When we talk about the power in the blood of Jesus. We are not in any way going to be able to finish this extra ordinary subject with just a few pages. The power in the blood is not something we can take lightly; there is actual power in the blood of Jesus that we can never stop talking about it. I don't think we realise the power in the blood of Jesus, until we get to the kingdom of God.
There are several occasions in the bible that we see the blood at work in the lives of people. Up to date the blood of Jesus is still largely at work. The Blood of Jesus is real and alive, we cannot compare the blood of animals to the blood of Jesus, it's impossible. In the Old Testament like we said the blood of animals was never going to be enough to atone for all our sins. the animals would sometimes have blemishes and often times, the priest must always make sure that the animal that was going to be sacrificed was the right one before he made an atonement on behalf of the people.
And the priest himself would have to be clean from anything that would cause him to be killed. The person offering the sacrifice himself must be without any sin, before God. The reason being that God is holy, and God does not except anything less than a perfect sacrifice - 1 Peter 1:16; Leviticus 19:2; Exodus 15:11. Therefore, the priest that is offering the sacrifice must be totally without blemish as well.
Let's check some instances in the word of God about the sacrifices made in the blood of animals:
The book of Leviticus chapters 1 - 7 specifically mentions the five types of offerings
The Lord spoke to Moses from the sacred tent and gave him instructions for the community of Israel to follow when they offered sacrifices.
Sacrifices To Please the Lord
The Lord said:
Sacrifices to please me must be completely burned on the bronze altar.
Bulls or rams or goats are the animals to be used for these sacrifices. If the animal is a bull, it must not have anything wrong with it. Lead it to the entrance of the sacred tent, and I will let you know if it is acceptable to me. Lay your hand on its head, and I will accept the animal as a sacrifice for taking away your sins.
After the bull is killed in my presence, some priests from Aaron's family will offer its blood to me by splattering it against the four sides of the altar.
Skin the bull and cut it up, while the priests pile wood on the altar fire to make it start blazing. Wash the bull's insides and hind legs, so the priests can lay them on the altar with the head, the fat, and the rest of the animal. A priest will then send all of it up in smoke with a smell that pleases me.
If you sacrifice a ram or a goat, it must not have anything wrong with it. Lead the animal to the north side of the altar, where it is to be killed in my presence. Then some of the priests will splatter its blood against the four sides of the altar.
Cut up the animal and wash its insides and hind legs. A priest will put these parts on the altar with the head, the fat, and the rest of the animal. Then he will send all of it up in smoke with a smell that pleases me.
If you offer a bird for this kind of sacrifice, it must be a dove or a pigeon. A priest will take the bird to the bronze altar, where he will wring its neck and put its head on the fire. Then he will drain out its blood on one side of the altar, remove the bird's craw with what is in it, and throw them on the ash heap at the east side of the altar. Finally, he will take the bird by its wings, tear it partially open, and send it up in smoke with a smell that pleases me.
Sacrifices To Give Thanks to the Lord
The Lord said:
When you offer sacrifices to give thanks to me, you must use only your finest flour. Put it in a dish, sprinkle olive oil and incense on the flour, and take it to the priests from Aaron's family. One of them will scoop up the incense together with a handful of the flour and oil. Then, to show that the whole offering belongs to me, the priest will lay this part on the bronze altar and send it up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. The rest of this sacrifice is for the priests; it is very holy because it was offered to me.
If you bake bread in an oven for this sacrifice, use only your finest flour, but without any yeast. You may make the flour into a loaf mixed with olive oil, or you may make it into thin wafers and brush them with oil.
If you cook bread in a shallow pan for this sacrifice, use only your finest flour. Mix it with olive oil, but do not use any yeast. Then break the bread into small pieces and sprinkle them with oil. If you cook your bread in a pan with a lid on it, you must also use the finest flour mixed with oil.
You may prepare sacrifices to give thanks in any of these three ways. Bring your sacrifice to a priest, and he will take it to the bronze altar. Then, to show that the whole offering belongs to me, the priest will lay part of it on the altar and send it up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. The rest of this sacrifice is for the priests; it is very holy because it was offered to me.
Yeast and honey must never be burned on the altar, so don't ever mix either of these in a grain sacrifice. You may offer either of them separately, when you present the first part of your harvest to me, but they must never be burned on the altar.
