As we shall see, the Bible “forbids the EATING OF BLOOD.” We read of this very early on in the history of mankind. After the waters of the flood abated God told Noah and his sons, “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. But YOU SHALL NOT EAT FLESH WITH ITS LIFE, that is, ITS BLOOD” (Genesis 9:3-4). Before the flood they were vegetarians, but now they were allowed to eat meat, but they could NOT EAT THE BLOOD. Why? Because the “blood is the LIFE of the flesh” and that life belongs to God. So, when an animal was killed its blood was drained from the flesh before the meat was eaten and this has been God’s will throughout time.

This command was repeated hundreds of years later when God gave the Law to the nation of Israel. We read in Leviticus 17:10-12, “And whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, WHO EATS ANY BLOOD, I will set My face against that PERSON WHO EATS BLOOD, and will cut him off from among the people. For THE LIFE OF THE FLESH IS IN THE BLOOD, and I have given it to you upon the alar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for Israel.” Noah was commanded not to eat the blood of animals in a common meal. Here the children of Israel are commanded not to eat the blood of animals that were offered on Jewish altars as a sacrifice for sin. In both cases it was forbidden because “the life of the flesh is in the blood” and that LIFE belongs to God. Once the animal was sacrificed its blood was immediately drained from its body and offered to God.

Now let’s read Acts 15:19-20, “Therefor I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and FROM BLOOD.” In this chapter we see that a church council had met in Jerusalem to determine whether or not new believers from among the Gentiles should be put under the Law of Moses. James, who was a leader in the assembly, stated emphatically that the Gentiles should NOT be put under the Law, yet he did give them these prohibitions which included NOT EATING BLOOD. I have no doubt that James was thinking of what we just read in Leviticus 17:10-12 and perhaps God’s original prohibition of eating blood in Genesis 9:3-4. This has never been revoked so it stands for all time. The “life of the flesh is in the blood” and that life is sacred to God and belongs to Him alone.

Before we close, it would be good to reflect on the words of Leviticus 17:12. God said of the blood, “I have given it to you upon the altar to MAKE ATONEMENT FOR YOUR SOULS.” What does that mean? The word “atonement” in the New Testament is “propitiation” and it refers to a “satisfying sacrifice for sin.” We read in 1 John 4:10, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the PROPITIATION FOR OUR SINS.” At the cross Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice for sin, as we see in Hebrews 9:26, “He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” It was OUR SINS that caused God to send His Son to this earth and it was OUR SINS that caused the Lord Jesus to offer Himself. We deserved death and judgment because of OUR SINS (see Romans 6:23 and Hebrews 9:27). But Jesus took our place at the cross and after He “laid down His life as payment for our sins” (see John 10:18; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 Corinthians 15:3) His BLOOD WAS SHED (John 19:33-34) to prove that He had truly died. God’s holiness demanded this for we read, “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22). Someone must die if man is to live and the only one who could die for us was Jesus Christ, for He alone was the perfect, sinless Lamb of God (1 Peter 1:18-19). All the sacrifices offered on Jewish altars pointed to the one perfect sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross. “But this Man, after He had offered ONE SACRIFICE FOR SINS forever, sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12).  (DO)  (632.3)