I had planned for my next post to be a dive into a certain type of sacrifice in the law of Moses, but I think that there are a few things that should be said about the sacrifices in the law of Moses, in general, first.
Many modern Christians incorrectly value what we find in the law of Moses, and there are many reasons why that is the case. Some things are so misunderstood that any value that was meant to be found in them is completely misplaced, and it is easy to have those misunderstandings. We are far removed from the time and circumstances of the ancient Hebrews, and so our lack of familiarity with things that would have been part of a Hebrew’s life, and culture, and, consequently, understanding is an automatic stumbling block. In addition, and with respect to the sacrifices in particular, there are modern sensibilities regarding death that color our opinions about them and their relevance to us.
Death, by itself, is not necessarily a bad thing. Death has its place in God’s plan. That is an important thing to learn and accept if one is to move forward in their understanding of these things.
So, why did God command various animal sacrifices? Well, that depends on which specific sacrifice you’re talking about.
Some of the biggest assumptions that modern Christians make about the sacrifices are: (1) that the sacrifices are only to teach us about the law of sacrifice, in general, and its application in other areas of our lives; (2) that all of them were types and shadows of Christ’s atoning sacrifice; and (3) as a consequence of #2, they were mainly to express gratitude to God for his goodness and mercy in the lives of the human family or as recognition of such in supplicating for further demonstrations of his goodness and mercy. To the degree that any of these assumptions may be true, they are also not the main reasons why God commanded them.
God doesn’t do anything without a reason or purpose. Even the smallest details of what he gives us can have massive implications.
Here are some questions worth asking:
Why are there so many types of sacrifices? What significance is there in burnt offerings? In meal offerings? In peace offerings? In sin offerings? In trespass offerings? Why are there so many different types of acceptable items to use? Are they essentially all the same or is there symbolic significance in each thing? What are the requirements of each sacrifice and why are they what they are? Why are the performances of certain sacrifices the way they are? Why are they different? Are those differences important? Why or why not? Where are the sacrifices conducted? Who participates in each sacrifice and what are the roles of each participant?
That’s just a list for starters.
We should realize that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been the same from the days of Adam and Eve. It drives me nuts when people say that a “new” covenant was offered at the time of Christ’s mortal ministry and in his death and resurrection, as if it had never been offered before that. God always uses ordinances to teach people about aspects of the everlasting gospel, and it was no different in Old Testament times.
I’m not going to go through all of the different types of sacrifices and expound upon them on my blog. I don’t believe it’s my place to do that. At least, not yet. But I have felt strongly to say a few things about one, specifically, so that will be the focus of my next blogpost.