Chapter 9:16-22
“16 For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. 19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.’ 21 Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.”
The New Testament churches are responsible for the purity and sharing of the Gospel. We must be careful to share the Gospel in its Biblical purity and with all the parts that are involved. There are several parts to the pure Gospel, and one of those parts is the importance of a Blood sacrifice. In the passage that we are exploring today, there is a reference to the consecration of the Old Testament Tabernacle and the priests that served in it. Moses performed a ceremony that dedicated the Law and the men that oversaw the execution thereof.
- The Old Covenant, Leviticus 8
I encourage you to read the whole chapter if you get the chance to do so. But we will focus on the dedication of the high priest and his sons, who became the future priests. Moses writes for us in Leviticus 8: 18-24,
“Then he brought the ram as the burnt offering. And Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram, and Moses killed it. Then he sprinkled the blood all around on the altar. And he cut the ram into pieces; and Moses burned the head, the pieces, and the fat. Then he washed the entrails and the legs in water. And Moses burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt sacrifice for a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses. And he brought the second ram, the ram of consecration.
“Then Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram, and Moses killed it. Also, he took some of its blood and put it on the tip of Aaron’s right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. Then he brought Aaron’s sons. And Moses put some of the blood on the tips of their right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. And Moses sprinkled the blood all around on the altar” (NKJV).
These men were consecrated to the Lord with blood. This blood was the temporary covering for their sins as they were men who were fallible. God established the blood sacrifice in Genesis when He made ‘coats of skin’ to cover Adam and Eve. God also established with Abraham the need for blood to secure a promise in Genesis 15 when He entered into a covenant with Abraham using an old ritual of the area where two warring kings would sever an animal and walk through the pool of blood between the two pieces to make a covenant of peace. In this particular chapter, you will see that Abraham falls to sleep, and God makes the covenant with Himself.
From the very beginning, there has been blood required to cover our sins and blood required to secure the covenants that we have in the Lord. Now we have a new generation that wants to take the blood out of the Gospel. Out of the Covenants that we have in Christ with God. They want to sanitize the Gospel to make it more palatable, but the Gospel is designed to be offensive. It tells man he is hopeless and rotten to the core. It strips away any kind of self-reliance and places all men at the foot of the cross, all on even ground, lost, and going to eternal separation from God in Hell.
- The New Covenant, Hebrews 9:22
Without bloodshed, there is no remission or removal of our sins. If our sins are not removed, then we are not saved, and there is no hope for you and me. Jesus shed His blood for us, for the eternal removal of our sins, yours and mine. See Revelation 1:5:
“And from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood” (ESV).
Romans 5:9, “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God” (ESV).
Ephesians 2:13, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (ESV).
We can go on and on, but one cannot separate the salvation we have in Jesus from bloodshed. There is no need to sanitize the Gospel. All men need to know that it took bloodshed; it took the brutal and painful death of Jesus to save them. They need to know that their sin was and is repulsive to God, and when God places our sins on Jesus, it repulsed Him, and He struck Jesus as He would us, with His wrath.
Matthew 26:28, “For this, is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (ESV).
Matthew 27:46, “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'” (ESV).
God forsook Jesus and allowed His wrath to fall on Him so that when you put your faith in Jesus’ death, God will never forsake you and me nor pour His wrath out on us. Jesus’ bloodshed protects us from God’s wrath; more accurately, it removes us from being under God’s wrath at all. We have nothing to fear from God, our Heavenly Father. You and I are justified by Jesus’ blood, we are washed clean by Jesus’ blood, and we are at eternal peace with God because of Jesus’ blood. Nothing else was enough to pacify the wrath of God.
It is important that we keep the Gospel pure; men are sinners, and God is Holy. Stop trying to sanitize the Gospel. Salvation comes via bloodshed, Jesus’ bloodshed. There are no other means of salvation.
God bless you,
Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church
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