September 10, 2024 • 21 mins
Can the ancient practice of animal sacrifice still hold relevance in a world without the Temple? Discover the profound and complex history of the Jewish sacrificial system, tracing its roots from early biblical narratives such as Cain and Abel, through the detailed codifications in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, to its centralization at the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem. Join us as we explore how these rituals served as a deep, symbolic means for humans to connect with the divine, reflecting humanity's primal instincts. Learn about the theological shifts and prophetic critiques that ultimately redefined the concept of sacrifice, especially after the destruction of the temple in AD 70.
We delve into the transformative period when early Christians began to envision Jesus as the ultimate and final sacrifice, a theme powerfully articulated in the book of Hebrews. By reinterpreting Old Testament prophecies, particularly Isaiah 53, through the lens of Jesus' suffering and resurrection, we see how Christian rituals like communion emerged as a reflection of this new understanding. Lastly, we touch on the practical aspects of faith within the church community, emphasizing the importance of flexibility and willingness to step into various roles, even those that might seem mundane. Tune in for an enriching discussion that not only examines historical practices but also connects them to contemporary faith experiences.
#AncientSacrifice #JewishTraditions #TempleRituals #BiblicalHistory #DivineConnection #ChristianTheology #SacrificeAndFaith #PropheticInsights #OldToNewCovenant #FaithInPractice
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So today, on Unpacking Truths, we have a
question that has come in fromone of our listeners and it is
One of you, yeah, one of you.
See, we actually do answer yourquestions.
We're going to unpack thistruth.
And the question was why didthe Jewish people stop with
sacrifices?
Why, and what happened that thesacrificial system of
(00:21):
sacrificing animals just kind ofended?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I'm Pastor Kendall.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
And I'm Pastor Mo.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Welcome to Unpacking Truths, where we dive deep into
God's timeless truths for ourlives today.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Grab your coffee, open your hearts and your minds.
Come take this journey with us,as we unpack God's truths.
And so why don't you kick usoff?
Speaker 2 (00:42):
You bet.
So, Mo, as we've talked aboutthis, I'm going way back, so
we're doing background to get tothe answer of this question.
Because it got us just thinkingabout sacrificial system and
why did people sacrifice?
And the truth is it starts fromthe earliest of time.
I mean, you look back in theBible and you see it Cain and
(01:06):
Abel offering a sacrifice, Noah,after coming off the ark,
offers a sacrifice, and so waybefore you get to Leviticus
where God lays out all thesedetailed things of how to do
that, there was this impetus tosacrifice, to offer the best of
what you had to God.
And we also noticed that thisis not unique to the Jewish
(01:32):
faith, that in sort of religioussystems around the globe from
the earliest times, animalsacrifices have been a part of
that in different religions.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
All kinds of sacrifices, not just animal.
Children's sacrifices too.
So behave kids.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Absolutely Tragic things like that.
And so there has always beenthis sense that human beings
have sensed this longing forwhat is beyond, for the divine
that is beyond them.
And how do I connect with thatdivine and how do I control the
divine?
How do I connect with thatdivine and how do I control the
divine?
How do I do that?
And some ways were to eithersay thank you with an offering
(02:10):
or to try and get the gods to dosomething.
They would sometimes do anoffering.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
To appease them, so they weren't angry.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
There were sort of these variety of ways that
sacrifices have happened aroundthe globe in human societies in
lots of different times happenedaround the globe, in human
societies in lots of differenttimes.
So it has been a part of humansociety for a long, long time.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Absolutely.
And I think it's prettyinteresting that you kind of
bring up the reality thatalthough we don't have a command
from God to sacrifice animalsand here's how it's all set up
until Deuteronomy but then howyou bring up, before that right,
that you know Cain and Abel andtheir story of offering to God,
even though it was designatedto a certain place in
(02:51):
Deuteronomy at the temple, andyou know all that, but how it's
always been interwoven inhistory, this idea of wanting to
connect to something biggerthan ourselves.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
And I think some of the idea of animal sacrifices
and incense and those thingsthat, if you sensed God was
beyond you, you often talkedabout God in the heavens.
Well, how do you connect withsomething that's up there?
Well, smoke goes up.
I mean there's some sense wherethat was, I think, part of that
whole idea of sacrifices.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Yeah In my you know what I found really interesting.
So I kind of wondered, like whyanimals, like, why choose
animals?
And so in some of my research Ilike Rabbi Tovia Bolton a lot
and he speaks about how animals,right, are very primitive.
If they're hungry they kill.
If you're in their territorythey kill.
(03:43):
So they're this very reactiveyou know they don't think
through things first and howanimals are supposed to
represent humanity's kind ofanimalistic, primitive part of
ourselves.
