This Saturday marks the transition from Archery Season to Black Powder. For the next two weeks, hunters in most local counties can up their weaponry to muzzle loading rifles in their quest for ever elusive whitetails. I plan to be one of them, God-willing.
Using a rifle often results in a quicker harvest and eliminates the need to do any tracking. Occasionally however, just as with a bow, it is necessary to follow a blood trail to locate the trophy.
Since the mention of such things disgusts some non-hunters, we won’t dwell on that, but rather pivot to the blood trail found throughout the Bible. From the earliest chapters all the way to many New Testament passages, there is no shortage of this crimson liquid of life.
Although not mentioned per se, God sheds the first blood in Genesis 3 when He fashions clothing from animal skin for Adam and Eve after their sin. The spiritual principle is not verbalized there but the Hebrews 9:22 concept is evident from the very beginning: “Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin.” This truth might offend some modern sensibilities, but God makes the rules and this is a foundational one.
We pick up the blood trail again in Genesis 22 where Abraham was told to sacrifice his son, Isaac. As he prepared to do what he did not want to do, God spared the boy and provided a ram instead. Once again an animal shed its blood in place of that of a person.
In one of the most well-known Bible stories, Hebrew slaves in Egypt had to sacrifice lambs and smear some of their blood on the doorposts and lintels of their homes. God promised that the death angel would pass over any house so marked thus instituting the Jewish Passover when God spared their sons.
Later at Mt. Sinai God gave His Commandments to His people and the covenant agreement was sealed with blood sacrifices. To indicate their approval and participation, Moses sprinkled some of the red liquid on the Israelites.
The book of Leviticus becomes very bloody as various sacrifices are described for differing reasons. Bulls, lambs, doves, and more all shed their blood to atone for, or cover the sins of the people.
One required sacrifice occurred on the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur. For this annual holy festival, both a bull and a goat had to be slaughtered and their blood sprinkled in the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle to cover the sins of both the priests and the people. Failure to do so was not only disobedience, but would render the Israelites unfit to be God’s people or to be blessed by Him since their sin would stand in the way.
One of the bloodiest events in the Bible occurred when King Solomon dedicated the Temple he had built. Second Chronicles 7:5 tells us that he sacrificed 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats. It’s hard to imagine such a mass sacrifice but it was done to purify both the holy building and the people.
We can follow the blood trail throughout the Bible until we come near the end of each Gospel. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John vividly describe how Jesus, the Lamb of God, was flogged and crucified. Both acts, along with the spear to His side resulted in the shedding of His holy blood.
Once that sacrifice was completed, Jesus announced, “It is finished!” The requirement for blood sacrifices was satisfied once and for all on Jesus’ cross and the need to do so going forward was forever cancelled.
The Hebrews 9:22 principle still holds true in all our lives today. Our sins cannot be forgiven without the shedding of either our own blood or that of Jesus Christ. Pick up your Bible and follow the blood trail to its end at the cross and receive the forgiveness Jesus bled to give you.
Blessings, George