In search of the true
God
The meaning of the sacrificial system
from God’s perspective
Through
prophetic revelation, God attempted to rectify the wrong concepts of the
Hebrews pertaining to their theology and customs. But only a remnant of a few
heeded such revelations which reformed their views and lives. The same is true
for the confessing Christians. They also need enlightenment by the spirit of
God in order to be transformed into His image..
The
perception that men have about God is reflected in their relationship with
their fellow men as well with all of God’s creation.
Christ revealed the true image of God
by His Word and His life.
John
12:45
45
And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.
John
5:19
19
Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the
Son can do nothing of Himself, but what
He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.
John
14:9
9
Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not
known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has
seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
John
17:25-26
25
O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and
these have known that You sent Me.
26
And I have declared to them Your name,
and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and
I in them."
Col 2:9
9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
Cruelty,
to people of other nationalities, races, religions, beliefs, and to all of
God’s creation indicates a distorted concept of God.
Matt
7:16
16
You will know them by their fruits . Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or
figs from thistles?
Mankind throughout history attempted to interpret
God and His will, but failed.
Only a remnant did dimly understand God and their
understanding was reflected
In their relationship with their fellow men and all
of God’s creation.
Only through the mind
of Christ, who is “The True Image of God”, “The Word of God” the “Good News”
can we understand the Old Testament which we will quote
in dealing with the misunderstood practice of the Judaic sacrificial system.
Good intent without knowledge is not good. Worship
to God, even zeal for God, without knowledge of God is idolatry.
Rom 10:2-3
2 For I can testify about them
that they are zealous for God, but their
zeal is not based on knowledge.
3 Since they did not know the
righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.
The Jewish theology was based on a God image of their own making. That
was the reason why the hierarchy rejected the true revelation of God in Christ.
Matt 15:14
14 Let them alone. They are
blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall
into a ditch."
Luke 11:52
52 "Woe to you lawyers!
For you have taken away the key of
knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in
you hindered."
Did
God enjoy animal sacrifices?
Many thought that God was pleased in the multitude
of their animal sacrifices.
They believed that they were doing something good
for God, and the more the better.
1 Kings 8:63
63 And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace
offerings, which he offered to the LORD, twenty-two thousand bulls and one
hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of
Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.
1 Chron 29:21
21 And they made sacrifices to the LORD and offered
burnt offerings to the LORD on the next day: a thousand bulls , a thousand
rams, a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in
abundance for all Israel.
2 Chron 29:21
21 And they brought seven bulls , seven rams,
seven lambs, and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom, for
the sanctuary, and for Judah. Then he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron,
to offer them on the altar of the LORD.
2 Chron 29:33-34
33 The consecrated things were six hundred bulls
and three thousand sheep.
34 But the priests were too few, so that they could
not skin all the burnt offerings; therefore their brethren the Levites helped
them until the work was ended and until the other priests had sanctified
themselves, for the Levites were more diligent in sanctifying themselves than
the priests.
2 Chron 30:24
24 For Hezekiah king of Judah gave to the assembly a
thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep, and the leaders gave to the assembly a
thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep; and a great number of priests sanctified
themselves.
Ezra 6:17
17 And they offered sacrifices at the dedication of
this house of God, one hundred bulls , two hundred rams, four hundred lambs,
and as a sin offering for all Israel twelve male goats, according to the
number of the tribes of Israel.
Judging by the actions of the majority of the
Israelites, their image of God was: “A blood thirsty, scorching meet and smoke
indulging being.”
How could intelligent people develop such a cruel
concept of their God?
A
Historic Overview of God’s attempts to correct wrong concepts.
TIME
OF Samuel and David ;about 1050 BC
1
Sam 15:22
So Samuel said:
"Has
the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As
in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold,
to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the
fat of rams.
About1010 BC
Ps
40:6
6
Sacrifice and offering You did not
desire;
My
ears You have opened.
Burnt offering and sin
offering You did not require.
Ps
50:8‑13
I
will not rebuke you for your sacrifices
Or
your burnt offerings,
Which
are continually before Me.
