QUESTIONS ON BLOOD SACRIFICES: From Mr. Denis Atemkeng
1. What was the origin and purpose of blood sacrifices in the Old Testament?
2. When were these sacrifices stopped and why?
3. Blood sacrifices were practiced by the followers of Moses, but not those of Christ. Have the followers of Moses stopped blood sacrifices?
4. What did Jesus teach concerning blood sacrifices, especially the sacrifices we find in the Old Testament?
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5. Finally, does anyone understand the meaning of all those blood sacrifices that the Jews attributed to God?
Dear Mr. Atemnkeng,
Do pardon the delay in doing your questions: Been caught up in the demands of work and the ministry.
Here we go.
1. What was the origin and purpose of blood sacrifices in the Old Testament?
Very interesting and very deep questions because they touch on reveal mysteries and deep things inherently tied to the very nature of God. You need reference to all half the Bible to answer them.
Executive Summary
a) Genesis chapter three - An animal is sacrificed and its blood is shed for a person.
b) Exodus chapter twelve - An animal is sacrificed and its blood is shed for a family.
c) Exodus chapter thirty and Leviticus 16: 3-34 - An animal is sacrificed and its blood is shed for a nation.
d) John 1:29 - Jesus, the Lamb of God, is sacrificed, and His blood is shed for the world.
e) It is even said that the Lord God bought us back from the devil with his OWN BLOOD! The Body – the Church - is of Christ and the Church is of God. Ac 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. Jesus is God!
f) And that BLOOD is of the LAMB, slain before the foundation of the World. Revelation 13:8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast -- all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. (NIV)
Introduction
God is a Spirit. There are issues about the nature of a SPIRIT that human mind cannot fathom because the go beyond human comprehension: What if there had been No God, for instance?
The Bible says of the Lord God that he is the Alpha and the Omega and that he has no beginning and no end. Our God says it himself in the Bible that he has no beginning and no end, but also that a thousand years if but like a day unto him and that a day is like unto a thousand years.
2 Peter 3:8. New International Version (NIV). 8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
How is this possible? This is tied to ETERNITY. The Lord God lives in ETERNITY while we dwell in time. You will soon see why things done in eternity manifest to us in time and until we perceive the difference between Eternity and time, we may not fathom the omnipotence, omnipresent and omniscience of God.
1 Corinthians 2:7-10 No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" -- 10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
You see, there are many things unsaid in the Bible for the Lord God decided to reveal unto Moses – who wrote Genesis – only the things that he wanted to reveal. Other things, the Lord God reveal unto the prophets, especially Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Isaiah.
Mr. Atemkeng, the Old Testament is said to be the Shadow of things to come. Col 2:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Heb 10:1For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
The Lord God foreknew that he will sacrifice his own ONLY begotten SON – give his blood for the propitiation of mankind. He wanted to see whether there was a MAN, MAN enough, or mad enough, to do the same thing. Here what the Father says of Abraham.
Ge 18:19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. The Father KNEW Abraham!
This man so trusted God and had so brought up his children in OBEDIANCE that when the Lord God said JUMP, Abraham said: How high? He had brought up his children and his household to so OBEY GOD that when he told the child: Come, I am going to kill you today, the child carried the wood of the sacrifice.
There is another lesson in Obedience and parenthood herein for you and for me. Ge 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. Abraham became blessed by FAITH IN GOD because of a blood sacrifice that never even happened! See the Eternity versus Time conflict again. How could Jesus say this; Joh 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. So, Abraham did not attempt to spill the blood of his son for nothing. HE WAS SHOWN THE PROPHETIC FUTURE of JESUS in a VISION and he did his sacrifice GLADLY! So in Abraham and Isaac was the Lord God and the Lord Jesus incarnated in a foreplay of the Sacrifice of Blood for Salvation.
I. Revelation 13.8.
Revelation 13:8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast -- all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. (NIV).
So a Lamb was slain before the World was created? So blood was spilled before the World was formed? What lamb was this? Was it a symbolic lamb or was it an actual lamb? What did this lamb signify?
Revelations 13 quoted above is most succinct about the identity of that Lamb, slain symbolically to purify the world even before the world was created.
Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who died for the sins of the world (John 1:29). Jesus mission became clear to mankind only after He had been crucified on the cross. Yet the scriptures reveals in Revelations 13:8 that "the Lamb was slain from the creation of the world"
II. 1 Peter 1:18-20
Peter repeats this truth in even more detail when he wrote about the precious blood of Christ.
