This is cool: the Israelites weren't to eat blood because in the blood is a creature's life force. That goes for animal or human. Blood was considered sacred and not only were the Israelites to abstain, but also any strangers (non-Israelites) living among them. Today, modern science backs that up (yeah, don't tell me the Bible isn't real) as we know the blood carries nutrients, oxygen, a whole host of things necessary to the living cells and organs of the body. The stop of blood flow, life is gone. Now, add to this these verses:
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. --Romans 6:23
Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. --Hebrews 9:22
Maybe this is not great leap I'm making here, but do you see how it all fits together? The life force is the blood. The recompense of sin is the taking of life, in other words, death. The Day of Atonement worked because blood, the life force, of an animal was offered in substitution for the real payment: our own blood for our own sins. There could be no forgiveness of sins unless there was the shedding of blood, the taking of a life (why we all die in the first place, check out Romans). HOWEVER, Jesus came and shed his own blood, sacrificed His own life force so that we may be forgiven, His blood substituted for ours. And so, we are forgiven and life is granted to us. Seriously, this dovetails so beautifully with Hebrews, that maybe Hebrews and Leviticus should be studied side-by-side. But then, it dovetails so well with Romans, too. And I'm sure, if I were given enough time to really think it over, so many other books in the Bible. See how it all correlates? I'm sure we'll see more of it as we continue to read and become more familiar with what the Bible has to tell us. So, so cool.
Tomorrow's Reading: Leviticus
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