The blood of Jesus is infinitely precious, its full value being known to God alone, but the subject of the blood is given to us in the Scriptures that we might learn something of its preciousness, something of what it has secured for God, and something of what it has brought, and shall bring, to those whom God has blessed. In the Scriptures we read of the shedding of blood, and also of the sprinkling of blood, and we shall look at some of the passages that bring this latter subject before us, though, of necessity, the blood must needs be shed before it can be sprinkled. Death is surely indicated in the shedding of blood, but the sprinkling shows the many applications of the blood that has been shed.
Burnt and Peace Offerings
From Leviticus 1:5, 11; 3:2, 8, 14, we learn that the blood of burnt offerings and peace offerings was sprinkled “round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.” This surely teaches us that the only way of approach to God, whether for worship or communion, was by the death of a victim that was wholly pleasurable to God, without a blemish. In putting his hand upon the head of the spotless sacrifice the offerer was accepted by God, for it made “atonement for him.”
Anyone approaching the altar of burnt offering could see the blood sprinkled upon it, and no matter from what angle he approached it, for God gave, as it were, a universal testimony that there was no other way of approaching Him but by the precious blood of Jesus, His own Son, the One of whom all the offerings spoke, and to whose sacrifice they pointed forward. Cain sought to approach God with a bloodless sacrifice, and many since his day have sought God’s presence in the same way, but in setting up the sacrificial system under the law, God plainly declared that every one who desired to approach Him as a worshipper must come through the death of His Son.
The Old Covenant Ratified
When Moses “took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people…they said, All that the Lord has said will we do” (Ex. 24:7). Moreover, “Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you.” Hebrews 9:19 informs us that the book was also sprinkled with the blood of the calves and goats. The people had no idea of what their words, and the acts of Moses implied for them, for they had bound themselves in a covenant of death to keep every word of the law. They were utterly unaware of their own sinful condition, and of their inability to perform what they had bound themselves to do.
Mention of the old covenant at once brings to mind the new covenant, and this too was introduced by blood, even as the Lord Jesus said to His disciples when instituting His supper, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20). The disciples do not bind themselves with a covenant of death to keep the law, as their fathers had done, but the Lord Jesus enters into death, shedding His precious blood, that they, and all who trust in Him may receive the blessings of the new covenant. In the coming day God will make the new covenant with both the houses of Israel, and it will be founded on the precious blood of Jesus (Jer. 31:31–34).
Shelter from the Destroyer
We know from Exodus 22 that the Israelites were sheltered from the destroying angel by the blood that was put upon their door posts, but in Hebrews 11:28 it is written concerning Moses, “Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.” The faith for the whole operation is attributed to Moses, but Israel, at the command of Moses, took the blood of the passover lamb and sprinkled it on the side and upper posts of their doors.
It was the shedding and sprinkling of the blood of the passover lamb that sheltered the firstborn of Israel from the sword of the destroyer. Often has it been pointed out that it was not enough to slay the lamb and shed its blood, the blood must be sprinkled on the door if there was to be salvation. Jesus has shed His precious blood, but faith in Him, as it were, lays hold of the hyssop and sprinkles the blood, to obtain the shelter His blood affords.
Cleansing by Sprinkling
Man in his loathsome, sinful condition, is portrayed by the leper, whom the Lord alone can cleanse. In Leviticus 14 we read of “the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing” (verse 2). When the Lord was upon earth we read of Him cleansing lepers, and He also revealed that there were “many lepers…in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian” (Luke 4:27). It needed divine intervention to cleanse lepers.
Two birds had to be taken for the leper, one of which was to be slain over running water, indicating the death of Christ, and its witness carried down the stream of time. The living bird, with the blood upon it was to be released into the open field, no doubt telling of how Christ has ascended on high, carrying with Him into heaven the efficacy of the work He accomplished through His death. Cedar wood, scarlet and hyssop were also to be dipped in the blood, for everything in this world’s system is stained with Christ’s blood.
The blood was then sprinkled seven times on the leper, and when this was done he was pronounced “clean.” Seven tells of the perfect application of the blood, for “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Other aspects of cleansing are indicated in the washing of the clothes and the flesh of the leper (verses 8, 9), but it was enough for the blood to be sprinkled on the leper seven times to pronounce him clean.
Consecration by Sprinkling
At the consecration of the priests, the blood of the ram of consecration was put upon “the tip of their right ear, and upon the thumbs of their right hands, and upon the great toes of their right feet” (Lev. 8:24), to claim them for the Lord and His service, but they were not wholly consecrated until “Moses took of the anointing oil, and the blood which was upon the altar” and sprinkled it upon them and upon their garments. When the blood was put upon the leper’s ear, thumb and great toe, it was the blood of a trespass offering, for the cleansing of a sinner is there in type, but it was the blood of a communion offering that consecrated priests for the service of God.
