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Old Testament
System of Sacrifice
WHY WAS IT NECESSARY? A basic desire to make some kind of outward display of showing
honour, respect or love lies deep within the heart of human nature. To show love and concern for our fellow
man/woman poses no real problem. We
have only to be sensitive to each other’s needs and be ready to help, or
give, as we see necessary. But honouring God in the same way has its
problems. God does not physically need
anything we can give him. He created
us and provided all that we possess.
But still, human beings have a deep-seated, subconscious need to show
respect to someone (or something) greater than themselves. And from the very earliest times, humankind has sought to fulfil this desire
by the sacrificial burning of costly or valuable possessions to God (Gen
4:3-4; 8:20) or to false gods (Ex 32:1-10; Deut 32:17).
At Mt Sinai, God gave his people, not just guide lines about how they were to perform sacrificial
rituals, but very strict parameters. From now on, although the differences in
these new sacrifices seemed subtle, the real
differences were, in fact, huge. The differences lay in the meaning, the mode and the reason
for sacrifice. No longer were people to burn their children. No
longer were people to try to ‘bargain’ with God, or audaciously feel that
God owed them a favour because of the size of their offering. No
longer were people to try and ‘appease the gods’ hoping for favours, or
to attempt to curry favours by false flattery of over-indulgent
offerings. No longer were people to vaguely hope that by bringing something
to God (or false gods) they would have a good harvest, or many children, or
be free from sickness, or safe from enemies. God had already
made a promise to take care of his people.
But, the promise had a
condition attached – that his people must follow him, obey him, and be his people alone. God made this covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and with all who would follow him. But God’s people were human, and prone to downfall due to
self-centred greed and pride. Which
brings us to another basic need
that lies deep within human nature – to be forgiven, and to know
that we are forgiven. God’s method of
sacrifice also dealt with this need.
When people did wrong, God had made a way for his people to put things right, both with himself
and with each other. Life could then
go on without the psychological burden of protracted feelings of guilt. It does our natures no good either to get
away with wrong-doing, or to face what we have done and still feel guilty and
unforgiven. God’s method of sacrifice dealt cleanly with both these issues. And because the system also dealt fairly
with putting things right with each
other, it negated the tendency towards tribal ‘pay-back’ situations (that
in some cultures went on for generations, and some still do today). In Old Testament times, at Thus, there were two
main purposes for sacrifice: 1.
It provided a means for voluntary acts of worship by which
people could pay homage or respect to God, or acknowledge the might and awesome
power of God, or to acknowledge his goodness, provision and mercy. And by observing God’s stipulations and boundaries for this kind of sacrifice,
people had absolute assurance that
what they were doing was pleasing to God. 2.
It laid down mandatory requirements for punishable offences,
and this provided the means of atonement,
or putting things right with God. And because God had already said so, the people had absolute assurance that they would be forgiven. PS: The reason we are no longer required to
perform this kind of sacrifice becomes clear in the New Testament, and to
clarify further there is an additional page entitled ‘What is a Testament?’ which you will find further on. |
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