Purpose of Sprinkling with Blood/Water 1

What is the purpose of Sprinkling with blood and/or water in the OT, and
how is each fulfilled in the NT?

OKINO BROOMFIELD

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for

Old Testament Theology

Lecturer: Robert P. Conway

Regent College of the Caribbean

Due Date: October 16, 2024

Purpose of the Sprinkling with Blood

Exodus 24:7-8
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7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will
do everything the LORD has said; we will obey.”
8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the
covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

Moses serves as the mediator between God and Israel during the covenant with Israel. After
divine revelations and laws, a ratification ceremony is held to affirm commitment to God's
commandments. This ceremony includes sacrifices, symbolizing dedication to God. This
event foreshadows the ultimate sacrifice in the New Testament, highlighting the continuity of
God's covenantal dealings with humanity.

The Sprinkling of Blood fulfillment in NT

Hebrews 12:24, 25
And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh
better things than that of Abel. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped
not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away
from him that speaketh from heaven."—

The apostle reminds us that we are not coming to Mount Sinai and its overwhelming
manifestations, but rather to the joyous atmosphere of Jerusalem above, the metropolis of
God. We have come to a more joyous sight than Sinai, where the Hebrew worshipper lived
continually beneath the shadow of the darkness of a broken law. The believer in the Lord
Jesus Christ lives in a more joyful atmosphere, as they have come to the joyous assembly of
all pure intelligence who have met, not in trembling but in joyous liberty, to keep the feast
with their great Lord and King.

We have also come to Jesus, our Savior, who is all and in all. In him we live; we are joined
unto him in one spirit; he is the bridegroom of our souls, the delight of our hearts. We have
come to him as the mediator of the new covenant. What a blessed thing it is to know that
covenant of which he is the Mediator! Some in these days despise the covenant, but saints
delight in it. To them, the everlasting covenant, "ordered in all things, and sure," is all their
salvation and all their desire. We are covenanted ones through our Lord Jesus. God has
pledged himself to bless us. By two immutable things wherein it is impossible for him to lie,
he has given us strong consolation and good hope through grace, even to all of us who have
fled for refuge to the Lord Jesus. We are happy to live under the covenant of grace, the
covenant of promise, the covenant symbolized by Jerusalem above, which is free and the
mother of us all.

The last thing mentioned is the blood of sprinkling. On that first day at Sinai, no blood or
sprinkling was presented. Later, it was used by divine order to ratify the national covenant
which the tribes made with Jehovah at the foot of the hill. The Lord says, "My covenant they
break, although I was a husband unto them." He never breaks his covenant, but they break it
because they failed to keep that condition of obedience without which a covenant founded
Purpose of Sprinkling with Blood/Water 3

upon works falls to the ground. We have come to the blood of sprinkling which has fallen
upon a covenant which never shall be broken, for the Lord hath made it to endure though
rocks and hills removed. This is called by the Holy Ghost "a better covenant, which was
established upon better promises." We are come to the covenant of grace, to Jesus the
Mediator of it, and to his blood, which is the seal of it.

"The blood of sprinkling" refers to the pains, sufferings, humiliation, and death of Jesus
Christ on behalf of guilty men. This term does not primarily refer to the literal material blood
that flowed from Jesus' wounds but encompasses the sufferings and death of Jesus by which
he magnified the law of God. It is not just about the literal fact of his shedding his blood but
also the griefs that Jesus vicariously endured on our behalf at Gethsemane, Gabbatha, and
Golgotha, and especially his yielding up his life upon the tree of scorn and doom.

The sufferings and death of Jesus were not only apparent but also true and real, involving an
incalculable degree of pain and anguish. To redeem our souls cost Jesus an exceeding
sorrowfulness "even unto death," bloody sweat, heartbroken with reproach, and the agony of
being forsaken by his Father. Our Mediator endured death under the worst possible aspects,
bereft of the support, which in all other cases of godly men was afforded by the goodness and
faithfulness of God. His was not merely a natural death, but a death aggravated by
supernatural circumstance, which infinitely intensified its woe.

These sufferings and deaths were voluntarily undertaken by himself out of pure love for us,
and in order that we might thereby be justly saved from deserved punishment. There was no
natural reason on his own account why he should suffer, bleed, and die. Out of supreme love
for us, the Son of God assumed human flesh, becoming indeed a man, in order to offer in
man's place a full vindication to the righteous and unchangeable law of God. Being God, he
thus showed forth the wondrous love of God to man by being willing to suffer personally
rather than the redeemed should die as the just result of their sin. The matchless majesty of
his divine person lent supreme efficacy to his sufferings.

The text does not merely speak of the bloodshed, which I have explained to you, but of "the
blood of sprinkling." This is the atonement applied for divine purposes, especially applied to
our own hearts and consciences by faith. The blood of sprinkling often signified the
confirmation of a covenant, as seen in Exodus 24. The blood of bulls and goats in that case
was but a type of the sacrificial blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The lesson from Exodus 24 is
that the blood of sprinkling means the blood of ratification or confirmation of the covenant,
which God has been pleased to make with men in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Since
Jesus died, the promises are Yea and Amen to all believers, and must assuredly be fulfilled.
The covenant of grace had but one condition, and that condition Jesus has fulfilled by his
death so that it has now become a covenant of pure and unconditional promise to all the seed.

Purpose of the Sprinkling with Water

Leviticus 14:7
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. And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy, and shall
pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose in the open field.

The priest used a cedar stick to dip hyssop into blood and water, symbolizing complete
cleansing. The patient's back and forehead were then sprinkled seven times, symbolizing the
complete cleansing. This process was repeated seven times in the Jordan, as seen in the story
of Naaman. The priest then cured the patient and liberated a bird, symbolizing freedom for
the patient and the bird. The ancient canons decreed that the bird should be let loose into the
open field, not towards the sea, wilderness, or city. The cedar wood, crimson thread, hyssop,
and bird could be used again for the cleansing of other lepers if caught again. This practice is
a reminder of the importance of cleansing and regaining liberty.

The Sprinkling of Water fulfillment in NT

Hebrew 10:22
"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."

The author of Hebrews encourages believers to approach God with sincerity and confidence
in their faith, emphasizing the importance of having a pure heart and clear conscience. The
central theme of the book is drawing near to God with a true heart, emphasizing the
accessibility of God through Jesus Christ's sacrifice. This new way of entering into the
presence of God contrasts with the Old Testament system of sacrifices and rituals, which
were temporary and could not truly cleanse the worshipper's conscience.
The phrase "in full assurance of faith" emphasizes the importance of unwavering trust in
God's promises, grounded in the redemptive work of Christ and the hope that believers have
in Him. The imagery of having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies
washed with pure water echoes the language of cleansing and purification, symbolizing the
spiritual cleansing that believers experience through the forgiveness of sins in Christ.

This verse also carries a message of hope and restoration, implying a deep and genuine
relationship with God. The assurance of faith and cleansing of heart and body offer a message
of renewal and transformation, inviting believers to leave behind the guilt and shame of their
past sins and approach God with freedom and confidence in their new identity in Christ.
The context of Hebrews 10:22 is important for understanding its significance within the
broader message of the book. The author exhorts Jewish Christians facing persecution and
doubts to remain steadfast in their commitment to Christ and persevere in their faith despite
challenges. The call to draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith serves as a
reminder that they have been given access to God through Christ and can trust in His
faithfulness.