All right, here's part of it,
or here is the heart of our text of the morning. And whatsoever
man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that
sojourn among you, that eats any manner of blood, I will even
set my face against that soul that 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 an atonement for your souls, for it is the
blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. And therefore,
I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood,
neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood. And whatsoever man there be of
the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among
you, which hunts and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be
eaten, he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover
it with dust. For he did this to the life of
all flesh, The blood of it is for the life thereof. Therefore
I said unto the children of Israel, ye shall eat the blood of no
manner of flesh, for the life of all flesh is in the blood,
whosoever eateth it shall be cut off." Hebrews 9, 11 through
14. but Christ being come and high
priest of good things to come, by greater, more perfect tabernacle,
not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood
he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption. Or if the blood of bulls and
of goats, and the ashes of the heifer, sprinkling the unclean,
sanctify it to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God? I will put you in remembrance
of this, though you already know it, that almost everything that
we meet with in the old economy was typical and a picture of
something better that was to come. So says the scripture,
Colossians 2 and 17, which are a shadow of things to come. In Hebrews 10 and verse 1, the
law having a shadow of good things to come. Hebrews 9 and verse
9 calls the tabernacle, quote, a figure for the time then present,
unquote. Now you might see the word figure,
as it is in the King James, translated more often in the scripture as
the word parable in the New Testament. It is the word parable from a
word that means to throw down alongside of another, to liken,
or to compare. Thus such words as parable, figure,
comparison, proverb, or symbol might be found used. It's the
same word used in Hebrews 11 and verse 19, of Abraham receiving
Isaac from the dead, quote, in a figure, unquote. That is, Isaac
did not actually, literally, and really die, and was not therefore
actually, really, and literally raised from the dead, but he
was both in a figure. He was, therefore, a figure of
the death and of the resurrection of our Savior. So it was with
a tabernacle. It was a figure, highly figuratively,
one calling it A figurative instruction, and so it was to us in the New
Testament. And in these things God set forth
types and shadows of the coming redemption of the Christ of God. Especially was the tabernacle
highly figuratively of things that were to come under the gospel. It had its priest in his royal
garment. It had an altar of sacrifice
where the beast were slain. And all of its figure, and its
part, its utensil, and its services, all of them were highly typical
of something about Christ and the gospel. Now, if one does
not understand this in reading and studying the Old Testament,
how can they know and understand the proper relationship of the
two written testaments of scripture, or the relation of the two covenants,
or for that matter, the way of salvation, if they do not understand
that these things were typical of something that was to come. Now, in this study today, we
are looking at the significance of blood as the means of atonement
and the difference between the blood of beast and the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's about the same thing as
saying the difference between the old administration of the
covenant and the new administration of the covenant. We'll mention
this now, and then we'll come back to it later in our study. And that is that both covenants,
what we call the old and the new, stood upon blood as an atonement. The difference being that the
old had the blood of beasts, of bulls, of lamb, and bullocks,
and the New Testament stands squarely upon the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. But, as I said, more about this
later in our study, God Withing. One thing to bear in mind as
we go along our way is found in Hebrew chapter 9, And verse
22, without the shedding of blood is no remission. Without the
shedding of blood, there is no remission, there is no sending
away, there is no putting away of sin. The passage in Leviticus
17, concerning the sanctity of blood, and the law, that is the
ceremonial law, concerning the handling of the blood of beasts,
whether they were beasts for eating or for sacrificing before
the Lord. Now, to get our contextual bearings,
let's drop back to Leviticus chapter 16. There you have the
institution of the day of atonement. And this was to be done in a
set month on a set day every year by the high priest. Or in Hebrews 9 verse 7, under
the second, that is, the second compartment of the tabernacle,
went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood,
which he offered for himself, and the errors are the ignorance
of the people. And in Hebrews 9 and 25, into
the holy place went the high priest every year with the blood
of others. That is, he went with blood belonging
or taken from others. not his own blood as Christ did,
but the blood of others. For here the Hebrew author is
laying the groundwork for a comparison between the blood which Aaron
took into the tabernacle and the blood that Christ took into
