And every one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, that eateth any manner of blood, -- I will set my face against the soul that hath eaten blood, and will cut him off from among his people;
This is no dietary rule. God puts His own name behind it: whoever eats blood will find God set against him. Behind that severity lies a claim He has never given up — life is His, and the blood is its sign.
The ban touched something the offender was refusing to admit about himself.
In Israel, as these verses show, eating blood stirred the Lord's jealousy, and He cut the offender off. It made no difference whether he was an Israelite or a stranger living among them. It denied man's duty to admit that his life is forfeited to God. People were to acknowledge God solemnly — if not on the altar, then at least by pouring the blood out on the ground as His due, instead of taking it for their own pleasure. Death was a serious thing. The Lord would not have it treated lightly, even when He allowed His people to eat flesh killed for food.
The sentence fits the offence. A man already under sentence of death was taking what stood for a life given up to God.
The contrast between the teaching of the New Testament and what we read here about the blood is striking. Here no one was to touch it. It belonged to God, and the man who ate it must die. The reason is clear. Man's life was forfeited. Man was a sinner under sentence of death, and God would always keep that before His mind.
God takes the blood from the table and puts it on the altar. The ban itself teaches three lessons.
Of three important truths the prohibition to eat blood reminds us. We are creatures, and must remember it. We were by nature sinners, and are to acknowledge it. We owe our atonement by blood entirely to God, and must always own it. So it is entirely of grace that atonement could be, and has been, made.
The grace is in the wording of the gift itself.
Notice the grace shown here — "I have given it for you on the altar." God, against whom we have sinned, provides the very thing by which atonement for our sins can be made. He provides it, and He reveals it.
The command did not begin at Sinai, and it was not left behind there.
The Lord again insists that anyone who ate blood must be cut off — that is, put to death (v. 10). This covered Israelites and the strangers living among them alike... The blood shed is the sign of death. Since God is the Life-giver, we must recognise His rights by not eating blood. This was true before the law was given (Gen. 9:4), and it remains true today, when believers are not under law but under grace (Acts 15:28-29).
The ban never rested on Israel's ceremonial system, which is why it still holds.
God's revealed will is absolute for the believer. In fact He set His face against all these indulgences, quite apart from Israel's special institutions. They carry the full weight of apostolic authority as "necessary things"... God insists on the recognition that life belongs to Himself. So, as He gives flesh to eat, He keeps back the blood. In the same way He forbids eating anything strangled. The Christian must not be indifferent to these last commands, but is bound to honour Him in both.
This law stands behind what Jesus said in John 6 about eating His flesh and drinking His blood.
No one who weighs these words can wonder at the shock our Lord's words in John 6 gave to Jewish feeling. His words there were symbolic, as so often in that Gospel. Yet what symbol could be more startling? His person and His work are the key to the truth. To eat blood under the law was to rebel against one's forfeited place, and to handle the life that reverts to God and belongs only to Him. But God now gives eternal life in His Son to every believer, and sent Him to die as propitiation for our sins. Grace changes everything; and we despise the truth too, if we do not take His death as the food of faith for our souls.
- Claim. Life belongs to God, and the blood is its sign. To eat it denied that man's own life is forfeited to Him.
- Sentence. God does not hand this judgment to anyone else. He sets His face against the offender and cuts him off, keeping man's death sentence in plain view.
- Gift. God kept the blood from the table and put it on the altar instead — "I have given it for you" — the God we sinned against supplies the atonement.
- Reach. One command runs through three eras. God gave it to Noah before the law, pressed it on Israel and the stranger, and repeated it to Gentile believers as a necessary thing.
- Reversal. What the law forbade, grace gives. We may not eat the blood of animals; God invites us to live by the blood of His Son.
for the soul of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul.
The command in this chapter is stern: Israel must never eat blood, and anyone who does is cut off from the people. The reason God gives reaches far beyond diet. It tells us what blood means, why He claims it, and how it covers a guilty person.
Scripture defines its own symbol. Two verses set side by side settle what blood stands for. (Older translations end this verse with "makes atonement for the soul," where the ESV has "makes atonement by the life.")
Deuteronomy 12:23 tells us that "the blood is the life." Leviticus 17:11 says "the life of the flesh is in the blood." These two passages make clear what blood means in Scripture. The second verse ends with the words: "It is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul."
Some have claimed that the blood on the altar carries life still living in it.
