Title Leviticus 17:1-16
Contents Hymn: 433 (Precious Lord, sustain me)
Today's text begins with "The LORD spoke to Moses, saying," When God speaks to Moses, it means that Moses delivered the words he heard from God to the people of Israel. From Leviticus 1 to chapter 17 of today's text, there are 14 records that God spoke only to Moses (1:1, 4:1, 5:14, 6:1, 6:8, 6:19, 6:24, 7: 22, 7:28, 8:1, 12:1, 14:1, 16:1, 17:1) One record of speaking to Aaron (10:8), four records of speaking to Moses and Aaron (11:1, 13:1, 14:33, 15:1) come out. Why did God not speak directly to the people of Israel but through Moses or Aaron?
Exodus 20:18. “And all the people saw thunder and lightning and the sound of trumpets and the smoke of the mountain; and they stood afar off, trembling in the blaze, and said to Moses, “Speak to us, and we will hear. Let God not speak to us, lest we die.”
The Israelites were gripped by the fear that they might die if God spoke directly to them.
Why would you fear God?
Genesis 3:7, 8. “Then their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together for a skirt, and when the wind blew that day, they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden, and Adam and his wife hid from the presence of the Lord God and went into the garden. and hid among the trees.”
Humans who ate the forbidden fruit began to fear God from then on. And I tried to hide from God. When you see a person wearing a police uniform or looking at a police car, you get caught in some kind of fear, not to mention when you commit a crime that will be caught by the police now, and even when you don't commit a crime, you get caught in some kind of anxiety. Isn't it because you are acknowledging that you can go to In this way, we can see that fear comes from sin.
Knowing that fact all too well, God took care of us humans and delivered God's word to the people of Israel through Moses. And God's message has always been the word of freedom from sin.
In today's text, God also spoke to humans who suffer from sin about how to be free from sin. He spoke of two rules through the text, and he said that anyone who kills an animal must come to the tent of meeting to kill it, and that he must not eat blood because blood is life. Why would God say this?
Let's look at verse 3. It was one of two cases when the Israelites slaughtered animals, whether ‘everyone in the house of Israel slaughtered an ox, a lamb, or a goat in the camp or outside the camp. It is not when offering sacrifices to God, or when catching for the purpose of food. However, verse 3 is not about offering sacrifices to God, but about slaughtering them inside or outside the camp for food. Even then, what do you say to do?
Verse 4. “Anyone who does not bring them first to the door of the tent of meeting and offer them an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord will be counted as bloodshed; for he shed blood, he will be cut off from among his people.” It means to be considered a murderer. Why would you say that slaughtering an animal for food and not offering it is a crime like murder?
Let's look at verse 5. “Therefore, the children of Israel must bring their sacrifices from the field to the LORD, at the door of the tent of meeting, and give them to the priests as a peace offering to the LORD.” Reconciliation is a sacrifice to achieve not only reconciliation with God but also with our neighbors. In other words, when slaughtering a sacrifice, it is said that the sacrifice should be made for the good of the community, not for self-satisfaction and self-interest. He said that if your neighbor is dying of hunger, it is no less than a murderer to eat your own stomach, and that is directly related to idolatry.
This is verse 7. ‘They shall not sacrifice again to the he-goat whom they had served harlotry…’
God has said that life and sacrifice cannot be separated. He said that offering a peace offering means sharing the sacrificed meat with neighbors in life. Ultimately, it means that when you live a life in which your life is worship, you will enjoy true freedom from sin.
In verses 10 to 16 that follow, it is said that you should not eat blood, but what could be the reason?
Verse 11. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given this blood to you to make atonement for your lives by sprinkling it on the altar.
When blood was sprinkled on the altar, it means that a precious life was sacrificed for me. Therefore, the blood is special. It is because the sacrifice of the sacrifice that gave my whole life for the forgiveness of my sins is contained in that blood. Just as Jesus suffered and died on the cross for us so that we could receive eternal life and salvation without cost. But to drink that blood thoughtlessly is to forget the meaning of the sacrifice and take life too lightly.
The rule not to eat blood is repeated seven times in the Pentateuch. (Genesis 9:4, Leviticus 3:17, 7:26,27, 17:10, Deuteronomy 12:16, 23, 24, 15:23) And there are over 400 times in the entire Bible the prohibition against eating animal blood. Repeat. What is interesting, however, is that despite this strict prohibition against drinking blood in the Bible, it is mentioned only once to eat blood. It can be found in the passage where Jesus gave the Passover cup, which symbolizes His precious blood, to His disciples and said, “Drink all of this, which is my blood, which is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Although the Lord did not make them drink real blood, it is a decisive clue to the symbolic meaning of blood and the meaning of why he said not to eat blood. After all, not drinking blood means that someone made a sacrifice for you, so remember that sacrifice and never sin again.
I have to live remembering that someone's sacrifice and devotion were needed for the food I need to live today. So we can't help but be grateful. And I hope that we can live today thinking of the grace of the Lord who intercedes to set us free from the oppression of many worlds.
lord of love
Please don't forget that someone's sacrifice and devotion made it possible for us to live today. So, let us use our time and material with gratitude always, and let it become a channel of grace and love that flows out the precious grace we received from someone to our neighbors. So, help the world to be changed into a more beautiful place because of us who practice God's love. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen