07-13-2022, 10:27 AM
searchinmyroots, let's go back to your original question and start from there. I hope to touch on your question above, too.
But first I want to make it clear that these are my thoughts from this morning and not an attempt to give a full explanation that I could not give.
Here is a quick one that I'm sure can be debated with no real outcome -
Paul says in Hebrews 9:22 -
"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission"
What does Paul mean by that? I don't need to know about Jesus and how he shed his blood for the remission of sin, I want to know what Paul means because obviously he is referring to the Hebrew bible.
Have you read the Christian Bible in context from the beginning to the end before? If we zoom back a bit and look not only at the verse in Hebrews 9:22 but also at the context, you can see that Paul is only talking about the rituals performed in the Temple in Jerusalem and the Tent of Meeting. You can read about it yourself in Chapters 8 and 9. He is aware that there was a time when there was no temple and no blood sacrifice as he writes to the Galatians about Abraham's righteousness by faith (Galatians 3:6).
Since Paul is only talking about the rituals in the temple in Jerusalem and in the Tent of Meeting, let's look at those. I don't like blood and I'm not a blood fetishist. But when I look at the descriptions, there really is blood everywhere. Exodus 30:10 says:
But Aaron shall make atonement upon its horns once a year; with the blood of the sin offering of the atonements, once a year he shall effect atonement upon it for your generations; it is a holy of holies to the Lord.
Leviticus - Chapter 4:
When the sin which they had committed becomes known, the congregation shall bring a young bull as a sin offering. They shall bring it before the Tent of Meeting. The anointed kohen shall bring some of the bull's blood into the Tent of Meeting, and the kohen shall dip his finger from the blood, and sprinkle [it] seven times before the Lord, before the dividing curtain. And he shall then place some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before the Lord in the Tent of Meeting. And then he shall pour all the blood onto the base of the altar [used] for burnt offerings, which is at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
And it goes on and on and on with all sorts of sins and blood sacrifices for the sins.
I think there are two dimensions here. One is the timeline and the other is the extension to the people. When Exodus 30:10 says that the atonement was made only once a year, it means that the other days of the year were covered by that one event (and perhaps times were also covered when the Temple did not exist). This might explain why blood was not needed every time someone sinned. Also, only one person, the high priest, performed the ritual for everyone. I don't know, but maybe that offering counted as an offering for the people of Nineveh as well.
But first I want to make it clear that these are my thoughts from this morning and not an attempt to give a full explanation that I could not give.
Here is a quick one that I'm sure can be debated with no real outcome -
Paul says in Hebrews 9:22 -
"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission"
What does Paul mean by that? I don't need to know about Jesus and how he shed his blood for the remission of sin, I want to know what Paul means because obviously he is referring to the Hebrew bible.
Have you read the Christian Bible in context from the beginning to the end before? If we zoom back a bit and look not only at the verse in Hebrews 9:22 but also at the context, you can see that Paul is only talking about the rituals performed in the Temple in Jerusalem and the Tent of Meeting. You can read about it yourself in Chapters 8 and 9. He is aware that there was a time when there was no temple and no blood sacrifice as he writes to the Galatians about Abraham's righteousness by faith (Galatians 3:6).
Since Paul is only talking about the rituals in the temple in Jerusalem and in the Tent of Meeting, let's look at those. I don't like blood and I'm not a blood fetishist. But when I look at the descriptions, there really is blood everywhere. Exodus 30:10 says:
But Aaron shall make atonement upon its horns once a year; with the blood of the sin offering of the atonements, once a year he shall effect atonement upon it for your generations; it is a holy of holies to the Lord.
Leviticus - Chapter 4:
When the sin which they had committed becomes known, the congregation shall bring a young bull as a sin offering. They shall bring it before the Tent of Meeting. The anointed kohen shall bring some of the bull's blood into the Tent of Meeting, and the kohen shall dip his finger from the blood, and sprinkle [it] seven times before the Lord, before the dividing curtain. And he shall then place some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before the Lord in the Tent of Meeting. And then he shall pour all the blood onto the base of the altar [used] for burnt offerings, which is at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
And it goes on and on and on with all sorts of sins and blood sacrifices for the sins.
I think there are two dimensions here. One is the timeline and the other is the extension to the people. When Exodus 30:10 says that the atonement was made only once a year, it means that the other days of the year were covered by that one event (and perhaps times were also covered when the Temple did not exist). This might explain why blood was not needed every time someone sinned. Also, only one person, the high priest, performed the ritual for everyone. I don't know, but maybe that offering counted as an offering for the people of Nineveh as well.