9
I will not take a bull from your house,
Nor goats out of your
folds.
10 For every beast of
the forest is Mine,
And the cattle on a
thousand hills.
11 I know all the
birds of the mountains,
And the wild beasts of
the field are Mine.
12 "If I were
hungry, I would not tell you;
For the world is Mine,
and all its fullness.
13 Will I eat the
flesh of bulls,
Or drink the blood of
goats?
Ps
51:15‑17
15
O Lord, open my lips,
And
my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
16 For You do not
desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in
burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of
God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a
contrite heart C
These, O God, You will
not despise.
Can man really do
something for God? Jesus
gave us His answer:
Matt
25:40
40
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of
the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Time of Salomon; about 950 BC
Prov
15:8
8
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,
But
the prayer of the upright is His delight.
Prov
21:3
3
To do righteousness and justice
Is more acceptable to
the LORD than sacrifice.
Prov
21:27
27
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination;
How
much more when he brings it with wicked intent!
Time of the prophets Amos, Hosea, Micah;
about 800 BC,
Amos
5:21‑27
1
"I hate, I despise your feast days,
And
I do not savor your sacred assemblies.
22
Though you offer Me burnt offerings and
your grain offerings,
I will not accept
them,
Nor will I regard your
fattened peace offerings.
23
Take away from Me the noise of your songs,
For
I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
24
But let justice run down like water,
And righteousness like
a mighty stream.
25
"Did you offer Me sacrifices and
offerings
In the wilderness
forty years, O house of Israel?
26 You also carried
Sikkuth your king
And Chiun, your idols,
The star of your gods,
Which you made for
yourselves.
27 Therefore I will
send you into captivity beyond Damascus,"
Says the Lord, whose
name is the God of hosts.
Hos
4:19
19
The wind has wrapped her up in its wings,
And
they shall be ashamed because of their
sacrifices.
Hos
6:6
For I desire mercy and
not sacrifice,
And the knowledge of
God more than burnt offerings.
Please note:
Jesus quoted this revelation with His relevant application:
Matt
9:13
But go
and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did
not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."
Matt
12:7
But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you
would not have condemned the guiltless.
Hos
8:13
13 For
the sacrifices of My offerings they sacrifice flesh and eat it,
But the
LORD does not accept them.
Hos 12:11
11 Though Gilead has idols
Surely
they are vanity
Though
they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal,
Indeed
their altars shall be heaps in the furrows of the field.
Mic 6:6‑8
6 With what shall I come before the LORD,
And bow myself before the High God?
Shall I
come before Him with burnt offerings,
With
calves a year old?
7 Will
the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
Ten
thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I
give my firstborn for my transgression,
The
fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He has
shown you, O man, what is good;
And what
does the LORD require of you
But to
do justly,
To love
mercy,
And to
walk humbly with your God?
Time of Isaiah; about
720 BC
Isa 1:11‑15
11
"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?"
Says the
LORD.
"I
have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
And the
fat of fed cattle.
I do not
delight in the blood of bulls,
Or of lambs or goats.
12
"When you come to appear before Me,
Who
has required this from your hand,
To
trample My courts?
13
Bring no more futile sacrifices;
Incense
is an abomination to Me.
The
New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies C
I
cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
14
Your New Moons and your appointed feasts
My
soul hates;
They
are a trouble to Me,
I
am weary of bearing them.
15
When you spread out your hands,
I
will hide My eyes from you;
Even
though you make many prayers,
I
will not hear.
Your
hands are full of blood.
Isa
43:23‑25
23
You have not brought Me the sheep for
your burnt offerings,
Nor have you honored
Me with your sacrifices.
I have not caused you
to serve with grain offerings,
Nor wearied you with
incense.
24 You have bought Me
no sweet cane with money,
Nor have you satisfied
Me with the fat of your sacrifices;
But you have
burdened Me with your sins,
You have wearied Me
with your iniquities.
25
"I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake;
And
I will not remember your sins.
Time of the prophet
Jeremiah ; about 620 BC.
