Blood: A report I worked on for my Old Testament class

Blood: The Stuff of Life

In the Old Testament, life is very important and precious. The preservation of life is part of the commandments that the God of Israel gives to His children. The promise of life through the gospel of Jesus Christ guarantees lasting and eternal life beyond mortality. For this reason blood is significant, symbolic and precious to all that represents life.

The easiest place to start in understanding the importance of blood is to start with the creation. In the creation blood is introduced as the gift of life. In the story of Cain and Able the preciousness of blood starts to be understood. As Moses attempts to free the children of Israel, the God of Israel uses blood in the Nile River to demonstrate that he is God above all. Once the children of Israel are free God uses blood by way of covenant and commandment to help His children remember Him and the promise of One who would shed His own blood for an atonement of their sins. Finally, among God’s commandments to the children of Israel is blood revenge.

In the beginning was the creation of the world. The pinnacle of that creation was the making of man in the image of God. “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Gen 2:7) To some Rabbi’s of the Jewish faith, the breath of life or the soul was really the introduction of blood into the body of man and that blood is the soul of man. This idea is demonstrated in a few words from God to Noah, “But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood there of…” (Gen 9:4) Understanding that blood is the soul adds to the story of Cain and Abel, the story of the first shedding of blood. “And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.” (Gen 4:8-10) Jewish Rabbi’s have said “it was thought that the blood was the residence of the soul (Gen 9:4; Deut 12:23) and that even after it had left the body, it still contained a kind of life. Thus the blood of Abel should cry from the ground (Gen 4:10) and the blood that was shed must be covered over to hush its outcry; hence the word “to cover,” kapper, acquired the meaning “to atone.” (406)

To Noah was given the first recorded commandment against the shedding of blood. “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.” (Gen 9:6) Through this scripture the importance of man to God is demonstrated. Man is made in God’s image and as a creation of God, He wants to protect man. Seeing that man has learned that he can kill another man God commands that man should not kill another man. God continually commands his children to keep His commandments. When man goes against those commandments he sins against God. In order to cover those sins God required the sacrifice of animals. Going back to the Hebrew word “kapper” we understand that the covering of sins through blood means that atonement is made on behalf of the sinner and the stain of blood covers the stain of sin. “And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in a year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy to the Lord.” (Ex 30:10) This covenant sacrifice made on behalf of all Israel denotes “that the intercession of Christ has all its virtue from his sufferings on earth, and that we need no other sacrifice or intercessor but Christ alone.” (Henry) “This shows that Christ's mediation and intercession is founded upon the virtue of his blood, and the efficacy of his atoning sacrifice.” (Gill) As mentioned before blood represents life. The atonement sacrifice teaches about the significance and symbolism of blood. It shows first that the blood of Christ, who as the Son of God, was the only blood that could save or preserve life through the eternities. Christ, like the lamb without blemish, was pure in every way and through the shedding of pure blood comes life eternal. It is interesting to see that by and through the death of One comes life and blood, as a symbol of life, is both given and taken away. Christ blood was taken from him and life through that blood was given to his children.

Another example of blood being used to preserve life comes from Exodus 12:7, “And they shall take the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door posts of the houses.” This verse comes from the account of the Passover where the destroying angel was sent by God to claim the firstborn in all of Egypt. Matthew Henry makes some interesting comments concerning this verse and the symbolism associated with it. “The sprinkling of the blood was typical. The blood of the lamb must be sprinkled, denoting the applying of the merits of Christ's death to our souls; we must receive the atonement. Faith is the bunch of hyssop, by which we apply the promises, and the benefits of the blood of Christ laid up in them, to ourselves. It was to be sprinkled on the door-posts, denoting the open profession we are to make of faith in Christ. It was not to be sprinkled upon the threshold; which cautions us to take heed of trampling under foot the blood of the covenant. It is precious blood, and must be precious to us. The blood, thus sprinkled, was a means of preserving the Israelites from the destroying angel, who had nothing to do where the blood was. The blood of Christ is the believer's protection from the wrath of God, the curse of the law, and the damnation of hell.”

One more example that should be looked at comes from Exodus 24:6-8 “And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the alter. And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.” Remember that blood represents life. John Gill has this to say concerning the covenant made here, “In allusion to which, the blood of Christ is sometimes called the blood of sprinkling, and which, sprinkled upon the mercy seat, calls for pardon for men; and sprinkled on their consciences, speaks peace and pardon to them, and cleanses from all sin.” Christ not only save man from mortal but spiritual death and this covenant made thousands of years before His life is symbolic of that very saving. Although limited in references blood meant a great deal to the children of Israel. Blood symbolized life, protection from death both physical and spiritual, in this way they were guaranteed eternal life.

Blood is a universal symbol of life. The symbol reaches to all nations and not just to the Israelites. During the plagues of Egypt, Moses turns the Nile River and all the water of Egypt to blood. While this feat was reproduced by Pharos’ magicians, this act has more significance than the story seems to indicate. First an understanding must come from the Egyptian view. The Egyptians believed in many gods, the one particular to this story is the god Hapi. Hapi is a creation God who is so important that “if Hapi were to fail the gods would fall from heaven and all men would die.” (Robert) Hapi was the god in charge of the Nile. The Nile River was also the source of life among the Egyptians and each year they counted on it to flood so that their crops would be watered providing food for the next year. The Nile was also a source of fish which fed the people. When Moses turns the Nile waters into blood there is no question as to whether this would scare the Egyptians. Their source of water was tainted and if remained as blood would no longer water their crops or yield fish. Their god was also put into question, Hapi was not able to change the waters back to their natural state and neither were the magicians. Here again is demonstrated the motif of life and death symbolized by blood. Life was taken away from the Egyptians when all the water in Egypt was turned to blood.

The last look at blood in relation to life comes from the book of Numbers. In this particular section rules are being given about murder. God instructs Israel to build cities of refuge for those who kill another person but who do it unintentionally. For those who do kill intentionally “the revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer.” (Numbers 35:19) As before mentioned, life is precious to God enough that He gave commandment that nobody should take the life of another. The law given to Moses justified an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. In this case a life for a life or the shedding of ones blood for another.

“The blood is the life.” (Deut 12:23) The significance and symbolism of blood is shown in the life of all living creatures. It is shown in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It is shown when it takes life away and when it gives it. Blood is the stuff of life.

Bibliography

Armour, Robert A. Gods and Myths of Ancient Egypt. New York: American University in Cairo, 2004. Print.

Gill, John. Exposition of the Old and New Testaments Complete and Unabridged. - 9 Vols. Chicago: Baptist Standard Bearer, 2006. Print.

Henry, Matthew. Nelson's Super Value Series Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003. Print.

Holy Bible, Giant Print Deluxe Edition King James Version. New York: Oxford UP, USA, 2000. Print.

Landman, Issac. The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, 1948. Print.

The Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 3. Print.