1 Peter 1:18-20 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. (NIV)
The reality is this. The blood of Jesus was shed for us before the creation of the world, but was only revealed to us when Jesus was crucified on the cross, died and rose again. Not even Satan knew about the shed blood until then. This truth, once understood, should have great implications for our faith and victorious living over Satan, sin and sickness.
Firstly Peter makes it clear (in verses 18 and 19 above) that we are "redeemed from the empty way of life by the blood of Christ" and that this was accomplished "before the creation of the world" In other words, the fall of mankind did not destroy God's purpose in creating mankind.
God is omniscient (all knowing) and nothing takes Him unaware nor is He unprepared for any event. God does not go running after Satan trying to sort out the mess he (Satan) creates. Rather, the blood of Jesus has already taken care of it. There is nothing Satan, sin or sickness can bring that the blood has not already made provision for.
Our redemption is in the blood. The blood is God's answer to everything that Satan throws at us. You can be sure that God has made certain that the blood of Jesus has enough authority and power to meet all mankind's needs. And you know what? Not even Satan understood the redemptive power in the blood until after the death and resurrection of Jesus.
So, the Lord Jesus was slain even before he came to the earth? So he existed even before he was made? So we existed even before we were made?
Emphatically Yes!
Jeremiah 1:5.
New International Version
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." New Living Translation. "I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations."
Also consider this very eloquent proof of Eternity coming to comingle with time.
John 1:3. New International Version (NIV). 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
How is it possible for the Lord Jesus to have made everything when he only came to the World about 2000 years ago?
The revelation herein is also that BLOOD is very important to the Lord God and understandable so. The reason is simple. The Word of God and hence, the Lord God himself, says that the Life of the flesh is in the blood:
III. Leviticus 17
New International Version (NIV)
Eating Blood Forbidden
17 The Lord said to Moses, 2 "Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them: 'This is what the Lord has commanded: 3 Any Israelite who sacrifices an ox,[a] a lamb or a goat in the camp or outside of it 4 instead of bringing it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the Lord in front of the tabernacle of the Lord—that person shall be considered guilty of bloodshed; they have shed blood and must be cut off from their people. 5 This is so the Israelites will bring to the Lord the sacrifices they are now making in the open fields. They must bring them to the priest, that is, to the Lord, at the entrance to the tent of meeting and sacrifice them as fellowship offerings. 6 The priest is to splash the blood against the altar of the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting and burn the fat as an aroma pleasing to the Lord. 7 They must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols[b] to whom they prostitute themselves. This is to be a lasting ordinance for them and for the generations to come.' 8 "Say to them: 'Any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice 9 and does not bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to the Lord must be cut off from the people of Israel.
10 "'I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people. 11 For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life.[c] 12 Therefore I say to the Israelites, "None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner residing among you eat blood." 13 "'Any Israelite or any foreigner residing among you who hunts any animal or bird that may be eaten must drain out the blood and cover it with earth, 14 because the life of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, "You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off."
15 "'Anyone, whether native-born or foreigner, who eats anything found dead or torn by wild animals must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be ceremonially unclean till evening; then they will be clean. 16 But if they do not wash their clothes and bathe themselves, they will be held responsible.'"
When Adam and even sinned, the Lord God killed – sacrifice - an animal to clothe their nakedness. Herein two wayward children, who had disobeyed their Father, yet this loving Father makes a sacrifice for them.
IV. Genesis 3:21
Revealing the blood
The third chapter of Genesis records the fall of mankind. The twenty first verse records God's response to their nakedness, a result of the fall
Genesis 3:21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them
The garments of skin are a clear indication of the shedding of blood of an animal (or two). Earlier on in verse seven, Adam and Eve had used leaves to cover themselves. God no doubt found this inadequate. The skin of an animal (or animals) was used instead. The need of sacrifice was gradually being revealed. An animal was killed to pay for the sin of mankind. Needless to say that it was the shed blood, which was of more importance. The blood was covering their sins, physically and spiritually. The first time we witness the bloodshed in the Old Testament has to do with the payment of sins. God made this even clearer in Leviticus.
V. Genesis 22
See something Abraham and Isaac. The First Passover.
