| “But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat” (Genesis 9:4). |
| “Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof” (Leviticus 17:14). |
| “Wherefore my sentence is … that we write unto them, that they abstain [keep away] from … things strangled, and from blood” (Acts 15:19-20). |
| We have been speaking a little about some of the dietary restrictions that God gave to the Israelites, and how that these things all had a spiritual meaning. There were some animals they could eat, and some they were not to eat. |
| However, there is one thing mentioned in the Bible that people were never to eat, whether before the law was given to Israel, or after it was given. Likewise, the same rule applies to us in Christianity. We were noticing a few days ago that now, under Christianity, we are permitted to eat any animal, but as we see in the third verse quoted above, there is one thing that even Christians are not supposed to eat. That one thing is blood. |
| In some parts of the world they are fond of eating blood, and things made from blood. There are some countries of the world where they make blood sausage, and in those same countries they make blood pudding. In some cultures people still drink blood today, thinking it has some special merit for them. |
| However, all this is forbidden to you and me, as Christians. Why is this? It is because, as the Lord says in the second verse above, “the life of all flesh is the blood thereof.” He is the only one who can give life; man cannot give life. Also, it is the blood of the Lord Jesus that washes our sins away. For these two reasons God reserves the blood for Himself; we are not to eat it. |
| Right after the flood, when God first allowed people to eat meat, He carefully told Noah not to eat the flesh (meat) with the blood. Then, when He gave the law to Moses, again He warned them not to eat the blood of any animal. Finally, under Christianity, we are also told not to eat blood. It is good for us to be clear on this, and to see why God forbids the eating of blood. |
| For thousands of years man did not really understand how blood is the life of the body. A British physician, William Harvey, is usually credited with discovering the circulation of the blood in the 17th century, although there is good evidence that an Arab physician had really made this discovery back in the 13th century. But the Lord knew all along that the blood was the life of the body, and He does not want man to eat it. |
