CHAPTER 17

(1490 B.C.)

ONE PLACE OF SACRIFICE

¹And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying (if it is to be noticed, over and over again this phrase is used, signifying that all was of God and nothing at all of man; in other words, Moses must not deviate from what the Lord had told him; this is a lesson that religious man finds very difficult to obey),

²Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, and unto all the Children of Israel, and say unto them; This is the thing which the LORD has commanded, saying,

³What man soever there be of the house of Israel, who kills an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or who kills it out of the camp (should have been translated sacrifices, in the place of kills),

⁴And brings it not unto the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an Offering unto the LORD before the Tabernacle of the LORD; blood shall be imputed unto that man; he has shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people (Mackintosh says: A man might say, Can I not offer a Sacrifice in one place as well as another? The answer is, Life belongs to God, and His claim thereto must be recognized in the place where He has appointed before the Tabernacle of the Lord. That was the only meeting-place between God and man. To offer elsewhere proved that the heart did not want God.

The moral of this is plain. There is one place where God has appointed to meet the sinner, and that is the Cross the antitype of the Brazen Altar. There and there alone has Gods claims upon the life been duly recognized. To reject this meeting-place is to bring down judgment upon oneself it is to trample underfoot the just claims of God, and to arrogate to oneself a right to life which all have forfeited):

⁵To the end that the Children of Israel may bring their Sacrifices, which they offer in the open field (which they have been offering in the open field), even that they may bring them unto the LORD, unto the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation, unto the Priest, and offer them for Peace Offerings unto the LORD (in essence, some three times the warning is given concerning the offering up of Sacrifices in places except the Tabernacle, or Temple, that is, when the Temple would be built [Vss. 4, 7, 10]).

⁶And the Priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the Altar of the LORD at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savour unto the LORD. (Expositors say: The Blood of Christ is the foundation of everything. It is the ground of Gods Righteousness in justifying an ungodly sinner who believes on the Name of the Son of God; and it is the ground of the sinners confidence in drawing near to a Holy God, Who is of purer eyes than to behold evil. God would be just in the condemnation of the sinner; but through the Death of Christ, He can be just and the Justifier of him who believes a just God and a Saviour.

The Righteousness of God is His consistency with Himself His acting in harmony with His revealed character. Hence, were it not for the Cross, His consistency with Himself would, of necessity, demand the death and judgment of the sinner; but in the Cross, that death and judgment were borne by the sinners surety, so that the same Divine consistency is perfectly maintained, while a Holy God justifies an ungodly sinner through Faith. It is all through the Blood of Jesus nothing less, nothing more, and nothing different.)

⁷And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be Statute for ever unto them throughout their generations (by the use of the words no more, we know that the Children of Israel, or at least some of them, did sacrifice unto devils while in Egypt; the short phrase Statute forever means exactly what it says; the Cross is the Way of Salvation, and it will never change; Paul referred to it as The Everlasting Covenant [Heb. 13:20]).

⁸And you shall say unto them, Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers which sojourn among you, who offers a Burnt Offering or sacrifice,

⁹And brings it not unto the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation, to offer it unto the LORD; even that man shall be cut off from among his people (once again the warning is given about offering sacrifices in places other than at the door of the Tabernacle; this typifies one Sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ; and one place of Sacrifice, the Cross of Calvary).

THE EATING OF BLOOD FORBIDDEN

¹⁰And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among you, who eats any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people (the blood represents life, and, above all, the Life of Christ poured out on behalf of lost sinners; this prohibition was as well carried over into the New Covenant [Acts 15:19-20]).

¹¹For the life of the flesh is in the blood (it should be translated for the soul of the flesh is in the blood; the Hebrew word here rendered life occurs twice more in this very Verse, and is properly translated soul): and I have given it to you upon the Altar to make an Atonement for your souls: for it is the blood (the Blood of Christ) that makes an Atonement for the soul. (This latter phrase plainly and purely tells us that the Death of Christ on the Cross, which was brought about by the shedding of His Precious Blood, which means that in the shedding of His Blood, His Life poured out, is not only the means of Salvation, but, in fact, is the only means of Salvation.

The expositor says: When man duly takes his place as one possessing no title whatsoever to life when he fully recognizes Gods claims upon him, then the Divine record is, I have given you the life to make an Atonement for your soul. Yes, Atonement is Gods gift to man; and be it carefully noted that this Atonement is in the Blood, and only in the Blood, and we speak of the Blood of Christ. It is not the Blood and something else. The Word is most explicit. It attributes Atonement exclusively to the Blood [Heb. 9:22; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14; I Jn. 1:6; Rev., Chpt. 12].)

¹²Therefore I said unto the Children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.

¹³And whatsoever man there be of the Children of Israel, or of the strangers (Gentiles) who sojourn among you, which hunts and catches any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust.

¹⁴For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the Children of Israel, You shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eats it shall be cut off (considering the sternness of the warnings given, and considering that this prohibition, as stated, was carried over as well into the New Covenant, we should realize how significant these words are, and how so very much the Lord means exactly what He says; for Him to say something one time is of extreme significance, for Him to say it two times, and even three or more, the point should be well taken).

¹⁵And every soul who eats that which died of itself, or that which was torn with beasts, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger (Gentile), he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening: then shall he be clean.

¹⁶But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh; then he shall bear his iniquity (the problem of the human race is that it does not take the Word of God very seriously, or does not consider it at all; but let all understand, there are consequences, severe consequences, to ignoring the Word of God).