the holy place of God. Aaron took the blood of others. Christ Hebrews 9 and 12 by his
own blood entered in once into the holy place anyway back to
Leviticus chapter 17 and as we said in chapter 16 it is declared
that blood is will be the medium of the atonement. Chapter 17
has 16 verses. We have three directions in this
chapter concerning the making of sacrifice, the killing of
animals, and the shedding of blood. We look at them quickly. In verse 1 through 9, that sacrifices
under the Mosaic economy were only to be made by the priest
and only to be made at the door of the tabernacle. That they
were to bring their sacrifices under the priest and they were
to make them at the door of the tabernacle. Now the second thing
we have is found in verse 7. No sacrifices of these kind were
ever to be offered unto devils, that is, unto idols or unto heathen
God. This the heathen did. But Israel
was bound to the worship and the service of the one true and
living God. They had knowledge of that God,
and it would be an act of idolatry for them to offer blood or sacrifice
unto any other saving Jehovah. And then thirdly, in verses 8
through verse 16, concerning the eating of animals, and especially
the law regarding the ingesting of blood. It was strictly forbidden,
prohibited absolutely. And the reasons are given, and
we read them. This is not the first time, however,
that this law is set forth in scripture. You have it as early
as Genesis chapter 9 and verse 4 that said, but flesh with the
life thereof, the blood thereof, shall ye not eat? though everything
was meat or was food for them, but not with the blood in it
or not the blood that was in it. It is in Leviticus 3 and
verse 17. It is a perpetual statute given
unto Israel that you eat neither blood nor fat, as both of them
are mentioned there. The fat was holy unto the Lord,
and the blood is the life. the flesh. You have it in Leviticus
7 and verse 26. You shall eat no manner of blood,
a fowl, or a beast in any of your dwelling. So let's get the
point in right here before we move along concerning what might
be called the dietary laws that were imposed upon Israel. There were two aspects of it,
of that law. Number one, the restrictions
put upon them to eating, as J. H. Kirch wrote in his book, Sacrificial
Worship in the Old Testament. The animal kingdom by God was
divided, so far as Israel was concerned, into clean and unclean. You have this in Leviticus chapter
11, the whole chapter. You have it again in Deuteronomy
chapter 14. And this stood for both eating
and for sacrifice. Some were unclean and not to
be eaten. Now this does not seem to be
primarily for health reasons or ethical reasons, but to teach
the people to put a difference between the holy and the profane. Ezekiel 22 and verse 26. It was to be a lesson to them
in depravity. The leading reason, therefore,
was moral and religious. And it was that they understood
moral distinction, which God also recognized. That there is
clean and unclean, there is holy and there is profane. But our
emphasis now, today, is on the second one. The prohibition against
eating or ingesting blood. Notice, they were not to eat
any manner of blood. And if you look at verse 10 of
Leviticus chapter 17, you will see the strictness of this statute. The penalty reflects the strictness
of it. Eating blood, they would be cut
off. Eating blood, and God said, I
will set my face against you. And let us note here, there is
a dual reason for this law being given concerning the ingesting
of blood. Number one, because of the nature
and the effectual property of the blood. It is the life of
the flesh. In that stood the prohibition. Don't eat blood. It is the life
of the flesh. And as I said, it was declared
as early as Genesis chapter 9 and verse 4. And that blood was slash
is the life of the flesh. This is highly emphasized in
Leviticus chapter 17, why God gives such a sanctity unto the
blood in their eye. In verse 10, eat no blood. For verse 11, the life of the
flesh is in the blood. And verse 14, it's the life of
all flesh, therefore ye shall eat no manner of blood. There it is again, for the life
of all flesh is in the blood thereof. Blood is life. Blood is necessary to the life
of the flesh, whether man or beast. So necessary and integral
is it that God does actually call it the life of the flesh. And in the same verse, some commentator
might call it the soul of the flesh. To stretch out this point,
let us notice the handling of blood in verse 13 that we read. Even the hunter of prey for food
for his table must observe this law and to honor the sanctity
of blood. Perhaps, as Bonar wrote, keep
atonement in mind. even as he took a beast for prey. For that which sustained life
was also appointed by God to be the medium of atonement. We notice this statue applied
to all in Israel. The native-born Israelite and
the stranger that had come or the proselyte that had come to
dwell among them. And in verse 13, it applied even
to the animals that were considered clean and approved for food under
the Levitical economy. For it concerned, notice quote,
that which may be eaten, unquote, the blood of such when taken
for meat was to be poured out upon the ground, drained out
of the animal, and furthermore was to be covered with dust or
with soil or with earth. See this also in Deuteronomy
chapter 12 and verse 16 through 24, poured out upon the earth
like water. You'll see it again in Ezekiel
24 verse 7 and verse 8. Reading Matthew Henry, I liked
what he wrote. Not only must they not ingest
it, but they must give it a decent burial, the blood of an animal
shed. so as not to be trodden underfoot
or to be licked up by the ravenous beast. And surely this precept
