Faith Well Grounded

This is my last post on the Bloodthirsty God posts for a while. This time, I want to go right to Leviticus, where we begin to see the blood sacrifices spelled out for us.

I used to envision the sacrifices going something like this:

Joe Israelite brings a sacrificial animal from his flock, gives it to the priest and sits and waits for the priest to do the dirty work. Once the bloody work is done, Joe Israelite goes home, maybe whistling a Yiddish tune because he feels so clean and forgiven.

Now, let's go to the particulars of the Levitical law, and I want to point our a couple of things:

Leviticus 1:2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When any of you brings an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock.

When any of you bring...

Leviticus 1:3 “ ‘If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to offer a male without defect. He must present it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting so that it will be acceptable to the Lord.

"He" (that same "you" from vs 2) is to present it...

Leviticus 1:4 He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.

That same "he" lays his hand on the sacrifice's head...

Leviticus 1:5 He is to slaughter the young bull before the Lord, and then Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and sprinkle it against the altar on all sides at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

That same "he" slaughters the sacrifice.

Now, let's readjust our picture with the details just provided.

Joe Israelite brings the best of his possessions before God. He then lays his hand on its head, forcing himself to the realization that this innocent creature is about to die for his sins. Then he slits its throat and watches its life spill out-- again, with the realization that it was his sins that blood flows for.

The sacrifice forced the offender to look his sin and its consequences in the eyes. It forced him to admit his guilt and watch the consequences of that guilt. I think it also made the offender think more seriously about offending again.

Most importantly, it pointed forward to God presenting HIS best on our behalf, because we don't have "best" enough to offer. We could never make atonement for even one sin. Praise God His plan was to do it for us

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

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