BLOOD x7
There are few, if any, details in the Bible which are not significant. This seems especially true when numbers are involved since they have particular meaning in the Scriptures. For example, the number 7 is considered to be one of the numbers of Spiritual perfection or completion. It is said that God rested on the seventh day; there are 7 Jewish feasts; it is the number of the Holy Spirit; it took Solomon 7 years to build the Temple; there are over fifty-five 7’s in the Book of Revelation and others. In addition, to swear an oath in Hebrew is “to seven oneself.”*
So when a detail including the number 7 is present, one has to consider the implication of that number. In Leviticus, God tells Moses that if a priest himself sins, he is to sacrifice a young bull and “…dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the LORD…”(4:6). Likewise, the same is to take place if the whole congregation was to sin (Leviticus 4:17). Similar instructions are given in Leviticus 16:14 and Numbers 19:4; evidence that the number 7 was important in sacrifices which were done because of the sins of the Israelites.
So why the repetitive use of the number 7 in the sacrifices reported in the Old Testament? Was it to signify that the sacrifice was then complete and thus God was then satisfied with what had been done? If so, then let us examine the crucifixion of Christ.
If the spilling of blood seven times seemed to be important in the function of the priest in Jewish times. The Bible tells us that Jesus bled from his sweat glands in the Garden, a process called hematohidrosis. It’s a rare condition caused by undue stress and anxiety. Luke 22:44 says: “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
Jesus bled from his skin when He was flogged. Being flogged with the Roman instrument would have caused considerable bleeding from His back and anywhere else He may have been struck. The Bible reports that Pilate had Jesus scourged (Matthew 27:26) as prophesied in Isaiah “…and by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
Jesus also would have bled from His internal organs when He was beaten and crushed. “…he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him…” (Isaiah 53:5, NIV).
Jesus would have bled from His head because of the crown of thorns. “And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head…” (John 19:2). It has been said that the agony of the crown of thorns was meant to indicate that He took upon Himself all the mental anguish so that we should be free from anxiety and guilt.
Jesus would have bled from His hands or wrists from the nails holding Him to the cross. He was “…by lawless hands crucified and put to death;” (Acts 2:23). It has been said that He absorbed the effects of injury on His hands so that our hands might be free to do only what is right and to worship.
Jesus also bled from His feet from the spikes holding Him there. His feet took the wayward path we all tend to follow at times thereby showing us how to walk in the way that is right and in “…the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy…” (Luke 10:19).
Finally, Jesus bled from His side after being pierced by a spear. “But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out” (John 19:34). The blood and water combined indicates that probably His heart and/or surrounding tissues were damaged. Some say this was to take away, and therefore mend, our broken hearts.
In Leviticus, the priest was told to take the blood of the sacrifice and sprinkle it seven times in different places on and before the mercy seat. Jesus bled seven times and from seven different places. It shows one more connection between the Old and New Testaments and gives us one more thing to think about.
*Brown-Driver-Briggs — https://bible hub.com/hebrew/7650.htm
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