17:1.
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,”
17:2.
“Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, and unto all the children of Israel,
and say unto them, This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, saying,”
God’s speaking
to Aaron, the representative of grace, through Moses the representative of
law, continues to emphasize that His grace is not extended to the detriment
of His law: the Lord Jesus Christ died as the Substitute for every
lawbreaker, thus enabling God, on a basis of perfect justice, to pardon
every transgressor who will confess himself a sinner, and trust in Christ as
his Savior.
“... hath
commanded.” What God was about to say to Israel was a command, not an
option; nor is obedience an option during this age of grace. The
disobedience of the unbeliever will result in his being cast into eternal
torment in the lake of fire; and that of the believer, in loss of reward at
the judgment seat of Christ.
17:3.
“What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or
lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp,”
17:4.
“And bringeth 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 hath shed blood; and that man shall be
cut off from among his people;”
Christ is
typified by the ox, lamb, and goat, so that the death of any one of these
animals is a type of His death; and the man who killed one of them in any
place other than at the door of the Tabernacle, represents anyone who fails
to present Christ to God, that is, to trust in Him as his Savior.
The imputation
of blood guiltiness to the offender, which resulted in his expulsion from
the camp of Israel, is the typological picture of the condemnation of the
man who refuses to trust in Christ as Savior, see Hebrews 10:28-29, “He that
despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how
much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath
trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the
covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done
despite unto the Spirit of grace?”
17:5.
“To the end that the
children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer 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.”
Today’s
counterpart of Israel’s sacrificing in the open field, is the so-called
worship of professing, but unbelieving Christendom, whose multitudes are
described as those “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power
thereof ....” 2 Timothy 3:5.
The equivalent
of Israel’s bringing their sacrifices “unto the door of the tabernacle ...
unto the priest” is that scriptural form of worship in which true believers
assemble on the first day of the week, around the Lord’s table, to
commemorate His death in the breaking of the bread, and drinking of the cup,
as recorded in Acts 20:7, “And upon the first day of the week, when the
disciples came together to break bread ....”
At that
commemorative feast, the risen Lord presides as our Great High Priest,
taking our worship, and presenting it to the Father, as the hymnist has
written, “To all our prayers and praises, Christ adds His sweet perfume; and
love the censer raises, these odors to consume.”
“... for peace
offerings.” Only those who know Christ as Savior, and who therefore know
“the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,” Philippians 4:7, have
the ability to worship God as He Himself has commanded, that is, “in spirit,
and in truth,” John 4:23.
17:6.
“And 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
savor unto the Lord.”
Concerning the
blood it is written in verse 11, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood:
and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your
souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.”
The need to
sprinkle it at the door of the Tabernacle is the symbolic warning that apart
from faith in Christ’s shed blood as the only remedy for sin, none can hope
to enter heaven.
Relative to
the fat, see comments on 16:25.
17:7.
“And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they
have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout
their generations.”
Israel had
turned aside from Jehovah, and were worshiping the idol gods of the
Gentiles, relative to which God has declared, “... the things which the
Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils ... and I would not that ye
should have fellowship with devils,” 1 Corinthians 10:20.
The literal
idols may be gone, but the idolatry continues, the gods of the world being
sports, education, music, art, etc., the sacrifices to these “gods” being
the millions of dollars paid to support the stars of these distractions with
which Satan lures the deluded devotees down the broad and crowded way to
hell and the lake of fire.
17:8.
“And thou shalt say unto them, Whatsoever man there be of the house of
Israel, or of the strangers which sojourn among you, that offereth a burnt
offering or sacrifice,”
17:9.
“And bringeth 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.”
In verses 3-4
the reference was to the slaying of animals; here it is to the presentation
of an animal for a burnt offering, i.e., the offering of it to God in
worship. The need to bring the animal to the door of the Tabernacle is the
typological warning that a man cannot offer acceptable worship to God until
he has first presented Christ as his sin offering, i.e., has accepted Christ
as his Savior. The Lord declared Himself to be, “the way, the truth, and
the life:” and warned, “no man cometh unto the Father, but by me,” John
14:6, and again, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be
saved ....” John 10:9.
He who
attempts to worship, without having accepted Christ as his Savior, is
engaging in what is abominable to God; and as the Israelite offender was cut
off from among the people, so will his present day counterpart be excluded
from the company of those who belong to God through faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ as Savior, i.e., he will be excluded from heaven, and consigned
instead to hell and the eternal torment of the lake of fire.
17:10.
“And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers
that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my
face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among
his people.”
Blood speaks
of a life given up, that of every clean animal or bird being symbolic of the
blood of Christ, of which it is written, “... ye know that ye were not
redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold ... but with the
precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot,” 1
Peter 1:18-19.
God’s
prohibition against eating blood declares the inestimable value He sets on
the blood of His Son: even that which merely symbolizes it is proscribed as
food. He would have men realize the truth that the blood of Christ has
transcendent value in that it alone can make atonement for sin, so that
blood, whether of man or beast, is not to be prostituted to common use.
17:11.
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon
the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that
maketh an atonement for the soul.”
Since the
blood of man and beast is the very essence of physical life, God’s having
appointed that of the clean beast or fowl to be placed on the altar, as the
expression of Israel’s worship, and since each of these creatures is a
symbol or type of Christ, the truth being symbolically demonstrated is that
His blood alone, that is, His death, could make atonement for sin. If men
were to live, He must die, for all men are under sentence of death because
of sin, but He, begotten not by human generation, but by the Holy Spirit,
was sinless, and therefore not subject to death. Such was His love for
ruined sinful men however, that He was willing to take our sins upon Himself
as though they were His own, and then expiate them by dying in our stead as
our representative, it being written, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die,”
Ezekiel 18:20, and again, “For he hath made him, who knew no sin, to be sin
for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him,” 2
Corinthians 5:21.
We should note
that blood is the very essence of physical life, i.e., “of the flesh,” but
the blood of Christ is the prerequisite of spiritual life.
17:12.
“Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat
blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.”
“... stranger”
in the present context is a synonym for Gentile.
17:13.
“And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers
that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that
may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with
dust.”
The
prohibition applied not only to blood drained from any creature, but also to
that which was within its body. The blood was to be drained, and covered
with earth, the burial of the blood being the symbolic announcement of what
is explicitly stated in Genesis 3:19, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou
eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken:
for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
17:14.
“For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof:
therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no
manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever
eateth it shall be cut off.”
This continues
to emphasize the necessity of obedience relative to God’s proscription of
blood as food: the violator was to be cut off, whether by expulsion from the
camp of Israel, or by death, being unclear, though the latter seems the more
likely.
17:15.
“And every soul that eateth that which died of itself, or that which was
torn with beasts, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger, he
shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean
until the even: then shall he be clean.”
Neither that
which had died of itself, nor that which had been killed by another beast,
was to be eaten, because it would not have been properly bled; but the
punishment was less severe than that imposed on one who killed a beast or
bird, and ate without having drained the blood. His offence was less
serious because he himself hadn’t killed the beast or bird. It may be that
he was poor, and ate out of necessity rather than with deliberate intent to
ignore God’s command, hence the lightness of his chastisement.
His washing
his clothes, and bathing of himself, speak of repentance.
17:16.
“But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh; then he shall bear his
iniquity.”
This rebel
represents the sinner who refuses God’s method of cleansing, i.e., one who
refuses to trust in Christ as his Savior, and who must therefore enter hell
rather than heaven.