BLOOD AND LIFE
In ancient Israel, there were many occasions when the high priest
was instructed by God to sprinkle something with the blood from
a sacrifice: the entrance to the tabernacle, for instance, or
the altar that was by the entrance to the tabernacle, or the door
of the tabernacle. In addition to this sprinkling, there
were occasions when the rest of the blood was to be poured
around the base of the altar. These sacrifices symbolized atonement
and redemption for trespasses.
Blood is described by God as the essence of life, and therefore
was never to be eaten:
SPRINKLING OF BLOOD
Exactly how this was done is not explained. In the preceding chapters
we see that the commandments and ordinances which set out the
terms of the covenant had been presented to the people. What we
read here is the sealing of the covenant.
Were the people of Israel sprinkled as a whole or only the young
men (v 5), or only the elders (v 1), or all the people
( v 7)? Certainly the implication is that the covenant was cut
between God and all the people of Israel, so whether others
stood in for all the people is actually irrelevant. However, this
certainly would have been an awesomely dramatic event, one to
be remembered for all time.
SPRINKLING AND POURING
We might contrast this sprinkling with the practice, as
mentioned earlier, of pouring blood around the base of
the altar, filling it with blood!
SPRINKLING OF THE CONSCIENCE
What should the conscience do when it touched by something holy?
It ought to realise the difference between its current condition
and the nature of that which touched it. But just as the physical
sprinkling with blood is uncomfortable-leaving a physical stain-so
the sprinkling with the blood of Christ leaves, or at least should
leave, if we allow it to, a spiritual mark. This mark or stain
indicates that a part of us is at odds with Christ's character;
it reveals to us a blemish in us. We experience this blemish as
guilt-or we should so do if we have not forced the conscience
into submission with excuses, justifications or a refusal to simply
listen to it. Guilt is the reaction of our godly conscience when
we first register the "sprinkling" that indicates a
blemish.
In the same way, the Scriptures paint this picture for us of sprinkling,
a sprinkling that also requires that there be a washing that follows.
As the conscience becomes aware of its sin, guilt enters. Unless
change occurs and this guilt is washed away, the conscience will
remain defiled and compromised and will no longer able to carry
out effectively its role as the sentinel to our minds. We see
these same allusions used by Paul as he describes the cleansing
of the conscience.
Today I want to talk to you about a bloody subject.
Dt 12:23-24 "Only be sure that you do not eat the
blood, for the blood is the life; you may not eat the life with
the meat. 24 You shall not eat it; you shall pour it on the earth
like water."
Even when the Old Testament speaks of animal sacrifices and atonement,
the sacredness of life is emphasised:
Lev 17:11 "For the life of the flesh is in the blood:
and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement
for your souls for it is the blood that makes an atonement for
the soul."
These sacrifices were bloody affairs, sometimes involving numerous
animals, at times of considerable size. Today, we are often appalled
by the presence of blood. If you have ever seen a lamb being killed
by the slitting of its throat, you would be aware of how forceful
the flow of blood from the artery of an animal (and indeed of
a human being) can be. Some people feel ill at the sight of blood
or panic if they see it flowing. This may not have always been
the case, however. Agrarian cultures would regularly slaughter
animals for food. You may have seen the film "Not without
my Daughter", in which there is a scene where an American
women and her Arab husband are welcomed into an Arabic household
by the slaughtering of a goat in front of them at the steps to
the house. So some will probably not be repulsed by these sights.
There was one time, however, when the sprinkling of blood was
not reserved for the altar alone. This was the occasion when sacrificial
blood from animals was sprinkled directly onto the people.
We have the record in Ex 24:1-8 (NNAS):
Ex 24:1-8 Then He said to Moses, "Come up to the
LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders
of Israel, and you shall worship at a distance. 2 Moses alone,
however, shall come near to the LORD, but they shall not come
near, nor shall the people come up with him." 3 Then Moses
came and recounted to the people all the words of the LORD and
all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice
and said, "All the words which the LORD has spoken we will
do!" 4 Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. Then
he arose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot
of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.
