The Practice of Modern Sacrifices

I thank Our Father for all he provides for us to sustain physical life... I appreciate the place of living creatures being supplied for our maintenance... Thank you for speaking of the delineation between sacrifice and rituals.

Looking forward to more 'teachings' which I stand in agreement with your take on Our Father's approach to we his children.

Learning about the culture and mindset of the people who lived during the times the Scriptures were written is so valuable. Reading this turns my attention to our current culture, where the life of the unborn is not valued...we being given dominion by our Creator to rule over the earth, and to walk in His ways, have lost the understanding of the value of life. I didn't know that the meaning of kohen is administrator not "priest", I am still learning. :) Thank you for sharing, Jeff, definitely something to both keep in mind and practice. Shalom.

Kingdom of administrators!!!!

Two points, unfortunately in the world of Christianity due to programming since birth and ignorance of Scripture the word Torah is like a four letter word and many teach that our feeble attempts of obedience to the Torah is a sin punishable by eternal damnation in hell, trust me, I know.

But this doesn’t stop me but I prefer to use the word Teachings as Yeshua The Teacher taught the Teachings to Moses.

But second, as Jeff hinted to, the ritual of sacrifice was the most humane way of preparing an animal for supper and is so unique, if I could bring myself to, or had to I would love to learn this kind act where the animal responds as if it feels no pain and is submitting to the preparer as if it is completing the job it was intended for, but fortunately, or unfortunately, we prepare our supper by buying plastic wrapped animals.

I think it is important not to confuse sacrifice with slaughter. They are not the same.

Slaughter is something done against another's will, outside of his consent. Animals do not have the ability to give true consent. They live by the instinct to survive. No matter how humane the method, it is still slaughter.

Sacrifice, on the other hand, is completely voluntary. Sacrifice is not limited to bloodshed or the ending of physical life. Personally, I don't think it has anything to do with that. When one is willing to give up his own life, he is offering his time and energy toward something greater than himself while remaining in the flesh. That is true sacrifice.

Exodus 21:21

Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.

I like where you guys are going with this. I’m reminded of how YWHW sacrificed an animal to clothe Adam and Eve, a foreshadowing of clothing us with his righteousness, and how he was basically skinned alive so that his righteousness could hang on our shoulders, just as he hung on that dead tree.

So then if our money we earn is an exchange for our labor, our time, our life. When we lay it down on the Walmart altar of self check out, are we worshiping him with the things we purchase? Ouch

Philippians 3:18-19

18   (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:

19   Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

Romans 12:1

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Leviticus 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.

Matthew 7:21

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

He knows very well if our hearts belong to him, and if not, aren’t we worthy of the same destruction he subjected himself to when he cut our covenant? If we exchange the Walmart altar for the churchianity altar is that any different?

I agree w your points on sacrifice and the importance as to how in scriptural times as well as now, giving respect to the animals we farm prepare and eat, however, yes, I feel there has got to be more to this and a far deeper and greater spiritual understanding in this concern for us..

Although we no longer sacrifice animals to YHUH Aluhyim (and even back then) it is my strong belief that sacrifice was also meant more for the individual; making an earthen (Adam) alter on our knees, on the ground, offering up 'our own' (incense- a sweet aroma to YHUH) free will and perhaps having characteristics of each individual animal according to shared characteristics w individual, etc.

Obviously there has got to be more than I know or have studied but the understanding of sacrifice runs deep for sure..

Looking at it from a ancient nomadic lifestyle, when an animal was killed it was for a greater purpose. To sustain the life of it's owner or cover ones sins. Elohim wants to see His creations thrive and prosper even with the death of an animal furthering or allowing one to move forward verses being stagnant. The servant that was given 1 talent then buried it in the ground is considered stagnant. The result was, he gets cast into outer darkness Math 25:30. Perhaps the word KILL works better across all the passages with SHACHAT #7819 than slaughter. Just trying to bring an ancient perspective to things. Shalom

Furtunately ABBA moved me to became vegetarian after 44 years and I do not REPENT after 5 years my health is better ,lost 20Kg and by His Mercy and Help , no others involved...since 9 years I left all pharmakeia medicines out of my life, for His Honor HALAL YAHUAH 🙌🏻, sacrifices was a visual impact way to show us how abominable are sins for our Creator

I simply think of Indigenous and Aboriginal people who always honour the animals that are killed by the people for the life of their tribe/ clan group. Every part of the animal is honored and used in some way as a part of the life of the tribe/ clan group. The hooves of an animal provided glue, the skin of the animals provided clothing and blankets, the flesh provided food for the people. The Israelites honored the animals they used as they realized that the animals provided life. The Israelites were tribal people prior to settling, establing a king and building a temple and the township of Jerusalem. The Israelites would have lived in a similar way to Aboriginal and Indigenous people.

