THE SHEDDING OF INNOCENT BLOOD – REVELATION CHAPTER 16

As a follow up to yesterday's post on blood I am sharing this additional study on the subject of blood in the Old Testament.

Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.  And I heard the angel of the waters saying: “You are righteous, O Lord, The One who is and who was and who is to be, Because You have judged these things.  For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due.” And I heard another from the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.” Rev 16.4-7

Our God is incredibly patient and longsuffering. He desires that all men come to repentance.                                           The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3.9

At this point in Revelation men have refused over and over to repent. Life is in the blood and much blood has been shed by man during the past 6,000 years. God demands justice for the blood which has been shed. The blood shed on earth figuratively cries out for justice. In the Old Testament it is required to cover shed blood with the dust of the earth.

This is a form of cleansing the land from bloodshed and judgment. God gave His own blood in atonement for our sins. Sin and shedding of blood demand justice—because the life is in the blood. God abhors sin therefore He must require judgment for sin. He has waited and pleaded with mankind. Men have refused to repent. Now, it says above, God is giving them blood to drink—it is their just due! According to Torah we are not to drink blood at any time—this is a cruel punishment—but the angel says they are worthy of this punishment. All of God’s judgments are righteous—no matter how awful they may seem to us—He has been incredibly patient—and now the end has come.

Think of how angry God must be with abortion. Think of the millions of unborn sacrificed on the abortion altar. How can America escape God’s judgment with the blood of more than 60 million innocents crying out from the earth? Man accuses God of cruelty and bloodshed—but man refuses to live according to God’s Law and kills innocents at will. If only man would obey God’s Torah.

The wrath judgments break God’s heart but He can no longer abide man’s sin. He gave his life for our lives to fulfill the Torah—eye for eye, tooth for tooth, His life for our life! He is soon to establish His Millennial Kingdom and together we will learn to obey His Royal Law. All His judgments are righteous.

It is extremely important that we understand the concept of bloodshed in the context of the Old Testament in order to understand God’s judgments. God told Abraham in Genesis 15.16: “In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."

The Amorites were pagan and sacrificed their children to their gods. They were also into terrible sexual immorality. For this reason God used the children of Israel as judgment upon this sinful society. Agnostics and unbelievers will say that God is cruel and heartless—but the Amorites were Lot’s descendants and it was said of Lot that he was a righteous man. They knew about God’s law.

The bloodshed of innocent children and immoral sexual behavior led to God’s severe judgment upon them. Many will weep and mourn when our cities in America are burning because of racial unrest. The reason these things are going to happen is because as a nation we have turned away from God.

He is going to turn away from America for a season. The blood of innocent people is going to be shed. This is punishment for our national sins and the more than 60 million abortions that have been, and are continuing to be performed, in this country. God is going to “turn His back” until we cry out as a nation in repentance. This is scriptural and is how God chastises a nation. He will leave us to our rebellion for a season until we return to Him.

God is going to be looking for repentance and sorrow from our population. We are going to have to be able to explain to people why this was allowed to happen and to help them heal when they repent. This is not going to be an easy task and many will despise our message of repentance and turning back to God. Only after our country suffers great tragedy and returns to God Almighty will there be healing in this nation. Now is our time to prepare spiritually for this.

“Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24).

“But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is judged of no man” (1 Corinthians 2:14-15).

Blood is for Atonement of Sin                                                                                                                                                             For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’ Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘No one among you shall eat blood, nor shall any stranger who dwells among you eat blood.’ Lev 17.11-12

Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; and deliver us, and provide atonement for our sins, For Your name’s sake!  Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let there be known among the nations in our sight the avenging of the blood of Your servants which has been shed. Ps 79.9-10

Blood “Cries out” for Justice                                                                                                                                                           And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. Gen 4.10

“Oh earth, do not cover my blood, and let my cry have no resting place! Job 16.18

He will redeem their life from oppression and violence; and precious shall be their blood in His sight. Ps 72.14

Then they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our eyes seen it. Provide atonement, O Lord, for your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel.’ And atonement shall be provided on their behalf for the blood. So you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord (obey). Deut 21.7-9

Shedding Blood Brings Judgement                                                                                                                                   Also on your skirts is found the blood of the lives of the poor innocents. I have not found it by secret search, But plainly on all these things. Jeremiah 2.34

When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Isaiah 1.15

But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will surely bring innocent blood on yourselves, on this city, and on its inhabitants; for truly the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.” Jeremiah 26.15

Because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed in her midst the blood of the just they wandered blind in the streets; they have defiled themselves with blood, so that no one would touch their garments. Lamentations 4.13-14

Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity; for they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see!’ Ezek 9.9

 Then say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “The city sheds blood in her own midst, that her time may come; and she makes idols within herself to defile herself. You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and have defiled yourself with the idols which you have made. You have caused your days to draw near, and have come to the end of your years; therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all countries. Those near and those far from you will mock you as infamous and full of tumult. Ezek 2.23-5

Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it. Ezek 36.18

 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’ Ezek 36.6

“Behold, therefore, I beat My fists at the dishonest profit which you have made, and at the bloodshed which has been in your midst. Ezek 22.3-13…corporate fascism, shipping jobs overseas to make greater and greater profits.

Life is in the Blood                                                                                                                                                               But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man. “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man. Gen 9.4-6…live by the sword, die by the sword.

“Whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust; for it is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.’ Lev 17.13-14…drinking blood is like drinking Satan’s wine!

Shed Blood is to be “Covered with Earth”                                                                                                                        For behold, the Lord comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth will also disclose her blood, and will no more cover her slain. Isaiah 26.21

For her blood is in her midst; she set it on top of a rock; she did not pour it on the ground, to cover it with dust. That it may raise up fury and take vengeance, I have set her blood on top of a rock, that it may not be covered.” Ezek 24.7-8

And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. Gen 4.10

Shed Blood Pollutes the Land (or Nation)                                                                                                                     …they will bury Gog and all his multitude. Therefore they will call it the Valley of Hamon Gog. For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land. Indeed, all the people of the land will be burying, and they will gain renown for it on the day that I am glorified,” says the Lord God. Ezekiel 39.11-13…the seven months of burial purify the land so that God’s glory may appear.

…And shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood. Ps 106.38

Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty. Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. And you shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge  that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the priest.  So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. Num 35.30-33

For behold, the Lord comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth will also disclose her blood, and will no more cover her slain. Isaiah 26.21

 ^…if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, ⁷ then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. Jeremiah 7.6-7

Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it. Ezekiel 36.18…the impurity resulted from the blood which they shed upon the land…child sacrifice and idolatry.

“Look, the princes of Israel: each one has used his power to shed blood in you. In you they have made light of father and mother; in your midst they have oppressed the stranger; in you they have mistreated the fatherless and the widow. You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths. In you are men who slander to cause bloodshed; in you are those who eat on the mountains; in your midst they commit lewdness. In you men uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are set apart during their impurity. One commits abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; and another in you violates his sister, his father’s daughter. In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take usury and increase; you have made profit from your neighbors by extortion, and have forgotten Me,” says the Lord God. Ezek 22.6-13