Come to Understanding

Come to Understanding

They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding,

and they that murmured shall learn doctrine. — Isaiah 29:24

So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense,

and caused them to understand the reading. — Nehemiah 8:8

April 1, 2005
Volume 4 Number 7

Life is in the Blood

The name of the first man was Adam, which is written in Hebrew as Mda (adm), means "to be red." The name is based on the Hebrew word Md (dam), which means "blood."

The first woman was taken from the first man:

23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. -Genesis 2

She came from that which is red, the color of blood. Her name was Eve, which means "life."* The basis for her name was explained:

20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. -Genesis 3

That which was red brought forth life. The life of the flesh is in the blood, which makes atonement for our soul:

11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. -Leviticus 17

Both life and death are closely tied to blood. The sacrifice of blood brings life, but the shedding of blood brings death.

Yahweh (the LORD) used blood as a sign to demonstrate His power to give life and to bring death. When He turned water into blood, He showed His mighty power in judgement. When He received a blood offering, sacrificed to Him from that which was living, He accepted it as a sacrifice given in obedience to His word. The sacrifice demonstrated Israel’s faith that He had power over life.

Yahweh used the sign of blood in Egypt to show His mighty power. He sent blood as the first plague upon Egypt as He was preparing to free Israel from their captivity:

19 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone. -Exodus 7

The water in the streams, rivers, ponds, pools, and even in the wooden and stone vessels was turned to blood. There was blood everywhere. It brought death and was followed by eight more plagues (frogs, gnats, flies, disease in livestock, boils, hail, locusts, and darkness- see Exodus 7-10). Despite the awesome plagues, beginning with the plague of blood throughout the land, the Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he refused to free Israel from their bondage.

Finally, Yahweh told Moses that He would send a final plague, that of death, which would convince the Pharaoh to release Israel. Moses explained:

4 And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:

5 And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.

6 And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. -Exodus 11

There was only one way to be spared from the great death plague that was coming to Egypt. The power of blood was required to give life:

21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover.

22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.

23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

24 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. -Exodus 12

The people of Israel obeyed Yahweh. They put the blood of the lamb over their doorposts and were thereby delivered from the plague of death that came upon the Egyptian households. Death "passed over" the households that demonstrated their faith in Yahweh that the blood of the lamb would protect them from death.

Yahweh told Israel to remember the Passover forever. He said that they should explain it to their children:

27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped. -Exodus 12

From that time forth, those who were obedient to Yahweh’s command, kept the Passover each year, as a memorial, at the time appointed by Yahweh Himself.

Israel remembered the Passover each year with a feast, which was called the Feast of Unleavened Bread or the Feast of the Passover. A lamb was sacrificed and eaten. It was unlawful to drink blood, which is the life:

23 Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.

24 Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water. -Deuteronomy 12

Therefore, they drank wine (new or old wine), which as the "blood of the grape" (see Deuteronomy 32:14), represented the blood of the sacrificed lamb. When they were obedient to God and His word, the people of Israel kept the Passover from year to year and remembered the great miracle that had happened.

The first miracle of Yahshua (Jesus), which was recorded by John, has much more significance than is immediately obvious. When Yahshua turned water into wine (see John 2:1-11), He turned it into that which represented blood. He thereby showed those at the marriage feast blood, forshadowing His blood that was to be shed.

The miracle takes on even more significance when we understand that it follows the testimony of John the Baptist that Yahshua was the Lamb of God:

36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! -John 1

As the Lamb of God, He was destined to be killed at the Passover and to offer His blood to give life.

Yahshua, as a descendent of the Israel tribe of Judah, was a Jew. He kept the Passover. When He was thirty three years old, Yahshua gathered with His disciples to keep the Passover. This time, however, He revealed the meaning to the feast.

He broke the bread and offered it to His disciples. He then gave new meaning to the bread when He said it represented a memorial of His body. Then He said that the cup was the "new testament" in His blood, which He said He shed for them:

19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. -Luke 22

What did Yahshua mean? He was telling them that He was offering Himself as the true Passover Lamb of God. His blood, which contains the new testament or new covenant, has cleansing power:

14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. -Revelation 7

His blood was not ordinary blood, He was going to shed it for the remission of sins:

28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. -Matthew 26

Instead of the priests offering the blood of a lamb to save the people from physical death, our High Priest, Yahshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) offered His own blood, as the Lamb of God, for the remission of sins in one final offering. Thereby, He overcame Satan:

11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. -Revelation 12

We offer our testimony in the power of the blood of the Lamb to cleanse us from sin and to overcome Satan when we partake in communion by faith. We thereby remember the true Passover and confess that life is in the blood.

*The name "Eve" is translated from the Hebrew word hwx (Chavvah), which means "life." She is a special kind of man who, having a womb for bearing life through children, and is therefore is known as "womb man" or "woman."

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