July 2, 2023

Ken Miller

Life for Life

July 2, 2023

Ken Miller

10 “If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. 12 Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.

13 “Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. 14 For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off. 15 And every person who eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a sojourner, shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean. 16 But if he does not wash them or bathe his flesh, he shall bear his iniquity.” – Leviticus 17:10-16 ESV

Life is in the blood. This simple statement is far from simplistic in its implications. All human and animal life is dependent upon blood for its existence. A significant loss of blood could lead to the loss of life. And in God’s economy, blood was not only necessary for sustaining life but it also served as the means for receiving atonement. God, the Creator of all life, placed a high value on blood’s life-giving properties. In the early days of creation, God provided Adam and Eve with a very specific diet.

…out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food… – Genesis 2:9 ESV

And God commanded the first couple, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden…” (Genesis 2:16 ESV). This non-carnivorous diet would continue for generations. It would not be until after the great worldwide flood that God would expand man’s dietary menu to include the consumption of meat. Once Noah and his family exited the ark, they were informed by God that their food options had increased to include “All the animals of the earth, all the birds of the sky, all the small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the fish in the sea” (Genesis 9:2 NLT).

God informed Noah, “I have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables” (Genesis 9:3 NLT). But He also warned him, “…you must never eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it” (Genesis 9:4 NLT). The new menu items were accompanied by a rather large asterisk that detailed the conditions surrounding the consumption of animal flesh and the spilling of innocent blood.

“And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die. If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image. Now be fruitful and multiply, and repopulate the earth.” – Genesis 9:5-7 NLT

Now, centuries later, Moses and the people of Israel were being reminded of this divine decree that had been in place since the flood. God wanted the Israelites to understand that, as His chosen people, they were expected to keep this long-standing ban on the consumption of blood. This prohibition would have been passed down by Noah and his sons to their descendants. But it seems obvious that future generations of Ham, Shem, and Japheth’s progeny failed to heed God’s command. They had become fruitful and repopulated the earth, but they had not heeded God’s warning concerning blood and its close association with the sanctity of human life. God had warned Noah that human beings were made in His image and their lives were to be treated with dignity and respect. God had ordained that blood would contain the elements necessary to sustain the human body. Even life within the animal kingdom would be directly linked to the presence of blood.

As God prepared the Israelites to live in communion with Him, He reiterated His ban on the consumption of blood. It was essential that His chosen people live in keeping with His commands, both old and new. They were not free to live like the other nations of the world. They could not afford to ignore God’s commands because He had set them apart and given them the responsibility of demonstrating to the world what it looks like to live in obedience to Him and in perfect communion with Him.

The consumption of blood was strictly off-limits for God’s people. There were no exceptions or exemptions. And God made His thoughts on the matter perfectly clear.

“I will set my face against that person who eats the blood, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people…” – Leviticus 17:10 ESV

God would stand opposed to anyone who chose to violate His ban. Their decision to disobey God would have dire consequences, making them His enemy and the object of His divine wrath and judgment. They would be “cut off,” a not-so-pleasant euphemism that describes their permanent removal from the faith community through death. God wasn’t kidding around.

“By refraining from eating flesh with blood in it, man is honoring life. To eat blood is to despise life. This idea emerges most clearly in Genesis 9:4ff, where the sanctity of human life is associated with not eating blood. Thus one purpose of this law is the inculcation of respect for all life.” – Gordon J. Wenham, The Book of Leviticus

God further clarified His stance on blood by stating, “for the life of every living thing is in the blood. So I myself have assigned it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives, for the blood makes atonement by means of the life” (Leviticus 17:11 NLT). The life-sustaining attributes of blood made it an extension of God’s creative power. By its very essence, blood carries on the original creation mandate by giving and guaranteeing life to the creatures God formed “in the beginning.”

But there is another aspect of blood that further enhances its value. God established blood as the means of atonement.