I hadn't heard that before,where we too right what is our
desire and where we impulsivelyand selfishly just do what we
(04:06):
want, when we want for survivalpurposes, without thinking of
the other, to that part andreleasing the life source, which
was the blood right as asacrifice to God to atone for
(04:30):
their sins.
And so I thought that wasreally interesting and it kind
of, you know, it made a lot ofsense.
And then I thought, well, yeah,I just thought that was super
interesting.
It was the same kind of like asChristians, we're supposed to
die to ourselves in differentways, right, like what does that
look like?
Die to certain parts ofourselves, put on our new armor
(04:51):
and be in Christ, right, clotheourselves with Christ.
And so it was interesting tothink about how it's a dying to
that part of themselves to livefor something bigger in the
process of connecting with Godthrough the sacrifice.
So I thought that wasinteresting.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Yeah, a whole other area, and this is something we
could probably talk about inlots of different angles and
aspects, I think.
As we both know and as we'retrying to lay out.
So the process of sacrificehappened from the very beginning
of Scripture, from wider humanhistory, and then, as it began
(05:26):
to develop within Judaism, itwas very much shaped by
Leviticus, by Deuteronomy, andsort of coming out of Egypt and
as those books are presented forMoses, that they're sort of God
is laying out to them, here'show I want you to do it, and
there were also some very clearguidance on how to do it and
also you to do it, and so, andthere were also some very, very
clear guidance on how to do itand also where to do it, and so
(05:49):
the sacrifices were to be donein front of the tabernacle, in
front of this moving tent thatthey took with them, that they
constructed in the wilderness.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Because the tabernacle was where the
presence of God resided.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yes, so you were offering it there as a sign of
God's presence and offering toGod, because that was the God
was in there.
God was in there.
And so then, once they gotsettled in the Holy Land, in the
Promised Land, sacrificessometimes happen in different
places.
But then once the building ofthe temple by Solomon, then it
(06:25):
was very much controlled onlysacrifices should happen at the
temple and in the temple.
And so it was this gatheringpoint, this focal point, and
very much they had to happenthere and that so the temple
became.
Originally sacrifices happenedin different places, but then,
based on Scripture, god's line,it had to happen in one place.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
And that's why the sacrificial system of animals
stopped after the destruction ofthe temple in 70, right, Well,
and that's where we're gettingto.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
So yeah, I mean, this temple that gets built in 970
BC eventually gets destroyed bythe Babylonians in 587 BC, gets
rebuilt and continues up untilpast Jesus' day, till 70 AD, and
then, when the Romans destroy,when the Jews rebel against
(07:17):
Roman rule, 70 AD and Rome comesin, destroys the temple, the
ability and their understandingand the practice of animal
sacrifices ended in 70 AD.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Because of the command in Deuteronomy 12, right
Like this is the place you haveto sacrifice, and so it was
interesting to me, also withthis Rabbi Bolton right.
So if for the Jewish peoplebecause I should not be speaking
into like Jewish theology, so Idid a lot of different research
with rabbis just what does thismean then for you?
(07:54):
If that was your system ofbeing forgiven, right for
missing the mark and sinning anddoing things you shouldn't have
been doing, then how are youforgiven?
Then how are you forgiven?
And so now modern you knowmodern Judaism and not all you
know people think differently,different sects of Judaism,
(08:17):
right, but majority.
The idea is that through prayer,through repentance and an
offering of self, right thatbecomes the sacrifice, and so
what it is is.
It's when I's when I talkedabout the actual animal
representing that human, veryselfish, reactive part of self.
That's where the offering ofself is themselves right.
(08:38):
And so they often go to Hosea6.6, which says I desire mercy,
not sacrifice, andacknowledgement of God rather
than burnt offerings.
And so they use that to reallyunderstand that it is my heart,
my mind and the devotion ofmyself that I sacrifice this
animalistic, selfish, primitive,undivine, godly part of myself
(09:01):
that's not made in your image.
I sacrifice and I give it toyou.
And some have said you know therabbis were going back and forth
with well, I thought blood hadto be spilt for atonement and so
many view it like the energythat I have and the heat within
my body.
It becomes the blood, right,like that's some of their views,
(09:23):
rabbis, differentunderstandings of this system
and trying to explain thingsright for the reality that we do
have these things in scripturethat say like it has to be done
this way.
This is you know, and we sooften want to go black and white
.
But then also we havescriptures like Hosea where it's
like, hey, rather thansacrifice, this is what I really
want you to acknowledge meright and to be merciful.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Well, and Mo, that's a great.
I'm glad you lifted up thatscripture because we sort of
jumped from 970 BC to 70 AD,about a thousand years.
