Leviticus 17:11, commentary and pictures

The life of the body is in the blood, so blood stands for life itself and is sacred because all life comes from God. God appointed blood to be offered upon the altar to make atonement for the soul, because sin brings death and the broken law demands the life of the transgressor. In the appointed service the innocent victim bore the guilt of the sinner and was slain in his place, its blood representing his forfeited life, and by the carrying and applying of that blood sin was in figure transferred from the repentant sinner to the sanctuary. The blood of beasts itself had no power to atone, but the slain offerings and their flowing blood foreshadowed Christ and pledged God's pardon through His future great sacrifice. That sacrificial blood symbolized the blood of the Son of God, by whose shedding alone atonement is made and the soul is cleansed from sin, so that spiritual life is kept only by living faith-union with Christ and a personal partaking of the virtue of His blood.

Blood as Life and Atonement

The life of the flesh is in the blood, so blood stands for life itself and is sacred because life is God's gift. It is not ordinary food, for shedding of blood is bound up with sin, and its sacred use in sacrifice points to the Son of God. God gave blood upon the altar to make atonement for souls, appointing shed blood as the means by which atonement comes. The reason is that sin brings death, the broken law demands the transgressor's life, and death must follow man's sin.

In the sanctuary service the innocent victim bore the sinner's guilt and was slain as a substitute, its blood representing the sinner's forfeited life. Through the priest carrying or applying that blood, sin was transferred in figure from the repentant sinner to the sanctuary. There is no atoning virtue in the blood of animals itself. The beasts slain for sacrifice and their flowing blood prefigured Christ, showing for the time the fulfillment of the word that sinners shall surely die.

That shedding pointed forward to a Redeemer of superior value to the law who would come and die for the sins of men, and by that death fully vindicate and uphold the Father's law. The blood of sacrificial animals was thus appointed as the means of atonement and a standing pledge of God's pardon through the future great offering. Offering it expressed repentance, obedience, and faith in the coming Redeemer, by which the sinner acknowledged dependence on another and confessed sinfulness.

Refusal to offer blood, as in Cain's case, slighted the blood of the atonement and rejected the appointed sign of dependence on a Saviour. The blood of the slain victim symbolized the blood of the Son of God, through whose shedding alone atonement for sin can be made. Its use to cleanse the sanctuary from the sins of the people typified the blood of Christ which alone can cleanse from sin.

Prohibition Against Eating Blood

The command to eat neither fat nor blood was a perpetual statute for all generations in all dwellings. It applied not only to beasts offered in sacrifice but to all cattle used for food. Blood was therefore to be carefully drained from animals killed for food, and eating meat with its blood was forbidden as transgression of the Lord's commandment.

The prohibition was given to impress that if there had been no sin there would have been no shedding of blood. It was given to preserve clear and definite ideas between the sacred and the common, and to preserve the health and strength of the people. It was given to guard against the idolatrous practice of eagerly drinking the blood flowing from victims, which produced confused ideas. For this reason blood was understood as not ordinary food but sacred, representing life and serving as an emblem of the Son of God, and its shedding was connected with sin, so that the Jews regarded eating blood as sinful.

The Israelites violated this law when, faint with hunger after Saul's fast and vow following the battle with the Philistines, they ate animals' flesh with the blood. Because the ritual law forbade tasting blood, Christ's words about eating His flesh and drinking His blood sounded literal and sacrilegious to those who refused their spiritual meaning.

Life Through Christ's Blood

The heart is the reservoir from which the blood circulates through arteries, capillaries, and veins to every part of the body. It carries food assimilated to nourish the body, build up bone and sinew and muscle, repair waste, and cherish growth. The blood is supplied by food and is vivified and purified by fresh pure air taken into the lungs. Without sufficient nourishing food and pure vital air it is starved, its quality changes, and it cannot do its marvelous work. The same blood system and nerve system that make up the great agencies of healthful physical life exist in Christianity.

Spiritual life is maintained only by vital connection and personal contact with Christ through faith in His blood. The efficacy of the blood of Christ supplies every need of the soul and keeps it in healthful condition. Through it He is made unto the believer wisdom and sanctification and righteousness and redemption. A soul without Christ is dead like a body without blood, even if it keeps up an appearance of spiritual life and performs religious ceremonies. Pretentious Christians who do not live His character are rejected as distasteful.