Initially the Israelites were landless people who genocided (if read literally, not symbolically or metaphysically or metaphorically) their relatives for the land of Canaan. I can't understand the need to genocide relatives for the land. Why couldn't the land be shared. Do you think you could do a blogpost on your thoughts around the Israelite genocide of their relatives for the land. Do not include the religious practices of their relatives such as human sacrifice, there is archelogical evidence which indicates that the Israelites worshipped a pantheon of Gods and Goddess prior to 600 BCE.

In writing all of this, there are differences between matriarchal and patriarchal indigenous peoples and their relatonship to the land, but I won't go into the differences here.

In our contemporary society living aligned with an economy that worships money and profit, humans live disconnected and unaware of their interconnection and interrelatedness with mother nature and mother earth. We are a part of the earth and mother nature. It's not just the waste of precious animal life. There is so much more to think about then simply wasting precious life, such as the microplastics humans and animals breathe and eat.

Lets face it the micro plastics are not just in the air we breathe but in the air that animals breathe. The micro plastics are also in the water that animals drink. Humans living separated from the primordial light have really screwed up the ecosystem and biodiversity. I believe we should all be sitting with traditional Aboriginal/ Indigenous people to learn from them and to regain our connection to mother earth and mother nature. I spent six years learning about shamanism and Aboriginal culture. In that time all of my daily practices changed around what I purchased. I stopped buying products that put destructive chemicals and metals into our waterways. I am now almost entirely plastic free. All products I buy either come in glass, cardboard or paper including shampoo and conditioner and detergents for washing dishes and clothes. I eat very little meat. I changed to an almost entirely vegan diet, but I still eat a bit of meat not much. Their are a million ways we can change when it comes to doing better for the earth and mother nature. We should all be thinking about how we live in regards to animals and how we can stop polluting our earth and live more connected too the earth and mother nature.

I know I have raved on and on. I am passionate about this topic.

Blessings Angela

Jeff, your comment reminds me of a few things I experienced as a child. When I found out at around age 8 that eggs were baby chicks that never got to grow, I refused to eat eggs. Before that when I was around age 6, Mother made fried chicken as usual for our dinner. But my father kept snickering. Turns out, we were eating the cute little rabbits he had been keeping in our back yard.

Much later, I learned what God told Noah after the flood: He was going to put fear of humans in animals because now they would be food for them. I often look at the bugs that sometimes get into my kitchen. How easy it is for me to take a wash cloth and "slaughter" those cure little bugs. How much do their minds absorb? Don't know. But they live with the possibility of death all the time. I have learned the average lifespan of some butterflies is 2 weeks.

Still, there are symbolic lessons for us whenever any kind of living thing dies.

I have never thought about the Sacrifice in the TaNaK.  Being raised in a Christian home I always saw it as a ritual.  But now really looking at the different types of sacrifices.  Burnt Offering (Olah): The entire animal (except the skin) was burned on the altar, symbolizing complete dedication. Sin & Guilt Offerings (Chatat/Asham): Part was burned, and the priests ate the rest as holy food. Peace Offerings (Shelamim): This was the main meal; a portion went to God (fat), a portion to priests, and the rest (meat) was roasted and eaten by the family in a joyous, communal meal, often near the Temple.  So nothing was wasted, Even the Burnt Offering when the whole animal was burnt, the skin was still used for either shelter or clothing.  

Speaking of sacrifices and offerings, has anyone noticed that God always asks for first fruits and not first veggies?

I always wondered why His Majesty did not want any veggies. I figured it out!

Children would try to get out of eating their veggies by offering them to God!

Have you ever tried to make wine out of vegetable juice?

If Jesus had turned water into vegetable juice instead of wine at a wedding, there would go His reputation!

Two disparate thoughts came to me about this post.

I remember reading in The history of Christianity book years ago that animal sacrifice in Christian churches was still going on in Albania.

Secondly, I used to work at an insurance broker and we had our own surveyors to assess property and liability risks. We had several abattoirs as clients. The first comment from a surveyor was that after a survey of one abattoir he would likely become vegetarian.

We also had a client with an halal meat abattoir where during ritual Muslim slaughter there had to be prayers over the "sacrifices".

Our surveyor told me this was carried out via a recording on a tape player whilst being watched over by a young man sitting down smoking a cigarette and scrolling on his phone.

Holiness in any area of life is disappearing rapidly.

I agree that Kohen does actually mean administrator and not necessarily priest.

I also came across a comment somewhere (I don't recall where) that eunuch can also mean a person of high office who hasn't necessarily been castrated.

