Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Animal Sacrifices, Symbolism of
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Leviticus 16:3
The “young bull as a sin offering” was in addition to the two goats used as a sin offering for the nation on Atonement. The law of sin offerings specifies that the offering of a young bull would cover the high priest's sin (Leviticus 4:3). Of the four sacrificial animals in Leviticus 16, three of them were used for sin offerings. The three animals did not represent three different personalities, but each pointed to the Messiah in a distinct aspect or role. We may consider one or more of these animals extraneous, but God had specific reasons for each part of this ceremony. Each animal had a common fulfillment in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This sin offering for the high priest held a more meaningful purpose than the one outlined in Leviticus 4. In a typical sin offering for the priest, the blood was sprinkled “seven times before the LORD, in front of the veil of the sanctuary” (Leviticus 4:6). The priest also put blood on the horns of the incense altar and poured the rest at the base of the altar of burnt offering (verse 7). The blood thus provided a covering—an atonement—for those areas of the high priest's service that God considered defiled through his sin. But on the Day of Atonement, the high priest entered the Most Holy Place with a cloud of incense. He did not stop at the veil, but instead went farther and sprinkled blood on and in front of the mercy seat (Leviticus 16:14). The mercy seat—where God said He would meet and speak with the leader (Exodus 25:22; 30:6)—was the point of intersection between God and Israel, through her representative. On the day when atonement was made for the nation, the cleansing began with the sacred meeting place between God and man. The first account to be settled was between God and the high priest (including his house), setting the stage for the remaining atonements. After cleansing the mercy seat (including the ground in front of it), the blood of the bull purified the incense altar (Leviticus 16:18-19). Incense is a symbol of prayer, yet even prayer can be an abomination to God because of sin (Proverbs 28:9). Thus, the priest's instruments used in the worship of the Holy God had to be cleansed because of the defilement of sin.
David C. Grabbe
Who Fulfills the Azazel Goat— Satan or Christ? (Part Five)
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Ezekiel 40:41-42
Many—myself included—have asked why Jesus Christ will reinstitute animal sacrifices after His return. One reason may be to help the resurrected members of the Old Testament congregation of Israel to learn to pay better attention to the deeper spiritual meanings of the physical sacrifices. A second reason might be to introduce the resurrected and glorified members of the New Testament church to the rich symbolism and significance of the sacrifices.
Staff
Death of a Lamb
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Romans 12:1
The reality of the New Testament's teaching is that becoming a true disciple of Jesus Christ obligates a person to a great deal of sacrifice—even to the point of becoming what the apostle Paul calls being “a living sacrifice." The disciple of Christ is clearly the sacrifice. Why do the sanctified ones make these sacrifices since the price they pay for forgiveness is dedicated, obedient devotion to the leadership of Jesus Christ? This price requires the sacrifice of every function of a Christian's body, mind, and spirit to the way of God. It can be very costly. It may cost the Christian his employment because of work requirements on the Sabbath. He may lose his family attachments because the family may not accept his beliefs. He may lose his general acceptance within a community for the same reason. We commit to Christ for two primary reasons. The first is personal and somewhat self-centered: We want to be delivered from the burden of the death penalty, and we desire the awesome rewards God promises like everlasting life and, sharing eternity with our Creator and Savior. The second is generally slower to grow within us but proves far more critical in the end: We love God and desire the completion of His purpose in us. Through baptism, we want the means to express that love for God and for others as He continues with His creative purposes, preparing us for active participation in His Family in the Kingdom of God. We should never let the encouraging Romans 5:1-5 slip from our minds: Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts, by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. These verses, naming gifts God gives us upon our agreeing to the New Covenant, remain as a brief but constant reminder of how the New Covenant enables us. They inspire and empower our faith in ways no prior covenant, even with God, has. But the New Covenant does not erase God's laws, just the penalty we have incurred by breaking them. Even the sacrificial laws involving animals, though they no longer have to be physically made, remain part of the Word of God because we can learn so much from them. They deepen and broaden our understanding of the sacrifices we must make under the New Covenant to show love to both God and men.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Why Hebrews Was Written (Part One)
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Galatians 3:19