The blood is the life of the body, and so represents it, and anyone who ate blood would be cut off — not merely "fresh, steaming blood," as these views would suppose, but blood in any way. So the blood poured out is the life poured out — the symbol of death, not of existing life.
The ban is not random. It keeps three truths in front of the people, and it points ahead to Christ.
Life belongs to God, so no one of the human race was to eat blood. The sinner, too, has forfeited his life, and can live before God only because a sacrifice dies in his place. Israel was always to remember this… When the blood is shed, the life is given up to God, and that is precious to Him. No wonder, then, that the shedding of blood was such an essential part of the ritual God gave Moses, for it spoke to God of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, His one and only Son, given up to Him on the cross… So the ban on eating blood reminds us of three important truths. We are creatures, and must remember it. We were sinners by nature, and must admit it. We owe atonement by blood entirely to God, and must always acknowledge it.
The verse does not describe man offering something to God. The direction of the gift runs the other way.
Let us mark the grace here indicated — "I have given it to you." God, against whom we have sinned, provides that by which atonement for our sins can be made. He provides it, and He reveals it.
The gift comes to the man who admits he has no claim to life. The wording then rules out anything added to the blood.
When a man takes his place as someone with no right at all to life, and fully admits God's claims on him, then the divine record is: "I have given you the life to make an atonement for your soul." Yes, atonement is God's gift to man. And note it carefully: this atonement is in the blood, and only in the blood… It is not the blood and something else. The wording could not be plainer. It gives atonement to the blood alone.
The English word can be misread as two parties simply making up. The Hebrew behind it says something more definite.
The Hebrew word employed is Kaphar, which means to cover. It is only by the death of Christ, by His atoning blood, that sin is covered, and its consequences averted. So we read, "Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered" (Ps. 32:1)… The New Testament answers all of this beautifully: "The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).
This verse meets the question a troubled person actually asks: what can deal with my own sins?
What can atone for my sins? Can my tears? my prayers? my works?… Suppose every tear of repentance that ever flowed, every prayer that ever went up from the lips of godly people, and every good work that was ever done were put to your credit. If you were still without faith in Jesus, you would be just what you are this minute — an unwashed, an uncleansed, an unpardoned sinner. On the other hand, if your eye only rested for one moment, in faith, on the blood upon the altar… you would come to know that the blood had made atonement for your soul.
- Life forfeited — the sinner has no right to life, and can stand before God only because a substitute died in his place.
- Life poured out — blood shed is life ended, not life still living; and it spoke to God of Christ's life given up on the cross.
- Life given — "I have given it to you" makes atonement God's provision, not man's contribution.
- Life covering life — the Hebrew word for atonement means to cover; the blood covers sin and turns aside what it deserves.
- Life alone — atonement is in the blood and only in the blood; tears, prayers and good works add nothing and replace nothing.
Therefore have I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall the stranger who sojourneth among you eat blood.
Leviticus 17 gives a reason before it gives a rule. Blood carries life, and God assigned it to the altar for atonement. So the ban falls on everyone in Israel, citizen and foreigner alike. That word "therefore" raises the questions this verse turns on: why does God guard blood so closely, why does the ban reach beyond Israel, and does it still touch us?
The ban on eating blood was not new. What is new here is the reason attached to it.
It is interesting to see God's wisdom in choosing the time to reveal His mind. When Moses gave Israel this further reason, the real atonement was still a future event — just as it was when the Lord spoke to Noah and his sons. But Noah and his sons could not have understood what had not yet been shown — the full need of atonement. Israel was different. They had the laws about sacrifices before them, and the rules for the Day of Atonement fresh in their memory. So they could understand something of what atonement meant. That is why this further reason for not eating blood comes in its right order, just after the directions for the Day of Atonement.
Some older translations read "no soul of you shall eat blood" where the ESV has "No person among you." That older wording answers a question about what "soul" means.
Clearly "soul" means the person, for who ever heard of a bodiless soul eating?
Verse 12 names two groups, and the law falls on both alike.
In Israel, as we see in these verses, to eat blood was to provoke the Lord's jealousy, so that the Lord cut off the offender. Israelites or foreigners living among them made no difference. It denied man's duty to acknowledge that life is forfeited to God. People had to own God's claim, if not on the altar, then at least by pouring out the blood on the ground as due to Him, instead of keeping it for their own pleasure. Death was a serious thing, and the Lord would not have it treated lightly, even when He allowed His people to eat flesh killed for food.