There was already critiques ofthe sacrificial system that was
starting hundreds of years afterthe sacrifices were happening
at the temple, that the prophetswere starting to push the
people because the sacrificialsystem like, oh, this good thing
(10:13):
happened in my life, okay, Ihave to sacrifice two turtle
doves, or I did this, and whileI do, this and a partridge in a
pear tree, yeah whatever theywere, but that it was a sense.
of it became perfunctory.
It became like, oh, I'm justdoing this, god says I have to
do this, so I do this.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Wait, I hate to say this out loud, but it kind of
sounds like my family, like bigIrish Catholic family.
It kind of sounds likeconfession, like oh man, like
(10:53):
no-transcript.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
What need have I for all your sacrifices, says the
Lord.
Or in Jeremiah 620, your burnedofferings are not desirable to
me, nor are your sacrificespleasing to me.
You're beginning to see thismovement within Judaism.
Saying that the animalsacrificial system has become
was supposed to be this responseof either gratitude or
(11:22):
brokenness to God, and it justbecame going through the motions
, and so the prophets startedattacking that, and Jesus did as
well with some of his words too.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Yeah well, they're missing the mark, right, they're
missing the purpose ofsacrifice.
Like sacrifice in Hebrew iskorban, which means offering.
It's drawing near, actuallyit's a drawing near.
So it's all about relationshipwith God.
So I sacrifice because thewhole purpose is to draw near to
you, and so it's a dying off ofthe parts of ourselves.
(11:55):
And some of the theology I readas well talked about how it was
thought that when a priestright would pray over the animal
or whatever, the sins of thecommunity would go into the
animal and then they wouldsacrifice it.
So all the primitive parts ofself, all the sins that everyone
had done in the community, diesright there with the animal,
and so, and then we get to startnew right.
(12:18):
That's the forgiveness andclean slate.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
And that can be done in two ways.
That can be done in anauthentic, heartbroken kind of
way, or it can be done in acavalier kind of way, like well,
I got to go through this, sothen I can keep doing.
You know the joke that I alwayssay with my Bible study the?
You know the cheesyChristianity.
You know I like to sin, godlikes to forgive, so it's a
great arrangement you know, andthat's what the sacrificial
(12:44):
system had become, and we're.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Hey God, I just want to make sure you get to do your
part.
I don't want to take that awayfrom you at all.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Exactly, and so that became so.
There was already an internaltension within Judaism around
the sacrificial system becauseit was being used not for the
original intent, the originalpurpose, and Jesus was even
challenging some of that.
Not for the original intent,the original purpose, and Jesus
was even challenging some ofthat.
But then you had these twothings that happened, as you
(13:17):
said, in AD 70, the temple wasdestroyed so no longer could you
do the sacrificial systembecause the temple was gone.
But you also had this otherdynamic within the.
With the birth of Christianityout of Judaism and that the
Christian church began to move.
While the early Christianswould gather in the temple for
worship and probably still didpractice some of the sacrificial
(13:39):
system, you see in the veryearly church starting to move
away from that.
In Acts you see Paul wanting topurify himself and he says and
I'm going to go to temple tomake sacrifices.
So they were still doing that.
But by the end of the NewTestament you begin to see them
talking about Jesus was thefinal sacrifice and so we don't
need that anymore.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Well, and it's like a both and because if sacrifice
means for them, you know thisidea of drawing near to God.
I could definitely see if youare Jewish, and this is your
tradition you want to draw nearto God as much as possible.
So I'm going to draw near toGod through the sacrificial
system where we have Paul goingto the temple to make sacrifices
with the other disciples, andthen you also have this
(14:20):
understanding that you know I gothrough.
You know I draw near to Godthrough Christ, right by drawing
near to Christ and by clothingmyself in Christ and following
the way of Christ in the world.
And so it's like a both and, asthat began to, if you're a
believer in Jesus as the Messiah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
So let me just read a couple of these verses from
Hebrews.
So Christ, having been offeredonce to bear the sins of many,
will appear a second time, notto deal with sin, but to save
those who eagerly await him.
And it is by God's will that wehave been sanctified through
the offering of the body ofJesus Christ once and for all.
(15:01):
Especially in Hebrews, likeevery other chapter, the writer
of Hebrews comes to this pointof Jesus being our high priest,
but also the high priest whosacrificed himself to end the
need for animal sacrifice,because he accomplished it all
upon the cross.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Right?
Well, because a priest wasalways needed, right, to do this
part.
And so there's a priest needed,and usually it was when
sacrificing for the wholecommunity.
It was two animals, and one ofthem they were thought to put
the sins of the community in,and one of them they brought
they called it the scapegoatright, they brought it to the
(15:41):
edge of the community and castit out.
And the other, they sacrificed.
So Jesus becomes the scapegoatfor us sacrificed.
