17 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them: ‘This is what the LORD has commanded: 3 Any Israelite who sacrifices an ox, a lamb or a goat in the camp or outside of it 4 instead of bringing it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the LORD in front of the tabernacle of the LORD—that person shall be considered guilty of bloodshed; they have shed blood and must be cut off from their people. 5 This is so the Israelites will bring to the LORD the sacrifices they are now making in the open fields. They must bring them to the priest, that is, to the LORD, at the entrance to the tent of meeting and sacrifice them as fellowship offerings. 6 The priest is to splash the blood against the altar of the LORD at the entrance to the tent of meeting and burn the fat as an aroma pleasing to the LORD. 7 They must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols to whom they prostitute themselves. This is to be a lasting ordinance for them and for the generations to come.’
8 “Say to them: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice 9 and does not bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to the LORD must be cut off from the people of Israel.
10 “ ‘I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people. 11 For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. 12 Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner residing among you eat blood.”
13 “ ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing among you who hunts any animal or bird that may be eaten must drain out the blood and cover it with earth, 14 because the life of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, “You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off.”
15 “ ‘Anyone, whether native-born or foreigner, who eats anything found dead or torn by wild animals must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be ceremonially unclean till evening; then they will be clean. 16 But if they do not wash their clothes and bathe themselves, they will be held responsible.’ ”
Leviticus 17:1–16 (NIV)
In this passage, we see that sacrifices not performed at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting were forbidden including drinking blood from the sacrifice.
But, why these specific commands? Previously through out the Old Testament, the Patriarchs often sacrificed and built alters at various places as a remembrance. Before, sacrificing out in a field or at a random built alter didn’t seemed to bother God. But now, only sacrifices at the Tent of the Meeting are allowed.
It would seem that God is changing his mind. Is God becoming stubborn and legalistic? The answer is clearly no. When we look deeper at this passage combined with research, we find God was pointing out a specific sin. A worship to a false god brought from their old life in Egypt they had not rid themselves from. This was worship to what was known as the goat god (also translated daemons) which included sacrifices out in the open fields. Drinking blood may also have been a part of this ritual. This seems to fit with the history of satanic cults who often use a goat to represent demonic forces along with drinking blood.
God had enough, He was putting his foot down. The command was simple and straight forward. Don’t chase after other gods and worship at the Tent of Meeting. Why did they have such a hard time with these things? Didn’t they see all of God’s wonders before them that would make them fear God and change their mind? They saw manna from heaven, a pillar of fire by night and God’s presence over the tabernacle.
These things were indeed motivators for them to follow God. I think what happened was that these things became common place to them. You might wonder how a pillar of fire or manna from heaven would become common place. They saw the manifestation of the miracle but forgot the one behind it. So much so that they began to sin in the midst of God and go back to their old ways of life by sacrificing to their old gods.
Are we any better? Do we take God’s miracles around us as common place? The sun that lights us by day and the moon at night. The air we breath and the miracle of life we see all around us. Yet, we sin right in the midst of God’s creation. Romans makes it clear that creation itself is a testamony:
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.“
Romans 1:20 (NIV)
We are free to set alters wherever we want out in the world. What I mean by that is where we place our commitments becomes personal alters. We commit ourselves to our job, our family, or even other activities like sports. These alters can be good or evil. The alter we keep pure is the one where we remember Christ is always with us.
I was once at a company IT meeting and the speaker asked questions in regard to work life. One question was if the employees would enjoy a company gathering that included their family. The vote was overwhelmingly no. I pondered why this would be and after thinking of the way most acted in the office, I was certain they were a different person at home. At work there were crude jokes and suggestive comments. I am sure they did not want their family to know how they acted at work.
If we remember that Christ is always with us we are bringing our alter to the Tent of Meeting, we will then be the same at work and at home. My father was an excellent role model for me when I was a kid. He was the same person Monday morning as we was on Sunday. He was always consistent in his character. This is who I strive to be as well. There shouldn’t be anything I do at work that I would be ashamed for my wife to see or hear.
I’m not saying it is easy to keep our alters good and holy and there is a tendency in us to instead take all our alters and put them in a safe environment. It is easy to think that perhaps I will work at a church, join the church softball team, hang out with church friends. This way there will not be a temptation to corrupt my alter with the world standards.
While this may sound well and good, Christians sheltering themselves from the world is not good either. We are to be a light to the world. We can’t do that if we are not in the world. However, we must remember we are not of the world. You may think, then I should always be out in the world! But, If I struggle with alcohol, going to a bar to witness to unbelievers would be a really bad idea. And, not balancing my time in the world with Christian friends and the Word will also end in failure.
We must discern what is best. Staying at the Tent of Meeting until we have freed ourselves from idols allows us to go into the world with a cup that overflows. Remain at the feet of Jesus. This way your alters you place in the world can shine light to others rather than shine darkness into you.
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