goes beyond any sanitation or environmental concern. There
must be some spiritual lesson that is attached unto it. there
is some spiritual truth, there is some mystery behind it. One such thing which was to be
accomplished by this precept is noted by John Gill, that there
might be kept up a reverent esteem of blood being the life of the
creature. And we cannot rule out that it
might be another area where they were not to learn the way of
the heathen. As it is said, this was an idolatrous
practice by some as the Zabian who put the blood of a slain
beast in a vessel or a hole in the ground and then had a feast
about it or around it. Now, since blood is the life
of the flesh, whosoever sheds man's blood without justifiable
cause is a murderer, as when Cain slew Abel. In Genesis chapter
4 and verse 11, the earth opened up her mouth to receive the blood
of Abel. And the blood of Abel cried out
unto God from the ground. So blood was not to be desecrated
because it is the blood of life, it is the life of the flesh. There's another aspect also unto
the blood. Secondly, not only was it revered
as being the life of the flesh, but God had also appointed it
as the medium of atonement. And that's in verse 11. I have
given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your
soul. It is the blood that maketh an
atonement for the soul. Now, not the blood of every creature,
but of those approved by God for atonement. For as not all
were clean for eating, so not all were appointed as sacrifices
for atonement. Only the blood of such as the
Lord had commanded. And with the implementation of
the Mosaic or the Levitical law, sacrificing was given into the
hands of one tribe, the Levites, and the service of the tabernacle,
and one was made the high priest, and that was Aaron, and the atonement
was made at one place, the tabernacle, and then the temple. One day
of atonement was prominent in Leviticus chapter 16, the yearly
atonement or the day of atonement. Some have called it the day of
expiation. And this day of atonement and
the action of Aaron and the sacrifices made by him were the most expressive
and were the most comprehensive, most highly typical of that expiratory
sacrifice under that economy. It was unique. It was done every
year. It was done only by the high
priest. Not the lesser priest, not his
sons and his brethren, but the high priest. Not even by Moses,
but by the high priest of God. It applied to all of the sin
and all of the uncleanness of the past year since it had been
made. And he called it, Kurtz did,
the complete and all-embracing expiation, not because it was
equal to the expiation of Christ, but that the atonement was for
a year's worth of sin. It was done annually at a set
time on the 10th day of the 7th month. And it was to Israel a
most impressive sight and a most impressive day. And a significant
event on this day Aaron put on the garments of glory and of
beauty of the high priesthood. There he is with a censer in
his hand, and burning coals from off of the altar, and incense
beaten small, and a cloud of incense above the mercy seat. Then two goats were brought out,
a ram and a bullet. Aaron confessed the sins of the
people over the scapegoat, laid his hand upon his head and pressed
down, as it were, laying the sins of the people upon him. And that one goat was led away
by a fit man into the wilderness and turned loose. never again
to return into their assembly, signifying that their sins were
removed and gone. Now, pardon the second time to
say that this was the most comprehensive of all of the acts of expiation
under the old economy. Some point out that the Day of
Atonement was regarded by Israel as a high Sabbath. And on that day, the people quitted
all of their labor, they afflicted their soul by God's command,
and they gather in solemn assembly. You'll see that in chapter 16,
Leviticus 29-31. Now, the primary emphasis of
this day was the making of atonement for all of the sins of the past
year. You'll see that in Leviticus
16 and verse 30. And reconciliation was made of
all the persons and all of the things involved. If we turn back
to Leviticus chapter 16 and verse 33 and 34, he shall make an atonement
for the holy sanctuary an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation,
for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priest,
for all the people of the congregation. This shall be an everlasting
statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of
Israel for all their sins once a year. And why use animals as
sacrifices, and their blood as that of atonement." Well, first
of all, remember it was typical. Remember that the animals, in
a sense, were innocent substitutes, capable of having and having
their blood shed and of being put to death. As for example,
the Passover lamb was very highly typical of Christ in several
ways that we won't take time to mention now. But now, in making
our transition from the old ceremonies unto the New Testament and the
sacrifice of Christ, let's make a point. It is no doubt safe
to say that the majority of those Jews in the wilderness, worshipping
at the tabernacle and such like, it is safe, I believe, to say
that most of them did not see beyond the tides and the shadow. They were content with it, They
rested in it, and they staked their salvation on it, that their
sins were gone and were removed, just as they trusted in being
Abraham's seed. There are some like that in Christendom
today. There is a matter here to be
reconciled concerning the two testaments, what is said in Leviticus
chapter 17, and what is said in Hebrews about the blood of
beasts. For example, we read in Leviticus
