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Leviticus chapter 17. when some of us arrived tonight there was a couple hanging out down by the front door doing drugs I've seen them many times and the girl when I pulled up she said are you the father here and I said no I'm not the father here so obviously thinking in terms of a Catholic approach I said no I'm the pastor well as we look at Leviticus 17 I'm also not a rabbi and we're we are distanced by many many years and culture and Covenant and there's a whole whole lot of things that you know I have a a pretty good grasp on but some of these things are tentative uh commentators even are somewhat deficient in terms of you know absolute Clarity on a passage like Leviticus 17. so I want to read the section or read the chapter and then we'll go through it and hoping God will guide us in our thoughts and in our study so beginning in Leviticus 17 at verse 1 and the Lord spoke to Moses saying Speak to Aaron to his sons and to all the children of Israel and say to them this is the thing which the Lord has commanded saying whatever man of the house of Israel who kills an ox or lamb or goat in the camp or who kills it outside the camp and does not bring it to the door of the Tabernacle of meeting to offer an offering to the Lord before the Tabernacle of the Lord the guilt of Bloodshed shall be imputed to that man he has shed blood and that man shall be cut off from among his people to the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they offer in the open field that they may bring them to the Lord at the door of the Tabernacle of meeting to the priest and offer them as peace offerings to the Lord and the priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the door of the Tabernacle of meeting and burn the fat for a sweet Aroma to the Lord they shall no more offer their sacrifices to Demons after whom they have played the Harlot there shall be a statute forever for them throughout their Generations also you shall say to them whatever man of the house of Israel or of the strangers who dwell among you who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice and does not bring it to the door of the Tabernacle of meeting to offer it to the Lord that man shall be cut off from among his people and whatever man of the house of Israel or of the strangers who dwell among you who eats any blood I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people 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 therefore I said to the children of Israel no one among you shall eat blood nor shall any stranger who dwells among you eat blood whatever man of the children of Israel or of the strangers who dwell among you who hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten he shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust for it is the life of All Flesh its blood sustains its life therefore I said to the children of Israel you shall not eat the blood of any flesh for the life of All Flesh is its blood whoever eats it shall be cut off and every person who eats what died naturally or what was torn by beasts whether he is a native of your own country or a stranger he shall both wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening then he shall be clean but if he does not wash them or bathe his body then he shall bear his guilt amen so we're considering the Book of Leviticus it advances the theme established in the book of Exodus the book of Exodus emphasized in the latter part of the book God's dwelling among his people so at the end of the book of Exodus we have God's dwelling in the midst of his people but but no one was able to go into the house of the Lord to go into that Tabernacle because of the glory of God and because of their own sinfulness so the Book of Leviticus responds to that tension with the resolution the resolution is the sacrificial system and the priesthood through the priesthood mediating the way of access to Yahweh the worshiper brought their animal cut the throat of the animal turned it over to the priest he caught it up and presented it unto God those sacrifices are are spoken concerning in chapters one to six and then we see the emphasis on the priesthood in chapters seven to nine and then we see the departure from God's command in chapter 10. and then we see the day of atonement and the day of atonement was designed to cleanse the house of the Lord so that the people of Israel had access so Leviticus 1 to 16 sort of functions on the public worship aspect of the nation of Israel and then 17 and following focuses upon the private conduct of the children of Israel so what we have is laws concerning cleanliness and uncleanliness Holiness and unholiness and if you go back for just a moment to chapter 10 you'll see that this was the purpose or one of the purposes of the priesthood the priesthood as I mentioned last week was to bring the people into the presence of God they do so through intercession and through sacrifice but the priest must also teach notice on the heels of the death of nadab and abihu we read in chapter 10 at verse 8 then the Lord spoke to Aaron saying do not drink wine or intoxicating drink you know your son's with you when you go into the Tabernacle of meeting lest you die it shall be a statute forever throughout your Generations now notice specifically in verses 10 and 11 that you may distinguish between holy and Unholy that takes place in chapters 17 and following and between unclean and clean that takes place in chapters 11 to 15 specifically and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them by the hand of Moses so we've got sort of this Pinnacle in terms of corporate worship with reference to the old Covenant people in Leviticus chapter 16 the day of atonement so the house of God has cleansed the people of Israel are forgiven and then we come into what has been called the Holiness code and Michael Morales makes this observation about