What does "sprinkled the blood" in 2 Chronicles 35:11 signify about atonement? The Setting in 2 Chronicles 35 • King Josiah is restoring the Passover with meticulous obedience to the Law. • 2 Chronicles 35:11: “They slaughtered the Passover animals, and while the priests sprinkled the blood handed to them, the Levites flayed the animals.” • The priests act exactly as commanded in the Torah—handling the blood before anything else is done with the carcasses. Sprinkling the Blood: Why Does It Matter? • Visual proclamation that sin demands death; the victim’s life is substituted for the worshiper’s life. • Blood, representing life, is placed on the altar to cover guilt and secure forgiveness. • The priests sprinkle, not splash randomly; the deliberate act shows God’s ordered way of reconciliation. • By obeying, Israel publicly confesses, “We cannot atone for ourselves; God receives this life in our place.” Old Testament Foundations of Atonement by Blood • Leviticus 17:11: “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for your souls on the altar; since it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” • Exodus 12:7 (Passover origin): “Moreover, they are to take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat the lambs.” • Every sprinkling ritual—from the tabernacle dedication (Leviticus 8) to the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16)—reinforces the same truth: God accepts a sinless life offered in place of the sinner. Pointing Forward to the Perfect Sacrifice • Hebrews 9:22: “According to the law, nearly everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” • Hebrews 9:12: “He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption.” • Hebrews 10:4: “because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” • 1 Peter 1:18-19: “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed… but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.” • Every priestly sprinkle in Josiah’s day is a foreshadowing of Christ’s once-for-all offering, where His blood is not merely sprinkled on an earthly altar but presented in the heavenly sanctuary. Living in the Light of the Cross Today • Confidence: if the temporary blood of Passover lambs covered Israel, how much more does Christ’s blood fully cleanse (Hebrews 9:14). • Gratitude: remembering the costliness of redemption stirs worship and obedience. • Witness: the sprinkled blood declares that forgiveness is not earned but received—an unchanging message for every generation. |
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