Leviticus 7:25–27

The peace offering was the only one of these offerings that allowed eating on the part of the Lord's people. So any abuse of the privilege had to be rigidly forbidden. This prohibition reached everyone without exception... And all blood, of every kind, was forbidden as food. Not only the inward energy, but the life too was sacred to the Lord. He would allow no meddling with His sole right and title here.

Life belonged to God and was to be consecrated to God; to Him alone it belonged or could belong. Life spent or taken by another was high treason against God's title... But it was no less true that all belonged to God and belongs to God: man could not take it for his own use. A man could use it in the case of a beast that died or was torn. But whenever he chose to take the life of a beast, he had to recognise God's title, submit his will, and own the will of God as alone having a claim.

But the blood was forbidden to the whole people, who knew, as no one else then did, that life belongs to God. It did not matter what the animal was, fowl or beast: all of it was forbidden. Eating blood denied the rights of God the Creator; and if man forfeited his own rights by sin, the Lord maintained His title over life unimpaired.

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 through the death of a sacrifice in his place... But if they were forbidden the blood, they were reminded how it could speak to God on their behalf. The blood makes atonement for the soul... 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 must acknowledge it. We owe atonement by blood wholly to God, and must always own it... So atonement is all of grace. The One to whom life belongs has given the blood to be poured out for our everlasting blessing.

On the other hand, the blood of no living creature could they eat; for life belongs to God. The recognition that life belongs to God is binding on all men... God has forbidden blood to all. He forbade the fat of the sacrifice only to His people.

This ban started when God first allowed animals to be eaten as food (Genesis 9:3-5). Blood was never to be eaten, and this is as true today as it was then (Acts 15:28-29). As for eating fat, this was forbidden only in the case of animals being sacrificed (v. 25). But any eating of blood was punishable by death under law (v. 27). We do not carry out that sentence under grace, though eating blood is just as serious a wrong today as at any time. For "the blood is the life," and in this matter we must recognise God's rights as the Lifegiver.

As a Jew, obedient to the word of God, Daniel could not eat the food of the Gentile nations. Even with the animals a Jew could eat, the fat and the blood were forbidden... So Daniel and his companions could not accept the royal food. To take it, they would have had to give up their faith and reject the word of their God.

But the blood was completely forbidden to the people who knew, as no others did in those days, that life belongs to God. It made no difference what the animal was, bird or beast — all of it was forbidden absolutely. Eating blood denied the rights of God, the Creator. Man forfeited his own rights by sin, but the LORD kept His title over life untouched. God set up human government in the first place to deal with death caused on purpose. Shed blood is its sign, and it belongs to God alone. Man has no right to take it for himself.

The blood of no beast or bird was to be eaten, for it is the life of the creature, and life belongs to God. For Israel, this rule enforced in a special way what God laid down after the flood, in Noah's time (Genesis 9:4). So the apostles and elders gave this 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. This is a prohibition that applies to all people. We do well to keep it. But we do not need to copy the extreme care the Jews took, as the instruction of 1 Corinthians 10:25 shows.

Feasting with God on the fat of the inner parts of any animal offered in sacrifice would have been a privilege — fellowship with Him. As food, it was flatly denied them. What the fat symbolised was for God... On the other hand, they could not eat the blood of any living creature; for life belongs to God. The recognition that life belongs to God is binding on all men... God has forbidden blood to all. He forbade the fat of the sacrifice only to His people.

Blood was never to be eaten, and this is as true today as it was then (Acts 15:28-29). As to eating fat, this was forbidden only in cases of animals being sacrificed (v. 25). But any eating of blood was punishable by death, under law (v. 27). Such a sentence is not to be carried out under grace, though eating blood is just as seriously wrong today as at any time. For "the blood is the life," and we must in this matter recognise God's rights as the lifegiver.

So complete was the change that now He commands what would once have been the greatest sin. Unless one eats the flesh and drinks the blood of the Son of Man, there is no life. The sign of His death gives life to us, and is absolutely necessary. To have life one must drink what was due only and strictly to God the judge of sin. But now Christ has changed it all for us. The very blood that it would have been most criminal to touch or taste before must now be drunk by us. So the standing witness to the work of Christ that the Christian sees is in the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper.

This man had learned, I have no doubt, to read the Scriptures. He knew that the king's meat had been offered to idols, and he also knew God's mind about the fat and the blood.