Based on Leviticus 17 (New King James Version)
“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to Aaron, to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘This is the thing which the Lord has commanded, saying: ‘Whatever man of the house of Israel who kills an ox or lamb or goat in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp, and does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting to offer an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, the guilt of bloodshed shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people, to the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they offer in the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, to the priest, and offer them as peace offerings to the Lord. And the priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and burn the fat for a sweet aroma to the Lord. They shall no more offer their sacrifices to demons, after whom they have played the harlot. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.’’ ‘Also you shall say to them: ‘Whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, and does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, to offer it to the Lord, that man shall be cut off from among his people. ‘And whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’ Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘No one among you shall eat blood, nor shall any stranger who dwells among you eat blood.’ ‘Whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust; for it is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.’ ‘And every person who eats what died naturally or what was torn by beasts, whether he is a native of your own country or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. Then he shall be clean. But if he does not wash them or bathe his body, then he shall bear his guilt.’”
There are many so-called believers who think: “Why read and study the Old Testament, if the old covenant has already passed, and none of that matters?” And it is necessary to say through the teaching of the Holy Spirit Himself that ignoring the Old Testament is a serious error, which is completely detrimental to true faith in Christ. It is impossible to discard the Old Testament because within it is part of the complete counsel of God, and also the substance of what the Lord came to reiterate and fulfill through His Person. Moreover, the greatest commandments that are still in force and are as an ordinance for the believer to become saved were given in the Old Testament, just as the Lord himself said: “Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31. So then, I would have to say, that if a person excludes the Old Testament, they are committing apostasy.
Now, am I saying then that we have to go back to the ancient practices, to those that were taught through Moses? Not necessarily. There are things that God in His infinite wisdom and mercy has changed or even overlooked because very key things happened through the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, such things that changed the course of practically everything that reality matters—the eternal. It is said very easily and trivialized quite quickly what happened at the cross and in His resurrection, and those are grave mistakes. Such is the error because this fact of not understanding what happened has helped to form a group of very ungrateful people that are insensitive to the things of God. If there is no true conviction in a person of what happened and why, they will not be able to overcome the judgment of God. Unfortunately, the closest these people will get to the kingdom of God is when they suffer God's judgment, and from there, be cast to hell. So, it's a very serious problem.
What we should see through today's passage and what is being practiced today is that we all sin, and very commonly, even while being in Christ. That is part of the function (if it could be said that way), of God's law, or of the Old Covenant, to help us understand what is bad and what is good. As you know, everyone, without exception, kills animals for food, and none is brought to the tabernacle or temple of God as a peace offering. And of course, killing animals, whether for food or other things, is done for trade and also for idols and demons (because these practices still continue), but never for God. And also, you can't take anything into the tabernacle or the temple of God because they don't exist. So, for various reasons, this God-given mandate is broken at every turn. So, what should happen with this knowledge? Two things: understanding that we sin at every moment (because this is just one example), and in different ways, whether we know it or not, and that should produce repentance and conversion, and, if a person has been forgiven by God, understand the magnitude of His grace, and that we continue to experience it at every moment, whether or not we know the wrongs we continue to commit. God in His grace changed the sentence for this sin through the cross of Christ (because being excluded or being cut off from the people of Israel meant that a person was excluded from all the promises and blessings of God). And God Himself was the one who changed this by fulfilling this prophecy: “Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.’” Matthew 24:1-2. This prophecy was fulfilled in 70 AD, when the Roman Empire destroyed the temple, literally leaving no stone upon another, to extract all the gold and precious stones that were part of the walls. So, the only thing we can cling to, be it because of our ignorance, or dependencies, and even to survive, is the Lord and what He did on the cross.
So, if we manage to understand what had to be done before, and what God has done through the person of Christ, at the very least, a great and deep gratitude towards God should grow daily that should only culminate in a single thing: love for God. And that is what brings us to the law of God, and the way that we will get to the kingdom of God, by fulfilling that first commandment which is loving God with all that we are. God's salvation is a gift, but the price is immeasurable: the life and blood of God Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. But if a person does not come to love the Lord accordingly (because love is seen in works), then this will happen: “If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come!” 1 Corinthians 16:22. If a person does not come to love the Lord as His Word says, they will not have eternal life. So then, do you understand God’s grace and in such a way to be able to come to love Him above all things? Lord bless! John