Rightly Communing

# 191 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 14:31 Now they had driven back the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. So the people were very faint. 32 And the people rushed on the spoil, and took sheep, oxen, and calves, and slaughtered them on the ground; and the people ate them with the blood. 33 Then they told Saul, saying, "Look, the people are sinning against the LORD by eating with the blood!" So he said, "You have dealt treacherously; roll a large stone to me this day." (1 Sam 14:31-33) This is not good. Blood of animals was not to be ingested because the blood of animals serves a very special purpose in the Old Testament. It is a foreshadowing of the precious blood of Jesus that would be shed for the sins of the world. Le 17:10,11, says, “'And whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. 11 '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.' And as it says in Heb 9:22, “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. But the Israelites were famished after their long day of pursuing the Philistines, and when the sun set, they tore into the animals blood and all. They gave no thought to the preciousness of the blood, no thought to the covenant with God. Saul rightly points out that they have “dealt treacherously with the Lord,” They have transgressed, violated the covenant. This is a serious matter, even today. The blood of the covenant is still with us whenever we celebrate the Lords Supper, and the partaking of the Lord's Supper is not to be rushed into. 1Co 11:28,29 says, “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. To mindlessly participate in the Lord's Supper is to deal treacherously with the Lord.