Salt is offered when you make an agreement with me, so sprinkle salt on these sacrifices.
Freshly cut grain, either roasted or coarsely ground, must be used when you offer the first part of your grain harvest. You must mix in some olive oil and put incense on top, because this is a grain sacrifice. A priest will sprinkle all of the incense and some of the grain and oil on the altar and send them up in smoke to show that the whole offering belongs to me.
Sacrifices To Ask the Lord's Blessing
The Lord said:
When you offer sacrifices to ask my blessing, you may offer either a bull or a cow, but there must be nothing wrong with the animal. Lead it to the entrance of the sacred tent, lay your hand on its head, and have it killed there. A priest from Aaron's family will splatter its blood against the four sides of the altar.
Offer all of the fat on the animal's insides, as well as the lower part of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat. Some of the priests will lay these pieces on the altar and send them up in smoke with a smell that pleases me, together with the sacrifice that is offered to please me.
Instead of a bull or a cow, you may offer any sheep or goat that has nothing wrong with it. If you offer a sheep, you must present it to me at the entrance to the sacred tent. Lay your hand on its head and have it killed there. A priest will then splatter its blood against the four sides of the altar.
Offer the fat on the tail, the tailbone, and the insides, as well as the lower part of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat. One of the priests will lay these pieces on the altar and send them up in smoke as a food offering for me.
If you offer a goat, you must also present it to me at the entrance to the sacred tent. Lay your hand on its head and have it killed there. A priest will then splatter its blood against the four sides of the altar.
Offer all of the fat on the animal's insides, as well as the lower part of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat. One of the priests will put these pieces on the altar and send them up in smoke as a food offering with a smell that pleases me.
All fat belongs to me. So, you and your descendants must never eat any fat or any blood, not even in the privacy of your own homes. This law will never change.
Sacrifices for Sin
(Leviticus 6.24-30)
The Lord told Moses to say to the community of Israel:
Offer a sacrifice to ask forgiveness when you sin by accidentally doing something I have told you not to do.
When the High Priest Sins
The Lord said:
When the high priest sins, he makes everyone else guilty too. And so, he must sacrifice a young bull that has nothing wrong with it. The priest will lead the bull to the entrance of the sacred tent, lay his hand on its head, and kill it there. He will take a bowl of the blood inside the tent, dip a finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of it seven times toward the sacred chest behind the curtain. Then, in my presence, he will smear some of the blood on each of the four corners of the incense altar, before pouring out the rest at the foot of the bronze altar[n] near the entrance to the tent.
The priest will remove the fat from the bull, just as he does when he sacrifices a bull to ask my blessing. This includes the fat on the insides, as well as the lower part of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat. He will then send it all up in smoke.
The skin and flesh of the bull, together with its legs, insides, and the food still in its stomach, are to be taken outside the camp and burned on a wood fire near the ash heap.
When the Whole Nation Sins
The Lord said:
When the nation of Israel disobeys me without meaning to, the whole nation is still guilty. Once you realize what has happened, you must sacrifice a young bull to ask my forgiveness. Lead the bull to the entrance of the sacred tent, where your tribal leaders will lay their hands on its head, before having it killed in my presence.
The priest will take a bowl of the animal's blood inside the sacred tent, dip a finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of it seven times toward the sacred chest behind the curtain. Then, in my presence, he must smear some of the blood on each of the four corners of the incense altar, before pouring out the rest at the foot of the bronze altar[q] near the entrance to the tent. After this, the priest will remove the fat from the bull and send it up in smoke on the altar. Finally, he will burn it remains outside the camp, just as he did with the other bull. By this sacrifice the sin of the whole nation will be forgiven.
When a Tribal Leader Sins
The Lord God said:
Any tribal leader who disobeys me without knowing it is still guilty. As soon as the leader realizes what has happened, he must sacrifice a goat[r] that has nothing wrong with it. This is a sacrifice for sin. So, he will lay his hand on the animal's head, before having it killed in my presence at the north side of the bronze altar. The priest will dip a finger in the blood, smear some of it on each of the four corners of the altar and pour out the rest at the foot of the altar. Then he must send all of the fat up in smoke, just as he does when a sacrifice is offered to ask my blessing. By this sacrifice the leader's sin will be forgiven.