So Jesus becomes the scapegoatfor us, right, the one that
takes upon himself what reallyis our punishment, our
consequence, and so he becomesthe priest, the scapegoat and
the sacrificial lamb all in one.
(16:02):
And that's the beauty of it.
And we relive that every singleSunday in communion right,
remembering that as we goive,that every single Sunday in
communion right, rememberingthat as we go to the altar and
as we, you know, the bread ishis body and the blood is his
wine, we remember that, we'resupposed to remember that
sacrifice.
That's why we have those.
You may notice those whitecloths, linens, over the bread
(16:25):
and over the wine.
It's because it's a corporal,it's a covering.
It's because it's a corporal,it's a covering, it's like a
burial covering.
We are covering the body withburial, covering and remembering
this great sacrifice of Jesus,who took upon himself what
really was ours.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
And in many ways the Christian church, after
experiencing the Christianmovement, jesus' followers,
after experiencing his death andresurrection, went back to the
Old Testament and go like holdit.
We didn't expect a sufferingMessiah.
And they ended up back inIsaiah 53 where it says and we
thought his troubles were apunishment from God, a
(17:03):
punishment for his own sins.
But he was pierced for ourrebellion, crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could oursins.
He was beaten so we could bewhole.
He was whipped so we could behealed.
That whole sense of Jesusbecoming the vicarious sacrifice
for all of us, completing thatso we no longer need to do
animal sacrifice.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Can you imagine what worship would be like, though,
if we really came to the altarfor communion every single time
and really just resonated withthose words that you know that
Jesus was beaten, that he wasrejected, that he was brutally
tortured, really for our behalf.
And here we stand before hisbody Right, and here is his
(17:46):
blood, before his body right,and here is his blood, and we
consume it, so that we rememberthat not only did he give
himself for us, but he lives inus and because of him we're free
.
Like, if you know, if we came tothe altar every time, like that
for communion, how could we notlive transformed lives.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
It is we face the same challenge that Jewish folks
experienced long ago that youcan begin to just start going
through the motions.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
And it's so easy for each of us to get caught up in
everything else and to forgetthe deepest reality of what has
been done for us.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Oh yeah, and I mean, we do it like I've done it too,
on accident.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Of course.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
You know just where you're going through the motions
.
I even had a friend say youknow, you just drink the blood
of Christ like you were taking ashot.
I was like, oh yeah, becauseyou just go through the motions,
sometimes without really beingpresent in the moment to realize
what's going on and just howpowerful that is, Just how
powerful that is.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
And, mel, that's where I love the line.
And maybe this is even where weend, where you said the whole
purpose of sacrifices initiallywere this idea to draw near to
God.
Yes, that that is what worshipis to be.
That is what prayer is to be.
It's not like oh, have Ichecked off my morning prayers?
Did I go to worship?
This week it is about drawingnear to God.
(19:06):
Week it is about drawing nearto God and that in worship we do
that, and maybe the modernsense of sacrifice In our whole
lives, right, our whole lives,our finances, our time.
Well and that's just where I wasgoing to go is that we no
longer sacrifice animals.
Jesus has done the fullsacrifice for our sins.
But there is still this senseof giving something of ourselves
(19:30):
up for God.
It's when people talk aboutgiving something up for Lent or
that, when we offer our time fora neighbor in need, for a
ministry, that makes an impact.
For, in Jesus' name, when wegive up our financial resources,
when we invest in those things,we are making a sacrifice
because we're saying that's evenmore important, because we want
(19:53):
to draw near to God.
We're not trying to control God, we're not trying to own God,
we're just saying, god, we seewhat you have done for us, we
see what you have done for us,jesus, and so we make these
personal sacrifices to honor you, to draw near to you Absolutely
.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Amen to that, personal sacrifices to honor you
, to draw near to you AbsolutelyAmen to that.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Well, I don't know.
I think it was a simplequestion that was asked and
we'll circle around.
It was AD 70 when the Jewishsacrificial system ended, and
that's why because the templewas destroyed.
But as we've sort of touched injust little ways, there's so
much more to that system thatwas and that still is today in a
(20:30):
very different way for all ofour lives.
Thanks for joining us forUnpacking Truths this week.
If you have more questions likethat, please submit them below
and we'll love to dig into thosegoing forward Next time on
Unpacking Truths.
Yeah, I mean, I think it reallydoes come down to creating
healthy boundaries, and we canbe unboundaried, we can be too
(20:53):
boundaried.
We need healthy boundariesbecause they help us to live
well.
They help us to steward thegift of our time and our energy
and our talents in the right way.
And yet there are times whereGod's going to call us out of
our natural way.
And yet there are times whereGod's going to call us out of
our natural way.
