Blood is Thicker than Water

It took me some time to grasp this, but we are told that the “soul” is in the blood.

Allow me to share my discovery.

The context of that particular statement is critically important; having to do with the means of atonement from sin under the Law of the covenant made with the sons of Jacob after they arrived at the mountain of God. In about the middle of Moses giving the Laws from God to the people, he covers the details of what will be required to avoid the wrath of God for sins, iniquities and transgressions (that there is a chapter break may detract from the congruence if we allow it). See Lev.16&17.

The detailed instructions for the annual atonement for the people of Israel (which started with the atonement of the high priest – for he too was a sinner) have just been given. They included precise language as to where and how much of the blood of atonement was to be applied. (The part played by the “scapegoat” was also important, but we have touched on that before.)

From there, the LORD makes it clear that, for the people of covenant, no clean (edible) animal was to be slain any place other than at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Any man who slaughters any clean animal anywhere other than at the entrance to the tabernacle “blood is to be reckoned to that man. He has shed blood and that man shall be cut off.”

God then gives the reason – the sacrifices that they were making in the open fields were now to be made by the priests. (It would seem that, along with much of the details of the Law, deciding to not be a “kingdom of priests” restricted where and by whom the shedding of blood was to occur.)

The LORD then expands His reason and its implications: no one, Israelite or sojourner, were to eat the blood of a clean animal. The reason (as noted): “the soul/life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the alter to make atonement for your souls/lives; for it is the blood, by reason of the soul/life, that makes atonement.” (Lev.17:10-11)

And then He adds one more point for emphasis: “For soul/life of all flesh, its blood is with its soul/life.”

This word, used nine times in this passage and translated three different ways, is the noun “nephesh” and formally would be translated “a breathing creature”. It is widely used (625 verses) with some forty different translations – some of which refer to God (shown as “Himself” or “Myself”). It comes from the verb “nâphash” which means “to breath; pass. to be breathed upon; figuratively - refreshed” (as we saw in Exodus 31:17 when the Lord told Moses regarding the seventh day that He had “ceased and was refreshed”).

(Before we go any further with the wonders that are clearly disclosed here, it might prove helpful to take a high level look at blood itself.)

The average viscosity of blood is 3.5 cP while the average for distilled water is 0.890 cP…so blood is 3 to 4 times thicker than water at 35℃.

Blood is considered a “liquid tissue”.

Each heartbeat expels about two ounces of blood – so around five quarts of blood (or slightly less than the total amount of blood in an adult) each minute – equating to about 1400 round trips a day!

Those 10.5 pints of blood contain between 20 and 30 trillion red blood cells (which If they were laid out one by one, end to end would reach some 31,000 miles – so more than once around the globe at the equator, but too thin to see (only about 7 micrometers where a strand of hair averages about 100 micrometers).

The red blood cells (and this is central to the basis for this post) are, in essence, the “lungs” of the body at the cellular level!

Each red blood cell has some 270 million hemoglobin molecules, each with the capacity to carry four oxygen molecules. The average “life expectancy” of a red blood cell is about 100 days. So every second some 2-3 million red blood cells die (and are removed via the liver) while the bone marrow replaces that number at the same rate.

The fractal nature of the capillary system allows for the pressure of the blood leaving the heart to be sufficient to maintain the flow of the blood throughout the body.

In the exchange of oxygen (primarily, but not solely) from the lungs for carbon dioxide in the remainder of the tissue, the volume of blood in the veins (versus arteries) is typically at a 3:1 ratio.

As for blood types: they do seem to be somewhat regionalized. Ultimately the differences have to do with whether or not the blood contains antibodies and/or antigens. An antigen is a molecule that is foreign to the body and triggers an immune system response. (One such antigen is the Rhesus protein also referred to as Rh positive if present on the red blood cell or Rh negative if not present.) That response is the production of antibodies or proteins also known as immunoglobulins which bind themselves to an antigen, marking it for destruction or neutralization by other immune cells.

The differences are:

· Types A and B contain both antigens and antibodies on the red blood cell

· Type O (the most common type) contains antibodies only – this is the blood type preferred by mosquitoes

· Type AB contains antigens only

Blood also contains many trace minerals such as gold, silicon and tin.

(And speaking of gold. When the children of Israel worshipped the golden calf, Moses was required to grind up the gold of the idol and mix it with water and have the people drink it. If it was ground finely enough (as the Hebrew suggests – referring to it as “dust”) then in the water it would actually take on the color of blood. See Ex.32:19-20)

This (blood) is what God refers to as the place of soul/life. Or the source of “breath” in our bodies – the “lungs of our cells” – and God makes that known (along with the implications of that fact) all the way back to 2513 An.Hom. (or 1533 BC).

But some 2400 years prior to that, when the first human blood was shed as an act of violence, the LORD had made note of the life, the soul, the breath of it calling out to Him.

