The Sacrifices

Reading the Old Testament, a believer can become rather upset over the old system of sacrifice. The idea of slaughtering sheep, specifically unblemished lambs, oxen, bulls, and pigeons can make us squimish. Unsettling thoughts can begin to seep into the head, "How could God kill innocent animals? Why does he need a blood sacrifice? Was not sacrifices pagan?" It can be confusing, but then maybe not. The real reasons for the Temple sacrifices are trifold. The first and most settling is that the animals sacrificed were eaten by priests, "The Levitical priests--indeed, the whole tribe of Levi--are to have no allotment or inheritance with Israel. They shall live on the food offerings presented to the LORD, for that is their inheritance." (Deuteronomy 18:1). The Tribe of Levi got their sole sustenance from the sacrifices offered unto the Lord. So that meat was not simply thrown into braziers and spoiled, it was stored and fed God's people.

The second reason for the sacrifice was to sanctify and make covenant. After mankind fell from grace, and sin entered the world, there was no means to cleanse man and make him acceptable before God. Only blood had the power to cleanse, "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." (Exodus 24:8). The blood was part of covenant making. Abraham beheld God walking through the sacrifice and blood (Genesis 15), and King David and Jonathan (King Saul's son)were blood brothers, having made covenant with each (1 Samuel 18:3). More importantly, the blood protected from death in Egypt, "Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt." (Exodus 12:7, 13). All this blood was to be symbolic of Christ's Blood that would save us from sin, it is called foreshadowing.

The third reason was to help man cope with his guilt (sin). Man stained with sin was burdened with a seared conscious and no hope of salvation. The sprinkling of the lambs was to help sinners feel some sense of forgiveness, albeit incomplete, because the sacrifices had to be perpetually made every year for each individual and the nation as a whole. Thankfully Jesus Christ came and became the once for all sacrifice, "And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all," (Hebrews 10:10), ""He himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; "by his wounds you have been healed," (1 Peter 2:24), "For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body, but made alive in the spirit," (1 Peter 3:18), and finally, "So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.  Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins." (Hebrews 9:11-14).  

We now are truly cleansed once for all and everyday by the Blood of Jesus Christ, "And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for [the sins of] the whole world." (1 John 2:2). Jesus Christ has purchased our freedom from sin. We once had to make sacrifices to comfort our consciousness, but now Christ has covered us with His blood, "And from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness, [and] the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood." (Revelation 1:5). This blood is also a New Covenant with us, that God keeps when we believe in Jesus Christ as Lord (Yahweh, God). We are told this covenant is everlasting, not passing like the old one, "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant," (Hebrews 13:20) and "For this is my blood of the new testament, (new covenant, testament is a will and testament which means Jesus signed a new will or covenant that is better for us) which is shed for many for the remission of sins." (Matthew 26:28, italics mine).

We are told the Blood of Jesus shall help us be victorious, "And they overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." (Revelation 12:11). There is power in Christ's blood to save us from sin (wickedness, bad, evil nature), power to conquer the devil, power to conquer death (John 3:16), and power to change us into righteous people. The old sacrifices are abolished, and the old covenant is passing away, "By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear." (Hebrews 8:13), and "But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises." (Hebrews 8:6).

If you have not accepted, believed, and trusted in Jesus Christ as your Lord (God), Savior, and King, now is the time! He is the Once and For All Sacrifice for your sins, He died and rose from the dead, He is God and flesh (man). He is Sacrificial Lamb who allowed himself to be slaughtered on the cross during the crucifixion for your sake and sake all who will believe. Choose today to "confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord (Yahweh), That God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son Jesus, and who ever believes in Him (Jesus) shall never perish but have everlasting (eternal, forever, never ending) life." (Romans 10:9, John 3:16). Choose today to believe that Christ has paid it all, made a New and Better Covenant, and fulfilled his promise to Abraham on the cross. Amen.