The sacrificial system is very foreign to those of us living in the West in the 21st century. But, in the days of Ancient Israel, and even further back than that, it was well understood. God established the sacrificial system in the Garden of Eden as a way to atone (repair, reconcile) for the sin of mankind. The enemy tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden, and they sinned. Therefore, God set up the Sacrificial system to bring them back into right relationship with Him. He did this through the Substitution principal, the blood of the innocent in exchange for the blood of the guilty. The life of the Flesh is in the blood. Because all of humanity has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, we are all under the “death penalty” – whether we know it or not. The only way that we can escape the death penalty (eternal separation from our creator in hell/lake of fire) is to receive the atoning blood of Jesus Christ (God Almighty / MESSIAH who had NO SIN) as a substitute for our own death. Without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sin. We receive Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross in substitution for our own ETERNAL death – BY FAITH in what HE has done. ✝️
For this reason, God taught the Hebrew people, in the Old Testament, the sacrificial system, whereby certain kinds of animals (clean animals) would be sacrificed, and their blood be used as an atonement for sin. Although this sounds barbaric today, it was commonplace in those days. Likewise, in most cases, the remainder of the animal was used to feed the Temple Priests who were administering the sacrifices. Unless you’re vegan, most of us certainly eat animals today – hamburger, steak, chicken.
We find out in the New Testament that the whole reason God established the animal sacrifices was to foreshadow the day when He would clothe Himself in the LIKENESS of human flesh (incarnation), live a SINLESS life, and be the final atonement for the sin of all mankind (all who would BELIEVE). Sin cannot be simply “whisked” away, there always has to be a payment, a consequence for sin.
One of the reasons that the sacrificial system was so well known in ancient times is because other cultures began to copy God’s system that He had established in the Garden of Eden. These false pagan religions made blood sacrifices, not to the True God, but rather to their false, pagan gods. These pagan gods were basically satan and his fallen angels, masquerading as God. When satan discovered God’s system, he decided to use it for himself because he wanted to be worshipped. However, satan took God’s system and morphed it into human sacrifice, often requiring his “worshippers” to sacrifice children because of their innocence.
Deuteronomy 12:31: You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.😥
The True God, YHWH, declared the practice of sacrificing children an ABOMINATION! YHWH God set up the system to save mankind. The devil copied the system to kill mankind and to satisfy his pride.
Make no mistake, the devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy😈, but God comes to GIVE LIFE! ✝️