Jer 6:20
20 For what purpose to Me
Comes frankincense from Sheba,
And sweet cane from a far country?
Your
burnt offerings are not acceptable,
Nor your
sacrifices sweet to Me."
Jer 7:21‑26
21 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of
Israel:"Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat. 22 For I did not speak to your fathers, or command
them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt
offerings or sacrifices. 23 But this is what I commanded them, saying,'Obey My
voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the
ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.' 24 Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but
followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went
backward and not forward. 25 Since the day that your fathers came out of the
land of Egypt until this day, I have even sent to you all My servants the
prophets, daily rising up early and sending them. 26 Yet they
did not obey Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse
than their fathers.
Jer 14:12
12 When they fast, I will not hear their cry;
and when they offer burnt offering and
grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the
sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence."
Time of the New
Testament;
Heb 10:1‑4
For
the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of
the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually
year by year, make those who approach perfect. 2 For then would they not have
ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more
consciousness of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins
every year. 4 For it is not possible
that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.
Heb
10:5‑12
Therefore,
when He came into the world, He said:
"Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But
a body You have prepared for Me.
6
In burnt offerings and sacrifices for
sin
You had no pleasure.
7
Then I said, 'Behold, I have come C
In
the volume of the book it is written of Me C
To
do Your will, O God.'"
8
Previously saying, "Sacrifice and
offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had
pleasure in them"(which are offered according to the law), 9 then He said,
"Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God." He takes away the first
that He may establish the second. 10 By that will we have been sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
And
every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same
sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
12
But this Man, after He had offered one
sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at
the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made
His footstool. 14 For by one
offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
What was the lesson of the symbolic
sacrificial system?
1. Sin causes death.
Rom
6:23
23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
God
just wanted that men would not sin and suffer the consequences of their sins.
2. The sinner has nothing and can do nothing to redeem himself from death.
God
provides the solution. He provides the Lamb. Yet many Hebrew sinners had the
distorted idea: “I provide
the lamb from my flock for
the atonement of my sin.
God’s
message was clear: “ Be holy, do not sin, the perfect Messiah will have to die
for your sin so that you may have forgiveness and live.
All things are God’s. All good things come
from Him. And we entirely depend on Him.
He
does not need us, nor anything we have, but we need Him, Forgiveness and life
are given us freely by grace. We do not earn it by our works or sacrifices.
Jn 3:16.
For God so loved the world that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life.
Rom 12:1-2
I
beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And do not be conformed to
this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove
what is that
good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Please note, the scripture states that by the
mercies of God, we are enabled to present our bodies a living sacrifice, not
that we make us a living sacrifice. Only God can do that.
We are living sacrifices created by the spirit
of God. As God’s children, our lives present and prove that fact. We are His
workmanship, transformed into His image.
Eph 2:8-10
8 For by grace you have been saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves;
it is the
gift of God,
9 not
of works, lest anyone should boast.
10 For we are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we
should walk in them.
When God calls us we are resurrected from being spiritual
dead and receive spiritual life. We come totally empty handed.
Eph 2:4-6
4 But God, who is rich in
mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in
trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up together, and made us
sit together in the
heavenly places in
Christ Jesus,
He made us sit [rest]
in the heavenly realms. Now we no longer struggle and get frustrated by what we
can not do, but we rejoice in experiencing what He can do and is doing. This is
the faith in the saving works of Christ that overcomes the world.
Phil 2:12-13
2 Therefore, my
beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much
more in my absence, work out your
own salvation with fear and trembling;
13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
“Work
out”, get a clear understanding of who’s workmanship you are. Do not interfere
with, or limit the Almighty God. If you are willing and obedient, it is by His
enabling grace.
He even cleanses our conscience from dead
works.
Heb 9:14
14 how much more shall the
blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to
God, cleanse your conscience from dead
works to serve the living God?
Works
that we think we accomplished and take credit for are dead works. We will never
be able to do enough for the Lord or give Him enough. But when you are owned by
the Master Craftsman, He will do the good works in and through you that He has
fore ordained from beginning to the end. What He does is never less than 100%.