To cleanse us as sinners, and to consecrate us as priests, the precious blood of Christ had to be shed, and we had to come under its efficacy as typified in the sprinkling of the blood. For the priests oil was mingled with the blood, even as we read in 1 Peter 1:2, “through sanctification of the Spirit unto…sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” It was indeed “precious blood…as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world” (1 Peter 1:19-20).
Access to God by Sprinkling
On the great day of atonement the high priest of Israel went alone into the holiest, “not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: the Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing” (Heb. 9:7-8). There is a marked contrast with what we now have in Christianity through the death of Christ, and what belonged to Israel under the old covenant. There is also the type, and in what Aaron did on this great day we see what has been accomplished through the death of Jesus.
Having slain the bullock, and the goat, the high priest was instructed to “take of the blood…and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times” (Lev. 16:14). The blood on the mercy seat was to meet the claims of God’s throne, and the blood before the mercy seat to signify the place that saints of a coming day would have through the work of God’s Son.
It was with fear and trepidation that Aaron entered the holiest, for the words “that he die not” (Lev. 16:2, 13) were spoken to Moses to convey to Aaron. How different it is now, for we have “boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus,” and as answering to the type of the consecration of the priests, we have “our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” Instead of being excluded from the holiest, the immediate presence of God, we are exhorted to “draw near with a true heart, and in full assurance of faith” (Heb. 10:20–22). Christ has done the great work that enables us to enter God’s presence for communion, and to worship Him. On our part there has to be the true heart, a heart that is in accord with the holiness of God, and the assurance that faith gives as resting on the word of God that tells of His desire to have us in His presence.
The Blood of Sprinkling
In Hebrews 12 there is a contrast to what Israel had under law, and what God has given to the Christian. Mount Sinai, with its fire, darkness, blackness, tempest, trumpet and “voice of words” demanding righteousness from man, caused even Moses to “exceedingly fear and quake” (Heb. 12:19–21). God has brought the Christian to quit another order of things, which will soon be brought into display in the world to come. In the faith of our souls we already have our part in what will soon be displayed, and we look forward with joy to that wondrous day of which this chapter speaks.
Mount Zion tells us of Israel’s place in the millennium, where Zion shall be the centre of earthly blessing through God’s grace. The church, displayed in glory with Christ, will be seen as “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.” The angels now “sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Heb. 1:14) “an innumerable company,” will be seen as “the general assembly,” joining in the celebrations of the Lamb in heaven (Rev. 5:11); and in heaven the saints of this day will be seen as “the church of the firstborn (ones), which are written in heaven.”
God is now acting in His providence, but in the world to come He will be acting publicly as “the Judge of all,” the world being ordered according to His will, and the Old Testament saints will have their glorified bodies, “the spirits of just men made perfect.” Jesus, the One whom we have known and loved, will be there, seen by His own in heaven, and by Israel, as “the Mediator of the new covenant,” through which God’s blessing has been secured for His people.
That will be a wonderful day, with men blessed in heaven and on earth, and God having what has been in His heart from eternity, His Son honoured in the scene where He was once despised, rejected and slain. The foundation of that scene of rich blessing for men, and of God’s wisdom and love – “the blood of sprinkling.” In reverence we can say, God owes all the fulfilling of His will to the blood of sprinkling, and with adoring hearts we can truly say that we too owe all to that precious blood.
The blood of Abel was heard by God when Cain slew him, for God has said to Cain, “What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood cries to me from the ground” (Gen. 4:10). Abel’s blood called for divine judgment on his murderer; and does not the blood of Jesus call for judgment on those who crucified and slew Him? There were those who said to Pilate, “His blood be on us, and on our children,” (Matt. 27:25) and this judgment that they called upon themselves has in part been executed, but not yet to the full.
When Jesus was dying He said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34), and because of this cry, the nation until the death of Stephen was treated as having sinned in ignorance, and had another opportunity to receive the Messiah whom they had slain. Having rejected the Spirit’s testimony to Jesus through Stephen, the nation is then viewed as “betrayers and murderers” (Acts 7:52), but individuals from among the Jews are treated as on the ground of the manslayer if in repentance to God they accept the Lord Jesus, resting on His finished work for salvation.
If the blood of Abel cried for judgment, the “blood of sprinkling” speaks of “better things,” even for blessing for all who rest upon it for salvation. All who have their part in the world to come, either in Heaven, or at mount Zion, will owe it to the blood of sprinkling. This too is seen in type in Leviticus 16:33, where Aaron is to make “an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation.” The universe of bliss will rest on the foundation of the precious blood of Jesus (Heb. 9:21–23), where the glory of redemption will be displayed.
R. 19.1.70