The ban is not only a restriction. It teaches where man stands before God.
The prohibition against eating blood reminds us of three important truths. We are creatures, and must remember it. We were by nature sinners, and are to acknowledge it. We owe atonement by blood entirely to God, and are always to own it. So it is all of grace that atonement could be, and has been, made.
The rule rests on what blood is, so its reach goes beyond Israel.
Israel was not to eat the blood of any beast or bird, for it is the life of the creature, and life belongs to God. This law enforced for Israel in particular what God had laid down in Noah's time after the flood, as recorded in Genesis 9:4. Later the apostles and elders gave the same instruction to Gentile believers, as recorded in Acts 15:20 and 29. They were not imposing a mere item of the law of Moses on them. They were passing on a prohibition that applies to all mankind. We do well to observe it, though we do not need to keep the extreme scruples of the Jews, as the instruction of 1 Corinthians 10:25 shows.
This law also explains a shock felt long afterwards, in Jesus' own day.
Anyone who weighs these words can see why our Lord's words in John 6 shocked His Jewish hearers. Yes, His words were symbolic, as so often in this Gospel. Yet what symbol could be more startling? His person and His work are the key to the truth. To eat blood under the law was to rebel against one's forfeited place, and to handle the life that reverts to God and belongs to Him alone. But God now gives eternal life in His Son to every believer, and sent Him to die as propitiation for our sins. Grace changes everything; and we despise the truth if we do not take His death as the food of faith for our souls. But this in no way cancels the sign. In the full light of the New Testament, the apostles, guided by the Spirit, still call us to respect the outward sign that life given up belongs to God.
- Because — blood carries life, and God assigned it to the altar for atonement.
- Timing — God kept this reason from Noah. He gave it to Israel only after the Day of Atonement had taught them what atonement means.
- Both — Israelite and foreigner stand under one rule. Even for meat killed for food, the blood went to the ground as God's due.
- Three lessons — we are creatures, we are sinners by nature, and atonement is God's gift, not our achievement.
- Still — the rule is older than the law, and the apostles repeated it to Gentile believers. The sign now points to Christ's death, taken as the food of faith.
And every one of the children of Israel, and of the strangers who sojourn among them, that catcheth in the hunt a beast or fowl that may be eaten, he shall pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with earth;
God's claim on blood at the altar reaches even the hunter in open country. Far from any priest or altar, he must still pour out the blood and cover it with earth — and the rule binds Israelite and foreigner alike.
These rules follow the day of atonement, and their purpose is protective.
After the special instruction about the day of atonement come some directions (Lev. 17). They are not given to purify from defilements, but to keep either the people or the service of the priests from defilement. Their aim is to keep Israel a people holy to God, and to keep them from all that would dishonour Him in their dealings with Him, and dishonour themselves in their dealings with others. Life belongs to God. And where it is taken, it must be offered in sacrifice — and in sacrifice of course to God. The blood must be sprinkled, and the fat burned on the altar. This guarded them from turning in heart to demons. It also upheld God's title to life and the truth of sacrifice — all vital truths.
The chapter reaches the man farthest from any altar. Even his kill must testify.
Everything in this chapter speaks of the sanctity of the blood. Life belongs to God, and this chapter shows what great value He places on the blood, and with what jealous care He watches over it. The centre of it all is verse 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 that makes atonement by the life." Every slain animal had to bear witness to this fact. Even the hunter had to pour out the blood and cover it with dust.
Ignoring this claim carried a heavy penalty.
In Israel, as these verses show, eating blood provoked the LORD's jealousy, and the offender was cut off. It made no difference whether he was an Israelite or a foreigner staying among them. Eating blood denied man's duty to own that life is forfeited to God. People had to acknowledge God seriously — if not on the altar, then at least by pouring the blood out on the earth as His due, instead of taking it for their own pleasure. Death was a serious thing. The LORD would not have it treated lightly, even when He let His people eat flesh killed for their food.
The rule meets the moment when obeying is inconvenient — a kill in the field, hunger, haste. Israel's history records such a moment.