You know, there'll be timeswhere my primary job, at Light
(21:14):
of Christ, is not to vacuum thecarpet.
We have some other people whodo that at different times.
Does that mean Kendall willnever vacuum the carpet.
No, there might be a time whereI need to step in to do that.
So it's not my normal thing,but there may be a time when I
need to do that.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Thanks for joining us on this episode of Unpacking
Truths.
If anything that we discussedsparked any ideas or you have
any questions, we would love foryou to go to unpackingtruthscom
, or you can also email us atunpackingtruths at locchurchcom.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
And don't forget to like, share or subscribe to the
podcast, because you doing thatallows other people to connect
to this content and grow withGod as well.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Until next time, we hope you know that you are loved
.
So today, on Unpacking Truths, we have a
question that has come in fromone of our listeners and it is
One of you, yeah, one of you.
See, we actually do answer yourquestions.
We're going to unpack thistruth.
And the question was why didthe Jewish people stop with
sacrifices?
Why, and what happened that thesacrificial system of
(00:21):
sacrificing animals just kind ofended?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I'm Pastor Kendall.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
And I'm Pastor Mo.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Welcome to Unpacking Truths, where we dive deep into
God's timeless truths for ourlives today.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Grab your coffee, open your hearts and your minds.
Come take this journey with us,as we unpack God's truths.
And so why don't you kick usoff?
Speaker 2 (00:42):
You bet.
So, Mo, as we've talked aboutthis, I'm going way back, so
we're doing background to get tothe answer of this question.
Because it got us just thinkingabout sacrificial system and
why did people sacrifice?
And the truth is it starts fromthe earliest of time.
I mean, you look back in theBible and you see it Cain and
(01:06):
Abel offering a sacrifice, Noah,after coming off the ark,
offers a sacrifice, and so waybefore you get to Leviticus
where God lays out all thesedetailed things of how to do
that, there was this impetus tosacrifice, to offer the best of
what you had to God.
And we also noticed that thisis not unique to the Jewish
(01:32):
faith, that in sort of religioussystems around the globe from
the earliest times, animalsacrifices have been a part of
that in different religions.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
All kinds of sacrifices, not just animal.
Children's sacrifices too.
So behave kids.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Absolutely Tragic things like that.
And so there has always beenthis sense that human beings
have sensed this longing forwhat is beyond, for the divine
that is beyond them.
And how do I connect with thatdivine and how do I control the
divine?
How do I connect with thatdivine and how do I control the
divine?
How do I do that?
And some ways were to eithersay thank you with an offering
(02:10):
or to try and get the gods to dosomething.
They would sometimes do anoffering.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
To appease them, so they weren't angry.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
There were sort of these variety of ways that
sacrifices have happened aroundthe globe in human societies in
lots of different times happenedaround the globe, in human
societies in lots of differenttimes.
So it has been a part of humansociety for a long, long time.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Absolutely.
And I think it's prettyinteresting that you kind of
bring up the reality thatalthough we don't have a command
from God to sacrifice animalsand here's how it's all set up
until Deuteronomy but then howyou bring up, before that right,
that you know Cain and Abel andtheir story of offering to God,
even though it was designatedto a certain place in
(02:51):
Deuteronomy at the temple, andyou know all that, but how it's
always been interwoven inhistory, this idea of wanting to
connect to something biggerthan ourselves.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
And I think some of the idea of animal sacrifices
and incense and those thingsthat, if you sensed God was
beyond you, you often talkedabout God in the heavens.
Well, how do you connect withsomething that's up there?
Well, smoke goes up.
I mean there's some sense wherethat was, I think, part of that
whole idea of sacrifices.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Yeah In my you know what I found really interesting.
So I kind of wondered, like whyanimals, like, why choose
animals?
And so in some of my research Ilike Rabbi Tovia Bolton a lot
and he speaks about how animals,right, are very primitive.
If they're hungry they kill.
If you're in their territorythey kill.
(03:43):
So they're this very reactiveyou know they don't think
through things first and howanimals are supposed to
represent humanity's kind ofanimalistic, primitive part of
ourselves.
I hadn't heard that before,where we too right what is our
desire and where we impulsivelyand selfishly just do what we
(04:06):
want, when we want for survivalpurposes, without thinking of
the other, to that part andreleasing the life source, which
was the blood right as asacrifice to God to atone for
(04:30):
their sins.
And so I thought that wasreally interesting and it kind
of, you know, it made a lot ofsense.
And then I thought, well, yeah,I just thought that was super
interesting.
It was the same kind of like asChristians, we're supposed to
die to ourselves in differentways, right, like what does that
look like?
Die to certain parts ofourselves, put on our new armor
(04:51):
and be in Christ, right, clotheourselves with Christ.
