The Sacred Blood..

Part 1 of 3

"But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. " (Gen 9:4, ESV).

Unlike some people, I tend to seek to discover God's intent in the Words He has written to us, rather than simply skimming over Scripture to find variously scattered rules and regulations. Do we honestly believe that God takes precious time to warn us of eating a rare steak? It could be, I suppose, to an extent, but I do not believe that is the real heart of the matter. Jesus said His words are "spirit, and... life" (Jn 6:63). Most everything He has said possesses major spiritual significance; significance that cannot be easily and properly detected from a casual and cursory glance. Hence, we are encouraged to search , meditate upon , and hungrily chew the Scriptures (Acts 17:11; Ps 1:2; Heb 5:14; etc). Of course this negates the "American way" of doing things, but there is treasure to be found, gems to be hewn, and priceless ones at that! Jesus said the entire Bible (both Old and New Testaments) does "testify" of Himself (Jn 5:39)! The above reference is no exception. For the above verse in question, the natural context is of course beneficial, but I personally believe such truths are present in order to secure our feelings towards blood, and more importantly, our feelings toward THE blood of the Father's only-begotten Son, the crucified and resurrected Jesus, the Lamb of God. In short, the blood is to be regarded as sacred, or more importantly, HIS blood is to be regarded as sacred! Allow me to explain..

The Genesis reference above is only the second passage in Scripture in which the word blood occurs. Here, as everywhere else in God's Word, the earliest references forecast and outline all that is subsequently and substantially said about a subject. Hermeneutically speaking, this principle is often referred to as the Law of First Reference. These earliest references miraculously predict and display God's heart concerning an issue. In this case, the issue is blood. What does this, and other early references tell us about how the blood is to be regarded? Let's find out..

- The very first reference in Scripture to blood in found in Genesis 4:10-11. It says, "And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand". What a somber revelation this gives to us! Here we learn that the blood cries unto God. And how grateful we are that the shed blood of Christ Jesus "speaketh better things than that of Abel" (Heb 12:24).

- Genesis 9:4-6 is the verse of Scripture currently under discussion. Here we learn that the blood is the life, and that the blood must be held sacred! How appropriate when we contemplate the blood of Christ! May we never possess the haughtiness that leads to such disregard of Jesus' 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?" (Heb 10:29).

- In Genesis 37, we read that Joseph's coat is dipped in blood, and brought to Jacob. Here, we learn, in type, that the blood of the Son is presented to the Father. Even so, we have the glorious fulfillment of this type in Jesus. Of Him it is said, "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Heb 9:24-26).

- Genesis 42:22 reads, "And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required." What does this speak to us but the truth that the blood is required at the hands of those who shed it. What a potential disaster these words portray! Where would we be today without God's divine propitiation? Thankfully, Jesus has borne the wrath of God for us. Upon our acceptance of this glorious and personified Mercy Seat, we are made new, made alive, and made free from the threat of wrath! No longer will it be said of us: "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God" (Lk 12:20-21). No longer is His blood upon our hands! But such is indeed the sad effect of treating the blood as unnecessary and profane!

- The 5th instance of this word blood is found in Genesis 49:11. Here, we see in prophetic and poetic language, that Judah's clothes are to be washed in the blood of grapes. These words possess a striking comparison to those found in the closing book of Scripture: "These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Rev 7:14). Here then, we learn that the blood is required to make one clean! Such glorious cleansing power can only force us to further regard it as sacred. How grateful we are that the blood of Jesus cleanseth us from all sin (1 Jn 1:7)! Such a powerful cleansing agent is the only effective avenue from scarlet to snow, and from crimson to wool (Isa 1:18).

- In Exodus 4:9, the waters of the Nile are turned into blood. This teaches us that blood is the symbol and expression of God's judgment upon sin! You can also turn to the book of Revelation for a glimpse of such coming bloody judgment upon the earth (6:12; 8:7-8; 11:6; 14:20; 16:3-4; etc). Such judgment was the reason for the bloody hill of Calvary! The sins of the whole world were upon our Lord's shoulders. What a bloody burden to carry! How grateful we are for His willing substitution. He has taken your place! Beloved, you will either cling to the spilt blood of Christ, or spill blood of your very own. Blood will be required, it's just a matter of whose blood it will be (Rev 7:14). Jesus has absorbed the wrath of God, there is no need for you to face it. Simply call upon Him today! He wants to cover you: "...Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood" (Rev 1:5)!

- In Exodus 12, the great Passover chapter, we see how the blood provides a covering and shelter for Israel from the angel of death and judgment. So wonderful is the antitypical fulfillment for "the Israel of God" (Gal 6:16)! As we have recently seen, the blood of our Lord Jesus is the only covering that will suffice when faced with the wrath of Almighty God. Any other "pseudo-shelter" will but crumble under the hands of Him whose immense holiness will appear as a fury! Such precious blood of the Lamb is the only shade and shelter that will ever be appropriate: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved" (Jn 3:16-17).

These are the first 7 occurrences of the word blood in Scripture. As 7 is the number in the Bible signifying completion (Rev 2:1; 8:2; Exod 23:11-12; 31:15-17; Matt 12:45; Heb 11:30; etc), even so, through these passages, we discover the marvelously complete summary of all that is later to be said about the precious blood. How interesting then, that our opening verse of Scripture (Gen 9:4) is regarding the covenant God made with Noah, after the earth had just been destroyed by the flood, and the inhabitants began a new creation. Noah stood like Adam, as the head of the human race. He was being taught to regard the blood as sacred, and to spread this holy regard to all who would come after him. What precious and sacred blood it is!