He said, “What have you done? The sound/voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the “adamah”. (Gen.4:10)

The next occasion for how Man’s blood was to be respected comes after the flood judgment. God has just changed the diet from solely the herbs and fruit to “every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you” along with the plants. But with this qualification:

“Only you shall not eat flesh with its soul/life (“nephesh”), its blood. Surely I will require your blood of your soul/life; from the hand of man’s (“ish”) brother I will require the soul/life of a man (“adam”). Whoever sheds man’s (“adam”) blood, by man (“adam”) his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man (“adam”). (Gen.9:4-6)

The ”law” was spoken – Noah and his three sons were fully aware of the rules.

In the Genesis account, conflicts are described that clearly indicate death – and yet we do not hear of the shedding of blood in those contexts until the Laws from the mount of God are declared.

Throughout the Law we are given details about the sacrifices and their intentions. Though mostly focused on assuaging the wrath of God for sins and iniquities, there are also occasions that tie-in more with what was alluded to with Noah and his sons regarding the justice required for shedding the soul/life blood of another.

For us, in this age, it is hard for us to even conceive of what it would have been like in the wilderness – let alone the peace offerings for the dedication of the Temple that Solomon completed when 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep – “on the same day” were offered to the LORD!

The rules for the peace offering that would have been followed are found in Lev.3. I have included them as a demonstration of what this meant to the people and signified to the Lord.

‘Now if his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings, if he is going to offer out of the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without defect before the LORD. He shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and slay it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and Aaron's sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood around on the altar. From the sacrifice of the peace offerings he shall present an offering by fire to the LORD, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys. Then Aaron's sons shall offer it up in smoke on the altar on the burnt offering, which is on the wood that is on the fire; it is an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD. But if his offering for a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD is from the flock, he shall offer it, male or female, without defect. If he is going to offer a lamb for his offering, then he shall offer it before the LORD, and he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and slay it before the tent of meeting, and Aaron's sons shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. From the sacrifice of peace offerings he shall bring as an offering by fire to the LORD, its fat, the entire fat tail which he shall remove close to the backbone, and the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys. Then the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar as food, an offering by fire to the LORD.

‘Moreover, if his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before the LORD, and he shall lay his hand on its head and slay it before the tent of meeting, and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. From it he shall present his offering as an offering by fire to the LORD, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys. The priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar as food, an offering by fire for a soothing aroma; all fat is the LORD's. It is a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings: you shall not eat any fat or any blood.’ (Lev.3:1-17)

The emphasis in noting the details for us, in this age, is the extent to which the lifeblood of animals was required for the propitiation of the sons of Israel. We are not likely to be able to truly comprehend the implications.

(The average volume of blood for a two year-old ox/cow would be around 7.5 gallons or 30 quarts or 60 pints – so about 6 times more than an adult human. I’ll leave the rest of the calculation for anyone who can stomach the math…I trust the point has been made.)

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As has been noted in previous posts, the letter to the Hebrews makes a complete break from all that was required in the Law for the people of Israel to remain in relationship with the Lord GOD solely because of Who Jesus is and what He had done for the Jews.

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal ransoming. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the release by the payment of the ransom of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which GOD commanded you.” And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. (Heb.9:11-15, 18-26)

Again, for us, the idea of animal sacrifice and blood atonement has no cultural impact. Even looking back to the language we saw regarding “nephesh” and the relationship between soul/life and the blood of both man and beast speaks more to us of criminal justice than spiritual reconciliation.

The author of the letters to the Hebrew believers adds to the doctrine. He describes the difference between the two mountains of God, though both real places in history they are also spiritual representations. Sinai speaking of the covenant of Law; Zion of the covenant of grace.

For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. For they could not bear the command, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.” And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I am full of fear and trembling.”

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of messengers, to the general assembly and congregation of the citizens of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. (Heb.12:18-24)

And he culminates with the further distinction for those who had been raised under the Law, who had elevated the city and the Temple within it to a status of icons – things made with human hands that had grown into representations of God Himself – and since they could be seen and touched, they had become idols.

Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. Jesus the Messiah is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited. We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come. (Heb.13:7-14)

The clear teaching for the Hebrew believers was to accept that they MUST go outside of the camp – outside of the sanctioned rules of natural citizenship of Israel, even as Jesus Himself – the Messiah – was required to do. He shed His own sinless blood, His blood which sanctifies; and it was not shed within the Temple or even within the city. Just as was symbolized in the disposal of the offerings from the day of Atonement which were taken outside of the camp and burned; so it was with our Lord and Savior.

Jesus had set the parameters of the vitality of His blood when He had challenged the crowds in the synagogue in Capernaum that “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves”. Their (our) soul/life would not survive the judgment of God; could not, on its own, enter eternity.

We are told that because of this teaching many of those who had been following Him, ceased doing so and even His chosen were grumbling about His teaching.