And so it was interesting tothink about how it's a dying to
that part of themselves to livefor something bigger in the
process of connecting with Godthrough the sacrifice.
So I thought that wasinteresting.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Yeah, a whole other area, and this is something we
could probably talk about inlots of different angles and
aspects, I think.
As we both know and as we'retrying to lay out.
So the process of sacrificehappened from the very beginning
of Scripture, from wider humanhistory, and then, as it began
(05:26):
to develop within Judaism, itwas very much shaped by
Leviticus, by Deuteronomy, andsort of coming out of Egypt and
as those books are presented forMoses, that they're sort of God
is laying out to them, here'show I want you to do it, and
there were also some very clearguidance on how to do it and
also you to do it, and so, andthere were also some very, very
clear guidance on how to do itand also where to do it, and so
(05:49):
the sacrifices were to be donein front of the tabernacle, in
front of this moving tent thatthey took with them, that they
constructed in the wilderness.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Because the tabernacle was where the
presence of God resided.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yes, so you were offering it there as a sign of
God's presence and offering toGod, because that was the God
was in there.
God was in there.
And so then, once they gotsettled in the Holy Land, in the
Promised Land, sacrificessometimes happen in different
places.
But then once the building ofthe temple by Solomon, then it
(06:25):
was very much controlled onlysacrifices should happen at the
temple and in the temple.
And so it was this gatheringpoint, this focal point, and
very much they had to happenthere and that so the temple
became.
Originally sacrifices happenedin different places, but then,
based on Scripture, god's line,it had to happen in one place.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
And that's why the sacrificial system of animals
stopped after the destruction ofthe temple in 70, right, Well,
and that's where we're gettingto.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
So yeah, I mean, this temple that gets built in 970
BC eventually gets destroyed bythe Babylonians in 587 BC, gets
rebuilt and continues up untilpast Jesus' day, till 70 AD, and
then, when the Romans destroy,when the Jews rebel against
(07:17):
Roman rule, 70 AD and Rome comesin, destroys the temple, the
ability and their understandingand the practice of animal
sacrifices ended in 70 AD.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Because of the command in Deuteronomy 12, right
Like this is the place you haveto sacrifice, and so it was
interesting to me, also withthis Rabbi Bolton right.
So if for the Jewish peoplebecause I should not be speaking
into like Jewish theology, so Idid a lot of different research
with rabbis just what does thismean then for you?
(07:54):
If that was your system ofbeing forgiven, right for
missing the mark and sinning anddoing things you shouldn't have
been doing, then how are youforgiven?
Then how are you forgiven?
And so now modern you knowmodern Judaism and not all you
know people think differently,different sects of Judaism,
(08:17):
right, but majority.
The idea is that through prayer,through repentance and an
offering of self, right thatbecomes the sacrifice, and so
what it is is.
It's when I's when I talkedabout the actual animal
representing that human, veryselfish, reactive part of self.
That's where the offering ofself is themselves right.
(08:38):
And so they often go to Hosea6.6, which says I desire mercy,
not sacrifice, andacknowledgement of God rather
than burnt offerings.
And so they use that to reallyunderstand that it is my heart,
my mind and the devotion ofmyself that I sacrifice this
animalistic, selfish, primitive,undivine, godly part of myself
(09:01):
that's not made in your image.
I sacrifice and I give it toyou.
And some have said you know therabbis were going back and forth
with well, I thought blood hadto be spilt for atonement and so
many view it like the energythat I have and the heat within
my body.
It becomes the blood, right,like that's some of their views,
(09:23):
rabbis, differentunderstandings of this system
and trying to explain thingsright for the reality that we do
have these things in scripturethat say like it has to be done
this way.
This is you know, and we sooften want to go black and white
.
But then also we havescriptures like Hosea where it's
like, hey, rather thansacrifice, this is what I really
want you to acknowledge meright and to be merciful.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Well, and Mo, that's a great.
I'm glad you lifted up thatscripture because we sort of
jumped from 970 BC to 70 AD,about a thousand years.
There was already critiques ofthe sacrificial system that was
starting hundreds of years afterthe sacrifices were happening
at the temple, that the prophetswere starting to push the
people because the sacrificialsystem like, oh, this good thing
(10:13):
happened in my life, okay, Ihave to sacrifice two turtle
doves, or I did this, and whileI do, this and a partridge in a
pear tree, yeah whatever theywere, but that it was a sense.
of it became perfunctory.
It became like, oh, I'm justdoing this, god says I have to
do this, so I do this.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Wait, I hate to say this out loud, but it kind of
sounds like my family, like bigIrish Catholic family.
It kind of sounds likeconfession, like oh man, like
(10:53):
no-transcript.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
What need have I for all your sacrifices, says the
Lord.