“…for the blood makes atonement by means of the life.” – Leviticus 17:11 NLT

“Throughout the Bible blood is not only the symbol of life – it is the life. When blood is shed, life is relinquished. Draining blood from an animal formed a graphic picture for the worshiper that the lifeblood was taken. God had designed it this way so that the people were confronted with the loss of life and reminded of the sacrifice every time the blood of the animal was shed. Therefore, to eat blood denigrated life and disregarded its divinely intended purpose.” – Allen P. Ross, Holiness to the Lord: A Guide to the Exposition of the Book of Leviticus

God had designed blood to sustain life. He had also ordained it as a means for obtaining atonement for sin. Blood in the veins provides life. But blood sprinkled on the altar also provides life by reconciling sinful men to a holy God. The penalty for sin is death. But shed blood that resulted in the death of an innocent animal could also provide renewed life for the guilty sinner. God designed blood to bring life. And whether it pumped in the veins or was poured out on the altar as a sacrifice, blood gave life to God’s people. So, it was to be treated with proper dignity, honor, and respect.

“It is this higher use of shed blood that greatly enhanced the prohibition against eating blood. Since God had designed blood for atonement, it had to be brought to God. Eating it made common or profane something that God intended for the sanctuary.” – Allen P. Ross, Holiness to the Lord: A Guide to the Exposition of the Book of Leviticus

And all of this points to the future, when Jesus would come to earth to offer His life as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29 ESV). Jesus poured out His blood so that we might have life. He sacrificed Himself in our place, the righteous for the unrighteous (1 Peter 3:18) so that we could receive life rather than death. And the apostle Peter provides a powerful reminder of the efficacy of Christ’s atoning work, made possible by the shedding of His blood – life for life.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. – Romans 3:23-25 NLT

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

July 1, 2023

Ken Miller

The Book of Leviticus

Cut It Out or Be Cut Off

July 1, 2023

Ken Miller

The Book of Leviticus

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the people of Israel and say to them, This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. 3 If any one of the house of Israel kills an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or kills it outside the camp, 4 and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it as a gift to the Lord in front of the tabernacle of the Lord, bloodguilt shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people. 5 This is to the end that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they sacrifice in the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord. 6 And the priest shall throw the blood on the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting and burn the fat for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 7 So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they whore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.

8 “And you shall say to them, Any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice 9 and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, that man shall be cut off from his people.” – Leviticus 17:1-9 ESV

Leviticus 17-26 contains what has come to be known as The Holiness Code. Many scholars believe it was added to the Leviticus corpus much later, perhaps during Judah’s exile in Babylon. It appears to be a summary section that seems somewhat of place, containing language and style inconsistent with the rest of the book. Some believe these chapters include portions written by other authors that were later compiled, edited, and then placed within the book of Leviticus. But the evidence for these conclusions, while compelling, is far from convincing. There is no ironclad proof that these chapters were not penned by Moses. While they differ in style, they carry the same theme that has permeated the rest of the book, the theme of holiness.

These chapters stand out, not only because of their stylistic differences but also because their emphasis shifts from the priestly class to the average Israelite. God was calling all His people to a life of holiness – in every area of their lives. For the last few chapters, the focus has been on the Tabernacle and the sacrificial system associated with it. Chapter 16 dealt with the singular Day of Atonement, a once-a-year sacred event that took place within the context of the Tabernacle and was presided over by Aaron and his sons.

But in chapter 17, God turns his attention to a potential problem among His people. While He had provided them with a comprehensive sacrificial system and a sanctuary in which to perform all the prescribed rites and rituals, He knew that they would be tempted to seek alternative options that would be unacceptable and unholy. Their long tenure in Egypt had left them more than amenable to the worship of false gods, as the golden calf episode so clearly demonstrated (Exodus 32).

Verses 1-9 are not presenting a hypothetical scenario that might take place, but they deal with a pre-existing problem among God’s chosen people. Take a close look at verse 9.

“…the people must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons, acting like prostitutes by going after them.” – Leviticus 17:9 NLT

Evidently, the people of Israel had adopted the pagan practices of their former captors, worshiping the false gods of Egypt, including “goat demons.” These were divine beings that were commonly portrayed with both human and animal characteristics. Separate from both gods and humans, these supernatural creatures were able to move between the divine and real worlds, causing great harm but also coming to the aid of all those who called upon them.

