Human Blood and Sacrifice
“The outcome of every fight is death, and the means are fire and sword. You may retort: "But he was a highway robber, he killed a man!" And what of it? Granted that, as a murderer, he deserved his punishment. What crime have you committed poor fellow that you should deserve to sit and see this show? In the morning they cried, "Kill him! Lash him! Why does he strike so feebly? Let him receive blow for blow, with chests bare and exposed to the stroke!"
This is a piece written by Seneca in Rome about the human sacrifice in the Arena. Men and women went to watch the show for entertainment. We look on them in disgust. How could people find such brutality enjoyable? Yet, do we not pay to watch such violence today? You say it's just a show, people aren't really getting hurt. Yet, it looks real doesn't it? What is the motivation that the movie makers have to produce such films? Does it not have to do with this human lust for blood?
At this Halloween time I have been considering why our culture has such a fascination with human blood. In studying for my History test on Wednesday I came across human sacrifice in other civilizations. The Aztecs are known for their mass killings. They believed that blood was the drink of the sun, and in order to continue life on earth they had to offer up thousands of human lives.
They are not alone in their philosophy though the specifics are altered Hitler followed in their footsteps offering up millions to the god of racial purity. In our own country and around the world the blood of unborn children is offered to the gods of convenience and affluence.
We are a depraved race. The sins of the Romans and the Aztecs mortify us, but they do not keep us from committing the same heinous acts ourselves, and we do so on a much larger scale.
Seneca was right in asking of our crime. We sit and watch in a distorted pleasure at violence just like the Romans in the Arena. Our crime I would suggest to you is the crime of the human race. We have spit in the face of God and He in turn has let us glory in our sin. When a person does not (or cannot) love the Lord with all his heart, soul, mind and strength then he cannot love his neighbor as himself. In fact, we are doomed to hatred unless divine human blood is shed on our behalf.
I wonder if there is some general revelation engrained in men making them aware that God required blood. Since they were/are lacking special revelation (or at least an understanding of it) they do their best to satisfy their awareness by making their own rules. They obviously fail miserably.
I was thinking of all this and ended up talking to Dr. Graham about it for a while. He helped me think it through in the context of History. I suppose some of these thoughts are his and I have adopted them. Giving credit where it's due he believes that there must be some human understanding of a blood sacrifice because it's seen over and over again in human civilizations. The issue is intensely important and extremely confusing. In closing I appeal to the inspired word of God:
"Behold, You were angry, and we have sinned;
In our sins we have been a long time,
and shall we be saved?"
Isaiah 64:5
This is a piece written by Seneca in Rome about the human sacrifice in the Arena. Men and women went to watch the show for entertainment. We look on them in disgust. How could people find such brutality enjoyable? Yet, do we not pay to watch such violence today? You say it's just a show, people aren't really getting hurt. Yet, it looks real doesn't it? What is the motivation that the movie makers have to produce such films? Does it not have to do with this human lust for blood?
At this Halloween time I have been considering why our culture has such a fascination with human blood. In studying for my History test on Wednesday I came across human sacrifice in other civilizations. The Aztecs are known for their mass killings. They believed that blood was the drink of the sun, and in order to continue life on earth they had to offer up thousands of human lives.
They are not alone in their philosophy though the specifics are altered Hitler followed in their footsteps offering up millions to the god of racial purity. In our own country and around the world the blood of unborn children is offered to the gods of convenience and affluence.
We are a depraved race. The sins of the Romans and the Aztecs mortify us, but they do not keep us from committing the same heinous acts ourselves, and we do so on a much larger scale.
Seneca was right in asking of our crime. We sit and watch in a distorted pleasure at violence just like the Romans in the Arena. Our crime I would suggest to you is the crime of the human race. We have spit in the face of God and He in turn has let us glory in our sin. When a person does not (or cannot) love the Lord with all his heart, soul, mind and strength then he cannot love his neighbor as himself. In fact, we are doomed to hatred unless divine human blood is shed on our behalf.
I wonder if there is some general revelation engrained in men making them aware that God required blood. Since they were/are lacking special revelation (or at least an understanding of it) they do their best to satisfy their awareness by making their own rules. They obviously fail miserably.
I was thinking of all this and ended up talking to Dr. Graham about it for a while. He helped me think it through in the context of History. I suppose some of these thoughts are his and I have adopted them. Giving credit where it's due he believes that there must be some human understanding of a blood sacrifice because it's seen over and over again in human civilizations. The issue is intensely important and extremely confusing. In closing I appeal to the inspired word of God:
"Behold, You were angry, and we have sinned;
In our sins we have been a long time,
and shall we be saved?"
Isaiah 64:5
"And the Lord said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground."
Genesis 4:10
"And to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel."
Hebrews 12:24
posted by Becca @ 10:16 AM
1 Comments:
Becca,
Maybe this will help:
Gen 9:4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
Gen 9:5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.
Gen 9:6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.
These verses imply that our lives have value because we are made in the image of God. God uses man to bring justice and protect valued life, thereby instituting government and capital punishment (the law of retaliation (lex talionis)--life for life). I think we do have general revelation, as being made in the image of God includes having a heart that yearns for justice. These verses also say that God in His sovereignty will use men to exact retaliation, whether they understand it or not!
The VKs love you!
Jennifer
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