CHAPTER XVII _The people are commanded to bring all the cattle they intend to_ _kill to the door of the tabernacle, where they are to be made_ _an offering to the Lord; and those who disobey are to be cut_ _off_, 1-5. _The priest is to sprinkle the blood_, 6. _They are forbidden to offer sacri... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 17:4. _AND BRINGETH IT NOT UNTO THE DOOR_] As _sacrifice_ was ever deemed essential to true religion, it was necessary that it should be performed in such a way as to secure the great purpose of its institution. God alone could show how this should be done so as to be pleasing in his... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 17:7. _THEY SHALL NO MORE OFFER THEIR SACRIFICES UNTO_ _DEVILS_] They shall not sacrifice לשעירים _lasseirim_, to the _hairy ones_, to _goats_. The famous heathen god, _Pan_, was represented as having the posteriors, horns, and ears of a goat; and the _Mendesians_, a people of Egypt... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 17:11. _FOR THE LIFE OF THE FLESH_ IS _IN THE BLOOD_] This sentence, which contains a most important truth, had existed in the Mosaic writings for 3600 years before the attention of any philosopher was drawn to the subject. This is the more surprising, as the nations in which philos... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 17:14. _YE SHALL EAT THE BLOOD OF NO MANNER OF FLESH_] Independently of the moral reasons given above, we may add, 1. That blood, being highly _alkalescent_, especially in hot climates, is subject to speedy putrefaction. 2. That it affords a gross nutriment, being very difficult of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 17:15. _THAT WHICH DIED_ OF ITSELF, _OR THAT WHICH WAS TORN_] Because, in both cases, the blood was retained in the body; hence the council at Jerusalem forbade _things strangled_ as well as _blood_, because in such beasts the blood was coagulated in the veins and arteries. See Acts... [ Continue Reading ]