Hear, O Israel!
Where
can we find Blood Atonement?
D
G Miles McKee
The
following is a piece I recently discovered in an old tract. I
hope you enjoy it.
At
Easter time, some many years ago, a “Mission to the Jews” was
held in San Francisco. One evening, the meeting was thrown open for
discussion and Jewish folk were welcomed to ask questions or to give
their testimonies.
One old Gentleman stood and said:
“This is Passover week my Jewish brethren, and as I sat here, I was
thinking how you will be observing it. You will have put away leaven
from your houses; you will eat the ‘motsah’ (unleavened wafers)
and the roasted lamb. You will attend the synagogue services and
carry out the ritual and directions of the Talmud. However, you will
leave out that which Jehovah requires most of all. He did not say,
‘When I see the leaven put away, or when I see you eat the motsah
or go the synagogue; but His word was, ‘When I see the blood I will
pass over you.’ Ah, my brethren, you can substitute nothing for
this. You must have blood!”
After a moment’s
pause, the old man went on as follows: “I was born in Palestine,
nearly seventy years ago. As a child, I was taught to read the Law
and the Prophets. I attended the synagogue and learned Hebrew from
the clerics.
At first I believed what I was told, that ours was the true and only
religion, but as I grew older and studied the Law more intently, I
was struck by the place the blood had in all the ceremonies outlined
there, and equally struck by its utter absence in the ritual in which
I was brought up.
“Again and again, I read
Exodus 12 and Leviticus 16 and 17, and was struck by the place the
blood held there. Day and night one verse would ring in my ears, ‘It
is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul!’ I knew I had
broken the law. I needed atonement.
“In my
distress, at last, I opened my heart to a learned and venerable
cleric.
He told me that God was angry with His people. Jerusalem was in the
hands of the Gentiles, the temple was destroyed, and a Muslim mosque
was reared in its place. The only spot of earth where we dare shed
the blood of sacrifice, in accordance with Deuteronomy 12, was
desecrated, and our nation scattered. That was why there was no
blood. God had Himself closed the way to carry out the solemn service
of the great Day of Atonement. Now, we must turn to the Talmud, and
rest on its instruction, and trust in the mercy of God and the merits
of the fathers.
“I tried to be satisfied but could
not. Something seemed to say that the law was unaltered, even though
our temple was destroyed. Nothing else but blood could atone for the
soul. We dared not shed blood for atonement elsewhere than in the
place the Lord had chosen. Then we were left without an atonement at
all! “This thought filled me with horror. In my distress, I
consulted many other clerics.
I had but one great question … Where can I find the blood of
atonement?
“I was over thirty years of age when I
left Palestine and came to Constantinople, with my still unanswered
question and my soul exceedingly troubled about my sins. One night I
was walking down one of the narrow streets of that city, when I saw a
sign telling of a meeting for Jews. Curiosity led me to open the door
and go in. Just as I took a seat, I heard a man say, ‘The
blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.’ It
was my first introduction to Christianity, but I listened
breathlessly as the speaker told how God had declared that ‘without
shedding of blood is no remission;’
but that He had given His only begotten Son, the Lamb of God, to die,
and all who trusted in His blood were forgiven all their iniquities.
This
was the Messiah of Isaiah 53 and the Sufferer of Psalm 22. Ah, my
brethren, I had found the blood of atonement at last! I trusted it,
and now I love to read the New Testament and see how all the shadows
of the law are fulfilled in Jesus. His blood has been shed for
sinners. It has satisfied God, and it is the only means of salvation
for either Jew or Gentile.”
And
that’s the Gospel Truth!
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