16, 34, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for
all of their sins once a year, or literally every year. And yet we read in Hebrews chapter
10 and verse 4 that it is not possible for the blood of bulls
and of goats to take away sin. This is also stated, though in
different words, in verse 1, Hebrews 10, that the sacrifices
of the law could never make those comers there unto perfect. And no doubt the comers in verse
1 are the same with the worshipers in verse 2. Of all the foregoing
arguments, concerning the weakness and the unprofitableness of the
old system, Hebrews 7.18, 7.19, that the law made nothing perfect. The writer of Hebrews is saying,
the law made nothing perfect. The blood of beasts and goats
cannot take away sin. How is that? Well, the priests
were sinners. Even Aaron the high priest, who
on the day of atonement was required to make an atonement for his
own sin and day of his house. Leviticus 16.6, Hebrews 7.27. Not only was Aaron the priest
a sinner, but he was also subject unto death for being a sinner. Much more, he had no better sacrifice
and blood to offer than that of beasts and of creatures lower
than human being. And his place to offer and to
serve was an earthly dwelling, a hand made at first a tent and
then a temple. And his major offering needed
repetition and repeating over and over again. Now, the temporary
nature of that economy, as well as its inability to perfect the
worshippers by their sacrifices, is the subject of Hebrew. But the apostles' culminating
argument in Hebrews 10 is in verse 4, that animal blood cannot
take away sin. That animal blood can never take
away sin, not even those that were chosen and appointed by
God to be used in sacrifices. They were parts and types and
shadows of good things to come. that while the blood of bulls
and of goats only sanctified to the purifying of the flesh,
that is, to ceremonial defilement. These sacrifices reach no further
than ceremonial defilement. You find that in Hebrews 9, and
verse 13, but the blood of Christ being shed at the cross and shed
but once has an everlasting efficacy about that blood of Christ. It
puts away sin. It puts it away forever. And
it puts it away by Christ dying but one time and shedding his
blood but once. This is declared in our text
here in Hebrews chapter 10. For example, let's read verse
10. By the witch will, we're sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once. and they have added for all.
But then look at verse 14, for by one offering He has perfected
forever them that are sanctified. While Aaron went every year and
made new sacrifices and went and did it yearly, annually,
Christ died but one time and has accomplished what all of
the sacrifices daily and yearly could not do under the old economy. Why can Christ die once and only
once and that blood have efficacy forever and not be lost? Well, this is because the Lord
Christ is the mediator of the new covenant. The book of Hebrews
calls him that. And his blood The blood of the
new and the everlasting covenant or you may see the word Testament
Testament's a good word. His blood is the blood of the
everlasting Testament Hebrews 13 and 20 says so by the blood
of the everlasting covenant in Matthew 26 28 mark 14 24 and Luke 22 and verse 20, the Lord
Jesus in instituting the Lord's Supper, as he gave them the cup
to drink, said this to them, this is my blood of the New Testament,
which is shed for many for the remission of sin. This represents
my blood, my blood of the New Covenant, shed for many, once
he said for you, for the remission of sin. Now, a point made by
the apostle in Hebrews chapter 9 is this, to remind the Jews,
and of course us, of a principle that where a covenant or a testament
is, there must be the death of that or the one that gives efficacy
under the covenant. That is, the testator's death
is necessary to make the testament valid and for the airship to
pass. It gives it force. The death
of the testator, you make a will, it is contingent upon your death. Thus it is with Christ. And in
Hebrews 9, 18 through 22. The first testament was not without
blood. He reminds them of that. Moses
instituted the first testament within or by blood. Exodus 24 and verse 8. Moses sprinkled the blood on
the people and he declared unto them, Behold the blood of the
covenant which the Lord has made with you concerning all these
words, the blood of animals. Even so, Christ is the medium,
he is the priest, he is the surety, he is the sacrifice, and he is
the testator of the new and better covenant. And his blood is the
blood of the everlasting testament. He gave his life in the shedding
of his blood, and he made a one-time, once forever sacrifice for all. That is, forever atonement stands
by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, never needing repeating. Never can it be repeated, nor
need it be. And there is no amending unto
that blood that our Lord shed for the testament, the death
and the blood of Christ. is so infinitely pleasing unto
God that it stays forever. It will never lose its power
to atone and save, never lose its efficacy to save and to keep
unto the uttermost. Now, for Christ to effect this
work, he had need of three things that must be in place, and you'll
find them all in Hebrews. Christ had need of three things
in order that he might shed the blood of the everlasting covenant,
that he might be our priest and such like. Number one, a divine
commission or calling from God. A priest, he can't just make
himself a priest. He can't just say, well, you
know, I'd like to be a priest. This is a nice vocation, a nice
way to live, and I'm kind of religious. He can't do that.
