THE BLOOD
CHECK IT OUT
By John W. White
In the book of Genesis there are no occurrences of
shed blood with respect to animal sacrifice. The first occurrence of blood
with respect to animal sacrifice is the passover in
Exodus 12:6-7 "And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of
the same month: and the whole assembly
of the congregation of Israel shall
kill it in the evening. 7. And
they shall take of the blood, and
strike it on the two side posts and
on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it."
Exodus 12:12-13 "For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night,
and will smite all the firstborn ..
when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon
you to destroy you." The blood was
placed on the door for the firstborn only. The passover was the slaying and
eating of a lamb or a goat by all of Israel and Gentiles that had been
circumcised. The sprinkling of blood was only for the firstborn who had the
right of the birthright.
The first
occurrence of the blood with respect to the passover sacrifice in the New
Testament is in Matthew 26:26-28
"And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed
it, and brake
it, and gave
it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is
my body. (for all) 27. And he took
the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it
to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
28. For this is my blood of the
new testament, which is shed for many
for the remission of sins." John 19:30
"When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said,
It is finished: and he bowed his head, and
gave up the ghost." Jesus Christ was the passover "Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world." John 19:34 "But one of the
soldiers with a spear pierced his side,
and forthwith came there out blood and
water." The death of Jesus
Christ and the shedding of his blood were separated from the time that He gave
up the ghost and when the soldiers pierced his side.
Jesus Christ did not bleed to death. If Jesus Christ had bled to death
he would not have had the strength or be conscious enough to do what is
recorded in Luke 23:46 "And when
Jesus had cried with a loud voice,
he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he
gave up the ghost." His blood was
shed for many, for those who are the firstborn and entitled to the birthright.
This is in agreement with the account of the killing of the passover lamb and
the sprinkling of the blood in Exodus.
Hebrews 11:28
"Through faith he kept the passover,
and [kai>, a conjunction] the
sprinkling of blood, lest he that
destroyed the
firstborn should touch them." The
conjunction, "kai>" connects the passover with the sprinkling of
blood, but it does not make them the same event. The passover lamb was for all
in the house, but the blood was only for the firstborn. The sad thing is that all that were protected by the blood in
Egypt were destroyed in the wilderness and did not enter into the land flowing
with milk and honey, except the children of the children of Israel with Joshua
and Caleb.
The firstborn was very important as shown in
Genesis 38:28 "And it came to
pass, when she travailed, that the one
put out his hand: and the
midwife took and bound upon his hand a
scarlet thread, saying, This came
out first." The use of a scarlet thread was no accident. Being scarlet
seems to speak of the blood and the birthright of the firstborn. The firstborn
was spared by the blood of the lamb. Rahab and her family were spared by the
scarlet thread, the symbol for the firstborn, in
Joshua 2:18
"Behold, when we come
into the land, thou shalt bind this line of
scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by..." Ref
Leviticus 14:1-6
INHERITANCE: Deuteronomy 21:16-17
"Then it shall be, when he
maketh his sons to inherit
that which he hath,
that he may not make the son of the
beloved firstborn before the son of the hated,
which is indeed the firstborn:
17. But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated
for the firstborn, by
giving him a double portion of
all that he hath: for he is the
beginning of his strength; the right of
the firstborn is his." The
inheritance of the firstborn was to be double that of his brothers.
Joseph received the birthright, therefore his two sons Ephraim and
Manasseh were given inheritances in the land, which, in essence, was twice
that of Joseph's other brothers, yet not in area. The conduct of Simeon and
Levi at Schekem also carried consequences. The tribe of Levi had no
inheritance in the land Joshua 13:14
"Only unto the tribe of Levi he gave none inheritance; ..." The tribe of Simeon received a Gentile
inheritance among the tribe of Judah.
Joshua 19:1 "And the second
lot came forth to Simeon,
even for the tribe of the children
of Simeon according to their
families: and their inheritance was
within the
inheritance of the children of Judah."
It does make a difference how you live. If you
despise the birthright you will lose reward and your inheritance. 2 John 1:8 "Look
to yourselves, that we lose not
those things which we have wrought,
but that we receive a full reward."
THE
BIRTHRIGHT: Genesis 25:30-31
"And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red
pottage; for
I
am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. 31. And Jacob said, Sell
me this day thy birthright." Hebrews
12:16 "Lest there
be any fornicator [as Reuben, 1
Chronicles 5:1], or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold
his birthright." Esau lost his double portion inheritance and the blessing
because he did not think the birthright was very important.
Our inheritance is based on our service as shown in
Hebrews 9:14 "How much more shall the
blood of Christ, ...purge your conscience from
dead works to serve the
living God?" and in Colossians 3:23-24
"And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily,
as to the Lord, and not unto men;
24. Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ."
THE
BLESSING: Genesis 27:29
"Let people serve thee, and nations bow
down to thee: be lord over thy
brethren, and let thy mother's
sons bow down to thee: cursed be
every one that curseth thee, and
blessed be he that blesseth thee."
This is the blessing given to Abraham in
Genesis 12:3
"And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth
thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." The blessing of
the birthright was to rule over those in the family. Jacob was to rule over
Esau and Esau was to serve Jacob.
