Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. Genesis 9:3-4
In Genesis 9:3-4 God instituted the first law, this was just after the great flood, and instructed Noah that he should never take the blood of an animal. Until then God had never explicitly given another commandment to the sons of Adam. This command as I understand it was the beginning of the plan for the salvation of man. The first law comes just after the great flood in Genesis 8, God seemed to be remorseful about the flood
Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. Genesis 8:21
Having concluded that man cannot change himself or save himself he embarked on a new plan. Abraham would be the second to have a prophetic glimpse when asked to sacrifice his only beloved son “Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go. Genesis 22:2” (this is the first time the word love is mentioned in the bible) born supernaturally not of a virgin but of a barren woman; as they traveled three days to the top of a mountain, not Calvary but mount Moriah; and yes Isaac carried the wood, not a cross Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac Geness 22:6. It was more wood than could be carried with hands; it was loaded ON him. Isaac asked an important question
Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Genesis 22:7
This encounter ended with a prophetic act,Isaac was supposed to be sacrificed, but instead a ram was used as a substitute for the lamb. Genesis 22:14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide
Notice that it wasn’t named The Lord Provided, but the future tense was used, The Lord Will Provide, also notice the sacrifice was not a lamb but was a ram. In Egypt God would allow Moses to be frustrated as he orchestrated nine plagues, none of which seemed to work, the last one though was special; it involved a sacrifice, the Israelite’s were to slaughter a lamb and smear the blood all over their doorpost he would then explain..
The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt Exodus 12:13
The blood worked like a charm. What was God trying to say?… In Leviticus God also explained For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. Leviticus 17:11
As time passed and the master plan unraveled it seemed that God had created a loophole for man whose ” inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time Genesis 6:5” man could not save himself or change his ways no matter how hard he tried, animal sacrifices seemed to do the job but only for a short while, until the 1st chapter of Isaiah
“The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the Lord. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. Isaiah 1:11
The meaning of the name Isaiah is ‘God is salvation’. In the book God rejected the sacrifices of animals and described the nature of the perfect sacrifice that he himself would provide and sacrifice
Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, ….After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities because he poured out his life unto death… Isaiah 53:10-11
John the Baptist would then pronounce the way for the perfect sacrifice the one that Isaac has asked about . When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” 1 john 36 Jesus himself would then tell the Jews that he had come to fulfil the scriptures and that
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. John 6:56
This statement offended the religious; those who relied and believed on their own good works and righteous acts. They had labored for years to please God with good works and the blood of bulls and rams, just like Cain generations before them; they continue to present a sacrifice to God that is not acceptable. From that day many of them turned back From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. John 6:66
Paul finally explained God’s plan, that all is from Him, through the cross, and by His Spirit: our salvation, our new Life, our changed hearts, and our Spirit-led service and sharing. And all bear witness to His sovereign love and grace.
For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary. Hebrews 10:14-16
You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.John 5:39
Blessings or Curses 