the connection here he says as a consequence of the day of atonement Israel is now able to participate in God's holiness up Prospect with a view to full and Lasting communion with Yahweh God uh Dempster a man who wrote a book called dominion and Dynasty he makes this observation the subsequent Holiness code versus chapter 17 to 26 reveals an important textual logic after the indicative of sacrificial forgiveness in Leviticus 1 to 16 climactically realized in the day of atonement there is the ethical imperative of Holiness now a moment's reflection in terms of a New Covenant setting there's a similarity it's not strictly parallel but there is a similarity what follows on the heels of justification by faith we then have the life of sanctification God declares us not guilty he forgives us of our sins he imputes to us the righteousness of Jesus Christ we are accepted in the sight of God based on the work of Jesus Christ for us now as a result of that we enter into the life of sanctification which is the spirit's work in us again not strictly parallel there is a covenant of Works aspect going on in the old Covenant in it but that same sort of textual logic is Dempster refers to so on the heels of justification we then see this emphasis on sanctification or in the language of Morales as a consequence of the day of atonement Israel is now able to participate in God's holiness so the sacrifices the priests culminating in this day of atonement brings the presence of God to the people of God and brings the people of God into the presence of God so now their daily life is regulated God calls them to be a people that is distinct from the Nations around them typically when we think of the word holy or Holiness we think of moral Purity and that's not a bad way to think but the very root meaning of Holiness or sanctification is separateness and so Israel as a people was to be distinct from the Nations around them in fact if you go back to Exodus chapter 19 you see what God's purpose for Israel with reference to life in the land was now they failed to carry this out Jesus fulfills and therefore this is applied to the church and the New Covenant but notice specifically in Exodus 19 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation the Apostle Peter again applies that to the church in First Peter chapter 2. so what Israel and the old confident Covenant forfeit by their Covenant breaking the Lord Jesus Christ as Champion as Covenant head brings us into that place where we receive all the blessings of God all the promises of God are yea and amen in him so going back to Leviticus chapter 17 just a few other passage passages to demonstrate that this Holiness code functioned to separate the children of Israel from the Heathen around them and one of the primary reasons that God wanted to separate them from the Heathen around them is that they would go after those other gods that they would become idolaters God understood the intrinsic sinfulness of man and so he seeks to protect them from that waywardness that would no doubt obtain when they go into the land and they weren't careful now subsequent history from here reveals that that's exactly what happens so a positive view of the conquest in the Book of Joshua but then a very negative view of the conquest in the Book of Judges in the Book of Judges what happens is the Israelites start to take on the characteristics of the Canaanites and then that lasts until God brings judgment upon them to the northern kingdom in the 8th century and to the southern Kingdom in the 6th Century now this Holiness code as we see here was to separate them look specifically at chapter 18 and verse 3. according to the doings of the land of Egypt where you dwelt you shall not do and according to the doings of the land of Canaan where I am bringing you you shall not do nor shall you walk in their ordinance says now continuing here in chapter 18 there are laws concerning sexual morality and we'll see that next week or sexual immorality notice specifically in verse 24 do not defile yourselves with any of these things for by all these the nations are defiled which I am casting out before you in other words this code existed so that or one of the reasons was so that the people of God would not ape the Heathen around them and thus get cast out of the land and then one other passage in chapter 20 specifically at verse 23 and you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am casting out before you for they commit all these things and therefore I abhor them so keep those passages in mind when you come to passages that that seem a bit perplexing a bit puzzling well well why was it that they couldn't ingest blood why was it that they couldn't like the Heathen around them drink blood well they were supposed to be separate from the Heathen around that because if they drank blood like the Heathen it won't be long before they're worshiping the gods of the Heathen there is that reality in the book of Deuteronomy we see that emphasis in chapter 12 on a central Sanctuary now that's not the way it is in the New Testament the Lord Jesus teaches us that in John chapter 4 when he's discussing these things with the Samaritan woman but there was a central sanctuary in Israel the Tabernacle and then the temple in Jerusalem and that was about preventative maintenance God the Lord knew that if anybody started worshiping whenever they had a hankering they would no doubt end up being idolaters so he had them come to that Sanctuary that was regulated by the priest that was governed by the law of God and that was the the authorized location for worship now that doesn't mean you could meditate upon the glory of God when you were hoeing your field or when you were washing your dishes but when it came to corporate worship there was the central Sanctuary so that the people of God would be protected and they would maintain Orthodoxy before Jehovah so as we look at chapter 