Help me understand the difference between the sacrifice for sins, free will offerings, burned offerings, and the offerings for the priesthood to eat. It seems to me there was more animal sacrifices then what was needed for food as in burnt offerings and sin offerings. Ty

Hi Jeff: can you define the word sacrifice and the word offering as they were used in the ancient Hebrew culture? My understanding is the Hebrews went overboard with sacrifices that the Lord did not want or acknowledge, and He called them out on it, but would accept offerings anytime. Thanks

To you observation Jeff of those chickens being thrown away without any thought, reminds me of how thoughtless the people were when they cried crucify him, and how many times they did that. Yeshua was abused by his haters, slapped him in his face, spat on him, lied on him, and they never stopped until thay hung him on a tree. This is in comparison to the instruction YHWH gives to gentle sacrifice the animals for humans who's disobedient cost him (Yashua) his live and at that time the life of the animal. Thank you for giving us something to think about

OK. I'm going to do a complete turn around here. I thought about the lesson that touched your heart, Jeff. I would think actually killing any animal would even be more intense. These chickens were living, breathing, happy chickens that had no choice in the matter. And unless they were kosher, it was harder on them. Yes I agree they should be respected and our Father, Creator deserves some of our heart- time too about them. Perhaps the original intent of blessing a meal. Certainly to die only for a trash heap is cruel. I watch many survival type shows like Mountain Men, Below Zero, & Alone, when its on. Many of the people actually took a minute to thank the animal for giving its life so they could live. My comment is usually; if the animals were given a choice, they would rather be in the bush again ; alive and not food. So even in the thought of dominion over things on the earth, Father, the Giver of life, may have been trying to teach of kindness, because it really is such a serious thing to take life. ( I do find myself drawing the line at mosquitoes and ants coming into the house. What purpose did that mosquito have any way? oi, bat food.) Some of you may be used to watching or partaking in the killing of an animal for any purpose as in hunting for self, farm work etc. I watched the killing of sheep prior to Passover, for Passover meals at a ministry in Colorado. They were going to be kosher killed. I ended up crying because if was almost as if they knew what was coming and they seemed to surrender their life right before the end. I wept. I wept because I saw Yeshua 's surrender for us. The most supreme sacrifice of love and life by Him for us.

Patty K

Check out a book called Lamb of the Free, it explains the sacrifices.

The sacrifice of animals..shedding of blood was a metaphor.. of what was to come of the Messiah’s first coming.. and our consumption of meat today is His provision for our nourishment of which we give thanks. If I saw someone disposing 2 over cooked chickens in the trash, I would of asked her if I could have them to feed the dogs at home..

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM HOW IS IT REVELENT TO US TODAY????

I am bewildered at how many believers from all sects just do away with the sacrificial system Elohim gave Israel at Mt Sinai. Just because there is no temple to do it in. Why? I got to ask this question Is it TORAH OR NOT? If its TORAH THEN ITS TEACHING AND INSTRUCTIONS. Elohim did not give one ritual to His people that was to ever be done away with. Every ritual YHVH gave was teaching. It was not a deed given for them to accomplish just to prove there obedience. SO WHAT IS IT ELOHIM DESIRED TO TEACH ISREAL THROUGH THOSE SACRIFICES. THE SIMPLE ANSWER IS ATONEMENT. God desires to teach about how he takes a man's sin away.

Within Exodus 25:8 Yah directed Israel to make Him a sanctuary, that he may dwell among them. Then verse 9 tells Israel Elohim is going to give them a pattern of the tabernacle and instruments which would also be a pattern.

Elohim desires for Israel to build Him a sanctuary, because HE DESIRED TO DWELL AMONG THEM. First of all a pattern is nothing more or less than a blue print. Elohim's purpose for the blue print as TORAH (TEACHING). The physical temple was given to help us understand what we have to turn ourselves into in order for our ABBA to dwell among us. Elohim first and for-most interest was Israel becoming his dwelling. He's giving them teaching for to direct them to become living sacrifices themselves. Psalm 51:17 Bringing themselves with a broken spirit and a broken crushed to pieces heart over the sin that is within them. God will not despise a man who comes to HIS supernal altar, presenting himself as the living sacrifice. The beginning of wisdom it to hate our evil. We are to come hating the sin that so easily besets us. Elohim gave Israel the blue print of the tabernacle for it to be teaching concerning the supernal. The Israelite was the true sacrifice. The animal was but an object lesson. The animal was not Yehoshua taking there place. That animal represented the corrupt soul, the evil inclination being put to death with two strokes of a very sharp knife. The innerds of the animal with the legs were washed with water from the bronze laver, then the body was cut up joint and marrow. If it was a burnt offering none of the animal went to the priests to be eaten. It was all eaten upon the fires of the bronze altar, going up as a sweet smelling aroma unto Yah. If it was a sin offering only a portion of the animal was given to the priest to eat. The rest was eaten by the altar, if its blood was not brought into the Most Holy Place. Yes it fed the levites but that was not the primary purpose for his eating of that sin offering. The primary purpose was to lift the guilt and perverseness and bring Atonement to the Israelite who brought the animal as a object lesson of what Yah was doing within him. If he came without spot or wrinkle. The peace offering portions of it were eaten not only by the altar but by the priests and the people. Rom 12:1The NT teaches us to present ourselves as living sacrifices. Do you all really think the Apostle Paul just made that up and pulled it out of his behind. NOOOOO he understood (TORAH), Leveticus, and the sacrificial system and how it applied to us. He knew the real sacrifice was the Israelite. OK question? Where in the NT do we find a verse that describes us being cut up by a two edge knife? THINK HARD NOW!!!

