Before we look at the Great Exchange that took place as a result of the scourging, crucifixion, resurrection and the appearance of the risen Jesus Christ I’d like to make a couple of issues clearer.
The importance of the Old Testament
The importance of the Old Testament which is about the Covenant of the Law. The fact that Christians live under a New Covenant, spelled out by the New Testament doesn’t mean that the Old Testament and the Covenant of Law are useless! Show More
Remember, the Book of Hebrews clearly shows that the New Covenant initiated by the two covenant heads, Jehovah and Jesus (God and God) was better or stronger than the Old Covenant initiated by Jehovah and Moses (God and man). The New replaced the old because the new was better or stronger.
Keep in mind that the Old Testament is God-breathed and is available for our instruction, in 2 Timothy 3:16 the Apostle Paul says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine (truths), for reproof (chastisement), for correction (improvement), for instruction (direction) in righteousness (right living before God), that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good (God-directed) work”.
I would encourage you to read all of 1 Corinthians 10, paying special attention to verses 1-11. There is so much we can learn about righteousness, unrighteousness (sin), the character of Jehovah God, and what He will bless and what He will not bless in the Old Testament.
1 Corinthians 10:6-11 states, “Now these things (found in the Old Testament) became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. 7 And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” 8 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; 9 nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; 10 nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition (warning), upon whom the ends of the ages have come”.
It has been said many times and in many ways, “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it”. By studying the Old Testament and the Covenant of the Law, we learn from Biblical history that we need more than rules, regulations, rituals, and traditions to keep us in a right relationship with God! We need Jesus!
The Old Testament is valuable, but it does not contain the covenant purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ.
The Significance of Blood in Covenants
Which brings us to the point of the Blood of Jesus. It wasn’t until about 1615 that William Harvey, an English physician, first described correctly and in detail the circulatory system and the properties of blood being pumped to the body by the heart.
Before the discovery of the true nature of blood, there was always a mysterious and spiritual significance to blood among primitive people. Ceremonies involving blood or blood rituals were common to almost all primitive tribes. Before scientific understanding, blood has always had associated with it the idea of a primary life principle. As a result of this association with life, there has always been a reverence for the shedding of blood. Many primitive groups practiced the cutting and mixing of blood and the creation of scars to show blood-brotherhood or blood-friendship.
It would be a mistake to associate the importance of blood to primitive peoples only. Blood is important to God, as well. For example, we see imagery of the blood in the following two Scriptures, one from the Old Covenant and the other from the New Covenant:
- “Come now, and let us reason together, Says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson (blood), they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).
- “And I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’ So he said to me, ‘These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb’” (Revelation 7:14).
Examples of Blood in Covenants
The importance of blood to covenants is obvious, especially as we examine the covenants between God and man. Look at the following examples where blood is shed concerning covenants:
- Blood of animals was shed in the Garden of Eden when God provided clothing for Adam and Eve after they disobeyed God and ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, “Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21).
- Blood of animals was shed when animals became available for food through Noah, “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood” (Genesis 9:3-4).
- Blood of man was shed in circumcision through Abraham, “This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you” (Genesis 17:10-11).
- Blood of animals was shed in the sacrificial system of the Law through Moses; some examples can be found in Leviticus 14 and Numbers 19.
- Blood of the Lamb of God. This is the shedding of blood by a perfect sacrifice, our Lord and Savior Jesus.
- “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29)!
- “But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13).
What makes blood so important?
What makes blood so important? It is because life is in the blood and blood requires a life. Now we see how profoundly God regards His covenants.
- “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” (Leviticus 17:11).
- “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood, there is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22).
That is all we have time for today. Next time we will be examining the idea of exchange that takes place in Covenants.