17 we notice the sanctity of blood or the emphasis on blood and I think the text or the passage breaks down into three sections first there is a Prohibition concerning sacrificial animals in verses one to nine and its sacrifice that's in view here it's not not just an Israelite who wants to eat meat now that's probably part of the motivation but that's not the main emphasis it's about worship so the prohibition concerning sacrificial animals in verses one to nine secondly the prohibition against eating blood in verses 10 to 12 and then finally the rules concerning game animals in verses 13 to 16. you could hunt for the purpose of eating me God was never pro-vegan I'm not suggesting if you're a vegan you're a bad person but don't try to adopt the mentality that that's God's way God is perfectly fine with you eating a big fat porterhouse steak he's perfectly fine with you ingesting the meat that he made for you for that particular purpose so I'm not anti-vegan or vegetarian if you want to do that do that but don't claim that there's religious significance in that kind of a lifestyle Choice remember the the parable of the Prodigal Son when that sun returned they didn't build a big salad they killed the fatted calf and they roasted it because the son who was dead was now alive and the son who was lost was now found so let's look at the prohibition concerning sacrificial animals notice in the first place the person's addressed verses one and two the Lord spoke to Moses saying so the the man Moses functioned as the mediator of the old Covenant and then it says speak to Aaron to his sons and to all the children of Israel so this was a comprehensive law and the emphasis here is specifically on the children of Israel now the priests are going to be dealt with specifically in chapters 21-22 but here the priests are responsible to teach the individual Israelites what they're supposed to do when they kill one of their sacrificial animals it could be the case that an Israelite by mistake could kill an animal and either forget or neglect to bring it to the Tabernacle and thus he would commit sin against God and so it was important that the priests educate the people on how to maintain this Holiness before Yahweh relative to the killing of animals so the priests were responsible to teach the children of Israel the children of Israel were liable liable with reference to God's law in these particular in these particular issues the individual Israelite may be tempted to kill animals outside the Tabernacle verses four to seven or forget to drain out the blood before eating the meat and if he did that it would be upon him and so there was this emphasis upon the priesthood teaching accurately the word of God so that the people of God would be educated so that they would not violate God's commands now we ought to see overlap relative to the New Covenant and the Teaching Ministry of the church it is the church's job it is the church his task it is one of the church's marks to be preaching and teaching the word of God the the church is the pillar and ground of the truth the church is the household of God yes we come to worship yes we come to sing yes we come to pray but yes we come to learn we need to learn God's word we need to know the Bible we need to know sound theology we need to understand his truth because the knowledge of God is the essence of eternal life and so with reference to the persons we see the emphasis is upon all the children of Israel now notice the problem identified in verses three to nine there is first this prohibition against killing outside the Tabernacle in verses three and four now as I've already said the emphasis here is on sacrifice that's where the problem lies it may seem a bit innocuous this this fellow kills his animal outside the Tabernacle why is that problematic well it's not a problem Matic except for the fact that he's engaging in worship and when you drop down to say verse 5 you'll notice the heavy emphasis there on worship to the end of the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they offer in the open field that they may bring them to the Lord at the door of the Tabernacle of meaning so this fellow kills his animal for the purpose of sacrifice the prohibition is is that he's not supposed to do it out there he's supposed to bring the animal to the Tabernacle he's supposed to come through the authorized priesthood he's supposed to come in accordance with the word of God why because if he does it out here there's a peculiar tendency involved he manned up worshiping goat demons if you look specifically at verse 7 they shall no more offer their sacrifices to Demons that's literally goat demons it's probably something that the Egyptians worship and it's probably something connected to the scapego goat in Leviticus chapter 10 at verse I'm sorry Leviticus chapter 16 day of atonement at verses 8 10 and 26. the ESV translates the escape the scapegoat there as Azazel and the new King James just translates it as scapegoat it's an enigmatic passage there's a a lot of questions as to what is Azazel and some suggest that this was a goat demon that dwelt in the wilderness of some sort so there's probably a connection in terms of verse 7 to what we've already seen there in Leviticus 16 at 8 10 and 26. so there is that peculiar tendency for the guy uh cutting up his or killing his animal in order to engage in religious worship if he does that on his own he is prone to wander and prone to leave the God that he loves so the prohibition involved in verses one to nine is that if he does kill that animal there he brings it to the Tabernacle in order to sacrifice it better he shouldn't kill it there he should bring it to the sack uh to the Tabernacle to kill it there and engage in the corporate worship that the Lord has already specified so that's the emphasis in the passage and again his desire to eat meat might be part of it because in the passage