Heb 4:12 For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

SEE IT THE WRITER OF HEBREWS IS QUOTING LEVITICUS!!!

The knife killing us is the word of God (water). The dividing of our soul and spirit is the washing of the innerds and the legs. Then the knife cuts us up joint and marrow.

Gal 2 20 I am crucified with the anointed one nevertheless I live.

Come on now take a look at the whole picture. When atonement takes place within the temple we have the High Priest. He represents the Holiest Israelite alive. He represents the Anointed One. There's a corrupt soul being put to death which the animal is a object lesson of. Nevertheless the Israelite lives. He's put to death yet he lives. Now on the fires of the altar parts of the animal go up in smoke, Leviticus tells us as a sweet smelling aroma unto Yah. Where do we see this in our NT?

2Co 2:15-16 NKJV] 15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To the one [we are] the aroma of death [leading] to death, and to the other the aroma of life [leading] to life. And who [is] sufficient for these things?

SEE THE TORAH OF THE SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM STILL APPLIES TO US. IT IS SHADOWING HOW YAH TAKES AWAY OUR SIN FROM WITHIN A SUPERNAL TEMPLE, WITH YEHOSHUA AS OUR HIGH PRIEST, ALONG WITH HIS PRIESTHOOD. SIN IS NOT TAKEN AWAY BECAUSE OF HIS DEATH AND WE JUST GOT TO BELIEVE OUR SINS ARE GONE.

This kind of says it all...

Heb 8:1-6 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; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore [it is] of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, [that] thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount. But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

SHALOM

KENNY

Yesterday I mentioned eunuchs and positions of power.

Today the following appeared in my Google feed.

Seems like my Synchronicity is back

Another thing I recently came across

In 1st century Jerusalem they were not permitted to keep chickens as they feared they would peck up something evil.

The cock crowing for Peter was actually the night watchman call for all is well. Not a rooster.

Great understanding. I haven't thought exactly of that perspective before.

I do believe that the sin offering was not for the purpose of the animal dying for the sin of the person, inb that it takes on the sins of the offender, but that it was offered for the unintentional sinner to reconfirm them into the covenant which they broke by sinning.. In the same way Yeshua offered himself to confirm the sinner back into the covenant which they had broken by sinning. This is the only way I can justify Yeshua's death in my own mind since Torah commands that one man cannot die for the sins of another.

YOU ARE SO RIGHT! Compare the commandment's reward for honoring our parents, so it may go well with you and you live long, & that of the mother hen with her chicks (Duet 22:6,7), so it may go well with you and you live long, are the same. Respecting our parents also include respecting nature. From the greatest to the smallest when respect is practice it does not go unnoticed by Adonai & He rewards equally.

An animal sacrifice embodies the truth that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. The life that grants entrance to heaven comes through rebirth, while the life that sustains the flesh is in the blood, and it meets its end on the altar, consumed by YHWH's fire. These are two contrasting forms of life: both are from YHWH, the one provides entrance to heaven, the other atonement.

YHWH instituted sacrifices to help believers grasp the principle that, "Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." The Israelite bringing the animal to its death represents the reborn believer bringing their own flesh to its death. All individual sacrifices were voluntary, and each one illustrates the preservation of spiritual life at the expense of the life of the flesh.

The sacrifices were the burnt offering, the grain offering (gift), the peace offering (thanksgiving), the sin offering, and the guilt offering (trespass). The burnt offering, which consumed the entire animal, represents the principle of "loving YHWH your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might." For this reason, it is numerically the first of the sacrifices given to Israel. It is also the only sacrifice in which water is involved. The digestive system was washed to remove all traces of the blood and food that had sustained the animal's physical life. This act symbolises the grace of baptism, which cleanses the born-again believer by performing a spiritual circumcision—removing, without human hands, the old heart that sustained the flesh.

Spot on....

Jeff Benner explained "chata and chataah" as "err and error" . I like the way he uses similar English words for similar related Hebrew words. In my two pennies I use "sin and sin-offering"

I think we will spend all eternity studying the "chataah" or "sin-offering" as we do not fully understand.

However I do appreciate Jeff comments, about meat supplying food for the administrators.

I too am vegetarian after watching my Dad kill a sheep with blood squirting out over me ! I was 10 years old at the time. Somethings in Scripture are deep mysteries. Shalom