Animal Sacrifice ?

What does the Scripture Say.

Some religions to day are still practicising , animal sacrifice, during their pilgramages to a favoured city. Some claim Ishmael was spared from being sacrificed in a book written in the sixth century AD , some two thousand six hundred years after the event.

Genesis 22:7-14  And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?  And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.   And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.  And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.  And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.

In the Genesis Account however we discover , in the divine canon of the scripture, that there is a totally different view of the event .

Is animal sacrifice of any validity in the sight of God ? As far as I understand  both Judaism and Christianity no longer practice animal sacrifice.  Israel’s injuction under the law of Moses , to sacrifice animals has not been observed since the destruction of the temple by the Romans in the period ad 66-73.

Exodus 30:10  And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD.

Has the law been fulfilled , because the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob permitted the destruction of the temple dedicated to his name?  According to the divine canon of the scripture it has been fulfilled. Since  the cessation of the daily sacrifice almost 2000 years have passed , and the covenant relationship through an atoning sacrifice has been interupted in the case of Israel.

In the Christan faith however their has been a memorial perpetuated , celebrating the sacrifice of the Lamb of God , who came to take away the sins of the world. Through this memorial feast the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’s  New covenant promises find their fullfilment in the lives of those who partake of the tokens of the  covenant , namely the bread and the wine , in memorial of the last passover supper and the  atoning death of the Messiah , who laid down his life for them.

John 8:54-58  Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:  Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.  Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?  Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

What did Abraham see , that caused this contention ?  A male lamb(Ram) hanging in the thicket. ” And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb ” .

In our memorial feast, we remember the  Lamb (Ram) hanging on a tree in that Passover sacrifice in April 30 AD outside the city , bleeding and dying for the sins of all humanity.

1 Peter 2:24  Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

And we celebrate God’s covenant relationship with his called out and chosen people. Every week  since the Messiah hung on a tree for us this memorial celebration has been celebrated all over the known world. The covenant has been extended to every nation and tongue on this planet, and is no longer the domain of the sons of Jacob but is the priveledge of every descendant of Noah.

Genesis 10:1  Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.

Can this claim be substantiated by those who now claim to be the partakers  of the promises to Abraham and his seed , besides the remnant of Israel?  Because the Christian faith is an extension of the Covenant relationship between Sons of Jacob and the nations of the world we have to substantiate  the claim, lest we be found false witnesses in the sight of  a Covenenant keeping Sovereign judge of all humanity.

We who claim to now posses the keys that unlock the doors of heaven to our intercession must produce those keys.

Matthew 16:16  And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock(Peters(stone) declaration of Faith in who Jesus(the rock) was )  I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.   And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Deuteronomy 32:4  He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

Deuteronomy 32:18  Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

Because the Christian faith is established upon the Law and the Prophets of Israel, we must be mindful of the use of metaphors in the scripture when we expound it, because instead of bringing clarity , we produce the hodge podge of confusion.

Matthew 5:17  Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Hebrews 10:4-13  For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.  Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:  In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.  Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.  Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;  Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.  By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.  And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:  But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;  From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.

The First Eternal Royal  key to the Kingdom is being Sanctified by God, it is not the product of human effort. (Declared a holy people)

Genesis 17:1  And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

Matthew 5:48  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Hebrews 10:14   For by one offering he(Christ)  hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

Pefection is a human impossibility, because we fail in so many ways, and a constant state of being perfect in the sight of God is nigh impossible.

The Second Eternal  Royal Key  is being perfected by God, it is not the product of our effort.

Psalms 130:7  Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.

Hosea 13:14  I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

2 Timothy 1:10  But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

The conquest of death , which is the result of a broken law, requires redemption , a price to be paid for our sins. Substituionary animal sacrifice under the Law, was the payment of the sin by an innocent victim.  Thus the lamb paid for the sinners redemption. This is termed atonement when the the two parties are reconciled , namely the guilty and the eternal Holy One of Israel.

John 1:29  The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Hebrews 9:12  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Hebrews 9:15  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

The Third Eternal Royal Key is Redemption. This too is not the product of human effort, it is the gift of God, the Ram hanging in the thicket that Abraham rejoiced to see.

1 Peter 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Revelation 1:5  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, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 10:14   For by one offering he(Christ)  hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (In this one verse hangs all the Patriarchs , Prophets, Priest’s and Kings hope, for it contains all the keys to the kingdom of God/Heaven.)

Tags: Salvation, Sanctification, The Perfect Atonement