specifically at verse uh at verse 5 notice he offers them as peace offerings to the Lord peace offerings was one of the sacrifices that the worshiper got to participate in remember the burnt offering was given up by the worshiper to the priest and he he he he burned the entirety he kept the hide but he burned the entirety of the meat the whole of the burnt offering but when it comes to the peace offering both the priest and the worshiper got to enjoy some of the meat so perhaps this fellow's out there he cuts his animal up he wants to give engage in this sacrifice and then he wants to eat well God knows the heart of man he says don't do that bring it to the Tabernacle you'll get to participate in the eating of the meat but you'll also have corrective or you'll have uh uh guard rails so you don't end up actually worshiping this goat demon so the killing of domestic animals for the purpose of sacrifice is in view the demand that the killing of domestic animals be conducted in the Tabernacle when it comes to worship again specifically in verses 13 and following God's not against hunting if you're out in the woods and you see a grouse take the shot you don't have to go to the Tabernacle you don't have to go through that rigmarole you can cut it up and eat it right there I mean cook it but you know drain the blood there's specific direction for that so God's not against you eating meat he's against you worshiping goat demons and then the guilt associated with the violation notice this this is a heavy panel penalty in verse 4. he does not bring it to the door of the Tabernacle of meeting to offer an offering to the Lord before the Tabernacle of the Lord the guilt of Bloodshed shall be imputed to that man he has shed blood and that man shall be cut off from among his people now that phrase cut off from among his people Scholars and commentators debate but the general overarching thought is that it means a death penalty so this is a very serious violation in terms of the cult in terms of the religious apparatus involved in worship and again I think the the preventative maintenance element is to keep the people of God from worshiping Idols from going ahoring from God and seeking those things which are not God now when we ask the question well he's only cut up an animal he's only spilled the blood of an animal that that doesn't seem like it would be worthy of the death penalty I think John Gill gets it right he says which though it was only the blood of a beast yet being shed as a sacrifice for man and typical of the the blood of Christ to be shut for man with sacred and precious to God and as we move through the passage we'll see that the the the blood represents the life of the animal and I get I think that gets at the heart of atonement and certainly our New Covenant uh view of the Lord Jesus Christ helps us to illustrate and see that what happens in atonement is life for life so the animal that is being sacrificed on behalf of the worshiper is life for life so if the man disregards that he does not treat it as sacred if he does not treat it in the manner in which God specifies then it is an assault ultimately on the image of God in man and I think that's why the the law is so severe in this particular instance so we've got this prohibition against killing uh the killing the domestic animals in verses three and four and then the purpose of sacrifice he's not supposed to be out here just kind of engaged in his own thing he's supposed to be here at the Tabernacle engaged in the worship of God as has been specified in detail in chapters one to nine remember there's that legislation concerning the sacrificial system legislating legislation concerning the priesthood God's approbation of their sacrifice at the end of chapter nine the people see it and Shout for joy in the presence of the consuming fire of God so there is this authorized approach coach into the very presence of God most high so the guy who does it out here is violating that he is transgressing that so with reference to the the purpose here notice to the end he's supposed to do this bring the animal to the Tabernacle verse 5 to the end the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they offer in the open field that they may bring them to the Lord at the door of the Tabernacle of meaning to the priests and offer them as peace offerings to the Lord again that's that Fellowship day the priest will get to eat that meat and get to do so in the presence of God and enjoy the blessings of God and then notice in verse 6 the priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the door of the Tabernacle of meeting and burn the fat for a sweet Aroma to the Lord now it's not we're not supposed to understand that God has a you know a Divine nose and and that he sniffs these things but it's a convention it's a it's a convention in the man manner of men to show us that God approves of this sacrifice it is a a sweet Aroma to the Lord the Apostle Paul uses the language in Ephesians chapter 5 concerning the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ it's a sweet aroma pleasing to the father so the idea there is that Divine approbation Divine approval Divine reception of what has been offered on behalf of the worshiper so the priest shall sprinkle the blood don't don't miss that that that's very significant and very important and very helpful to understand the rest of the chapter so the priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the door of the Tabernacle of meeting and burn the fat for a sweet Aroma to the Lord now notice they shall no more offer their sacrifices to Demons seems to infer or imply that they had done this that this had already been a problem that they no longer do this that they shall no more offer their sacrifices to Demons that they don't take on the characteristics of the Egyptians that when they go into the land of the Canaanites they don't take on the characteristics