There Will NOT Be Blood

Leviticus 17

So apparently the Israelites have a thing for offering sacrifices to goat idols. I don't know what a goat idol is... but I do know that it sounds pretty silly. To combat this tendency, God decrees through Moses that anyone who sacrifices an ox, lamb, or goat instead of bringing it to the priests as a sacrifice is guilty of bloodshed. He will be cut off from his people. No one to hang out with but the goat idols. And they don't talk much.

God refers to this practice as prostitution. Perhaps prostitution was part of their idolic ritual- but at the very least God metaphorically equates the two concepts. Worshiping a false god is the same as whoring yourself.

The other major issue in this chapter is blood eating. Anyone who does it is to also be cutoff from his people. Maybe he can go hang out with the goat worshipers too. If you kill something that is lawful to eat, you must drain the blood out of it before eating it. The blood must then be covered with earth.

God explains why. The life of the creature is in the blood. And it's what is used for atonement. This law goes for the Israelite or the alien.

This sounds like not so big a deal. Of course I wouldn't eat blood. That's pretty nasty. We're not barbarians. But I'm guessing in a culture this legalistic, it was painstaking to ensure that all the blood was removed. I would think a medium-rare sirloin really wasn't much of an option. Although that sounds really good right now.

So what's changed for us? The life is still in the blood. It's not animal blood, it's Jesus' blood- and He encourages us to drink it. And I'm guessing that slaughter houses don't spend much time draining blood and burying it in the earth. Does this change in covenant release us from this burden? If not, perhaps the only option would be vegetarianism- or to kill your own food and prepare it carefully.

Or perhaps this is another contrast section- and between Peter's vision making everything clean and Christ's directive to drink His blood- the stigma is gone. I certainly hope so.

Finally, anyone who eats anything found dead or torn by wild animals must wash his clothes and bathe with water- and he will be unclean until evening. If he doesn't, he will be held responsible. Ah, the Israelite road-kill clause. Happy eating.