5 he sent young men of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt
offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the
LORD. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and
the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 Then
he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of
the people; and they said, "All that the LORD has spoken
we will do, and we will be obedient!" 8 So Moses took the
blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, "Behold
the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you in
accordance with all these words."
(There is another example of people being directly sprinkled with
blood, but that is in respect to the consecration of Aaron and
his sons: Lev 8:30)
But clearly a willingness to be sprinkled with this blood
would need to be in evidence. Blood is not normally something
we want to have put on us. Yet sprinkling is gentle, soft and
it hits the recipient randomly. The natural human inclination
is to escape being hit by flying blood. However, the sealing of
this covenant implies a willingness on the part of individuals
to be touched by the blood, putting themselves forward irrespective
of how much discomfort it causes.
Lev 4:18 "He shall put some of the blood on the horns
of the altar which is before the LORD in the tent of meeting;
and all the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of
burnt offering which is at the doorway of the tent of meeting."
(See also verses 25,30,34)
Thus the holiness represented by the blood (Lev 6 27) completely
saturates the place upon which the sacrifice will be burnt.
It is entirely holy, as it stands for the completely holy sacrifice
of Christ. In contrast, being only sprinkled implies a
sense of being touched by holiness, with only those areas
touched being changed or affected by it. Other areas not touched
remain unchanged, at least for the moment.
Notice how the 'blood of the covenant' being sprinkled is a repeated
theme in the Scriptures, one related to our agreement with God
by which it is the blood of Christ that is being shed. As with
all covenants, blood must be shed (Heb 9:18). It is after all
the same covenant (Heb 10:19-20; 13:20) that is being made.
Heb 10:28-29 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses
dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who
has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean
the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and
has insulted the Spirit of grace?
Just like the willingness of the people to be sprinkled physically
with the blood of the covenant, there also needs to be a willingness
by us to permit our consciences to be similarly touched by the
sprinkling of Christ's blood.
Heb 11:28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling
of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not
touch them.
Heb 12:24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant,
and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the
blood of Abel.
Why sprinkling? If you have ever been in a light shower of rain,
you know you do not get saturated immediately. It takes a considerable
time for saturation to occur. It is a matter of one drop at a
time. Also, each drop is fairly discernible, whereas in a down-pour
or, more particularly, if you are completely immersed (as we are
at baptism), it is like a total, single event.
Heb 9:13-14 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the
ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify
for the cleansing of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without
blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works
to serve the living God?
SPRINKLING AND WASHING
My mother had a condition that meant she bled from the nose regularly,
and sometimes uncontrollably, leading to a large loss of blood.
She had many hundreds of blood transfusions until she died at
the age of 56 from an internal haemorrhage, so I grew up in a
household quite accustomed to the presence of blood. I regularly
soaked the bloodied towels in cold water to rinse the blood out
of them before they were further washed. As most of you women
probably know, hot water actually seals the stain, preventing
the stain of blood from being fully removed.
Heb 10:22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from
an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
CONSCIENCES PRESENTED TO GOD
Tit 3:5-7 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which
we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by
the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
6 which He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our
Saviour, 7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made
heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
1Pe 1:2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,
by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and
be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours
in the fullest measure.
What is the hope we have? As God works with our minds to change
us and make us clean, a collective bride without spot or wrinkle,
we understand that our consciences are to be purged, sprinkled
and washed. Notice:
Eze 36:25-27 "Then I will sprinkle clean water on
you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness
and from all your idols. 26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart
and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of
stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will
put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes,
and you will be careful to observe My ordinances."
Now that we have renewed our commitment to the covenant into which
God has called us, how are we to present our consciences to God
so that He may continue to sprinkle us and purge us of all that
is unclean? With a willingness to present ourselves as a living
sacrifice- stepping forward and desiring to be sprinkled.