  So now you are cursed from the earth…’”  Genesis 4:10-11a

     God then told Cain that he would be a fugitive and vagabond on the earth.   

      And just as Adam and his wife left the garden on the east, likewise did Cain.

     “Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.”  Genesis 4:16

     Approximately 1500 years later God told Noah that they could eat every living thing, but not the blood.

     “But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.”  Genesis 9:4

     God then proclaimed that a person must die if he shed the blood of a fellow man.

     “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man.”  Genesis 9:6

     Capital punishment for murder has never been rescinded.

     The sanctity of blood was reaffirmed to Israel after their deliverance from Egypt, just prior to crossing the Jordan River to the Promised Land.

     “Just as the gazelle and the deer are eaten...Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life…You shall pour it on the earth like water.”  Deuteronomy 12:22-24

     And then approximately 800 years after that, when Judah was delivered into Babylonian captivity, Ezekiel told them the reasons for their captivity.

     “…Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘You eat meat with blood…and shed blood.  Should you then possess the land?’”  Ezekiel 33:25

     More on the blood to follow.

The Choice: Slavery or Freedom

     One of the most profound truths in the Scriptures is the comparison of Isaac and Ishmael.

     Paul ‘allegorizes’ the two sons of Abraham in his letter to the church in Galatia.

     The Galatians had a difficult time accepting the truth that Christ was all sufficient.  Many Jews wanted to return to the law or at least place some confidence in the validity of the law for their salvation.

     “Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?”  Galatians 4:21

     Paul was asking the Galatians if they really understood the insufficiency of the law.

     Paul had already proclaimed in this letter that it was impossible to be ‘justified by works of the law…’  If one chose to be justified by obeying the law, they must fully obey every aspect of the law, which was impossible.

     “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”  Galatians 3:10, Deuteronomy

27:26

     Then Paul explained the difference between the law and faith.  He began by confirming that Abraham’s son Ishmael was born to Sarah’s young slave girl Hagar as a result of human intervention attempting to fulfill God’s promise of a son for Abraham.  Thus Ishmael was the ‘son of the bondwoman,’ or the ‘son born according to the flesh.’ ‘Flesh’ in the present context means ‘born of normal descent.’ 

      Then Paul described Isaac, Abraham’s son born to his aged wife Sarah by faith.  Isaac was born to Sarah as promised even though Sarah would be 90 years old when she gave birth. Thus Isaac was the ‘son of the free woman,’ or the ‘son of promise.’ ‘Promise’ in this context means ‘spiritual seed.’

          In Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia, Hagar and Ishmael represented the law given on Mount Sinai while Sarah and Isaac represented the heavenly Jerusalem. 

     Paul very clearly explained that believers in Christ were as Isaac was, i.e. children of faith in the promise given to Abraham and Sarah.

     “Now we brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.” 

Galatians 4:28

     And then Paul made a remarkably significant statement based on an incident that had occurred two millennia earlier.

      “But, as he who was born according the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.”  Galatians 4:29

     Recall how Ishmael, as a teenager, persecuted (scorned, derided, mocked) young Isaac at Isaac’s weaning celebration.

     Persecution of Christians by legalists is growing drastically.  Christianity is the most persecuted ‘religious’ group on earth today.

     Paul gave a stern warning to those who wanted to return to the law represented by Ishmael.

     “Nevertheless, what does the Scripture say? ‘Cast out the bondwoman and her son for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.’” Galatians 4:30

     These were nearly the exact words spoken by Isaac’s mother Sarah two thousand years earlier.

    

     Paul summarized his argument by confirming that his brethren were children of the ‘free woman’ and not children of the ‘bondwoman.’

     “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”  Galatians 5:1

     Those born of the ‘free woman’ are indeed true sons of Abraham.

     “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”  Galatians 3:29

     However, the Bible is very clear in defining Abraham’s seed.

     “…nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called.’  That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.” Romans 9:7-8

     The offspring of Ishmael represents the world, while the offspring of Isaac represents the kingdom; once again the two divisions of all mankind.

     In Israel’s history, Isaiah described why God temporarily turned His back on His people.

     “For you have forsaken…the house of Jacob, because they are filled with eastern ways…”  Isaiah 2:6

     The battle of the brothers rages on...to this very day!

 

    

God and Government

     The time was approximately 1860 BC.  Jacob had traveled to Egypt with his family to find relief from the famine in Israel.  His family was reunited with his son Joseph who had been delegated much power by pharaoh.  Shortly before Jacob’s death, he revealed the future of each of his sons.

     To his son Judah, he proclaimed:

     “Judah is a lions whelp…The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people.” Genesis 49:9-10

     Judah was a young lion.  The Hebrew word for ‘lawgiver’ means ‘governor’ or ‘ruler.’  While the word ‘scepter’ is a rod used by the lawgiver for ruling, punishing, or chastening.  And ‘Shiloh’ is Israel’s future Messiah.

     Approximately 1150 years after Jacob’s revelation of his son Judah, the prophet Isaiah provided more details of the future of Judah’s offspring.

     “For unto us a Child is born…and the government will be upon His shoulder…of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end…to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever.”  Isaiah 9:6-7

     The future Child would be the head of government from the time His kingdom is established to forever more.