of the Canaanites they can't just worship whenever they have this hankering because it may end up in idolatry and if you look at some other scriptures you'll see that this is the Divine commentary look at Deuteronomy chapter 32 Deuteronomy chapter 32 specifically at verse 17. this is sort of a rehearsal of Israel's history up until this point they sacrificed to Demons not to God to gods they did not know to New Gods new arrivals that your fathers did not fear so the the Bible envisages that when you go after Baal or you go after asherah or you go after your money and it's functioning as an idol there's a demon behind that that's demonism that's not well you know I just got a little off in terms of the object of worship remember that's the first commandment you shall have no other gods either besides me or before me that's just not good you're not supposed to have other gods and the Ten Commandments are not haphazard we we make that sort of uh distinction between the first table of the law and the second table of law the first table is our duty to God and the second table is our duty to man again that's not haphazard the first commandment is you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength and the second is like it love your neighbor as yourself there's a priority God comes first there's a priority in the Lord's prayer before you pray for your daily bread before you pray for your forgiveness of sins you pray that God's name be hallowed you pray that God's kingdom come and you pray that God's will be done so there's a priority upon the Lord God most high so when we go after an idol when we go after something that is not God the Bible shows us that there's a demon behind it the idol is nothing Dagon wasn't real there's no actual God called Dagon there's no actual God called Baal the Bible uses the language that they're actual and I think the idea being is that when you go after those things you're actually engaged in occultism you're actually engaged in Demon worship so that's what the text in 3217 says notice in Psalm 106 Psalm 106 in fact someday when you get a chance compare Psalm 106 and Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1 the Apostle Paul has Psalm 106 obviously in his mind he uses some of the same language and what was true of Israel of old is true of the Gentiles in that setting in Romans chapter 1. but notice specifically in Psalm 106 at verse 37 they even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to Demons and shed innocent blood the blood of their sons and daughters whom they sacrifice to the idols of Canaan and the land was polluted with blood so so molak was one of those deities that they engaged child sacrifice yeah mullet was a big statue had arms outstretched and they'd put a fire around the base of molak and then the worshiper would come and throw their babies into the armamolek well molak didn't have opposable thumbs and and arms and hands that moved so he couldn't catch that so the babies would bounce off from moloch's arms and they'd go right into the fire so that was the child's sacrifice that was prohibited in terms of old Covenant Israel so the Bible says that when they did that moloch that big statue without stretched arms it's not really a thing it's not a genuine entity but it's demons behind it it's the the Dark World Of Satan behind that particular Idol but this isn't just a old Covenant concept if you turn to the book of First Corinthians First Corinthians a passage that is most important relative to the Lord's Supper we usually go to chapter 11 but chapter 10 sets the stage for the supper and in chapter 10 in First Corinthians at verse 14 notice what Paul says therefore my beloved flee from idolatry I speak as to wise men judge for yourselves what I say the cup of blessing which we bless is it not the communion of the blood of Christ the bread which we break is it not the communion of the of the body of Christ for we though many are one bread and one body for we all partake of that one bread observe Israel after the flesh are not those who eat of the sacrifices look at this language partakers of the altar what am I saying then that an idol is anything or what is offered to Idols is anything rather that the things which which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons see we know the supper is a means of Grace it's not just a memorial service it is that but we commune with Jesus we have fellowship with Jesus when we engage in the Lord's Supper as God demands or as God authorizes just as the Gentile worshiping his Idol fellowships or communes with or partakes of this demon uh fellowship with demons you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy are we stronger than he so going back to Leviticus chapter 17. I hope you see now why God says you're not supposed to worship outside the Tabernacle you're supposed to kill your animal bring it to the Tabernacle and they're through the authorized priesthood you get to partake in the very presence of God you get to partake in the peace offering which means you get to eat meat along with the raised a time of Fellowship a time of Covenant a time of Joy a time of blessing so back to verse 7 they shall no more offer their sacrifices to demons and then note this next phrase or a statement after whom they have played the Harlot now the Old King James uses the language that the people of Israel went ahoring from God and the Bible uses that convention to demonstrate just how bad idolatry is so God is a husband to Israel according to the old Covenant the book of Song of Solomon isn't a Lover's manual the book of Song of Solomon is an allegory of God in Israel better of Christ in the church and what we see when it comes to this relationship is that Fidelity is necessary God is faithful to his children his children need to be faithful to him and so when it comes to this demonism or this idolatry this is spiritual harlotry this is spiritual