Romans 9:12 "It was said unto her, The elder [greater] shall
serve the younger [lesser]."
Genesis 25:34 "Esau
despised his birthright."
Esau's inheritance was in Edom which is outside the land of Canaan.
Jacob's inheritance was in the land of Canaan.
Genesis 36:8 "Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir...
Edom." Malachi 1:3
"And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for
the dragons of the wilderness." The consequence of the sin of Reuben is
revealed in 1 Chronicles 5:1 "Now
the sons of Reuben the
firstborn of Israel, (for he
was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as
he defiled his father's bed, his
birthright was given unto the sons
of Joseph ..." Numbers 32:23 You can "...
be sure your sin will find you
out."
Ephesians 1:7 "In
whom we have
redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins, according
to the riches of his grace;" (See
Redemption Check It Out)
"WE
HAVE":
This verb is
a present active indicative of
e]cw. The present tense is a continuous process of
"having." The word "We" is a reference to "The saints" and "The faithful" in
verse 1 and to the "Chosen" in verse 4. The present tense can be stopped by
those who are, in this case, having the redemption; the forgiveness of sins.
If we do not appropriate the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ we will
continue to be in bondage to sins and lose our inheritance.
"REDEMPTION":
The law of redemption as
found in Leviticus 25 and the application of that law in the book of Ruth help
us to see that redemption is a family matter and it pertained to one's
inheritance and who we serve. Leviticus
25:48-49 "After that he is
sold he may be redeemed again; one of
his brethren...
any that is
nigh of kin unto him of his
family may redeem him; or
if he be able, he may redeem
himself." This is not salvation.
"FORGIVENESS": The word "Forgiveness" comes from the Greek word "a]fesiv"
which is also translated "remission" in Hebrews 9:22. The word "a]fesiv" is found twice in
Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me, because he hath anointed me ... to preach
deliverance to the captives, ... to
set at liberty them that are
bruised," and is translated "deliverance"
and "liberty." When we sell
ourselves into bondage to the world, flesh, lawlessness, or the devil, the
only way that we can be released is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
Yes, there is cleansing from sin through the shed blood as described in
1 John 1:7 "But
if we
walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have
fellowship one with another, and
the blood of Jesus Christ his Son
cleanseth us from all sin." along
with confession in 1 John 1:9
"If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
forgive us
our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."; but we need deliverance from
the power of these taskmasters of the world, flesh, lawlessness, and the devil
so that we can be free to serve the Lord. We can be thankful that we can be
made free from the power of sin. Revelation 1:5 "...
Unto him that loved us, and
washed us [Other MSS:
loves us, and loosed us] from our sins
in his own blood," This is consistent with the meaning of the word
"remission."
"RICHES OF HIS GRACE":
The
grace of Jesus Christ is nothing other than His power.
2 Corinthians 12:9 "And
he said unto me, My grace is
sufficient for thee: ... therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that
the power of Christ may rest upon me."
Hebrews 12:28 "Wherefore we
receiving a kingdom... let us
have grace, whereby
we may serve God acceptably with
reverence and godly fear:" 1
Corinthians 15:10 "But by the grace
of God I am what I am: and his grace
which was bestowed upon me was
not in vain; but I
laboured more abundantly than they all: yet
not I, but the grace of God
which was with me."
1
Peter 1:18-19
"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible
things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation (your profitless affairs)
received by tradition from your fathers; 19. But with
the precious blood of Christ.."
Paul had this problem as shown in Galatians 1:13 "For ye have heard of my
conversation in time past in the Jews' religion..." Paul had been
taught things that Matthew 15:6
"... made the commandment of God of none effect by your (their) tradition." It
takes the shed blood of Christ to deliver us from the bondage of a vain life
style. Philippians 1:27 "Only let
your conversation be as it becometh
the gospel of Christ: that ... I may hear of
your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;"
Colossians 2:20,22
"Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ ... why, as though living in the
world, are ye subject to ordinances,... after the commandments and doctrines
of men?"
Hebrews 13:20-21 "Now the
God of peace, ... through the blood
... 21. Make you perfect [katarti>zw: to fit, to frame, to mend] in every
good work to do his will,
working in you that which is
wellpleasing in his sight, through
Jesus Christ..." Without the shed blood of Jesus Christ, it would be
impossible for God to equip us to do good works, His will, and be found well
pleasing in his sight. Philippians 2:13
"For it is God which worketh in you both
to will and to do of
his good pleasure."
Jesus Christ died on the cross so that we might be
saved. After his death on the cross, He shed his blood that we might have
fellowship with Him and be
blessed with the inheritance of the firstborn. We need to obey
1 John 1:7
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have
fellowship one with another, and
the blood of Jesus Christ his Son
cleanseth us from all sin." We are
encouraged in 2 Timothy 2:15 to
"Study [be diligent] to
show [present] thyself approved
unto God, a workman that needeth not to
be ashamed." The shame of Esau, Reuben, and others is evident, they lost
the blessing and double portion inheritance because they did not value the
birthright nor the commandments of God.
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