Key Verses: Leviticus 17:5, 17:11, 17:14
The Holiness Code begins by centralizing all sacrifice at the tabernacle: any Israelite who slaughters an animal for sacrifice must bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, not offer it in the open field “to goat demons,” on pain of being cut off. The chapter then states the reason blood may never be eaten, in one of the most important verses in the Bible: “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.”
This verse is the theological key to the whole sacrificial system. Blood represents life, and because the wages of sin is death, atonement requires that a life be given in the sinner’s place; the blood on the altar is God’s gracious provision of a substitute life for the forfeited life of the sinner. The eating of blood is forbidden precisely because blood is sacred, set apart for atonement alone. The verse casts its shadow all the way to the upper room and the cross: “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22), and it is “the blood of Jesus” that “cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
Key Terms & Words:
- נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh) - Leviticus 17:11 - “Life” or “soul”; the life of the flesh that is in the blood
- דָּם (dam) - Leviticus 17:11 - “Blood”; the life given on the altar to make atonement
- וַיְכַפֵּר (vaykapper) - Leviticus 17:11 - “It makes atonement”; the blood ransoms the life of the sinner
Cross-References:
- Genesis 9:4-6 - The prohibition of eating blood, and the sanctity of life
- Leviticus 17:11 - The life is in the blood; blood makes atonement
- Hebrews 9:22 - Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness
- 1 Peter 1:18-19 - Ransomed by the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish
Discussion Questions:
- Why is Leviticus 17:11 called the key to the sacrificial system?
- What does it mean that God “gave” the blood on the altar as a provision for atonement?
- How does the sanctity of blood in Leviticus deepen the meaning of the blood of Christ?