The Bible says that we are all descendants, not of Adam but of Abraham – the father of FAITH. Christians are the children of Faith. We were in Abraham's loins, so to speak
Genesis 22
1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. 3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. 7 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? 8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. 9 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. 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. 13 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. 14 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. 15 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. 19 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
A. Covered by and with the Blood
The garments of skin are a clear indication of the shedding of blood of an animal (or two). Earlier on in verse seven, Adam and Eve had used leaves to cover themselves. God no doubt found this inadequate. The skin of an animal (or animals) was used instead. The need of sacrifice was gradually being revealed. An animal was killed to pay for the sin of mankind. Needless to say that it was the shed blood, which was of more importance. The blood was covering their sins, physically and spiritually. The first time we witness the bloodshed in the Old Testament has to do with the payment of sins. God made this even clearer in Leviticus as shown above.
The Lord God foreknew that he would send his own son to shed his blood. He foreknew that this would happen at the Passover. Reason for the Abrahamic Covenant. Reason for the Passover. However, there is no need for a sacrifice of bulls and lamb when the perfect sacrifice has been made.
B. The Blood of the Passover
Now here is the real deal; The Passover. The Jews, a type of Christians today, were in bondage in Egypt for 430 years. When the time was come for their freedom the Lord God brought out a Moses. Read the Moses account in Exodus 1-10 etc. You may even read all of it but the climax is on the Passover is in Exodus 12. Ex 12:11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S Passover. Ex 12:21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the Passover. {lamb: or, kid}Ex 12:27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped. Ex 12:43 And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the Passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof:
WHEN THE ANGELL OF DEATH SEES THE BLOOD IT WILL PASS YOU BY. The power of the Blood to deliver believers has not stopped. My church has a monthly BLOOD OF SPRINKLING CEREMONY where we cover ourselves with the Blood of Jesus and then we exhort the brothers and sisters to always cover themselves and their with the Blood. In Faith. This keeps evil away.
The third chapter of Genesis records the fall of mankind. The twenty first verse records God's response to their nakedness, a result of the fall.
C. The Mosaic Laws and Covenant Sealed by Blood. Exodus 24.
When the had sanctified themselves with the BLOOD following the first ever reading of the Laws and the Commandments, the children of Israel were now deemed worthy to come into the very presence of the Lord God and to eat and to drink with him. Again, this is a Shadow of US today. When you believe and confess that Jesus is Lord, you sanctify yourself with his BLOOD. Then you can walk into the HOLY PRESENCE, RIGHT IN THE VERY PRESENCE of your Heavenly Father and TALK LOUD!
Exodus 24: 4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD. 6 And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. 8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words. 9 Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: 10 And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.
11 And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink. 12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them. Genesis 3:21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
D. Life in the Blood: God GIVES LIFE by Blood not BLOOD RITUAL
The Devil, Satanists and Witch doctors know that the LIFE of everything is in the blood. Reason for their blood rituals. But death is also in every counterfeit Satanic ritual. In the Old Testament sacrifices, it was not the blood itself that interested God. In the Old Covenant, life came by OBEYING the COMMANDMENTS. In the New Covenant Life comes by BE+LIVING the Blood. What God wanted of the Jews was for them to keep His commandments, and to receive His life. There were many other religions in those times that used blood and sacrifices not only of animals, but also of people. But blood was not what God wanted. What made the religion of Israel different was that blood was used to symbolize the Divine Law and Life, and they were asked to go beyond the blood itself, to the life it represented. 1Jo 5: 7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. 9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. 10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
You have the Son of God by believing and confessing that Jesus is Lord Romans 10:8-13 and by knowing that you were IN HIM because of the New Covenant Pact made by his prayer in John 17 and by KNOWING that – being essentially sin - you were in CHRIST when he died.
The blood in the sacrifices was used to symbolize this truth and life, but the physical blood itself did not bring about any atonement. Le 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
It was what the blood symbolized (namely, keeping the commandments and receiving life) that brought at-one-ment with God. This is clear from the fact that the blood of sacrifice was repulsive to God when the sacrifices were made by people who broke the commandments and did not love others. The spilling of blood itself is not something that pleases God.
To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? says the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you: yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. (Isaiah 1:11, 15)
The Lord doesn't want blood, but thanksgiving and kept promises:
Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: (Psalm 50:13-14)
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. (Hebrews 10:4 Compare Ezekiel 44:7, Isaiah 66:3)
These passages show that God does not want literal blood. People completely misunderstood God when they assumed He actually wanted literal blood, instead of what the blood represents (that is, a life according to God's Laws).
Some people have made the same mistake about the blood of Jesus. They have forgotten what the blood represents, and focused on the literal blood, instead of on the Life and Truth He gives us. When the Bible speaks of the blood of Jesus, some people just assume that blood symbolizes His death only, without ever really looking at what the Bible says the blood means. Then based on that assumption they further assume that Jesus saved us by His death, not His life, and that His death was a punishment from God for our sins.