When Ordinary People Sin
The Lord said:
When any of your ordinary people disobey me without meaning to, you are still guilty. As soon as you realize what you have done, you must sacrifice a female goat that has nothing wrong with it. Lead the goat to the north side of the bronze altar and lay your hand on its head, before having it killed. Then a priest will dip a finger in the blood; he will smear some of it on each of the four corners of the altar and pour out the rest at the foot of the altar. After this, the priest will remove all of the fat, just as he does when an animal is sacrificed to ask my blessing. The priest will then send the fat up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. This animal is sacrificed so that I will forgive you ordinary people when you sin.
If you offer a lamb instead of a goat as a sacrifice for sin, it must be a female that has nothing wrong with it. Lead the lamb to the altar and lay your hand on its head, before having it killed. The priest will dip a finger in the blood, smear some of it on each of the four corners of the altar and pour out the rest at the foot of the altar. After this, all of the fat must be removed, just as when an animal is sacrificed to ask my blessing. Then the priest will send it up in smoke to me, together with a food offering, and your sin will be forgiven.
The Lord said:
If you refuse to testify in court about something you saw or know has happened, you have sinned and can be punished.
You are guilty and unfit to worship me, if you accidentally touch the dead body of any kind of unclean animal.
You are guilty if you find out that you have accidentally touched anything unclean that comes from a human body.
You are guilty the moment you realize that you have made a hasty promise to do something good or bad.
As soon as you discover that you have committed any of these sins, you must confess what you have done. 6 Then you must bring a female sheep or goat to me as the price for your sin. A priest will sacrifice the animal, and you will be forgiven.
If you are poor and cannot afford to bring an animal, you may bring two doves or two pigeons. One of these will be a sacrifice to ask my forgiveness, and the other will be a sacrifice to please me.
Give both birds to the priest, who will offer one as a sacrifice to ask my forgiveness. He will wring its neck without tearing off its head, splatter some of its blood on one side of the bronze altar and drain out the rest at the foot of the altar. Then he will follow the proper rules for offering the other bird as a sacrifice to please me.
You will be forgiven when the priest offers these sacrifices as the price for your sin.
If you are so poor that you cannot afford doves or pigeons, you may bring one kilogram of your finest flour. This is a sacrifice to ask my forgiveness, so don't sprinkle olive oil or sweet-smelling incense on it. Give the flour to a priest, who will scoop up a handful and send it up in smoke together with the other offerings. This is a reminder that all of the flour belongs to me. By offering this sacrifice, the priest pays the price for any of these sins you may have committed. The priest gets to keep the rest of the flour, just as he does with grain sacrifices.
Sacrifices To Make Things Right
(Leviticus 7.1-10)
The Lord told Moses what the people must do to make things right when they find out they have cheated the Lord without meaning to:
If this happens, you must either sacrifice a ram that has nothing wrong with it or else pay the price of a ram with the official money used by the priests. In addition, you must pay what you owe plus a fine of 20 percent. Then the priest will offer the ram as a sacrifice to make things right, and you will be forgiven.
If you break any of my commands without meaning to, you are still guilty, and you can be punished. When you realize what you have done, you must either bring to the priest a ram that has nothing wrong with it or else pay him for one. The priest will then offer it as a sacrifice to make things right, and you will be forgiven.
Other Sins That Need Sacrifices or Payments
(Numbers 5.5-10)
The Lord told Moses what the people must do when they commit other sins against the Lord:
You have sinned if you rob or cheat someone, if you keep back money or valuables left in your care, or if you find something and claim not to have it.
When this happens, you must return what doesn't belong to you 5 and pay the owner a fine of 20 percent. In addition, you must either bring to the priest a ram that has nothing wrong with it or else pay him for one. The priest will then offer it as a sacrifice to make things right, and you will be forgiven for what you did wrong.
Daily Sacrifices
(Exodus 29.38-43; Numbers 28.1-8)
The Lord told Moses to tell Aaron and his sons how to offer the daily sacrifices that are sent up in smoke to please the Lord:
You must put the animal for the sacrifice on the altar in the evening and let it stay there all night. But make sure the fire keeps burning. The next morning you will dress in your priestly clothes, including your linen underwear. Then clean away the ashes left by the sacrifices and pile them beside the altar. Change into your everyday clothes, take the ashes outside the camp, and pile them in the special place.