Or in Jeremiah 620, your burnedofferings are not desirable to
me, nor are your sacrificespleasing to me.
You're beginning to see thismovement within Judaism.
Saying that the animalsacrificial system has become
was supposed to be this responseof either gratitude or
(11:22):
brokenness to God, and it justbecame going through the motions
, and so the prophets startedattacking that, and Jesus did as
well with some of his words too.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Yeah well, they're missing the mark, right, they're
missing the purpose ofsacrifice.
Like sacrifice in Hebrew iskorban, which means offering.
It's drawing near, actuallyit's a drawing near.
So it's all about relationshipwith God.
So I sacrifice because thewhole purpose is to draw near to
you, and so it's a dying off ofthe parts of ourselves.
(11:55):
And some of the theology I readas well talked about how it was
thought that when a priestright would pray over the animal
or whatever, the sins of thecommunity would go into the
animal and then they wouldsacrifice it.
So all the primitive parts ofself, all the sins that everyone
had done in the community, diesright there with the animal,
and so, and then we get to startnew right.
(12:18):
That's the forgiveness andclean slate.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
And that can be done in two ways.
That can be done in anauthentic, heartbroken kind of
way, or it can be done in acavalier kind of way, like well,
I got to go through this, sothen I can keep doing.
You know the joke that I alwayssay with my Bible study the?
You know the cheesyChristianity.
You know I like to sin, godlikes to forgive, so it's a
great arrangement you know, andthat's what the sacrificial
(12:44):
system had become, and we're.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Hey God, I just want to make sure you get to do your
part.
I don't want to take that awayfrom you at all.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Exactly, and so that became so.
There was already an internaltension within Judaism around
the sacrificial system becauseit was being used not for the
original intent, the originalpurpose, and Jesus was even
challenging some of that.
Not for the original intent,the original purpose, and Jesus
was even challenging some ofthat.
But then you had these twothings that happened, as you
(13:17):
said, in AD 70, the temple wasdestroyed so no longer could you
do the sacrificial systembecause the temple was gone.
But you also had this otherdynamic within the.
With the birth of Christianityout of Judaism and that the
Christian church began to move.
While the early Christianswould gather in the temple for
worship and probably still didpractice some of the sacrificial
(13:39):
system, you see in the veryearly church starting to move
away from that.
In Acts you see Paul wanting topurify himself and he says and
I'm going to go to temple tomake sacrifices.
So they were still doing that.
But by the end of the NewTestament you begin to see them
talking about Jesus was thefinal sacrifice and so we don't
need that anymore.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Well, and it's like a both and because if sacrifice
means for them, you know thisidea of drawing near to God.
I could definitely see if youare Jewish, and this is your
tradition you want to draw nearto God as much as possible.
So I'm going to draw near toGod through the sacrificial
system where we have Paul goingto the temple to make sacrifices
with the other disciples, andthen you also have this
(14:20):
understanding that you know I gothrough.
You know I draw near to Godthrough Christ, right by drawing
near to Christ and by clothingmyself in Christ and following
the way of Christ in the world.
And so it's like a both and, asthat began to, if you're a
believer in Jesus as the Messiah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
So let me just read a couple of these verses from
Hebrews.
So Christ, having been offeredonce to bear the sins of many,
will appear a second time, notto deal with sin, but to save
those who eagerly await him.
And it is by God's will that wehave been sanctified through
the offering of the body ofJesus Christ once and for all.
(15:01):
Especially in Hebrews, likeevery other chapter, the writer
of Hebrews comes to this pointof Jesus being our high priest,
but also the high priest whosacrificed himself to end the
need for animal sacrifice,because he accomplished it all
upon the cross.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Right?
Well, because a priest wasalways needed, right, to do this
part.
And so there's a priest needed,and usually it was when
sacrificing for the wholecommunity.
It was two animals, and one ofthem they were thought to put
the sins of the community in,and one of them they brought
they called it the scapegoatright, they brought it to the
(15:41):
edge of the community and castit out.
And the other, they sacrificed.
So Jesus becomes the scapegoatfor us sacrificed.
So Jesus becomes the scapegoatfor us, right, the one that
takes upon himself what reallyis our punishment, our
consequence, and so he becomesthe priest, the scapegoat and
the sacrificial lamb all in one.
(16:02):
And that's the beauty of it.
And we relive that every singleSunday in communion right,
remembering that as we goive,that every single Sunday in
communion right, rememberingthat as we go to the altar and
as we, you know, the bread ishis body and the blood is his
wine, we remember that, we'resupposed to remember that
sacrifice.
That's why we have those.
You may notice those whitecloths, linens, over the bread
(16:25):
and over the wine.
It's because it's a corporal,it's a covering.
It's because it's a corporal,it's a covering, it's like a
burial covering.