See Psalms 50.
The Mighty One Calls
1The mighty God, even the LORD, has spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof. 2Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shined. 3Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. 4He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. 5Gather my saints together to me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. 6And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah. 7Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, even your God. 8I will reprove you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, to have been continually before me. 9I will take no bullock out of your house, nor he goats out of your folds. 10For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. 11I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. 12If I were hungry, I would not tell you: for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof. 13Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? 14 Offer to God thanksgiving; and pay your vows to the most High: 15And call on me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me. 16But to the wicked God said, What have you to do to declare my statutes, or that you should take my covenant in your mouth? 17Seeing you hate instruction, and casts my words behind you. 18When you saw a thief, then you consented with him, and have been partaker with adulterers. 19You give your mouth to evil, and your tongue frames deceit. 20You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother's son. 21These things have you done, and I kept silence; you thought that I was altogether such an one as yourself: but I will reprove you, and set them in order before your eyes. 22Now consider this, you that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver. 23Whoever offers praise glorifies me: and to him that orders his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God.
E. Life In Jesus: Not Death
At the core of the misunderstanding about the blood of Jesus is a misunderstanding about why He died. The Bible never says that Jesus by His death saved us from God's punishment or penalty for sin, but from the power of the devil and bondage to sin.
One reason Jesus died was to overcome the power of hell. Jesus worked against evil spirits throughout His life, and His suffering was the final struggle against evil, and His resurrection the final victory over evil. For every person, overcoming evil involves temptation or struggle against evil, and "dying to sin and the world." As we struggle against evil individually, Christ struggled against evil on a cosmic scale, and His death was the conclusion of that struggle. So the Bible says that God took on flesh and blood so that "through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil." (Hebrews 2:14,15) Still, He saves us by His Life, more than by His death (Romans 5:10).
Another reason that Bible gives for Jesus' death was that He might make His human nature completely one with His Divine nature, and so make our HUMAN NATURE ONE WITH OUR DIVINE NATURE because we were in him. So that He could "to make in Himself of two one new man," (Ephesians 2:14-16, cf. John 17:11,21; 10:30), so that He could "go to the Father" (John 13:3; 14:2,28; 16:10), or be "glorified" (John 17:1,5) or "enter into His glory" (Luke 24:26), that is, "be perfected" (Luke 13:32), or "sanctified" (John 17:19).
There is no doubt that Jesus died on account of our sins, for the purpose of setting us free from them. But the Bible teaches that through His temptations and death He overcame evil, perfected Himself, gave us life and revealed truth. So the question is not at all whether Christ died for us, but why He died.
It was not because the Father demanded punishment. The Bible never says that Christ redeemed us by becoming a fall guy for us, taking the rap so the guilty could get off scot-free. That interpretation simply isn't Biblical, and didn't even develop in the Christian world until over 1000 years after Christ. At the end of the eleventh century after Christ, the Christian Church was captivated by vengeful and politically motivated Crusades to spill the blood of the "infidels"(including the babies) in the Holy Land. They glorified—deified—this bloodlust with the battle cry, Deus vult! "God wills it!" The church was so focused on blood and death that they imagined that God Himself wanted the blood of the heathen in retaliation for their sin and unbelief. It was just at this low point in church history that Anselm of Canterbury invented the idea that the reason for Christ's death was that God the Father demanded the blood and death of a sinless Man in retaliation for the sins of the human race. It was Anselm who invented the concept of "satisfaction"—that God could only be "satisfied" by death and spilling of blood.
This cult of blood and death is not true Christianity. Jesus never portrayed the angry, bloodthirsty God whose demand for "justice" could be appeased by the sight of His Son's blood. Jesus did say that those who eat His flesh and drink His blood of the New Testament will receive life, but this was the only thing Jesus said about His blood, and His purpose in saying it was to take the focus off the bloody sacrifices and put it instead on His Life and Truth. His focus was always teaching us how to live in love for God and others. It would be well for all Christians today to follow His example, and take the focus off blood and death and put it instead on His teaching about how we should live.
