3/8/2026 A Proper Understanding of Bloo

03.08.2026. Sunday Sermon Rev. Jeungbok Lee
Text: Genesis 4:10–12, Numbers 35:33–34
Title: A Proper Understanding of Bloodshed

Genesis 4:10–12
And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you cultivate the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”

Numbers 35:33–34
“You shall not defile the land in which you live; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it except by the blood of the one who shed it. You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the LORD dwell among the sons of Israel.”

The Bible begins with the evaluation that this world created by God “was good in His sight.” However, because of Adam’s fall, the ground came under a curse. Furthermore, through Cain’s murder, the ground was defiled by the blood of the righteous Abel. As a judgment for this, Cain came to be cursed from the ground.

After the flood of Noah, God again gave Noah’s family the command to be fruitful and multiply, and He gave a clear warning about blood.

Genesis 9:6
“Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man.”

And to Israel, who had been delivered from Egypt, God gave an even clearer warning: “You shall not defile the land in which you live.”

Today’s sermon is about why the shedding of human blood—that is, murder—defiles the land, and what must be done for a defiled land to be restored.

1. The world that God created was a land that was good in His sight.

Here, the word “good” does not simply mean beautiful. In Hebrew, the word for “good” is tov (טוב), which means orderly, fitting its purpose, and in accordance with God’s will.

Therefore, the land God created was not chaotic but orderly. The land God created was a place that became the foundation for life and helped life to flourish. Because the land God created was good in God’s sight, it abundantly produced various vegetables and fruits of trees necessary for animals and humans. Nowhere was there a curse, nor were there droughts or storms that would destroy the crops cultivated by humans.

2. The land in which we now live is not the land that was good in God’s sight.

Then why has the land become what it is now? I will explain the cause from the perspective of bloodshed.

2.1) When human blood is shed on the ground, the ground demands justice (vengeance) from God.

Genesis 4:10
And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.”

Especially when human blood is shed on the ground, the blood that has been shed cries out to God. It actively pleads with God to avenge the blood.

Even though Cain killed Abel and secretly buried him in the ground, Abel’s blood that was shed on the ground demanded its due (the vengeance according to justice) from God. The God of justice executes punishment on the murderer Cain according to the cry of that blood.

This is the meaning contained in the words, “Your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.”

2.2) The one who sheds human blood will be cursed from the ground.

Genesis 4:11
“And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you cultivate the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you.”

Human beings are noble because they are made in the image of God. Blood is the life of a person. Humans are beings made from dust. God alone is the Lord of human life.

If a person kills another person, who bears the image of God, and sheds his blood, that is an invasion of God’s sovereignty. Naturally, there will be punishment for it.

God executed that punishment through the ground, which is the origin of humanity. That is, the murderer would receive a curse from the ground so that he could no longer obtain the harvest that comes from the land.

From a general perspective, if human blood is shed frequently and abundantly in a land, it means that people who disregard God’s sovereignty live in that land. In the end, the people living in that land will receive a curse from the land where much blood has been shed.

The land will become desolate, and eventually the land will vomit out the people living on it. It will no longer be a place suitable for human life.

2.3) Bloodshed is not merely a murder case. Bloodshed is a spiritual event.

Bloodshed is not only a personal sin but also a very serious spiritual problem for the community. This is because God is holy and does not desire to dwell together with those who shed blood.

This is why God warned the people of Israel, who were delivered from Egypt and were about to enter the promised land, not to defile the land with blood. If the people of Israel continued to defile the land with blood, God would refuse to remain with them in that land and would drive them out.

This applies equally to all people. Even in societies made up of unbelievers, there exists a universal morality that God has placed in each person’s conscience. But if much blood is shed in that society, it reveals that the universal morality placed by God has collapsed. That society will lose its function.

Then people will no longer be able to live in that land and will have to leave it. It becomes like Cain, who, after shedding Abel’s blood, was judged and became a refugee who could not settle in the land.

This is my opinion, but I will briefly give Syria as an example.

After seizing power through a coup in 1970, a strong police state system was established and hundreds of thousands of opponents were brutally killed. In 1982, power was inherited by the son, who strengthened the dictatorship and killed many people. From 2006 to 2010, a severe drought caused agriculture to collapse. Farmers who could no longer harvest from the land moved to cities, and the cities became overcrowded, throwing society into instability.

Later, under the influence of the Arab Spring and combined with economic problems, democratization protests arose, and again much blood of protesters was shed. Then rebels emerged, war broke out, and even more blood was shed. About 6.7 million people fled abroad. Even within Syria, about 13 million people became displaced wanderers.

Through this, I think we may see the possibility of judgment that comes upon a nation that has caused much blood to be shed on its land. However, I do not state this conclusively. But one thing is clear: mass killing is certainly a great sin before God.

Therefore, a community that desires to enjoy God’s protection must treat the sin of shedding blood very seriously. Especially when leaders become dictators and cause much bloodshed, society collapses and the nation will face judgment. Naturally, the people living within it will suffer indescribable hardships.

2.4) Because of the sin of bloodshed, Israel was actually destroyed in history and expelled from the land God had given them.