What is this law's purpose? Remember, the major subject in the book of Galatians is justification—right standing with God, being aligned with God, being declared righteous. In giving his answer, Paul says, "It was added because of transgressions," which parallels Jeremiah 7:22-23, where God Himself said, "I did not speak to you about sacrifices and offerings." In the book of Exodus, we can find that those rituals were added after the Old Covenant had been ratified. They were attached to it, like an appendix. The reason? "[B]ecause of transgressions," that is, because the Israelites continued to sin against God. They were breaking the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments. The apostle then tells us how long this added law was to last: "[U]ntil the Seed"— Christ—"should come." The law—the sacrificial ceremonial law that was added—had a purpose, which was to teach, to instruct, about sin and the payment for it. Unlike the Ten Commandments, it did not define sin, unless the sacrificial law itself was being broken, then it would have been a wrongdoing, a sin. Such a thing happened in the case of Aaron's sons when God struck them dead for using common fire (Leviticus 10). They died because they failed to follow God's rules about making an offering, and it became sin to them. At this point, it might be good to realize that Numbers 28 and 29 contain the national law of offerings God commanded. They had to be offered. They included the evening and morning sacrifices and all the sacrifices and offerings to be made on the first and last days of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles, and the Eighth Day. These offerings were made at the Temple on behalf of—for the benefit of—the whole nation. It may surprise you to learn that the individual Israelite was never required to make any sacrifice at all except for the Passover lamb. God did not require the Israelites to give any of the sacrifices and offerings in the book of Leviticus. They were entirely voluntary. If an Israelite wanted to do them, he could, and it was good for him if he did, if he understood what he was doing. However, he did not have to do them; they were completely voluntary, which is why they do not define sin. They were not required by God. Even so—whether they were the national offerings made at the Tabernacle and Temple or the voluntary ones—they were to last only until the Seed, Jesus Christ, came.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Seventeen)
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Hebrews 11:4-7
Just as a child must be able to crawl before he can walk—let alone run—significant preparatory steps must be made before an individual or an organization can faithfully represent God. The "Faith Chapter" of Hebrews 11 shows these steps in the lessons of the first three heroes: Abel, Enoch, and Noah. It is in the example of Noah that we see a faithful witness of God made before the world. However, before Noah appears in Hebrews 11, the author presents the records of Abel and Enoch. What we will see is that the lessons of their examples are sequential. The lesson of Abel's faith must be understood before Enoch's example can be followed. Likewise, Enoch's example must be followed before one can emulate Noah by faithfully witnessing for God. First things must come first. The story of Abel shows the vital first step. Specifically, it shows how there can be peace with God and access to Him. Hebrews 11:4 records, By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. To understand the significance of Abel's sacrifice, notice the events of the first chapters of Genesis. Genesis 1 recounts the creation, particularly the creation of man. Genesis 2 shows mankind in communion with God to the point that they literally walk with Him. Genesis 3 tells the story of the sins of Adam and Eve, and how mankind's relationship with God was suddenly severed because of unbelief—sin. After sin entered the world in Genesis 3, Genesis 4 describes how mankind can be reunited with God. This is shown through the substitutionary sacrifice that God required, which He accepted when Abel offered one in faith. Romans 10:17 instructs us that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Since Abel offered something by faith, it means he followed the words that came from God. That Abel's sacrifice was "acceptable" while Cain's was not proves that there was a standard by which God judged these sacrifices. Hebrews 11:4 thus strongly suggests that at some point Abel was instructed about what sort of offering was appropriate. By following those instructions in faith, Abel's offering was accepted, and he was declared righteous. It is easy for us to pass over the sacrifices of the Old Covenant with hardly a second thought, but we do this to our own detriment. The sacrificial system—at least some part of which was in place in Genesis 4—is rich in instruction and symbolism. It is particularly significant in understanding the respective offerings of Cain and Abel. While we do not know all of the areas in which God instructed Adam and his family, they at least recognized the need for an animal sacrifice, whether in worshipping God or in symbolizing the future sacrifice of Jesus Christ that would forgive human sin and restore mankind's relationship with God. It is evident from the examples prior to the Old Covenant that there was some sort of an understanding of sacrifices, when they were to be made, and what they symbolized. This is similar to the fact that, at the time of Noah, there was already an understanding of clean and unclean animals (Genesis 7:2, 8), even though the instructions are not recorded until Leviticus 11. Animal sacrifices in devotion to God would not be something dreamed up by man—and if they were of man's devising, God would not have accepted them any more than He accepts the invented "traditions of men" offered to Him today. We also need to remember why God instituted sacrifices in the first place. They were to remind the people of their sins and to point to the future work of the Savior and High Priest (Galatians 3:19; Jeremiah 7:22-24). Abel's sacrifice was a blood sacrifice ("the firstborn of his flock," Genesis 4:4), and though it could not by itself take away sin (Hebrews 10:4), what is important is the substitutionary aspect of the sacrifice. Specifically, Abel substituted the life of one of his flock for his own life. Since he did this in faith, he understood that the life of the animal prefigured the life of the Lamb of God who could take away sin. By offering this substitutionary sacrifice and having it accepted by God, the example of Abel teaches us, as early as Genesis 4, the way back to God for all of mankind: through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Mankind became estranged from God because of one man's sin (Romans 5:12), and humanity is reunited with God through one Man's righteousness, obedience, and voluntary self-sacrifice (Romans 5:18-19).
David C. Grabbe
First Things First (Part One): Access to God
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