The value and use of the blood had now been declared. The next announcement warned everyone against any leaning towards carelessness in keeping the command (13, 14). The people might have thought that circumstances excused them from keeping it. We do read of a case in 1 Samuel 14:31-34 that could otherwise have been used to justify neglecting it. Worn out from chasing the enemy, the people rushed on the spoil and ate the animals without killing them properly. But Saul remembered this command and acted on it, so the LORD held back His judgment, because obeying His law honoured it.
Because the blood went back to God, the taking of any life for food carried a meaning larger than the meal.
In a lesser sense they are taught to make all taking of life a "sacrifice" to the LORD. Whenever an animal is used for food, the blood is poured on the ground as the life which belongs to God. The sacredness of life was to be realized, and their own life constantly lifted into spiritual meaning and brought near to God. Each common meal was to have, as far as this could be given to it, the character of a peace offering: it was to be enjoyed in communion with God.
Under the law, blood belonged to God alone. One writer traces what changed when God gave His Son — and what did not change.
Under the law, to eat blood was to rebel against the place man had forfeited. It meant handling the life that goes back to God and belongs to Him alone. But God now gives eternal life in His Son to every believer, and He sent Him to die as propitiation for our sins. Grace changes everything, and we despise the truth too if we do not take His death as the food of faith for our souls. Yet even in the full light of the New Testament, the apostles, guided by the Spirit, call us to respect the outward sign that life given up belongs to God.
- Claim. Life belongs to God; where life is taken, His title to it must be owned.
- Reach. The claim follows the hunter into open country. No altar stands there, yet the blood still goes to God, poured out and covered with earth.
- Equality. Israelite and foreigner living among them stood under one and the same rule.
- Cost. Convenience excuses no one. Saul's men in 1 Samuel 14 show how hunger tempts people to treat the command as optional.
- Result. Ordinary meals became worship. Under grace God gives eternal life in His Son, and still calls us to respect the sign that life given up belongs to Him.
for as to the life of all flesh, its blood is the life in it; and I have said unto the children of Israel, Of the blood of no manner of flesh shall ye eat, for the life of all flesh is its blood whoever eateth it shall be cut off.
God tells Israel that the blood of any creature is its life. For that reason no one may eat it, and whoever does is cut off from the people. Two questions follow. Why does God guard blood so fiercely? And why does the same chapter that forbids man to take blood also give blood to him at the altar?
The verse ties life and blood together. But what does blood stand for once it is drained out?
The blood is the life of the body, and so represents it. That is why the man who ate blood would be cut off — not merely "fresh, steaming blood," but blood in any form. The blood poured out is the life poured out — the symbol of death, not of existing life.
This is no arbitrary food rule. It keeps three truths in front of anyone who obeys it.
Life belongs to God, so no one of the human race was to eat blood. The sinner, too, has forfeited his life. He can only live before God on the ground of the death of a sacrifice in his place... Of three important truths, then, the prohibition to eat blood reminds us. We are creatures, and must remember it. We were by nature sinners, and are to acknowledge it. We are indebted wholly to God for atonement by blood, and are ever to own it. So atonement is all of grace. God says He has given the blood for us on the altar, to make atonement for our souls. The One to whom life belongs has given it to be poured out for our everlasting blessing.
Being cut off sounds harsh for a meal. But the penalty fits what the act says about God.
In Israel, as we see in these verses, eating blood provoked the Lord's jealousy, and the offender was cut off. It made no difference whether he was an Israelite or a foreigner living among them. Eating blood denied man's duty to admit that life is forfeited to God. Man had to acknowledge God in earnest — if not on the altar, then at least by pouring the blood out on the ground as His due, instead of taking it for his own pleasure. Death was a serious thing; and the Lord would not have it treated lightly.
The rule followed a man out into ordinary work — and it pointed beyond itself.
The sanctity of the blood is shown here. Even the hunter in Israel had to keep it in view... So the hunter had to stop, and pour out the blood. All points to the blood of the Lamb.
This law explains why the Lord's words in John 6 struck His hearers so hard.
No one who weighs these words can wonder at the shock the Lord's words in John 6 gave to His Jewish hearers. Granted, His words were a symbol. Yet what symbol could be more startling? To eat blood under the law was to rebel against one's forfeited place. It was to handle the life that reverts to God and belongs to Him alone. But God now gives eternal life in His Son to every believer, and sent Him to die as propitiation for our sins. Grace changes all; and we despise the truth too, if we do not take His death as the food of faith for our souls.
There is a quiet witness to the same thing in the risen Christ. When He showed Himself to His disciples He named flesh and bones — and stopped there.
