The Bible says taking blood in an emergecy is O.K 1Sam 14:24-46 and more!!

by Witness 007 11 Replies latest jw experiences

• 

  Witness 007

  Saul commands his troops not to eat anything during a battle with the Philistines. Jonathan his son, takes a little honey and breaks the oath. Meanwhile, the starving troops verse 32: "And the people began darting greedily at the spoil, and taking sheep, slaughtering them on the earth, and the people fell to EATING ALONG WITH THE BLOOD." Saul tells the people not to do this, and builds an Altar to Jehovah.......... WHY WEREN'T THEY KILLED ACORDING TO THE LAW???

  Levitcus 17:10 "As for the man...EATS ANY SORT OF BLOOD...CUT HIM OFF FROM AMONGST HIS PEOPLE." Why did'nt Saul kill all his men? Why wasn't Jehovah displeased? Verse 37 says Jehovah "did not answer him on that day." Saul finds out Jehovah is displeased because JONATHAN ATE THE HONEY- NOT BECAUSE OF THE MEN EATING BLOOD????? So he plans to kill his son to appease Jehovah but the people stop him???!!!

  what if a Jew was out hunting and was starving but couldn't find anything to kill, bleed, and eat. If he found an animal already dead but not bled can he eat it? YES!!! Leviticus 17:13-15 "Hunting ...he must pour the blood out...As for any man who eats a body already dead or something torn by a wild beast...{punishment for eating un-bled meat?}....he must wash his garments and bathe in water and be unclean until evening." But is this verse REALY talking about an emergency? Duet 14:21 "You must not eat any body already dead {footnote: any animal found dead} To the alien resident...give it...or their maybe a selling of it to a foreigner..." This is what is done normally with "found meat" let some non-Jew eat it. In emergencies you can eat it but be unclean till evening. Not too bad a punishment!

  Acts 15:20 "My decision is not to trouble those from the nations turning to God...no further burden to you...keep abstaining from things 1.sacrificed to idols. 2.From blood 3.Things strangled 4.Fornication. {the 1950 N.W translation says keep yourself "free" from blood.} This was not given as a law for Christians. what about murder, lying, stealing etc. This was not to stumble non-Jews who were converting. As a Witness when was the last time you bought food at a Buddists store/resturant where a little idol sits in the corner with a food offering. This is "food sacrificed to idols" sin number 1.! When was the last time you showed your blood card to the butcher or deli and said "no blood." Like me you probably never thought about it. Sin 2+3. "blood" and "things strangled." Isn't this just as serious as sin 4. fornication? Why so casual today? 1 Corinth. chapter 8 Food sacrificed to Idols is a consience matter...what about blood?? Why are Witness Doctors and Nurses allowed to administer Transfusions if it a sin like fornication??
• 

  Leolaia

  Consider these three scriptures together:

  "Do not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is threatened ["Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life", NIV]. I am the LORD. Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives. Confront people directly so you will not be held guilty for their sin. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD" (Leviticus 19:16-18; NLT).

  "One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, 'Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?' He answered, 'Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.' Then he said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath [i.e. the needs of man exceed the legal requirements of the Sabbath]'...Then Jesus asked them, 'Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?' But they remained silent" (Mark 2:23-27, 3:4; NIV).

  "One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, 'Of all the commandments, which is the most important?' 'The most important one,' answered Jesus, 'is this: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." The second is this: "Love your neighbor as yourself [see Leviticus 19:16-18 above]." There is no commandment greater than these.' 'Well said, teacher,' the man replied. 'You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.' When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, 'You are not far from the kingdom of God' " (Mark 12:28-34).
• 

  WTWizard

  There is nothing wrong with medicinal use of blood. It is serious business and with certain risks including infections and type mismatches, but in cases where the patient is going to die or end up seriously impaired without it, the benefits outweigh the risks.

  And that's not what the Bible says. The Bible says that people should not eat blood as food. This is true with just about any drug. I view use of blood transfusions as if it were a drug: something that should be done when the benefits outweigh the cost. People take drugs all the time (we are a drug-crazed nation, and not street drugs at that). And in most cases, the drugs do more harm than good. However, when a person's life is threatened or permanent disability is at stake, the use of a drug is very much appropriate. And, while people can get disfellowshipped for abusing drugs, there is no provision for getting disfellowshipped for prescribed use of drugs. If anything, the Witlesses take more aspirin and cold pills because they get more headaches and colds just from being out in field circus all the time and not getting enough sleep.

  If they can be that flexible with drugs, then why not with blood transfusions? Just as I would not advocate people abusing cold pills or aspirin, I would not advocate people misusing blood because of the risks and because the supply is limited. However, should they ban medical use of blood and not ban medical use of prescription drugs like Xanax and Prozac?
• 

  The Fancyful and Decried Slave

  The situation described in 1 Samuel was not a life-threatening danger, as the WTS would like to make us believe. Those Israelites had had their last meal in the morning. They were reproached their contempt for the law, that's all. The fact is that they could perfectly have bled the animals if they had only taken the little extra time necessary to do it.

  The WTS shamefully fools its audience when pretending that those Israelites ate blood out of any necessity.

  What has that story to do with a blood transfusion in a critical situation?

  Shame, shame on you, Watchtower
• 

  Anti-Christ

  The bible also says you can sell your daughter into slavery, rape the women of your enemies and so on...
• 

  greendawn

  David ate of the Holy bread that only priests were allowed to eat but was excused because they were starving, what it boils down to is that saving lives is above the law. The JWs are incredibly legalistic and bigotted. They see laws as an absolute quality and have zero flexibility with them.
• 

  Mary

  I think WTWizard gave an excellent comparison. While there were laws specifically stating not to eat animal blood, there is clear evidence that in a life-or-death situation, the "cutting off" did not apply. The WTS claims that accepting another human's blood into our own body is no different than eating the blood of a dead animal and should be punished by "cutting off" the guilty party by way of DFing them, even if it means they would have died without the transfusion.

  Yet they fail to apply the same logic to the use of drugs. If someone in the congregation used heroin, cocaine or even marijuana as a recreational drug, they'll end up disfellowshipped. Yet morphine and demerol (which can be just as addictive) are routinely given to patients, including Jehovah's Witnesses, when they've had an operation and they're not disfellowshipped. Why? Because it's medically necessary-----it's not being used as a recreational drug.

  A blood transfusion should be viewed in the same manner: It's medically necessary-----it's not like you're eating blood pudding or blood sausage in a "recreational" manner. Rather, it's being done to preserve human life. But I guess that would just make too much sense.
• 

  The Fancyful and Decried Slave

  Life should be more precious than its symbol, blood.

  So simple.

  The fact that millions of JWs fail to see that simple truth tells us much about the power of a cult over human brains.
• 

  Shawn10538

  One translation of Acts 15:20 says to abstain from the spilling of blood (murder).
• 

  darth frosty

  Actually the OT example you should focus on is the story of david and his men eating the show bread from the tabernacle. As the WT$ is fond of pointing out, this was an offense punishable by death but due to the extreme circumstance it was okay for david to break the law(is it me or did he get away with that a lot.)