First, the northern kingdom of Israel eventually perished because of violent bloodshed. The prophet Hosea was the last prophet of the northern kingdom. He prophesied the dreadful end of the wickedness of northern Israel, and it actually happened. He clearly states that their bloodshed was the cause of their destruction.

Hosea 4:1–3
“Hear the word of the LORD, O sons of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land, because there is no faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land. There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing, and adultery; they employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns, and everyone who lives in it languishes, along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky; even the fish of the sea disappear.”

Second, the destruction of Jerusalem was also due to the shedding of innocent blood.

2 Kings 24:3–4
Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the LORD, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also because of the innocent blood that he had shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was not willing to forgive.

2.5) I will briefly summarize what we have discussed about bloodshed.

Cain shed blood by killing Abel. Abel’s blood requested justice from God for the blood that had been shed. God punished Cain for the blood he had shed by causing him to be cursed from the ground. He could no longer settle in the land to gain income from it and had to become a wanderer.

Israel, which had settled in the land of Canaan, shed blood. As a result, they were driven out of that land and taken into exile. They were taken captive by people more cruel and evil than themselves.

Northern Israel became captives of the Assyrian Empire, one of the most brutal empires. Southern Judah was taken captive by Babylon and had to live scattered.

Human history led by mankind is a history of bloodshed through violence. Even now, in every nation and every place in the world, people kill others for their own benefit and cause blood to flow on this earth.

It seems as if there is no hope for us. Is there really any hope left for us? How can humanity pay the price for the blood that has been shed and still have hope?

3. How can restoration from the sin of “bloodshed” be accomplished?

3.1) The land can only be restored through the blood of the one who shed blood.

Numbers 35:33
“You shall not defile the land in which you live; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it except by the blood of the one who shed it.”

The sin of killing a person made in the image of God must certainly receive its corresponding punishment. The basic principle of punishment flowing throughout Scripture is “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” In other words, the blood of the murderer must be shed.

Exodus 21:12
“He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.”

Even if the killing occurred accidentally, there still had to be a price for the bloodshed. If someone killed a person unintentionally, he had to flee to a city of refuge and enter that city and have the elders recognize that the killing was not intentional. Then he had to remain there until the death of the high priest. After that he could return to his home.

The blood for the blood he had shed was regarded as having been paid through the death of the high priest. God is always the One who establishes justice.

3.2) The wages of sin is death. This applies equally to all people.

God allowed Israel to avoid death caused by sin through the atonement of animal blood. However, this was only a temporary and provisional measure.

In sacrificial offerings, the reason the blood of animals was sprinkled on the altar was to confirm the forgiveness of sins by letting the animal’s blood be shed in the place where our own blood should have been shed.

3.3) For the solution to all sins, the blood of Jesus was sprinkled on the altar.

Matthew 26:28
“For this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”

Jesus did not come to this earth merely as a moral example. He came as a substitute to shed His blood for our sins, to cleanse our sins, and to cleanse this earth.

In fact, Christianity is a religion of blood. In order to pay the price for the blood shed by all humanity, He offered His own body as a sacrificial offering and poured out His blood on this earth.

To proclaim Jesus Christ, who shed His blood on behalf of humanity and paid the price of sin, is to proclaim the gospel. Christianity is the religion that gives the hope of eternal life to those who believe in Jesus Christ who shed His blood for us.

Therefore, all who are in Jesus Christ are blessed people whose problem of sin has been resolved. When Jesus finally returns to this earth, we will fully enjoy the restored blessing through the blood of Jesus Christ in the new heaven and the new earth.

4. Finally, I will make some applications.

4.1) We must live with respect for life.

This does not necessarily refer only to literal murder that physically sheds blood. Forms of bloodshed include violence, verbal violence, exclusion, and exploitation.

Simply put, in the workplace or in the place where I live, we must listen to the tears and suffering of the weak instead of pursuing our own benefit, and we must respect every person who bears the image of God. Believers must not be accused before God by causing these forms of bloodshed.

4.2) Believers must live with a mission to prevent forms of bloodshed from occurring in the environment where they live.

This is because if bloodshed exists around us, the land becomes defiled and will eventually be judged by God and expelled from that land. The history of Israel clearly shows that this is true.

Therefore, believers must become people who strive to restore the environments they belong to into lands that are “good in God’s sight,” where God’s rule is present.

4.3) If we have committed sins that cause forms of bloodshed, we must honestly pay the price (atonement) for those sins.

We must sincerely repent and make efforts to comfort and compensate those who have been hurt. Without such active efforts, the community will weaken and eventually collapse. Therefore, we must not regard sins that cause forms of bloodshed merely as personal sins.

4.4) In this fallen world, believers must rely only on the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

The land where much blood has been shed cries out to God for justice (vengeance). The proper price for this demand of judgment must certainly be fulfilled. However, nothing can fully satisfy the demand for vengeance except the blood of Christ.

Therefore, we must work even harder to evangelize and tell people about the redemption accomplished through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. We must proclaim that only Jesus Christ is the one and only way of salvation.

Let us pray. (End)