Animal Sacrifices, and How Jesus Became the Animal Lover's Best Friend
Posted: Friday, February 03, 2012
by Mogama
http://www.mogama.info
Across the spectrum of religious practices, including occultic ones, blood sacrifice has a common thread. The religion of ancient Israel was no exception. The record of these bloody sacrifices can be found in the Torah (Law) section of the Jewish Scriptures, particularly in the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. Every time I read that portion of the Holy Bible, the sheer scope, number and intricate details of those animal sacrifices never cease to captivate, overwhelm and sometimes repulse me. (Understand I am the son who went against my dad's wishes to become a doctor, because I can't stand the sight of blood.)
I have selected the Book of Numbers chapters 28 and 29 as the primary text with the most extensive list of Judaic animal sacrifices. The blood offerings cited below do not represent an exhaustive list of all the animal sacrifices prescribed in the Law of Moses. These are merely the regularly prescribed blood sacrifices that the Israelite community as a whole was commanded to observe daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally, and annually. Besides the regular sacrifices listed here, there were also trespass offerings, vow offerings, and peace offerings, among others, which individuals could offer. See Leviticus 5:6; 22:21.
Here then is the outline of blood offerings with the corresponding references.
It helps to point out that the sacrifices enumerated in this article were ones sacrificed for the Israelite community at large, NOT including animals sacrificed by individuals as vow offerings, peace offerings, thanksgiving offerings, and trespass offerings (see Leviticus chapters 1,3,4,5).
One final important point... In comparison to the New Testament theology of atonement (sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin), the contrast with Judaic atonement could not be more stark. The contrast is that of plural, repetitive blood sacrifices of various animals to one final, eternal sacrifice by Jesus Christ, “the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29,35-36; Hebrews 10:1-4,11-18). In simplest terms, the matter of how atonement is achieved boils down to this:
Here then is the outline of blood offerings with the corresponding references.
|
Reference |
Occasion |
Animals |
|
1. Num. 28:3-8 |
Daily (one each of morning and evening sacrifices) |
> 2 lambs > Total: 2 animals every day |
|
2. Num. 28:9-10 |
Weekly Sabbath |
> 2 lambs + 2 daily sacrifices > Total: 4 animals every Saturday |
|
3. Num. 28:11-15 |
New Moon (first day of the month) |
> 2 bulls, 1 ram, 7 lambs, 1 goat (11 animals) + 2 daily sacrifices >Total: 13 |
|
4. Num. 28:16-25 |
Passover / Feast of Unleavened Bread (commemorates deliverance from Egyptian slavery) |
> Every day: 2 bulls, 1 ram, 7 lambs, 1 goat (11 animals) for 7 days = 77 animals > Plus regular daily sacrifices for 7 days (14) + Sabbath sacrifices (2) = 16 animals > Total: 93 |
|
5. Num. 28:26-31 |
Firstfruits / Feast of Weeks (celebration of harvest) |
> 2 bulls, 1 ram, 7 lambs, 1 goat: 11 > Plus daily sacrifices: 2 animals > Total: 13 |
|
6. Num. 29:1-6 |
Feast of Trumpets (announces the 1st day of the 7th month; New Year's Day for modern Jews) |
> 1 bull, 1 ram, 7 lambs, 1 goat: 10 > Starts on the 1st day of the month: 11 animals (see Num. 28:11-15) > Daily sacrifices: 2 > Total: 23 |
|
7. Num. 29:7-11 |
Day of Atonement (most sacred day of Jewish year) |
> 1 bull, 1 ram, 7 lambs, 1 goat: 10 > Sin offering for atonement: 1 > Daily sacrifices: 2 > Total: 13 |
|
8. Num. 29:12-38 |
Feast of Tabernacles / Booths (eight days commemorating Israel's wilderness journey of 40 years) |
> Day 1: 30 animals > Day 2: 29 > Day 3: 28 > Day 4: 27 > Day 5: 26 > Day 6: 25 > Day 7: 24 > Day 8: 10 > Subtotal: 199 > Daily (2) for 8 days: 16 > One of the 8 days is the Sabbath: 2 > Total: 217 |
Summary of Animal Sacrifices Recorded in Numbers 28 and 29:
To avoid redundancy, I have, in this summary, excluded the daily sacrifices from the other totals seen in the above table.
- Daily animal sacrifices (2) for 360 days: 720 animals
- Sabbath animal sacrifices (2) for 48 weeks: 96
- New Moon animal sacrifices (11) for 12 months: 132
- Passover / Feast of Unleavened Bread animal sacrifices: 77
- Firstfruits/Feast of Weeks animal sacrifices: 11
- Feast of Trumpets animal sacrifices: 11
- Day of Atonement animal sacrifices: 11
- Feast of Tabernacles/Booths animal sacrifices: 199
- Grand total of animal sacrifices for ONE year: 1,257 animals
It helps to point out that the sacrifices enumerated in this article were ones sacrificed for the Israelite community at large, NOT including animals sacrificed by individuals as vow offerings, peace offerings, thanksgiving offerings, and trespass offerings (see Leviticus chapters 1,3,4,5).
One final important point... In comparison to the New Testament theology of atonement (sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin), the contrast with Judaic atonement could not be more stark. The contrast is that of plural, repetitive blood sacrifices of various animals to one final, eternal sacrifice by Jesus Christ, “the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29,35-36; Hebrews 10:1-4,11-18). In simplest terms, the matter of how atonement is achieved boils down to this:
- THE LAW (OLD TESTAMENT): 1000s of Animals Sacrificed for SINS. Even then the New Testament declares “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). Why not? Because there is no way the blood of animals can cleanse the heart and purge the conscience of a sinner.
- GRACE (NEW TESTAMENT): 1 Lamb Crucified for SIN once for all … final … forever!
Now I see how the death of Jesus Christ has not only paid the penalty of my sin for the salvation of my soul, but His all-sufficient blood sacrifice has also spared the lives of countless bulls, sheep and goats from the altar of sacrifice over the centuries. (I didn't say Jesus' sacrifice has spared animals from the fires, pots, bowls and plates of meat-eating humans! I am of the opinion there will be no carnivores in Heaven, and I didn't say I'm a vegan yet, but that's a separate article.) ~mogama~
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Interesting article that is food for thought (no pun intended) and I learned a lot too--thank you sir!
Please log in to respond to this comment.And thank you, Steve, for reading, commenting. ~mogama~Please log in to respond to this comment.
Mogama -- WOW! I have read the Bible enough to know animal sacrifice was part of the covenant of Abraham, who originally was asked to sacrifice his only son (a foreshadowing if ever I read one!). But I had no idea the Bible (or Torah) called for so many. How astounding! It is a wonder the people were unable to have anything left to eat after all of those sacrifices. Thanks for sharing this intriguing insight.Please log in to respond to this comment.Thanks, George, for commenting. The numbers of animal sacrifices were simply daunting.Please log in to respond to this comment.
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