adultery this is spiritual prostitution the prophets use this language a lot all over the place you see the prophets employ the language of the children of Israel engaged in this activity one place where it's very conspicuous is in the Prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel chapter 16 specifically basically God rehearses his dealings with the nation of Israel he says when I found you you were lying in your blood when I found you you're a mess I picked you up I cleaned you off I decked you with ornaments I fit you to be my bride and that's exactly what happens as you read the Old Testament but what happens they get proud they get arrogant they get into another land and what do they do they start to play the Harlot with other gods they start to go a whoring from the true and living God and some of the language that Ezekiel chapter 16 uses is so vivid especially may I suggest read the The New American Standard not I think there's been several new American Standards but uh the one a few years ago anyway chapter 16 because the New American Standard has sort of as its reputation I favor the the the Texas traditional tax but The New American Standard has as its reputation a very literal translation and Summit chapter 16 can be a bit be a bit rough for you know us delicate sensitive Christians in the church today but essentially What God Says is you're not like other prostitutes even other prostitutes accept payment from the man you actually pay the man to engage in this Harlot tree and and idolatry so so this language of verse 7 is not you know unique to chapter 17 in The Book of Leviticus this comes out throughout all the scriptures after whom they have played the Harlot so the emphasis on sacrifice at the Tabernacle was preventative maintenance so that the children of the Covenant would not go ahoring from God and so verse 7 ends with this shall be a statute forever for them throughout their Generations this does not mean it's operative for us today Christians read this well if this is a statute forever for us throughout all generations and it must still be binding on us we need a tabernacle we need a priesthood we need animals so that we can sacrifice remember that statements like these are conditioned by the Covenant that they are found in as long as there's an old Covenant as long as there's a tabernacle or a temple as long as there's a functioning priesthood this was mandated well now that the old Covenant has been fulfilled by our lord Jesus that the New Covenant has come there's no longer a tabernacle there's no longer a temple there's no longer a functioning priesthood in this particular definition we are not bound to engage in animal sacrifice that is not what we're doing and we're certainly not going to go back to that in some future Millennial Kingdom that is not the drift of scripture that is not the trajectory of scripture the idea that there's going to be a a rebuilt temple in the future with animal sacrifices reinstituted is to go exactly backward in Redemptive history we don't need sacrifices of atonement for remembrance we have the Lord's Supper so this idea that there's a future rebuilt Temple and a future priesthood and all that sort of thing that's not what the Bible teaches now back to our Passage notice the the penalty is reiterated in verses 8 and 9. and this is expanded just a bit so it's specified peace offerings in verse 5. but here it's whatever kind of offering so verse 8 also you shall say to them whatever man of the house of Israel and notice this or of the strangers who dwell among you huh immigrants were bound to obey the law of God yeah they were absolutely positively bound to obey the law of God strangers who dwell among you now probably these were proselytes these were those were these were people that were enamored with Israel's God they went through the particular uh procedure to enter into the Covenant the idea is is that those who occupied the land along with the Jews had to play by the same rule book as the Jews did so you shall say to them whatever man of the house of Israel or of the strangers who dwell among you who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice and does not bring it to the door of the Tabernacle of meeting to offer it to the Lord that man shall be cut off from among his people so the section emphasizes Fidelity to God at the Tabernacle of God with the installed priesthood by God for worship of God and then participate in that sacrificial meal the peace offering from the animal that you offered up now notice secondly the prohibition against eating blood this incidentally is a great help for us in understanding the debate concerning transubstantiation uh that the Roman Catholic Church practices so in transubstantiation what we find in in the Lord's Supper what they call the Eucharist or communion is that the the priest by his pronouncement actually turns the body uh the bread and the wine into the actual body and blood of Jesus the reason they say this is because the words of institution when Jesus says this is my body this is my blood they take it literally but the apostles wouldn't have they would not have understood Jesus as to say eat my actual flesh and drank my actual blood that would be unconscionable it represents my body it represents my blood that's what he meant as gershner used to say when Jesus said I am the True Vine he didn't mean you could pick grapes off of him when he says I am the door it didn't mean that he had hinges on him when he says this is my body he means this is representative of my body so the idea that the priest has the ability to change the bread and the wine into the body and blood of the Lord as our confession says it's repugnant not only to scripture but to Common Sense nobody in their right mind would have ever thought that Jesus meant yeah take a bite out of my arm and actually drink my blood that's not what's going on the Jews always had this