     In addition Isaiah states that the future Child would inherit the kingdom of His father David who was of the lineage of Judah.

     About that same time the prophet Micah proclaimed in advance the exact location of the future ruler’s birth place.

     “But you, Bethlehem…out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.”  Micah 5:2

     The future Ruler of Israel would be born in Bethlehem.  The Ruler is revealed to be deity inasmuch as He has been active from eternity past, as He will be active through eternity future as revealed by Isaiah.

     Recall Herod was troubled when the wise men inquired as to the location of the child who was ‘born King of the Jews.’ Herod asked the chief priest and scribes where the ‘Christ was to be born.’  They repeated Micah’s prophecy to him.

     Herod was prompted by the devil to seek and destroy the young child, but of course failed.  An angel of the Lord warned Joseph to flee from Herod’s presence.

     “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”  Matthew 2:13

     Near the end of the first century AD, the apostle John was given revelations reinforcing the devil’s attempts to destroy the child.

     At the sound of the seventh trumpet and just prior to the first bowl judgment, John recounted the birth of Israel’s king.  In this specific revelation Israel is portrayed as a woman giving birth.

     “And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.  She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron…”  Revelation 12:5

     This passage reveals that not only was the Child to be Ruler of Israel, but all nations.

     In Greek ‘rule’ also means govern, while ‘rod’ means specifically a scepter.

     The Child escaped the devil’s attempts to kill him by finishing His work on earth and ascending to His Father in heaven.

     Now let’s get a future glimpse of the Child who will rule all nations.

     Two thousand years have passed, but the time is nigh that the Child will return to fulfill the prophecy first announced nearly four thousand years ago.

     “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse.  And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war…Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword that with it He should strike the nations.  And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron.”  Revelation 19:11,15a

     Again, ‘rule’ is to govern; and ‘rod’ is a scepter.  And ‘He Himself’ is none other than the ‘Lion of the tribe of Judah.’

     God is government!

    

    

    

The Under-Appreciated Teacher

     The first command God gave to His highest creation was:

     “…Of every tree in the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat…”  Genesis 2:16

     The Hebrew verb ‘command’ has several synonyms including ‘order’ and ‘appointed.’

     Adam shared God’s command with his wife who succumbed to the wiles of the devil.

     “…The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”  Genesis 3:13

     ‘Deceived’ in the present context means to delude or lead astray.

     The devil acknowledged that God had given Adam the restrictive command; however, he offered a different interpretation.

     Now consider the present.  When we in America make laws to override God’s laws, who is behind such deception?

     Several thousand years after the experience in the garden, after Israel’s exodus from Egypt, God began to reveal His standard of righteousness to the fledgling nation.

     “…Come up to Me on the mountain…and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.”  Exodus 24:12

     Hebrew nouns for ‘commandments’ include ‘ordinance,’ or ‘terms of a contract.’  ‘Law’ in the above passage means ‘statute,’ and ‘regulation.’ Interestingly, the most common verb form of ‘law’ (yarah) means ‘teach.’  And the above verse does indeed state that Moses was to teach God’s law and commandments to the Israelites.

     Other common meanings of yarah include inform, instruct, and direct.

     After God gave the Israelites His law and commandments, He stressed the importance of obeying them.  God first told them through Moses of the blessings they would receive for their obedience.

     “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments... that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.  And all these blessings shall come upon you…” 

Deuteronomy 28:1

     ‘Blessings’ means benefit, favor, peace, and gift.

     Note particularly the phrases ‘diligently obey’ and ‘to observe carefully all’ His commandments.  The above verse is then followed by numerous blessings God would bestow on Israel.

     Of course God knew Israel couldn’t and wouldn’t comply with His instructions.

     Then proceeding further in the same chapter of Deuteronomy we find the consequences of disobedience.

     “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you…”  Deuteronomy 28:15

     ‘Curses’ means despise, revile, contempt, and vilify.  Curse is the direct opposite of blessing.

     And then Moses lists numerous specific curses that Israel would experience if they failed ‘to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes.’  Again note ‘all these curses will come upon you.’

     If we were to list the numerous challenges and problems facing the ‘world’ today, it would be noted they are eerily similar to the curses listed in Deuteronomy.

     ‘Statutes’ in the above verse is very similar to ‘law’ but it also includes ‘decrees.’

     “Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees…which they have prescribed to rob the needy of justice…”  Isaiah 10:1-2a

     Again, does this verse describe some of the laws, court decisions, and executive orders issued in America in recent years?

     Let’s progress to the church age and confirm the Old Testament revelations about God’s law and its verb form ‘teach.’

     Recall when Paul was confronting the Jews to explain the purpose of the law and the all sufficiency of faith for salvation.

     “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”

Galatians 3:24-25

     The Greek meanings for ‘tutor’ include schoolmaster, teacher, and instructor.

     Then Paul confirms that believers are indeed Abraham’s seed and heirs to the kingdom.

     “Now I say that the heir…is under guardians…until the time appointed by the father.”  Galatians 4:1-2

     And the appointed time?

     “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law…”  Galatians 4:4

     Oh, the unfathomable riches of the word of God!