The Ordinance of the Passover is not the BLOOD Sacrifice of the Old Testament. In order to comprehend what happened on the night before the Lord Jesus was crucified, one must first comprehend what happened legally in the Garden of Eden. Man was made for authority – dominion. He was created and fashioned for dominion, ruler ship and kingship. Genesis 1:26. Let us make man in our own image and let him have dominion. You see, redemption from beginning to end is grounded upon divine jurisprudence. When Adam opted to obey Satan, he became Satan's slave. Romans 6:16. Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves as servants or slave to obey, his servant or slave ye are? The man fumbled with the ball and gave his dominion to the devil – legally. He became a slave of Sin or Satan. This gave Satan legal authority to rule over man and the Earth. God had no legal or moral authority to recover what was lost because then God would be violating his own principles. The angels could not intervene either because the angels had zero legal rights over man's dominion. Since Adam was Satan's slave all his progeny also became slave to sin. A slave cannot enter into litigation. Only a bonafide man upon whom Satan had no claim could cancel Satan's legal jurisdiction. Jesus came as an authentic member of the human race to restore what was lost. From Bethlehem to the Wilderness Temptation and then Gethsemane, the devil tried his worst to turn this man to his wile ways and failed. The last failure was in the New Covenant and then the anti-climax at Calvary. Oh yes, Calvary was an anti-climax! The Lord Jesus was MADE SIN – by the Body+Blood Pact with us – Sinners! Our body and our blood became his and his body and blood became ours. He thus became the very essence of Sin and he could now die as a SIN OFFERING!
The Sequencing of events in the Night before the Lord Jesus died is very important. Mt 26: 26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. 30 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives.
Lu 22:19, 20 19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. 20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
The COVENANT, the POWER of the New Testament is in the BLOOD of Jesus and not in the BODY! For this is my blood of the New Testament! And both the Body and the Blood go together because: 1Co 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
The New Covenant is in the Blood because the Lord God, through Jesus Christ, made a ONENESS Blood pact with MAN. John 17. 20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
2. When were these sacrifices stopped and why?
To the Christian and, as far as the Lord God is concerned, the sacrifice of blood ended the minute the Lord Jesus died and when, especially, when he resurrected. See something that very few pay attention to. When Mary Magdalene found Jesus on the resurrection morn, he ordered her NOT TO TOUCH HIM:
Joh 20:17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
The significance is important. After the tradition of Old, he now had to take his BLOOD OFFERING to Heaven, and then pour the blood into the MERCY SEAT as the Leviticus High Priest of Old did pour the blood of sacrifice onto the MERCY SEAT in the Holy of Holies between the Cherubim that covereth. The Lord God only accepted HIS SACRIFICE when that SACRIFICE WAS POURED UPON THE MERCY SEAT IN HEAVEN.
Then he came back in the evening and they could now touch him.
John 20: 18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her. 19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
The Lord Jesus made the last and the ultimate sacrifice of his own blood. But the blood that was spilled was not his alone because we were ONE IN HIM by virtue of the New Testament Pact. See Blood sacrifices were practiced by the followers of Moses, but not those of Christ. Have the followers of Moses stopped blood sacrifices?
3. What did Jesus teach concerning blood sacrifices, especially the sacrifices we find in the Old Testament?
NEW Covenant and Testament Priesthood
There is something about the Life of Jesus that you should know. Jesus was basically an Old Testament man and until he died he lived in Old Testament times and thus under the MOSAIC LAW and Covenant. As a youth, his parents took him to the temple and he did attend all the events and blood sacrifices demanded by the MOSAIC LAW and Covenants.
But he was not qualified to be a priest let alone a high priest. He was of the Tribe of Judah, you see. And the priests were Levites. How then did he become our High Priest so that he could OFFER a SACRIFICE of his own blood and then make us PRIESTS so that we can now offer sacrifices unto the Lord God?
Why was the VEIL in the temple which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies torn from top to bottom when the Lord Jesus died? In the Old Testament, only the High Priest cold enter the Holy of Holies to offer sacrifices but when the Lord Jesus died, the Lord God removed the veil so WE can now walk freely into the very presence of God and talk loud.
Read Hebrews 4-13 to understand why the Lord God no longer needs a sacrifice of blood but rather a sacrifice of praise and thanks giving and why we are qualified to enter into his presence and offer our sacrifice of praise and thanks giving as PRIESTS. Because our High PRIEST, offered his BLOOD for us.
Hebrews 4.