concept of not ingesting blood this is the idea of kosher killing drain the blood before for you utilize the me so notice we we find that in verses 10 and following whatever man of the house of Israel or of the strangers who dwell among you who eats eats any blood I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people again the prohibition is strong it is a penalty probably of death so when it comes to the blood in the sacrificial system what does the priest do with it well we've already seen that in verse 6 the priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the door of the Tabernacle of meaning so after the worshiper Cuts its throat he turns it over to the priest the priest drains the animal of its blood and then he takes the meat and puts it on the Altar and then he sprinkles that blood on the altar so the blood is precious in the sight of God not in some weird mystical strange way but what it represents and that's what we see emphasized here now this isn't the first place place where there's this prohibition against what we've already seen it in the sacrifices or in the specifications concerning sacrifice Leviticus 3 17. this shall be a Perpetual statute throughout your Generations in all your dwellings you shall eat neither fat nor blood and then again in Chapter 7 and verse 26 moreover you shall not eat any blood in any of your dwellings whether of bird or beast so this isn't a New Concept but here we find the the rationale for this particular prohibition so God promises judgment to those who engage in this activity and then he gives the reason in verses 11 and 12. 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 basically the life the life for the life the substitute of the wine taking the brunt of the punishment on behalf of the other it's the the the the doctrine of penal substitution I've never quite understood how people evade that Doctrine in the the work of Christ it is penal substitution Christ went to the cross in our place to take a Wrath of God in our place so that we might become the righteousness of God in him and and and that idea is steeped in the old Covenant it's steeped in the levitical system it's steeped in the sacrificial system it's steeped in a passage like this 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 what does Paul say in Hebrews 9 22 without the shedding of blood there is no remission for sin if there's not Bloodshed if there's not substitution if the wrath of God is not appeased then that bears down upon the sinner therefore I said to the children of Israel no one among you shall eat blood nor shall any stranger who dwells among you eat blood now this then brings us to the last section the rules concerning game animals okay if we go to the temple or the Tabernacle with our animal we know what we're supposed to do with the blood it gets poured or the priest pours it on the altar well we we also know in terms of this prohibition with reference to to God's statement concerning blood as the life of the animal and it's the substitution and the whole idea behind atonement so so what happens if I'm hunting what happens if I do shoot a grouse can I you know eat the blood with that Grouse or can I eat the blood with that with that whatever I'm shooting I almost said Peg but they couldn't do that remember they had to they could only hunt clean animals they couldn't hunt unclean animals so so notice what it says in verse 13 whatever man of the children of Israel or of the strangers who dwell among you who hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten Robert alter makes the observation in the case of gain perhaps typically downed with an arrow the Beast or bird is not fit to be brought as an offering to the altar so a different mechanism is employed to respect the sacrifice nature of the life blood that's what the text specifies whatever man of the children of Israel or of the strangers who dwell among you who hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten he shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust you see he doesn't ingest it like the Heathen he doesn't ingest it like the Pagan he doesn't ingest it in some you know primordial right but rather he is still under obligation to the God of all all glory and honor to respect that blood even of a game animal and then the the rationale is given in verse 14 for it is the life of All Flesh its blood sustains its life in other words have respect for that mechanism that God developed and engage in it in a manner that is consistent with the Covenant people therefore I said to the children of Israel you shall not eat the blood of any flesh for the life of All Flesh is its blood whoever eats it shall be cut off so the tax specifies what you do with the blood because it's a different scenario than bringing it to the Tabernacle it's a different scenario than than uh that that previous legislation dealt with and then notice specifically in verses 15 and 16. you have the case of a dead animal now coming upon a dead animal I mean if you're starving I guess you're gonna you know roll the dice and take a bite but you should always be a bit suspicious why is it dead right I mean what killed it if it's not got an obvious bite mark in it might have some disease so so there's just a common sense approach in terms of approaching a dead animal but there is this legislation notice in every person who eats what died naturally or what was torn by beasts whether he is a native of your own country or a stranger he shall both wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening notice this isn't a sacrificial animal this isn't something that that is dedicated to God in the same way that domestic animals are for use in the Tabernacle so this fellow comes upon an animal that was that's died naturally or was torn by Beast he's not liable to the death penalty but he is ritually impure he is unclean and as a result of that he shall both washes