Jesus asks them:

“Then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. (John 6:62-63)

This too gets further exposition in Luke’s version of the Last Passover and the institution of the New Covenant; bringing Jesus’ teaching full circle.

And when He had taken bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. But behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Mine on the table. For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!” (Luke 22:19-22)

Paul shares this doctrine, which he received from the Lord (it may even be that Luke was “quoting” from Paul), in his first letter to those in Corinth as he works to clarify some of the teaching that had begun to bring confusion to the believers there.

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.

Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world. (1Cor.11:23-32)

The proclamation of the Lord’s death should be understood to include the full purpose of His sacrifice – so both our ransoming and our coming redemption (the restoration of the legacy which the first Adam lost) – and also the justification from the Father and the subsequent resurrection and ascension of Jesus. In the context clarified by Jesus in John 6:62-63, the sharing of a cup and a loaf (Paul highlights our being a part of that loaf in 1Cor.10:14-33) is an opportunity to remember ALL that Jesus has done for us – our affirmation not only of the covenant He made, but of our desire to be counted among those who have accepted His offer of forgiveness and atonement with the Father.

Paul warns us that though this is a covenant of grace, we are responsible to examine ourselves before partaking to make sure we have not allowed the attitudes of betrayal to enter into our hearts as they had into Judas’.

[I believe it is important to note that Paul is not presuming to speak to anyone else’s salvation – their eternal state – but that he is sharing his discernment that a lack of understanding of the “body” has and will lead to consequences in this life. It is no accident that in Luke’s good news, after the sharing of the body and blood and the disclosure of the betrayal, the chosen messengers begin to argue among themselves regarding their status “in the body”. To which Jesus speaks: “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors’ (doers of good). But not this way with you, but the one who is greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.” The context is suggestive that the lack of discerning the operation of the body of Christ (the kingdom of God), which denies hierarchy is the cause of the weakness, sickness and even premature death of the citizens of the kingdom.]

A bit later, Paul, speaking from the Roman prison to those in Ephesus, with whom he had spent several years, reminds them that both Jews and Gentiles have benefitted from the blood of the Messiah and that He has destroyed that which used to separate the one from the other “abolishing the enmity in His flesh (the Law of Commandments), so that He might create the two into one new man”! (See Eph.2:12-22)

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Peter, in the first epistle he sent out (after what was over ten years of “silence” in the New Testament) in his greeting to the “chosen” who had benefitted from the “set apart by the work of the Spirit, for obedience and for sprinkling with the blood of Jesus the Messiah” reminds them:

If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s doings, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay; knowing that you were not ransomed from captivity to sin by perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with the precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, of the Messiah. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the cosmos but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (1Pet.1:17-21)

John, in his first epistle, also speaks of the power of the blood of Jesus the Messiah. Opening (as he had done with his good news) with speaking of the “Word from the beginning”. He reminds them (and us) that God is Light and our fellowship with Him requires that we walk in that light – all of which we are able to do because the “blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

John then points out that we are all sinners – to think otherwise indicates deception – but that we can be forgiven and released from the consequences of those sins simply by confessing – for “He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

As he draws this letter to a close, John instructs us all regarding the means we can obtain victory in the world in which we live:

Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. (1John 5:5-12)

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We should also recall: it was into the nostrils of the Man that God Himself breathed – and in so doing, Adam became a living “nephesh”.

The ”nephesh” is in the blood – the blood that contains cells that transport oxygen throughout the human body and function as the cellular lungs – “exhaling” oxygen into the tissues and organs and “inhaling” carbon dioxide (which, along with water, is the primary by-product of breaking down food into usable energy) and returning it to the lungs to be exhaled.

We are told that God considers blood sacred – that it is in fact the “abode” of the breath/soul/life of both Man and beast. The implications of His perspective have been seen throughout Man’s journey after sin – with the first blood being shed when animal skins were used to cover the man and his wife’s nakedness (for their choice lost for them the covering glory of God).

That God would declare this unique characteristic of blood over 3500 years ago and recognize its special properties all the way back to the fall of Man should not be overlooked!

Abel’s sacrifice was considered “more” when God looked upon it because He had instructed Mankind accordingly. The life of the small herd animal was a propitiation for the sins of Abel – a life for a life exchange.

And then Abel’s own blood cried out to God from the “adamah” when Cain slew him out of envy – despite God’s warning.

The covenants God made all required the symbolic shedding of blood – symbolic because every single one of those sacrifices were pointing back to the Lamb Slain Before and pointing forward to the crucifixion of the Messiah – the sacrifice that completed, fulfilled, and satisfied the price for all of the created order of God.

There is no need for the symbol now that the real has been accomplished. In fact, to even suggest that the symbol would retain any value to God is repulsive to Him. The only cost that we, in this age of God, are required to give is our willingness to humble ourselves and decare that apart from Him we can do nothing – that we need His shed blood to atone us before the Father. After that it is simply a matter of our choosing to demonstrate our gratefulness for all that He has done by living a life that honors Him!