Why So Much Blood in the Old Testament? | The Shocking Meaning Behind Old Testament Sacrifice - Behind The Mike Podcast with Mike Stone

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hey my friends, welcome toBehind the Mike Podcast,
I'm Mike Stone.
Man, I don't know about you,but it is summertime in Ohio.
It is hot here,and I live in a house
that was built in like 1847,brick walls.
So it's, this room is notair conditioned.

(00:22):
So, if you seesweat dripping down my face,
Everything's okay.
It's just hot in here.
Kind of gross,Well, speaking of gross
or uncomfortable,today's episode was inspired
by, my recent readingout of the book of Leviticus.

(00:48):
I don't know about youand how you decide what to read
from scripture each day.
Typically,I will select a book and
I hadn't beenin the Old Testament.
I'd been reading a lotof of the New Testament,
and I decided to go backand read the Pentateuch,
which is Genesis,Exodus, Leviticus,
numbers, and Deuteronomy and I.

(01:10):
When I finished Leviticus,I closed it and I just
thought to myself,why so much blood?
And that is the title of thisweek's episode from Leviticus.
So if blood makesyou uncomfortable,
hang in there with me.
I promise you this is going tobe worthwhile.

(01:38):
Well, let me ask you something.
Have you ever opened your Bibleand landed somewhere
in Leviticusand immediately thought,
why is there so much blood,blood on the altar, blood
on the horns, blood poured outat the base of the altar.
Animal after animal sacrificeafter sacrifice.
It's messy.
It's graphic.

(01:59):
It's evena little bit disturbing.
And honestly, that's the pointbecause sin is disturbing
and God wanted us to feel thatin our bones.
But here's the twist.
Every drop of blood in Leviticusis pointing somewhere.
Actually, it's pointingto someone.

(02:22):
So today we're going towalk through Leviticus four
and we're going to unpack,number one, why there was
so much blood.
Number two,what it meant to Israel.
And number three,how it all leads
us to the cross.
So if you've everskipped over Leviticus or you
struggled to make senseof it, stick around because

(02:45):
by the end of this episode,my hope is that you will see
the book of Leviticusand the sacrifices
with fresh eyes.
Leviticus four introduces usto something called
the sin offering or thepurification offering.
It wasn't a barbecue.
It wasn't a religious ritualthat was supposed

(03:05):
to impress God.
It was an actof justice, of mercy
and of grace.
And here's what would happen.
So if an Israelite wouldsin unintentionally, meaning
they broke the law of Godwithout realizing it at first
they were still guilty.
Sin wasn't excused just becauseit was an accident.

(03:29):
So God gave them a pathto be right again,
to be in rightstanding with him.
Imagine this like a courtroom.
You accidentally rear-endedsomeone at a stoplight.
You didn't mean to.
You weren't texting,but you looked
away for a second.
And guess what?

(03:50):
You are still guilty.
You're still liable, and there'sstill a cost.
The sin offering was kind oflike God's way of saying,
yes, there's guilt,but I'm offering you a way back.
And here's howthat would play out.
I want to read from Leviticuschapter four.

(04:14):
And we're going toread, chapter four,
verses five and six.
And it says,“Thenthe appointed priest shall take
some of the bulls bloodand carry it into the tent
of meeting.
He has to dip his fingerinto the blood and sprinkle
some of it seven timesbefore the Lord in front

(04:35):
of the curtainof the sanctuary.” So first the
sinner would bring an animal,and usually it was a bull
or a goat or lamb, and it waswithout blemish.
Keep that in mind.
Then they would layhands on the animal
on the animal's head.
This wasn't just a casual touch,it was a symbolic transfer.

(05:00):
So they wereplacing their guilt, their sin,
and their shame onto the animal.
Then, well, they had to kill itwith their own hands.
And I want you to pause there,because this is not
just an Old Testament drama.

(05:23):
It's a spiritual mirrorshowing us
what we're going to seedown the road.
Can you imaginethe emotional weight,
knowing that your sincost the life of something
that was innocent?
And this wasn'tsanitized religion.

(05:44):
It was hands on, in your face,gut wrenching, repentance.
So why the blood?

Well, Leviticus 17 (05:54):
11 says.
“For the life of a creatureis in the blood,
and I have given itto you to make atonement
for yourselves on the altar.
It is the bloodthat makes atonement
for one's life.” The key wordhere is atonement,

(06:16):
which means to cover,to make peace, to restore
what was broken.
So you see the blood.
It wasn't just symbolic.
It was sacred.
The spilled bloodrepresented a life
that was givenin place of another,
a substitute.

