In today's society in America, we often have a level or two of separation between ourselves and that which we find grizzly or distasteful. One of my relatives who grew up in America but then moved to Israel recounted a story to me of going to the store in Israel to buy a chicken for dinner. They were a bit taken aback when the butcher slung out a chicken with the head still attached. We in America often like things pre-packaged, and if it's meat we don't like things that remind us that this was once a living organism.
Ancient society was not this way. The sacrificial system set in place by God for redemption and forgiveness was a bloody affair. In fact, the Torah tells us that we need blood atonement. The Torah tells us: For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. (Leviticus 17:11, ESV) Likewise, it was the blood of the Passover Lamb that allowed the Israelites to remain untouched by the death of the last plague. Exodus 12:13: The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. (ESV)
In our sterilized society, let us not forget the ugliness of sin nor the price of Yeshua's blood and life that redeemed us from that sin. The procedure of blood sacrifice shocks our modern sensibilities, but the result of complete freedom from sin is so very beautiful.
Get rid of the old hametz (leavening - a symbol of sin), so that you can be a new batch of dough, because in reality you are unleavened. For our Pesach lamb, the Messiah, has been sacrificed. (CJB)
In Messiah, the Passover Lamb, you are cleansed of the old and made beautiful and right in His presence.
Shalom,
Rabbi Josh
Ancient society was not this way. The sacrificial system set in place by God for redemption and forgiveness was a bloody affair. In fact, the Torah tells us that we need blood atonement. The Torah tells us: For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. (Leviticus 17:11, ESV) Likewise, it was the blood of the Passover Lamb that allowed the Israelites to remain untouched by the death of the last plague. Exodus 12:13: The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. (ESV)
In our sterilized society, let us not forget the ugliness of sin nor the price of Yeshua's blood and life that redeemed us from that sin. The procedure of blood sacrifice shocks our modern sensibilities, but the result of complete freedom from sin is so very beautiful.
Get rid of the old hametz (leavening - a symbol of sin), so that you can be a new batch of dough, because in reality you are unleavened. For our Pesach lamb, the Messiah, has been sacrificed. (CJB)
In Messiah, the Passover Lamb, you are cleansed of the old and made beautiful and right in His presence.
Shalom,
Rabbi Josh