Notice that there is no mention of blood. Blood, which is the life of the flesh (Lev. 17:14), was poured out when He died (Luke 22:20). That life given up was never taken back.
The rule did not begin with Moses, and it did not end with him.
No one was to eat the blood of beast or bird, for the blood is the life of the creature, and life belongs to God. This law pressed on Israel in a special way what God had laid down in Noah's time, after the flood (Genesis 9:4). So the apostles and elders gave this instruction to Gentile believers (Acts 15:20, 29). They were not laying on them a mere item of the law of Moses. They were passing on a rule that applies to all people. We do well to keep it, though we need not copy the extreme care of the Jews about food (1 Corinthians 10:25).
- Blood means death. Blood poured out is life poured out — the sign that a life has ended, not that it lives on.
- Life is God's. The ban says the creature's life belongs to Him, and that man, as a sinner, has forfeited his own. Yet God gave that blood on the altar to make atonement.
- Refusal is defiance. Eating blood denied that debt, so the offender was cut off from his people.
- The claim reaches everywhere. Even a hunter alone in the field had to stop and pour out the blood — and all of it pointed forward to the Lamb.
- Grace reverses the command. What was once the gravest thing to touch is now what faith feeds on. His life, given up, was never taken back.
And every soul that eateth of a dead carcase, or of that which was torn, be it one home-born, or a stranger, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the even then he shall be clean.
Leviticus 17 has just guarded God's claim on the blood of every animal. Verse 15 turns to a milder case: a person eats an animal that was never killed for food, and so becomes unclean without openly defying God.
An animal could die two ways without anyone killing it for food: on its own, or in a predator's mouth. One writer gives the Hebrew word for each and shows how this rule fits with the stricter law that came later.
In connection with this comes the rule for those who had eaten an animal that died of itself, n'belah, or was torn by a wild animal, t'rephah… The Lord would not allow uncleanness in those connected with His camp to pass unchallenged, or unpurged… It may be that the law of Leviticus 17:15 had to do with finding a carcass out in open country while hunting. Leviticus 11, on the other hand, deals with death among their flocks or herds. If that is so, they were allowed to eat what died of itself or was torn by beasts in exceptional cases, as long as they carried out the purification required. But once they entered the land, what died of itself was forbidden them (Deuteronomy 14:21), and so was what had been torn by beasts.
The problem is not the animal but how it died. One writer draws the line between a death that simply happened and a death brought to God.
The wilderness is barren. It lacks what would keep life going, so it naturally suggests death… The world in the same way has on it the stamp and seal of death, the clear mark of its distance and alienation from the living God. No wonder, then, that the Word of God links everything naturally connected with it to uncleanness. So what dies of itself may not be eaten, while what is slain and offered to God is, on the contrary, the food of both God and man.
There is also a practical reason, and it comes back to the blood:
If an animal died or was killed by other animals, it would not be properly bled. If someone ate that dead animal, he had to both wash his clothes and bathe in water to be cleansed from defilement… All of this chapter therefore insists that God has rights that man must not ignore.
The chapter does not treat every failure alike. One writer sets this case beside the deliberate eating of blood.
Here it was not defiance of Jehovah's rights, as in deliberately planning to eat the blood which was forbidden. Yet it was a lack of zeal for God's word, and a lack of a proper sense of relationship to Him. The person became unclean, and had to cleanse himself and his surroundings before Him in the way prescribed. If the defiled person was indifferent to these mild terms of humbling, Jehovah was not mocked. The person who so despised Him "shall bear his iniquity."
This verse asks for two washings: the clothes and the body. One writer compares it with the earlier rule for anyone who touched a dead unclean creature.
It is worth noting the remedy God graciously provided for those who made themselves unclean by touching the carcasses of unclean things. Several times we are told that he "shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening." To us this is a picture of bringing our immediate surroundings under the cleansing action of the word of God. In it there is both the acknowledgment of defilement, and the removal of it according to God's mind… There is another case in the seventeenth chapter of a somewhat different character. Here the defilement is more serious, so the person needs to be washed with water as well as his clothes, in order to be clean. If he neglected these requirements, he would come under judgment.
This claim on blood did not begin with Moses. One writer separates two words that are easy to confuse, blood and strangled, and shows how far back the ban on both runs.