(06:37):
Imagine a parentwatching their child
about to be punished,and suddenly someone steps in
and says, hey,I'll take it for them.
The punishment still happens,but the guilty party walks free,
and that'swhat the sacrifices did.
And ultimately,that's what Jesus did.

(06:59):
But before we jump to the cross,let's go back to the altar.
I want to explain, kind of whatthat situation look like.
So the priest would takesome of the blood and apply it
to the horns of the altar.
Now, why the horns?
Well, in ancient Israel,the horns of the altar

(07:19):
were symbolic of strength,of mercy and of access to God.
So people in desperateneed would run to the altar,
and they were grabbed,the horns, pleading for safety
by putting blood on the horns.
The priest was basically saying,mercy has been bought.

(07:39):
Access has been restored.
Then the rest of the bloodbecause he was just
sprinkling it, remember?
Well, the rest of the bloodfrom the animal was poured out
at the base of the altar,showing total surrender of life.
Nothing was held back.
Sin had been acknowledged andthe price was paid.

(08:03):
Now, I grew up ina farm community.
I don't knowif you've ever been to,
where they slaughtered animals.
You can imagine it's not pretty.
It is kind of disgusting.
And it smells.
We think of the templeas being a very

(08:24):
holy place, and it was.
But we think ofthe sweet incense,
and we think of all those typesof things.
Well, as I'm readingthrough Leviticus, I'm going.
It had to have been horrible,right?
And you know what?
This sacrifice, it wasn't aone time thing.

(08:44):
This happened,as we see in Leviticus.
It happened daily.
It happened weekly.
It happened year after year.
Hundreds and thousands ofanimals, rivers of blood.
Because sin kept happening.
But all of this was the shadowof something much greater.

(09:07):
Hebrews 9 chapter 12.
I'm going to lookthat up as well.
Hebrews chapter 9,verse 12 says,“He did not enter
by means of the blood of goatsand calves, but He entered
the Most Holy placeonce, for all, by his own blood,

(09:28):
having obtainedeternal redemption.”
No more goats, no more bulls,no more blood on the altar
you can think of.
You can think of the OldTestament sacrifices,
like using a credit card.
You go to your favoriteelectronic store,
and you buy that big screen TVand you hand them

(09:51):
over your credit card.
Well, you're covering the costfor now, but
the bill is still due.
You see, Jesus cameand he paid the bill
in full once and for all.
You remember John the Baptistwas baptizing people in the

(10:16):
river Jordan, and he saw Jesusand he cried out,
behold, the Lamb of God,who takes away
the sin of the world.
You can read thatin John chapter 1 verse 29.
On the cross Jesus becameour sin offering not just for
accidental sins,but for all of them.
Not for one nation,but for every tribe,

(10:38):
every tongue, every nation,all people, everywhere.
We have a tendencyto look at sin or look at
breaking lawsas different levels.
Some kind of, you know,not so serious,
like the little white lies.

(11:00):
And, you know, that's not as badas murdering someone.
We we categorize these thingsand in different ways.
But sin is still sin.
Now here's the beauty.
You and I don't need to bring ananimal to the altar
because Jesus became the altar.

(11:20):
He became the lamb.
He became the blood.
But that doesn't meanour sin is less serious like we
sometimes deem some sendsmore serious than others.
It means that we're more lovedthan we ever imagined.
You see, the cross isboth horrifying.
And if you've seen The Passionof the Christ,
you get a taste of that.

(11:41):
It's horrifying,but it's also beautiful.
It shows ushow bad sin really is
and how far God was willingto go to rescue us.
So the next timeyou read Leviticus
and you feel a littlesick to your stomach,
don't skip it.
Lean in.

(12:02):
Because the blood that coveredthe altar is the same blood
that covers you.
It covers me.
Look, if you've never trustedin that sacrifice,
if you're still tryingto carry your guilt
alone, friend,you don't have to.
The blood of Jesus is enough.

(12:23):
The way is open.
The altar is satisfied.
Come to the cross.
Come to the mercyseat and find grace.
Hey, thanks forjoining me today.
If this episode helped youto see Scripture in a new way,
would you share it with someone?
Be sure to like thisand subscribe to the podcast.

(12:46):
I would love to hearyour comments.
And remember, the Old Testamentdoesn't contradict the gospel.
It actually prepares usfor the gospel.
I want you to rememberyou are seen.
You are known and you are loved.
And until next time,keep seeking truth.
We'll see you next timeon Behind the Mike Podcast.

(13:07):
Take care and God bless.

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Why So Much Blood in the Old Testament? | The Shocking Meaning Behind Old Testament Sacrifice

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