October 1, 2013
LIFE IN THE BLOOD
Deuteronomy 12:15-32
Lauren Phillips
Central Truth
God made a way! A way for Old Testament believers in Yahweh to restore relationship with Him through the shedding of the blood of animal sacrifices. A way for us today to have relationship with Him through faith in His Son Jesus Christ, whose shed blood on the cross paid the price for our sins once and for all.
Key Verse | Deuteronomy 12:23
"Only be sure not to eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh." (Deuteronomy 12:23)
Deuteronomy 12:15-32
15 However, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your towns, as much as you desire, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he has given you. The unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle and as of the deer. 16 Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it out on the earth like water. 17 You may not eat within your towns the tithe of your grain or of your wine or of your oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your flock, or any of your vow offerings that you vow, or your freewill offerings or the contribution that you present, 18 but you shall eat them before the LORD your God in the place that the LORD your God will choose, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your towns. And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all that you undertake. 19 Take care that you do not neglect the Levite as long as you live in your land.
20 When the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as he has promised you, and you say, ‘I will eat meat,’ because you crave meat, you may eat meat whenever you desire. 21 If the place that the LORD your God will choose to put his name there is too far from you, then you may kill any of your herd or your flock, which the LORD has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your towns whenever you desire. 22 Just as the gazelle or the deer is eaten, so you may eat of it. The unclean and the clean alike may eat of it. 23 Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh. 24 You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the earth like water. 25 You shall not eat it, that all may go well with you and with your children after you, when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD. 26 But the holy things that are due from you, and your vow offerings, you shall take, and you shall go to the place that the LORD will choose, 27 and offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the LORD your God. The blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the LORD your God, but the flesh you may eat. 28 Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.
Warning Against Idolatry
29 When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, 30 take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’ 31 You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the LORD hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.
32 1 12:32 Ch 13:1 in Hebrew Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.
Dive Deeper | Deuteronomy 12:15-32
Blood. The red stuff that runs through your veins. We don't often think about its significance. Hebrews 9:22b says, "[W]ithout shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." That sounds pretty significant to me!
God made it abundantly clear in Scripture that man could not save himself (Romans 3:23, 6:23). The debt of man's sin must be paid, and death is the only form of punishment that can pay the price (Hebrews 9:22). But God made a way. In the Old Testament, God gave the Israelites the sacrificial system as a gracious provision for their failures. Look at Leviticus 17:11: "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement." The blood was the part of the animal that made atonement, picturing what Christ would do many years later.
These sacrifices did not save the Israelites, but served as a reminder of the reality of sin and their need for atonement. The sacrificial system could not satisfy the righteousness of God. But God made a way. In His rich grace, love and mercy God sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, God in flesh, to be the ultimate sacrifice for sin, to shed his blood for sinful man and bear our guilt and shame that we might be forgiven. (Remember that Hebrews 9:22 verse from above?)
God is perfectly holy and righteous. Man is sinful and depraved and eternally separated from God. But GOD MADE A WAY! Do you understand the magnitude of that statement? God loves you so deeply that He provided the perfect atoning sacrifice to meet His standard that you might know Him and have fellowship with Him. Oh, how often I take that for granted!
Be encouraged that you have a God that loves you SO MUCH (yes, even you!) that He made a way for you to know Him! You have forgiveness and life through the blood of Jesus Christ because God made a way.
Discussion Questions
1. Do you stand on the blood of Christ as your only hope for salvation? How does this truth change how you live?
2. When was the last time you worshiped and praised God for what He has done for you? Do your actions, thoughts, and words reflect the belief that Christ shed His blood that you might be saved?
3. In what ways have you tried to atone for your own sin? Have you tried to make a way for yourself?