The fire must never go out, so put wood on it each morning. After this, you are to lay an animal on the altar next to the fat that you sacrifice to ask my blessing. Then send it all up in smoke to me.
The altar fire must always be kept burning—it must never go out.
Sacrifices To Give Thanks to the Lord
The Lord said:
When someone offers a sacrifice to give thanks to me, the priests from Aaron's family must bring it to the front of the bronze altar, where one of them will scoop up a handful of the flour and oil, together with all the incense on it. Then, to show that the whole offering belongs to me, he will lay all of this on the altar and send it up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. The rest of it is to be baked without yeast and eaten by the priests in the sacred courtyard of the sacred tent. This bread is very holy, just like the sacrifices for sin or the sacrifices for making things right, and I have given this part to the priests from what is offered to me on the altar.
Only the men in Aaron's family are allowed to eat this bread, and they must go through a ceremony to be made holy before touching it. This law will never change.
When Priests Are Ordained
The Lord spoke to Moses and told him what sacrifices the priests must offer on the morning and evening of the day they are ordained:
It is the same as the regular morning and evening sacrifices—half a kilogram of flour mixed with olive oil and cooked in a shallow pan. The bread must then be crumbled into small pieces and sent up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. Each of Aaron's descendants who is ordained as a priest must perform this ceremony and make sure that the bread is completely burned on the altar. None of it may be eaten!
Sacrifices for Sin
(Leviticus 4.1,2)
The Lord told Moses 25 how the priests from Aaron's family were to offer the sacrifice for sin:
This sacrifice is very sacred, and the animal must be killed in my presence at the north side of the bronze altar. The priest who offers this sacrifice must eat it in the sacred courtyard of the sacred tent, and anyone or anything that touches the meat will be holy. If any of the animal's blood is splattered on the clothes of the priest, they must be washed in a holy place. If the meat was cooked in a clay pot, the pot must be destroyed, but if it was cooked in a bronze pot, the pot must be scrubbed and rinsed with water.
This sacrifice is very holy, and only the priests may have any part of it. None of the meat may be eaten from the sacrifices for sin that require blood to be brought into the sacred tent. These sacrifices must be completely burned.
Sacrifices To Make Things Right
(Leviticus 5.14-19)
The Lord said:
The sacrifice to make things right is very sacred. The animal must be killed in the same place where the sacrifice to please me[ad] is killed, and the animal's blood must be splattered against the four sides of the bronze altar. Offer all of the animal's fat, including the fat on its tail and on its insides, as well as the lower part of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat. One of the priests will lay these pieces on the altar and send them up in smoke to me. This sacrifice for making things right is very holy. Only the priests may eat it, and they must eat it in a holy place.
The ceremony for this sacrifice and the one for sin are the same, and the meat may be eaten only by the priest who performs this ceremony of forgiveness.
In fact, the priest who offers a sacrifice to please me may keep the skin of the animal, just as he may eat the bread from a sacrifice to give thanks to me. All other grain sacrifices—with or without olive oil in them—are to be divided equally among the priests of Aaron's family.
Sacrifices To Ask the Lord's Blessing
The Lord said:
Here are the instructions for offering a sacrifice to ask my blessing: If you offer it to give thanks, you must offer some bread together with it. Use the finest flour to make three kinds of bread without yeast—two in the form of loaves mixed with olive oil and one in the form of thin wafers brushed with oil. You must also make some bread with yeast. Give me one loaf or wafer from each of these four kinds of bread, after which they will belong to the priest who splattered the blood against the bronze altar.
When you offer an animal to ask a blessing from me or to thank me, the meat belongs to you, but it must be eaten the same day. It is different with the sacrifices you offer when you make me a promise or voluntarily give me something. The meat from those sacrifices may be kept and eaten the next day, but any that is left over must be destroyed. If you eat any of it after the second day, your sacrifice will be useless and unacceptable, and you will be both disgusting and guilty.