“‘They could be something like genies,’ says Egyptologist Kasia Szpakowska. ‘They would come to one’s aid as often as they acted as fearsome, dangerous creatures.’ Images of demons first began to appear in the Middle Kingdom (ca. 2030–1640 B.C.). Before this time, worship of the gods was highly centralized and mediated by the pharaoh, but during the second millennium B.C., all Egyptians were able to directly participate in religious life…It’s possible these demons—who likely numbered far more than 4,000—were more important to Egyptians’ everyday experience than were the remote gods venerated in the land’s great monuments. ‘An Egyptian demon is really any divine being not worshipped in a temple,’ says Szpakowska. ‘And they were everywhere.’” – Eric A. Powell, “The World of Egyptian Demons,” www.archeology.org

One such “demon” was believed to have the form of a goat and inhabited the wilderness places. It is estimated that the ancient Egyptians had as many as 4,000 different demons they worshiped and feared. So, it seems that the Israelites had picked up on this propensity for worshiping and sacrificing to a variety of divine beings, including gods and demons. In fact, the book of Chronicles records the actions of Jeroboam, when he established the northern kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 12).

Jeroboam appointed his own priests to serve at the pagan shrines, where they worshiped the goat and calf idols he had made. – 2 Chronicles 11:15 NLT

God knew that His people had a built-in predilection for idolatry and unfaithfulness. So much so, that they would continue to struggle with remaining true to Yahweh, despite all He had done for them. He had provided the Tabernacle to serve as His dwelling place among them and He had given them the sacrificial system so they could remain holy and worthy of His divine presence. But it seems that they were still practicing the habits they had picked up in Egypt.

Between the time they had left Egypt and arrived at Mount Sinai, where God gave them His law, the people of Israel had been offering sacrifices to false gods. But now that the Tabernacle was complete and the sacrificial system was in place, those days were officially over. God would no longer tolerate their unfaithfulness. So, he laid down “the law.”

“Blood guilt will be accounted to any man from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat inside the camp or outside the camp, but has not brought it to the entrance of the Meeting Tent to present it as an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord.” – Leviticus 17:3-4 NLT

Anyone who sacrificed an animal for the purpose of worshiping a demon or false god was in serious trouble. Their actions were to be deemed a capital offense punishable by death. These verses are not dealing with the slaughter of an animal for food. This is a prohibition against offering sacrifices outside the context of the Tabernacle and for any other reason than worshiping Yahweh. God would not tolerate blood sacrifices of any kind that were not dedicated to Him. He alone could provide forgiveness and atonement and, for that reason, He alone was worthy of Israel’s undivided attention and undistracted devotion.

If someone slaughtered an animal “in the open field” (Leviticus 17:5), with the intent of offering its blood to a goat demon, they were advised to alter course and bring that animal to the Tabernacle as a sacrifice to God.

“And the priest shall throw the blood on the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting and burn the fat for a pleasing aroma to the Lord.” – Leviticus 17:6 ESV

The guilty party could escape the death penalty and enjoy life, by a simple act of course correction that demonstrated his commitment to Yahweh’s holiness and His status as the one true God. Even though his original intent had been evil and an offense to a holy God, it was never too late to do the right thing and demonstrate a change of heart. But for all those who dared to disobey God’s law and continue their obstinate pursuit of the gods, demons, and spirits of the Egyptians and other pagan nations, the penalty would be both harsh and fatal.

“Any man from the house of Israel or from the resident foreigners who live in their midst, who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice but does not bring it to the entrance of the Meeting Tent to offer it to the Lord—that person will be cut off from his people.” – Leviticus 17:8-9 NLT

“The penalty for such idolatry and disregard for the one true God was to ‘cut [the guilty person] off from his people’ (Leviticus 17:4). The implication is that the crime is serious, as serious as murder, in fact, for the guilty person faced death. The use of this expression probably meant that God brought about the judgment.” – Allen P. Ross, Holiness to the Lord: A Guide to the Exposition of the Book of Leviticus

God takes holiness seriously. There could be no syncretism on the part of His people. He would not tolerate their worship of any gods other than Himself. While they might consider their habit of being equal-opportunity idolaters fully compatible with their status as God’s chosen people, God was not amused or willing to give an inch. He had made His position on the matter quite clear.

“You must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.” – Exodus 20:3-5 NLT

When it came to idolatry, God was quite adamant. Cut it out or be cut off.