clothes and bathe and water and be unclean until evening then he shall be clean later on in the book of Deuteronomy specifically at chapter 14 and verse 21 it simplifies this legislation by simply saying the Israelite shouldn't eat the meat you can give it to the alien you can give it to the to the Immigrant among you but the the Israelites not supposed to eat the meat so it simplifies this particular legislation but here you can understand the rationale every person who eats what died naturally or what was torn by Beast whether he whether is a whether is a native of your own country or stranger again he is not liable to the death penalty because he's not engaged in you know demon worship he's not engaged in that act of sacrifice there's no tendency or propensity involved he's hungry he lights upon this animal he ingests it but he's now ritually unclean and so he has to be purified so that he can be restored back into fellowship with Yahweh so verse 16 says if he does not wash them or bathe his body then he shall bear his guilt so ritual impurity differs from a punishment by Death path and the issue is the one deals with sacrifice death penalty the other deals with simply ingesting food now in terms of just some final thoughts relative to the New Covenant the problem of idolatry is not simply confined to the Old Testament I know that we like to think that or perhaps fool ourselves into thinking that Romans 1 indicates that idolatry is a big problem with the Gentiles but the New Testament also recognizes that idolatry is a perennial Temptation for the children of God I've already you know kind of at least alluded to Matthew 6 24. you cannot serve God in Mammon you can take a good thing Mammon or money it's more immoral it's not you know money's not good or bad it's it's The Sinner and his approach to that money so so we can take something that that is neither good or bad we can take things that are good and we can make Idols out of them and intriguingly the the the first Epistle of John ends with my little children keep yourselves from Idols a bit of a kill Joy huh I mean Here's the the the the the the man who laid his had in the bosom of Jesus brasted you know he's wrote written about righteousness and truth and obedience and all that stuff and he ends on that note my little children keep yourselves from idols brethren we need to listen to that we need to take heed to that we need to understand that there is that tendency in us that proneness to wander and prone is to leave the god that we love in terms of the Restriction concerning blood John Gill has an interesting comment here first of all this law is appealed to in Acts 15 29. acts 15 29 is the Jerusalem Council how do we deal with Gentiles entering into the Covenant Promises of God alongside the Jews this caused a bit of a a problem chapter 15 says that there were certain ones that said well the Gentiles could they believe on Jesus that they also have to get circumcised they have to obey the rights of Moses well they had a council they determined no that's not necessary they give some general guidelines to the to the to the Gentile churches I think on how not to give offense to the Jews but the specific things they invoke all do relate in one way or another to idolatry so they're telling the Gentile churches don't engage in these practices because it does have a tendency to lead one to idolatry now Gill argues that you may ingest blood I don't think he means you know the cup of it after you you bag your deer he says properly dressed and his argument is pretty ingenious he says uh he says it's pretty genius he basically says it was an old Covenant ceremonial law that pointed forward to the Lord Jesus Christ it was prefiguring it was typical so when Christ comes he fulfills that so there's no longer this emphasis Upon A New Covenant Christian to not ingest blood now there might be good reasons to not drink cups of blood and I think that's why he mentions properly dressed I remember a brother one time asked is blood pudding okay to eat does anybody know what blood pudding is it's that weird thing that Brits eat and it's just congealed blood and yeah not something I'm you know I don't see it and go wow that looks tasty but perhaps brought up on that Gil had I don't think he was trying to weasel his way into blood pudding but but the the argument made sense it was old Covenant stipulation upon that old Covenant people that's no longer binding in Jesus so if you have a rare stake you're not under the strictures of Leviticus chapter 17. and then finally the necessity of blood for atonement this is again typical and prefigures the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world the old Covenant people were taught to understand the significance of blood the New Covenant operates with that assumption and we see them emphasize blood again not in some magical potion type way but it signifies not only life but it also signifies death it signifies the life and the death of our Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of God's people and in that we have atonement we'll all pray and then if there's any questions we can deal with that our father we thank you for your word we thank you for both Old and New Testaments and we pray that you would give us wisdom as we approach passages like these help us to contemplate and to consider and ultimately to be drawn out in worship and love and adoration to you for the provision of the son of your love we know that he made atonement for the sins of his people and we rejoice in that we ask that you would go with us and help us to glorify you in the remainder of this week again pray we pray that you bring Pastor agallo here safely bless him father I pray he would be encouraged and refreshed as he meets with the people of God here and that he would be a means of encouragement to each and every one of us and we pray through Christ Our Lord amen well any question