The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them: ‘This is what the Lord has commanded: 3 Any Israelite who sacrifices an ox, a lamb or a goat in the camp or outside of it 4 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 person shall be considered guilty of bloodshed; they have shed blood and must be cut off from their people.
Blood is only allowed in very specific places as we learned earlier.
5 This is so the Israelites will bring to the Lord the sacrifices they are now making in the open fields.
God wants the sacrifices to be where He is. Not in random places.
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. 6 The priest is to splash 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. 7 They must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols to whom they prostitute themselves.
A lot of the Israelites were under the impression that God, Yahweh, was one of many gods. It’s taken them a while to get that through their heads that God is the only one. This is a carryover from Egypt that has been hard for them to shake off. God’s not giving up on them. If they are under the impression that they can hide anything from Him, they would be wrong.
This is to be a lasting ordinance for them and for the generations to come.’
8 “Say to them: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice 9 and does not bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to the Lord must be cut off from the people of Israel.
Again, this is a warning to do things specifically this way. God doesn’t want to cut anyone off. He wants them to understand why it’s important how things are done. The warning before the possible consequence has to happen.
10 “‘I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people.
They have been warned. Eating blood is disgusting. Don’t do it!
11 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. 12 Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner residing among you eat blood.”
Makes perfect sense when you pay attention.
13 “‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing among you who hunts any animal or bird that may be eaten must drain out the blood and cover it with earth, 14 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.”
In case they think they can get away with birds, God puts a stop to that thought too.
15 “‘Anyone, whether native-born or foreigner, who eats anything found dead or torn by wild animals must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be ceremonially unclean till evening; then they will be clean. 16 But if they do not wash their clothes and bathe themselves, they will be held responsible.’”
Don’t touch blood. Don’t eat blood. It doesn’t seem like a complicated thing, guys.
Scripture Discussed: Leviticus 17
IIWAC: Don’t Eat Blood
Blood is only allowed in very specific places as we learned earlier.
5 This is so the Israelites will bring to the Lord the sacrifices they are now making in the open fields.
God wants the sacrifices to be where He is. Not in random places.
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. 6 The priest is to splash 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. 7 They must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols[b] to whom they prostitute themselves.
A lot of the Israelites were under the impression that God, Yahweh, was one of many gods. It’s taken them a while to get that through their heads that God is the only one. This is a carryover from Egypt that has been hard for them to shake off. God’s not giving up on them. If they are under the impression that they can hide anything from Him, they would be wrong.
This is to be a lasting ordinance for them and for the generations to come.’
8 “Say to them: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice 9 and does not bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to the Lord must be cut off from the people of Israel.
Again, this is a warning to do things specifically this way. God doesn’t want to cut anyone off. He wants them to understand why it’s important how things are done. The warning before the possible consequence has to happen.
10 “‘I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people.
They have been warned. Eating blood is disgusting. Don’t do it!
11 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.[c] 12 Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner residing among you eat blood.”
Makes perfect sense when you pay attention.
13 “‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing among you who hunts any animal or bird that may be eaten must drain out the blood and cover it with earth, 14 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.”
In case they think they can get away with birds, God puts a stop to that thought too.
15 “‘Anyone, whether native-born or foreigner, who eats anything found dead or torn by wild animals must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be ceremonially unclean till evening; then they will be clean. 16 But if they do not wash their clothes and bathe themselves, they will be held responsible.’”
Don’t touch blood. Don’t eat blood. It doesn’t seem like a complicated thing, guys.
Scripture Discussed: Leviticus 17