Continued from Chapter 11d
Sacrificial blood loss
Biblically, sacrificial death must be directly attributable to the loss of blood and this shed blood is essential for achieving atonement. When the sinner sees what happens to the animal he is moved to consider that were it not for God’s mercy he, himself, would suffer the punishment. The sin-offering is a dramatic enactment of the severest punishment and has the effect of making the sinner aware of how great his sin is.
With this awareness, the sinner will experience remorse. As the blood escapes the slaughtered animal’s body, the sinner reflects upon the ebbing of life. The graphic sight of the blood serves as a visual aid to evoke awareness of the punishment for sin.
Emphasis is placed on the shedding of blood not the mere death of the sacrifice. Fulfillment of the so-called “old covenant,” under which Jesus was put to death, meant that an actual blood shedding as demanded by God’s Law had to take place. The manner in which the animal offering dies is apparently crucial because “the life is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:11). This may refer to the fact that the life sustaining elements (nutrients and oxygen) are in the blood. Blood, the principal carrier of life, is considered the life-force of the animal.
Physiological malfunctions of body organs due to blood loss notwithstanding, implicit in the biblical text is the conviction that when slaughtering an animal sacrifice death is caused by blood loss. Indeed, no other cause of death is acceptable. The biblically mandated method of slaughtering an animal causes the maximum loss of blood and a quick death. Animals offered on the altar were sacrificed by the traditional method that was given orally to Moses on Mount Sinai. This method, shechitah (“slaughtering”), is extended to the slaughter of animals for food, “…then you shall kill … as I have commanded you [orally, on Mount Sinai]” - Deuteronomy 12:21. Death, by the shedding of blood, is an inevitable result of using shechitah. A portion of the sacrificial animal’s shed blood is used for the remission of sin process (which also includes an accompanying sincere confessionary repentant prayer).
Leviticus 17:11 states that “…the blood … I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls.…” This verse is extremely important for an understanding of the biblical atonement system. In this verse God provides for the expiation of sin: “… the blood … I have given it … to make atonement.…” It specifies to whom the sacrificial atonement system of the Torah was given. This system was given exclusively to the Jewish people: “I have given it [the blood] to you … to make atonement for your souls.” Non-Jews could find remission of sin solely through sincere confessionary repentant prayer (Jonah 3:5-l0, Daniel 4:27). Verse 11 also sets the spatial limitations on where the blood shed for atonement may be offered: “I have given it [the blood] … upon the altar.” Biblically, the sacrificial animal’s blood is acceptable to God only if offered “upon the altar,” first, that of the Tabernacle, and later of the Temple. Once the Temple was built, no altar might properly be built or sacrifice offered outside the Temple in Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 16:2, 5-6).
The Temple is the sole designated area in which animal sacrifice is permissible (Deuteronomy 12:5-6, 11; 1 Kings 5:5, 8:19, 1 Chronicles 22:10).
Continued