(By : Dessy Maharani – Stand To JESUS Writing Team)
There are many Christians out there who say that it is permissible to consume the blood of certain animals as food or as a mixture of cooking ingredients. So what does the Bible say about eating animal blood?
1. Old Testament Point of View
Genesis 9:4 (IMB) The only thing you must not eat is meat that still has blood in it. Because in blood there is life.
Leviticus 7:26 (IMB) And in all your residences, you must not eat the blood of anything, whether of birds or animals.
Leviticus 7:27 (IMB) Everyone who eats any blood, that person must be cut off from his people. ”
Leviticus 19:26 (IMB) Do not eat anything with blood in it; do not study and do not predict.
Deuteronomy 12:16 (IMB) You must not eat only the blood, but you must pour it out on the ground like water.
Deuteronomy 12:23-25 (IMB) However, make sure not to eat the blood because blood is life, so do not eat the life together with the flesh; you must not eat it, you must pour it out on the ground like water. Do not eat it so that it may be good for you and your descendants, when you do what is right in the eyes of YAHWEH.
2. New Testament Point of View
Acts 15:20 (IMB) but we write to them to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood , from strangled animals, and from sexual immorality.
Acts 15:29 (IMB) namely abstaining from food sacrificed to idols, from blood , from strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. If you distance yourself from all that, then you do what is good. Stay strong! ”
Acts 21:25 (IMB) But regarding the Gentiles who have believed, on them we have written our decree, that they do not need to observe such things, but it is sufficient if they abstain from the food offered to idols, from blood , from the flesh of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. ”
3. Medical Point of View
From a medical perspective and based on many research results, animal blood is susceptible to bacterial growth, so consuming it can increase the risk of infection and other diseases. Some diseases that can be caused include anthrax, worms, malaria, elephantiasis/filariasis, bird flu, leptospirosis and others. So it is absolutely not permissible to consume any animal blood.
4. A verse that is often misinterpreted as a green light
Matthew 15:11 (IMB) It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person. ”
This verse is often misinterpreted as a green light that Christians can consume blood, even though if you read this passage in full, JESUS’ words are a rebuke to the scribes and Pharisees who criticized JESUS’ disciples for eating without washing their hands. That’s it in full :
Matthew 15:1-2 (IMB) Then the scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem came to Jesus and said, “Why do your disciples violate the tradition of their fathers, because they do not wash their hands when eating bread? “
Matthew 15:10-12 (IMB) Then Jesus called the crowd and said to them, “Listen and understand: It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person. ” Then His disciples came to Him and said, “Teacher, do You know that the Pharisees stumbled when they heard these words? “
And what you need to know, the Jews never ate the blood of any animal in their food, and JESUS’ words were a rebuke to the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees.
Conclusion :
Both the Old and New Testaments forbid consuming animal blood, not without reason, before research and the sophistication of health technology, God already knew very well the dangers of eating animal blood for human health, God’s prohibition was actually for the good of humans themselves, if humans were persistent and hard-hearted Don’t want to follow what God has warned you about and continue to eat blood. Don’t ever blame God if one day the people who consume animal blood experience illness as a result of the unhealthy food they eat.