Don't eat any of the meat that has touched something unclean. Instead, burn it. The rest of the meat may be eaten by anyone who is clean and acceptable to me. But don't eat any of this meat if you have become unclean by touching something unclean from a human or an animal or from any other creature. If you do, you will no longer belong to the community of Israel.
The Lord told Moses 23 to say to the people:
Don't eat the fat of cattle, sheep, or goats. If one of your animals dies or is killed by some wild animal, you may do anything with its fat except eat it. If you eat the fat of an animal that can be used as a sacrifice to me, you will no longer belong to the community of Israel. And no matter where you live, you must not eat the blood of any bird or animal, or you will no longer belong to the community of Israel.
The Lord also told Moses 29-30 to say to the people of Israel:
If you want to offer a sacrifice to ask my blessing, you must bring the part to be burned and lay it on the bronze altar. But you must first lift up the choice ribs with their fat to show that the offering is dedicated to me. A priest from Aaron's family will then send the fat up in smoke, but the ribs belong to the priests. The upper joint of the right hind leg is for the priest who offers the blood and the fat of the animal. I have decided that the people of Israel must always give the choice ribs and the upper joint of the right hind leg to Aaron's descendants who have been ordained as priests to serve me. This law will never change. I am the Lord!
These are the ceremonies for sacrifices to please the Lord, to give him thanks, and to ask for his blessing or his forgiveness, as well as the ceremonies for those sacrifices that demand a payment and for the sacrifices that are offered when priests are ordained. While Moses and the people of Israel were in the desert at Mount Sinai, the Lord commanded them to start offering these sacrifices.
The sacrifices read in detail are five different types of sacrifices and everyone of this sacrifice was to be adhered to, the bible says without the shedding of blood there would be no atonement of sin.
The types of offerings are:
- The burnt offering
- The grain offering
- The peace offering
- The sin offering
- The trespass offering
Each of these sacrifices has its own purpose and must dealt with according, every sacrifice made to God must go before him as a sweet-smelling aroma before it can be accepted by God. Reading through this I am actually blessed that Jesus came as our sacrifice once and for all. For Jesus to come down as a man and for him to lay down his life for us all just signifies the love he as for us all.
The death of Jesus on that cross it's not something to take lightly and must be honoured at all times. The blood of Jesus that was shed on that day as made a way for us into the kingdom of God without any form of guilt or shame. Jesus entered the Most Holy Place with his own blood and by the sacrifice of Himself he put away our sin once and forever.
Scriptures on the blood of Jesus in the New Testament:
Revelation 1:5
May kindness and peace
be yours
from Jesus Christ,
the faithful witness.
Jesus was the first
to conquer death,
and he is the ruler
of all earthly kings.
Christ loves us,
and by his blood
he set us free
from our sins.
Hebrews 9:22
The Law says that almost everything must be sprinkled with blood, and no sins can be forgiven unless blood is offered.
Ephesians 1:7
Christ sacrificed his life's blood to set us free, which means our sins are now forgiven. Christ did this because of God's gift of undeserved grace to us. God has great wisdom and understanding,
Colossians 1:20
And God was pleased
for him to make peace
by sacrificing his blood
on the cross,
so that all beings in heaven
and on earth
would be brought back to God.
Hebrews 10: 18 - 22
When sins are forgiven, there is no more need to offer sacrifices.
Encouragement and Warning
My friends, the blood of Jesus gives us courage to enter the most holy place by a new way that leads to life! And this way takes us through the curtain that is Christ himself.
We have a great high priest who is in charge of God's house. So, let's come near God with pure hearts and a confidence that comes from having faith. Let's keep our hearts pure, our consciences free from evil, and our bodies washed with clean water.
Titus 2:14
He gave himself to rescue us from everything evil and to make our hearts pure. He wanted us to be his own people and to be eager to do right.
Galatians 3:13
But Christ rescued us from the Law's curse, when he became a curse in our place. This is because the Scriptures say that anyone who is nailed to a tree is under a curse.
We are indeed blessed that Jesus had to pour out his blood on that day and the bible says that because of this we are the redeemed of the Lord through the power in the blood of Jesus. Its quite a privilege that we are partakers of this new covenant.
We will still continue on the subject of the blood of the lamb and we can enjoy the benefits of the blood of Jesus from now to etenity.
Remain blessed in his presence. Amen
