HOW CAN BLOOD SAVE YOUR LIFE?

THE ONLY BLOOD THAT IS LIFE-SAVING

As noted earlier, God told all mankind that they must not eat blood. Why?  Because blood represents life.  (Genesis 9:3-6) He explained this further in the Law code given to Israel.  At the time the Law code was ratified, the blood of sacrificed animals was used on the altar.  (Exodus 24:3-8) Laws int hat code addressed the fact that all humans are imperfect; they are sinful, as the Bible puts it. God told the Israelites that by means of animal sacrifices offered to him, they could acknowledge the need to have their sins covered. (Leviticus 4:4-7, 13-18, 22-30) Granted, that was what God asked of them back then, not what he asks of true worshipers today. Yet it has vital import for us now. 

God himself explained the principle underlying those sacrifices:  "The soul [or, life] of the flesh is in the blood, and I myself have put it upon the altar for you to make atonement for your souls, because it is the blood that makes atonement by the soul in it. That is why I have to the sons of Israel:  'No soul of you must eat blood.' " -Leviticus 17:11, 12.

On the ancient festival called Atonement Day, Israel's high priest took blood of sacrificed animals into the most sacred part of the temple, the center of God's worship. Doing that was a symbolic way of asking God to cover the people's sins.   (Leviticus 16:3-6, 11-16) Those sacrifices did not  actually do away with all sin, so they had to be repeated each year. Still, this use of blood set a meaningful pattern. 

A major teaching in the Bible is that God would eventually provide one perfect sacrifice that could fully atone for the sins of all believers.  This is called the ransom, and it focuses on the sacrifice of the foretold Messiah, or Christ.

Next time: HOW CAN BLOOD SAVE YOUR LIFE?/Conclusion of: THE ONLY BLOOD THAT IS LIFE-SAVING 

From the Watchtower magazine