Lev 17.11 says, “For the life of the flesh (nefesh basar) is in the blood (b’dam) and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement (restore a covering) for your souls (nafshetaychem); for it is the blood (ha dam) by reason of the life (nefesh) that makes atonement.” So let’s take a look at some of the concepts associated with this verse and the concept of “life is in the blood.” The nefesh is seen as the individual person or human life in Gen 2.7. Emotions start in the womb and the sinful Adamic blood-line is passed down from generation to generation (Exo 20.8). Sin is in our life and flesh. However, on a side note and a whole separate discussion, sin or a sinful nature is not a necessary condition for being truly human. For example, Adam was human before sinned entered, and Yeshua was human and the “second Adam” but he was without sin. But that discussion is for another time.
We are created in our parents “blood” and we are “flesh of their flesh” and it is as if their “voices” are out there. Now DNA is our programming data, and RNA carries the instructions from our DNA. Thoughts and emotions impact our will, the action part of the nefesh. So the voices of our parents cry out through the memory of the blood. If we listen we become like them. We “inherit” their mindset, fears, and anger. These are unrighteous “roots” and if we repeat these long enough, it becomes our nature. God’s nature is found in his word where we learn strength, love, forgiveness and mercy. Here are some Scriptures for consideration-Heb 4.12-13; 1 John 4.18; Neh 8.10; 1 John 1.8-9; 1 Cor 10.5; Rom 7. 16-18, 22-25; Rom 8.1-2; 1 John 5.1-2; 2 Cor 7.1, Rom 5.1-2; Prov 17.22; 1 John 4.18; Isa 35.3-6; Psa 51.10; Prov 23.7; Phil 4.6-7; Jam 1.14, 19-22.
The will of the person is the action part of the person, based on thoughts and emotions. The feelings are sensory data where we “see, hear and feel” and are the result of what we believe about sensory data. and perception is how we relate to the world around us through our senses. Emotions have bodily functions and fuel that feeling with a belief system that has been programmed with negative data, so the body functions are negative rather than positive. Emotional roots of fear, anger and sorrow come from our memory part of the nefesh. Any thoughts we have that do not match how the Lord thinks and speaks cause “blockages” to peace and healing. As a result, that is the root of many diseases. The ultimate purpose of the Torah is life (Deut 11.26, 30.6; Prov 3.1-18; Acts 10.35). So let’s look again at Lev 17.11.
If life is in the blood, why do people say life begins before there is blood? There is an article in “Answers in Genesis. org” called “Flesh and Blood” and it is written by Dr Elizabeth Mitchell, dated Oct 14, 2011. It is a very balanced article on this verse and will answer the above question.
Just about any believer has gotten into a discussion about when life begins and abortion. Traditionally, conception has been defined as the moment when the sperm fertilizes the egg. Medicine has redefined “conception” as a synonym for “implantation” that occurs several days after fertilization, but that is not true. Fertilization is when the sperm fertilizes the egg, combining their genetic information producing a zygote with full DNA. The “new person” only needs to develop. The earliest blood cells and cardiovascular systems develop during the third week of development. Does that mean human life does not begin until there is blood? Lev 17.11 says, “LIfe is in the blood?” But we need to understand that verse to answer the above question, so let’s look at some context.
In Lev 17.10 we learn that while in the wilderness, Israel was instructed to slaughter their animals at the Mishkan to make sure that nobody was sacrificing to demons in secret. They were to pour out the blood instead of eating it. Blood was special to the Lord and they were to remember that the korbanot had a “kedusha” and the blood was to be poured out on the altar. To eat it would diminish the kedusha and its meaning. Lev 17.14 is the key verse in understanding Lev 17.11. That verse says that “For it (the blood) 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 in its blood.’ ” Blood is not alive, but any creature beyond a certain size requires a circulatory system to stay alive. As we have said before, the blood transports oxygen and nutrients to the body. When all the blood leaves the body, that creature dies because life cannot be sustained.
Dr Mitchell explains that the Bible never really defines what life is, but neither does science. We can be alive one minute, and dead the next. The characteristics of life can be described but what that unidentified thing is that makes something alive has not been discovered. The Torah uses the word “nefesh” to refer to the life and soul of humans and animals, but not in regards to plant and insects. Life comes from God (Acts 17.28), and the blood sustains life. Creatures continue to live because they have blood, but the blood does not make them alive. That is a big difference. We can die from something other than loss of blood. We are still dead even though there is still blood in their bodies.
So, the presence of blood in an embryo beyond a certain size is needed in order to maintain life, but it already possessed life from God before that. In the case of a human embryo, that gift includes being made in God’s image. So, based on Lev 17.14 as it elaborates on Lev 17.11, the life of the flesh is in the blood because it sustains life in the flesh. From the third week forward a human embryo develops blood and a system to circulate it through the body to maintain the life it already possesses. When an egg is fertilized the gift of life is given to it by God, just like when he breathed into Adam in Gen 2.17. The genetic blueprint at the time of fertilization marks the moment when a human life begins. Even if there will be twins (like Jacob and Esau), God provides the resources for creating two (or more) individual souls in the womb (Psa 139.16). DNA may be similar, but they will have individual personalities because there is more to a person than the blueprint. When three weeks have passed, that life (or lives) will begin to produce the blood and circulatory system that is needed to sustain that life already there until death. So, life begins at fertilization, but the blood does not make them alive. It keeps them alive, and that is what Lev 17.11-14 is saying.
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