We are covering the body withburial, covering and remembering
this great sacrifice of Jesus,who took upon himself what
really was ours.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
And in many ways the Christian church, after
experiencing the Christianmovement, jesus' followers,
after experiencing his death andresurrection, went back to the
Old Testament and go like holdit.
We didn't expect a sufferingMessiah.
And they ended up back inIsaiah 53 where it says and we
thought his troubles were apunishment from God, a
(17:03):
punishment for his own sins.
But he was pierced for ourrebellion, crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could oursins.
He was beaten so we could bewhole.
He was whipped so we could behealed.
That whole sense of Jesusbecoming the vicarious sacrifice
for all of us, completing thatso we no longer need to do
animal sacrifice.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Can you imagine what worship would be like, though,
if we really came to the altarfor communion every single time
and really just resonated withthose words that you know that
Jesus was beaten, that he wasrejected, that he was brutally
tortured, really for our behalf.
And here we stand before hisbody Right, and here is his
(17:46):
blood, before his body right,and here is his blood, and we
consume it, so that we rememberthat not only did he give
himself for us, but he lives inus and because of him we're free
.
Like, if you know, if we came tothe altar every time, like that
for communion, how could we notlive transformed lives.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
It is we face the same challenge that Jewish folks
experienced long ago that youcan begin to just start going
through the motions.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
And it's so easy for each of us to get caught up in
everything else and to forgetthe deepest reality of what has
been done for us.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Oh yeah, and I mean, we do it like I've done it too,
on accident.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Of course.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
You know just where you're going through the motions
.
I even had a friend say youknow, you just drink the blood
of Christ like you were taking ashot.
I was like, oh yeah, becauseyou just go through the motions,
sometimes without really beingpresent in the moment to realize
what's going on and just howpowerful that is, Just how
powerful that is.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
And, mel, that's where I love the line.
And maybe this is even where weend, where you said the whole
purpose of sacrifices initiallywere this idea to draw near to
God.
Yes, that that is what worshipis to be.
That is what prayer is to be.
It's not like oh, have Ichecked off my morning prayers?
Did I go to worship?
This week it is about drawingnear to God.
(19:06):
Week it is about drawing nearto God and that in worship we do
that, and maybe the modernsense of sacrifice In our whole
lives, right, our whole lives,our finances, our time.
Well and that's just where I wasgoing to go is that we no
longer sacrifice animals.
Jesus has done the fullsacrifice for our sins.
But there is still this senseof giving something of ourselves
(19:30):
up for God.
It's when people talk aboutgiving something up for Lent or
that, when we offer our time fora neighbor in need, for a
ministry, that makes an impact.
For, in Jesus' name, when wegive up our financial resources,
when we invest in those things,we are making a sacrifice
because we're saying that's evenmore important, because we want
(19:53):
to draw near to God.
We're not trying to control God, we're not trying to own God,
we're just saying, god, we seewhat you have done for us, we
see what you have done for us,jesus, and so we make these
personal sacrifices to honor you, to draw near to you Absolutely
.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Amen to that, personal sacrifices to honor you
, to draw near to you AbsolutelyAmen to that.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Well, I don't know.
I think it was a simplequestion that was asked and
we'll circle around.
It was AD 70 when the Jewishsacrificial system ended, and
that's why because the templewas destroyed.
But as we've sort of touched injust little ways, there's so
much more to that system thatwas and that still is today in a
(20:30):
very different way for all ofour lives.
Thanks for joining us forUnpacking Truths this week.
If you have more questions likethat, please submit them below
and we'll love to dig into thosegoing forward Next time on
Unpacking Truths.
Yeah, I mean, I think it reallydoes come down to creating
healthy boundaries, and we canbe unboundaried, we can be too
(20:53):
boundaried.
We need healthy boundariesbecause they help us to live
well.
They help us to steward thegift of our time and our energy
and our talents in the right way.
And yet there are times whereGod's going to call us out of
our natural way.
And yet there are times whereGod's going to call us out of
our natural way.
You know, there'll be timeswhere my primary job, at Light
(21:14):
of Christ, is not to vacuum thecarpet.
We have some other people whodo that at different times.
Does that mean Kendall willnever vacuum the carpet.
No, there might be a time whereI need to step in to do that.
So it's not my normal thing,but there may be a time when I
need to do that.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Thanks for joining us on this episode of Unpacking
Truths.
If anything that we discussedsparked any ideas or you have
any questions, we would love foryou to go to unpackingtruthscom
, or you can also email us atunpackingtruths at locchurchcom.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
And don't forget to like, share or subscribe to the
podcast, because you doing thatallows other people to connect
to this content and grow withGod as well.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Until next time, we hope you know that you are loved
.
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