A priest must have had a divine calling from God. You have it
in Hebrews 5, verse 4 and 5. And not only was he called by
God to be a priest, he was made a priest forever after the order
of Melchizedek. Not after the order of Levi or
Aaron, but after the order of Melchizedek. And that's a whole
other study and sermon in itself. Melchizedek had a different priesthood
from Aaron, and Christ's priesthood is after the order of Melchizedek,
not Aaron. Secondly, if the Lord Jesus Christ
is our great high priest, and he is, then he must have a proper
sacrifice. Hebrews 8 and 3, he must have
somewhat to offer. If he's a priest, what is his
offering? For a priest offers, and what
does the Lord offer? He offered himself. Without spot
to God, he shed his own blood. Thirdly, if Christ is our great
high priest, and he is, he must have a proper place to serve. For he cannot serve in the earthly
tabernacle being of a different tribe than Levi. You find this
in Hebrews 8 verse 4 and verse 5. Where does Christ serve as
a high priest? Where does he enter with his
blood? Well, he entered into the heavenly
tabernacle. entering by his own blood, not
into that temple in Jerusalem, but into the very presence of
God, having obtained eternal redemption as our great high
priest Christ, therefore, has all three of these qualifications. He's called of God, he has something
to offer, his life and his blood, and he has a place to offer the
tabernacle itself in heaven. Now, some closing remarks. The need for a sacrifice reflects
human depravity. that sacrifices are necessary
for God to receive one into his fellowship speaks of depravity,
that man is a sinner, and by the sin, the whole human family
is gone astray, and God will not be reconciled to any apart
from the vicarious bloodshedding of his very own son. He forgives sin only by that
which he has appointed to be a sacrifice for sin. That is
the death and blood of his son. Now, the true gospel, I mean
the true gospel, is an offense to the religionists, even in
our day. You don't like to hear about
depravity. Oh, I might have stole a cookie out of the jar or a
dime from mama's purse. That's about the worst that I've
ever done. It is an offense to modern religion
to preach the doctrine of depravity unto them, that they're sinners,
that they have nothing to give God, no merit or worth in his
sight whatsoever. that God forgives sin only by
the sacrifice of his son. But so many today are content
with tradition and outward activities and formalities and joining a
church and singing in the choir. Those outward things satisfy
so many today. How little preaching, how little
emphasis today is actually put on the blood of Christ as the
atonement and the saving grace and mercy of our God in preaching
today. Depravity is not preached in
its fullness, and the gospel is not preached in its fullness
in far too many places. But the blood of Christ, is the
blood of atonement. It is presented unto God. He made satisfaction. He made expiation. He's a propitiation
for our sin. And by that blood, God looks
upon us favorably and sheds his grace upon us because of the
atonement and the death and the blood and the sacrifice of our
Lord. We stand only on the foundation
of Christ as our one sacrifice, as our atonement by the blood
that he shed in the cross. I have given it to you up on
the altar to make an atonement and then he gave it upon the
cross as the Lord shed his blood as he bled and died upon the
cross as a sacrifice for our sin and God is pleased with that. It is a sweet savor unto God. Ephesians 5 and 2 tells us God
notices a sweet savor at the death of his son. Well, thank
God for that. Thank God for the blood of atonement.