Today I read Leviticus 17 where God tells the Israelites to abstain from eating, and I assume drinking, the blood of any creature. I'm not sure how anyone would acquire a taste for blood anyway, anytime I accidentally get some on my tongue from a wound of my own it tastes all metallic, I can't imagine another animal's blood being any better.
The Lord makes an interesting statement however in that He tells the Israelites that the Atonement is in the blood. Or in other words, what makes their animal sacrifices worth anything other than just a dead animal, is the blood itself. I do not claim to understand how this works but God said it and Joseph Smith did not correct it so it is true. I know that when Jesus Christ did the Atonement for all mankind, He bled from every pore because of the pain. I had always assumed that was a side effect of what He was doing, but after reading this chapter today, perhaps there is more to it than that. Perhaps His bleeding at every pore was necessary, perhaps He had to shed His own blood in order for it to be a true Atonement. I am honestly just guessing here and don't know for sure.
But I remember some cultures, including the Chinese which I am pretty familiar with because of my mission, they eat the blood of animals in such things as blood sausage and blood cake. According to what I read in this chapter that is against what Heavenly Father wants us to be doing. The blood is important and not for our consumption. Good enough for me. Until tomorrow.
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