There ought to be no question that "blood" means what is drawn out of the animal on purpose for cooking. That is clearly different from "strangled," where the aim is to keep the blood from flowing. Both are forbidden. God demands that man, by abstaining, should own that life belongs to Him… It is not a Jewish or Mosaic law only, but for man since Noah and the flood (Genesis 9:4).
- Death defiles. What dies of itself carries the stamp of a world alienated from the living God. What is slain and offered to Him becomes food for both God and man.
- Degrees differ. Eating blood was open defiance of God's rights. Eating a carcass showed a lack of zeal for God's word, and cost only a day's uncleanness.
- Everyone alike. Native-born and foreigner came under the same rule. God's claim on life is not Jewish or Mosaic only; it goes back to Noah.
- Cleansing is provided. Washing the clothes pictures bringing our nearest surroundings under the cleansing action of God's word. Here the person must wash himself as well, because the defilement is more serious.
- Neglect is costly. The terms were mild. But refusing them meant bearing one's own iniquity, for God is not mocked.
And if he wash them not nor bathe his flesh, then he shall bear his iniquity.
Leviticus 17 has pressed one claim on Israel: God has rights over life and blood that no one may ignore. Verse 16 closes the chapter with a quieter case — a man who ate an animal that died on its own, and then skipped the washing.
The problem was not the meat, but how the creature died. No one had brought such an animal to the altar, and no one had drained its blood as God required.
An animal that died on its own, or that other animals killed, was not properly bled. Anyone who ate it had to wash his clothes and bathe in water to be cleansed from defilement. If he did not, he would bear his guilt, which would mean death (vv. 15-16). All of this chapter therefore insists that God has rights that man must not ignore.
Why would a meal make someone unclean? The answer lies in what death means — and it showed at the family feast.
For death is an unclean thing. For man it is the fruit of sin, and Israel was always to remember that... Imagine a feast day, when the family and household are about to eat their portion of a peace offering. Anyone among them who had touched the carcass of a clean animal that had died of itself would be shut out from fellowship with the others for that reason. The rest would feast on the peace offering, and he would get no part of it.
Eating blood was open defiance. This case is different. God's terms here are gentle — wash, bathe, wait until evening — and that is what makes ignoring them so serious.
This was not defiance of the Lord's rights, like deliberately planning to eat the blood He had forbidden. Still, it showed a lack of zeal for God's word and no proper sense of relationship to Him. The man became unclean, and had to cleanse himself and his surroundings before Him in the way laid down. If the defiled soul ignored these mild terms of humbling himself, the Lord was not mocked. The soul who so despised Him "shall bear his iniquity."
Elsewhere Scripture is stricter about eating what died on its own. One explanation turns on where the carcass was found.
The law of Leviticus 17:15 may have had to do with finding a carcass out in the open country while hunting, while Leviticus 11:41 and following deals with death among their flocks or herds. If so, God allowed them in exceptional cases to eat an animal that had died of itself, or that wild animals had killed, as long as they carried out the purification He required. Once they entered the land, He forbade them what died of itself (Deut. 14:21).
God asks for two washings here, not one. Elsewhere the man washes only his clothes; here he must go into the water himself.
Several times we are told he "shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening." To us this pictures bringing our near surroundings under the cleansing action of the word of God. In it there is both the acknowledgment of defilement and the removal of it according to God's mind... Here the defilement is more serious. The person must wash his body with water as well as his clothes to be clean. If he neglected these requirements, he would come under judgment.
These washing rules press one lasting habit on us.
All these instances show how much we need to have to do with the word of God. It gives us understanding of His mind. It exercises our consciences about our own state and surroundings. It helps us in self-judgment, removes defilement, restores our souls, and enlarges our fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. Scripture asks, "How can a young man keep his way pure?" The answer is, "By guarding it according to your word."
- Contact. Eating an animal that died on its own made a man unclean. Death is the fruit of sin, and Israel was never to forget it.
- Cost. Uncleanness shut the man out of the feast. He could have no share in the peace offering with everyone else.
- Cure. God's remedy was mild: wash the clothes, bathe the body, wait until evening, then be clean.
- Contempt. This was not open defiance like eating blood, but a lack of zeal for God's word. Refusing even such gentle terms is what makes a man bear his own guilt.
- Cleansing. The washing pictures the word of God applied to our state and our surroundings. It removes defilement, restores the soul, and widens our fellowship with the Father and the Son.