Heb 12:2
looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith,
If
you should find yourself doing works that are different from those that God has
preordained, please take note, than it is not God who works in you nor are your
works godly.
Fruit of the spirit of God:
Gal 5:22-25
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control.
Against such there is no law.
24 And those who are Christ's
have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live in the Spirit,
let us also walk in the Spirit.
1
John 4:16
16
And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and
he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
1 John 4:8
8 He who does not love
does not know God, for God is love.
Luke 6:35‑36
35 But love your
enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will
be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the
unthankful and evil. 36 Therefore be
merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.
The
spirit of the Old Testament can only be understood through the mind of Jesus. He has always been the same. No contradiction.
The God of the Old
Testament is the same in the New Testament.
Christ
corrected the general held erroneous concepts.
Mal 3:6
6
"For I am the LORD, I do not change;
Heb
13:8
8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday,
today, and forever.
Men
have always made God into their own image. They did not hear what God said,
but
they heard what they wanted Him to say. It is their misunderstandings, their
wrong concepts and their self centered life styles that needed to be changed.
God was always willing to do it for them, but they refused.
Even
when they red the scripture, the vail of error darkened their proud minds.
2 Cor 3:15-16
15 But even to this day, when
Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.
16 Nevertheless when one turns
to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
Isa
6:10
10
"Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their
eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears , And understand
with their heart, And return and be healed."
Jer
5:21
21'Hear
this now, O foolish people, Without understanding, Who have eyes and see not,
And who have ears and hear not:
Eze
12:2
2
"Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, which has eyes
to see but does not see, and ears to hear but does not hear; for they are a
rebellious house.
Mt
13:15
15
For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have
closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears , Lest
they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal
them.'
Mt
15:8
8
"These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their
lips , But their heart is far from Me.
Most
of what the majority in Israel believed and did was based on their ignorance,
their stubbornness and their distorted perception of God. Much of what was
believed and generally practiced was in error. When Jesus tried to enlighten
their darkened minds, they hated Him in their self righteousness.
Mt
5:43-45
"You have heard that it was said, 'You
shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
44
But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who
curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use
you and persecute you,
45 that you may be sons of your Father
in heaven; for He
makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and
on the unjust.
In
the recorded words of Christ, He used the expression “I say” 56 times.
Even Moses made concessions because of their hardened
hearts.
Mark
10:4-5
4 They said,"Moses permitted a man to
write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her."
5 And Jesus answered and said
to them, "Because of
the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
Jesus is the true light that has come into
this world. He is the Truth, the Light and the Way and it is our Father’s
pleasure to let us live in His light.
John 14:6
6 Jesus said to him, "I
am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
Me.
Luke 11:13
3 If you then, being
evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"
Jesus
wanted us to understand and believe fully, that God loves us, that He is our spiritual
Father. When He gives His gifts, they are always 100%. Showers of blessings are
always here for the taking. And not just “mercy drops around us are falling” as
some spiritual blind church members tell Him in their song:”Showers of
blessings”. What an insult to Him. He gives super abundantly, always. Many pray
for the Holy Spirit, but they do not receive him when He comes in ways that are
inconvenient and not to their expectation.
Today’s Christianity suffers from the same spiritual blindness as ancient Israel of not knowing God and loving their self invented gods.
Today’s Christianity suffers from the same spiritual blindness as ancient Israel of not knowing God and loving their self invented gods.
I
hope you will be blessed and able to co-serve with a Christ fellowship
community. Christ is still keeping His promise to be with us every day and He
is present everywhere, even when only two or three are together in His name, that is “In His entire
will”.
Rom
11:2-6
God did not reject his people, whom he
foreknew. Don't you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah —
how he appealed to God against Israel: 3 "Lord, they have killed your
prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying
to kill me" ? 4 And what was God's answer to him? "I have reserved
for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal." 5 So too, at the present
time there is a remnant chosen by grace.
Rev
12:17
17
And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the
rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony
of Jesus Christ.
Please
read my script: “God is love. He loves you. Do you love Him?”