Jesus the Great High Priest
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven,[f] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
The Old Testament and the Old Covenant invented the Leviticus Priesthood that indulged in religion and rites and rituals before the communion or the Passover. The Lord Jesus was not a Levite hence he was not even qualified to be a priest let alone a High Priest. Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 5:5 So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. Heb 5:10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. Heb 6:20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Heb 7:26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Heb 8:1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; Heb 9:11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Heb 10:21 And having an high priest over the house of God;
4. Finally, does anyone understand the meaning of all those blood sacrifices that the Jews attributed to God?
Most Jews are not Christians. They are either into Judaism and its extreme called Zionists. The Bible of the Zionists is a Satanism called the Talmud. The truth is that there is no such thing as Judeo-Christianity. That would be like saying Satanic-Christianity. The religion now called Judaism did not even come formally into existence until six hundred years after Jesus Christ. It began with the codification of the Babylonian Talmud. In Judaism, the Talmud is the supreme scripture, not the Old Testament. Only Satanism can rival Judaism's vicious hatred for Jesus Christ. The Talmud even claims that Jesus Christ is being punished in hell by "being boiled in hot semen!"
Judaism and Zionism do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah. They are still waiting for a human liberator who would come and rebuild Israel to dominate the Middle East and then the World. Jews, who fidget with the Bible, end their education with the Pentateuch or the FIRST FIVE BOOKS of MOSES. Reason why they believe in the Mosaic La and Commandments especially: An eye for an eye. They still hold a Passover and a Day of Atonement called Yom Kippur.
True that Jesus is the center of both Passover and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), just as He is the center of all of the Hebraic feasts, festivals, and holy days but for VERY DIFFERENT REASONS. The main thing that Passover and Yom Kippur have in common is that both involve blood sacrifices for sin, since it is by blood that God's atonement is made (Leviticus 17:11).
Both Passover and Yom Kippur focus on "liberation" but in different ways. Israel was liberated from bondage to slavery in Egypt by the blood of lambs on the first Passover. Similarly, mankind was liberated from bondage to sin by the blood of Jesus on the cross on Passover; He was the Lamb of God, who took away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
On Passover, the only animals sacrificed were lambs (Exodus 12:3). The high priest sacrificed a national lamb, and all the people sacrificed their own lambs and then ate them (12:7, 8). So the people were expected to participate in the process, and any who did not were cut off (Numbers 9:13).
Now, on Yom Kippur, the high priest again was involved, but numerous animals (a bull, a ram, goats, and lambs) were sacrificed (Numbers 29:7-11). The people themselves were not involved in any of the sacrificing, and none of the animals sacrificed by the high priest were eaten by the general populace. In fact, Yom Kippur was/is a solemn day of fasting and denying oneself, rather than of joyous feasting and celebration.
Jesus, as Israel's ultimate High Priest (Hebrews 2:17), fulfilled Passover during His first advent by sacrificing Himself on the cross as the supreme Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7).
Both Passover and Yom Kippur involve the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:22). Those who voluntarily have recognized Jesus as our Passover Lamb and have accepted His blood atonement for their sins are exempt from God's wrath, nor are they separated from Him after death. However, as a whole, Israel has not done this, since the people have not recognized Jesus as their Messiah nor His blood atonement for their sins.
The Zionists believe in the Passover but they have translated it into land grab. See the Yom Kippur WAR.
The next time you go to the presence of God with a need, don't encourage unbelief by trying to work out in your mind how God will provide the answer. Take comfort in the fact that the blood of Jesus is the answer. The blood is our omnipotent God's provision for all our needs. If Jesus' blood had not been shed from the creation of the world, then we might have had a good reason to worry. God would have overlooked a vital fact. But glory is to God. In His all-knowing wisdom He has slain the lamb before the "creation of the world". The blood has provided for our redemption, every need and provision. Hebrews 9:22. (ESV). 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
God has all along been revealing the "lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world". However this is just the beginning of the revelation. And you know what! The knowledge of this alone, when received into our hearts can cause us to walk in the abundance of riches that Christ's death made available to us.
Conclusion
a) Genesis chapter three - An animal is sacrificed and its blood is shed for a person.
b) Exodus chapter twelve - An animal is sacrificed and its blood is shed for a family.
c) Exodus chapter thirty and Leviticus 16: 3-34 - An animal is sacrificed and its blood is shed for a nation.
d) John 1:29 - Jesus, the Lamb of God, is sacrificed, and His blood is shed for the world.
e) It is even said that the Lord God bought us back from the devil with his OWN BLOOD! The Body – the Church - is of Christ and the Church is of God. Ac 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. Jesus is God!
f) And that BLOOD is of the LAMB, slain before the foundation of the World. Revelation 13:8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast -- all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. (NIV)
Prophet Ntemfac Ofege
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