Leviticus 17
Life is in the blood! The sprinkling of blood is necessary for atonement. God demands that he receives life as a sacrfice for atonement.
Seems the Israelites may have had a bad habit of sacrificing animals to pagan gods, goat-demons according to verse 7. Maybe there is something to the theory that when the scapegoat was sent out (16:10) into the wilderness to Azazel, the goat was being sent out carrying the sins of the people to a demon, after all.
No one, it seems is exempt from this law - not the Israelites and not the aliens who live in the land. All must make sacrfice to the LORD, alone. In all of Israel, no one may make sacrfices to other gods. This people belong to God and apparently he does not want anyone in the midst of them who would dare to worship other gods. God tolerates a lot, but his people must not be tainted by such outside influence. They must not be tempted to worship other gods and sacrifice that which belongs to God to other gods.
Sorry, but for whatever reason, I have been led lately to focus a lot on the worship and sacrifice that this world makes to other gods. The world, it seems is bent on worshipping and sacrificing life to false gods; to gods who cannot bring atonement; to gods who only bring loneliness, misery, and death. My sermon this past Sunday was on this subject of false gods as well as stewardship - give to God what is God's. (Luke 20:25) Those of you who were there, will remember that I reminded you all to check your checkbooks, see where you treasures are for that is where you heart is. (Matt 6:21) You sacrifice long hours of work, away from your family, your home and what benefit does that bring to you, your loved ones, to anyone? Are you happy? Or alone and miserable? Has all that time at work been nothing more than striving after the wind (Eccl 1:14) evidenced by the checks written from the barstool that you sat on or in the casino where you deposited your earnings into a machine that did not give you any returns?
Give to God what is God's. Give to your creator what belongs to Him. Dedicate your whole life to Him, for without Him, there is no life. Forget those false gods - forget the goat-demons - they can do nothing for you. To God and God alone belongs all things under the sun. They are His. Our very lives belong to Him, for without Him, we would not be. He is our life and our salvation.
For atonement for our sins; blood that carries life He gave in the first place is required. In Leviticus it was presribed as an animal's blood to take the place of our own blood. That type of sacrifice ended with the ultimate sacrifice - the life - the blood of God's first-born Son, Jesus the Christ. It was poured out for us. Will we then continue to sacrifice to false gods? Can we do anything less than turn and thank God for the blood of the lamb that was offered as our atoning sacrifice? Our life has been redeemed by the life, by the blood of the perfect lamb, Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord.
Life is in the blood! The sprinkling of blood is necessary for atonement. God demands that he receives life as a sacrfice for atonement.
Seems the Israelites may have had a bad habit of sacrificing animals to pagan gods, goat-demons according to verse 7. Maybe there is something to the theory that when the scapegoat was sent out (16:10) into the wilderness to Azazel, the goat was being sent out carrying the sins of the people to a demon, after all.
No one, it seems is exempt from this law - not the Israelites and not the aliens who live in the land. All must make sacrfice to the LORD, alone. In all of Israel, no one may make sacrfices to other gods. This people belong to God and apparently he does not want anyone in the midst of them who would dare to worship other gods. God tolerates a lot, but his people must not be tainted by such outside influence. They must not be tempted to worship other gods and sacrifice that which belongs to God to other gods.
Sorry, but for whatever reason, I have been led lately to focus a lot on the worship and sacrifice that this world makes to other gods. The world, it seems is bent on worshipping and sacrificing life to false gods; to gods who cannot bring atonement; to gods who only bring loneliness, misery, and death. My sermon this past Sunday was on this subject of false gods as well as stewardship - give to God what is God's. (Luke 20:25) Those of you who were there, will remember that I reminded you all to check your checkbooks, see where you treasures are for that is where you heart is. (Matt 6:21) You sacrifice long hours of work, away from your family, your home and what benefit does that bring to you, your loved ones, to anyone? Are you happy? Or alone and miserable? Has all that time at work been nothing more than striving after the wind (Eccl 1:14) evidenced by the checks written from the barstool that you sat on or in the casino where you deposited your earnings into a machine that did not give you any returns?
Give to God what is God's. Give to your creator what belongs to Him. Dedicate your whole life to Him, for without Him, there is no life. Forget those false gods - forget the goat-demons - they can do nothing for you. To God and God alone belongs all things under the sun. They are His. Our very lives belong to Him, for without Him, we would not be. He is our life and our salvation.
For atonement for our sins; blood that carries life He gave in the first place is required. In Leviticus it was presribed as an animal's blood to take the place of our own blood. That type of sacrifice ended with the ultimate sacrifice - the life - the blood of God's first-born Son, Jesus the Christ. It was poured out for us. Will we then continue to sacrifice to false gods? Can we do anything less than turn and thank God for the blood of the lamb that was offered as our atoning sacrifice? Our life has been redeemed by the life, by the blood of the perfect lamb, Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord.
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