Holy Hormones Bible Study: Teaching — not Entertainment
PASSOVER/EASTER STORIES: BLOOD AND UGLINESS FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
Why all this blood and ugliness? Is God a Savage?
Or is modern Christianity more sanitised than Sanctified? Forgiveness costs.
If you find this painting shocking (as it was intended) it shows just how sanitised you are.
Brace yourself! It is the detail which makes me a boring person that brings the Bible alive for me. There may be more here than the normal, well adjusted person would care to know.
In one of the inaugural posts of this blog, I’ve just read my first blog post and it is soooo boring — part 2, it was stated that the organising principle of this site was that of eating a Big Mac. If you try to stuff the whole burger in your mouth you will surely die. The trick is to take bight-sized pieces and chew them well before the next bight. That applies here. Getting to know God, one word at a time. Not everything can be covered at once.
Yuk!
The topic of blood sacrifice is extremely unpalatable. Especially for good people like us. Especially for Western New Testament Christians — most of which would prefer to dodge the issue. It is far bigger than this little post could possibly hope to cover. The best that could be hoped for is a fleeting glimpse.
This is not a theological discussion, merely a mental picture upon which to ponder. The description given in PASSOVER/EASTER STORIES: SIMON OF CYRENE FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE indicates that
Just imagine an Israelite leading a goat toward the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. Everyone knows where he’s going, and why. He can’t send anyone else. It can’t be hidden.
At the Tabernacle there is possibly a queue waiting in the smell and surrounded by flies.
[Sometimes the English translation of the Book of Leviticus is difficult to follow. The ensuing brief description has been confirmed by a personal acquaintance living in Jerusalem. He is a Sheleak. Simply, that is an Orthodox Jew on steroids. His Mother Tongue is Hebrew. (That will possibly attract a Troll. Troll away, it will demonstrate your ignorance.) A number of Rabbis give me assistance. Our understanding is that I’m a New Testament Saint who laments the loss of the Jewish Heritage in the Christian Church. I don’t so much love Israel but I love HaShem, and He makes no secret that He is a Zionist — in the true sense of the word.]
When it comes to his turn, the one offering is included in the experience.
- Man leans forcefully on the head of the animal (to demonstrate that this is a deliberate act) before he slaughters the offering, guts it, skins it, washes innards and legs, and carves it up.
- Kohanim (Priests) have dealt with the blood.
- Kohanim deal with fire wood and arrange parts of body on the Altar. (The Talmud contains instructions on this so the pieces fit on the grill.)
- Kohanim light it up.
- Man walks home covered in blood. Everyone knows where he has been. It can’t be hidden.
The Reality
SIN IS UGLY TO GOD!
In Genesis 2, when God created them in His Image, Adam and Eve were both naked and were not ashamed. The Hebrew wording implies that they were beautiful and shining in the Glory of God. After the Fall, Genesis 3, they saw they were naked and were ashamed. They were no longer the beautiful Creations of God. He provided them with coverings of skin. Not that leather was more durable than leaves — there was something more happening here.
We have no idea how glorious they were before the Fall. By comparison, it is not unreasonable to infer that today’s Miss World and Mr Universe would be repulsive. Their ugliness had to be covered AND protected from the World in which they now found themselves.
It is written that the life of the body is in the blood. In providing a covering for the sinful Adam and Eve, God, Himself the Giver of Life, had to shed the blood, take the life, of an innocent being.
This was the prophetic pattern of God’s Redemptive Plan.
It is hoped that, if this is a new perspective for you, the idea of the blood is not so offensive and you will approach the Bible with a different view. And that being “in Christ” takes on new meaning.
The forgoing evidence has not been presented to convince any reader but to allow a personal decision to be made. There is much more to know about this subject. Perhaps you’ll pay another visit, sometime.
All Glory to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
