Sep 19 2007
W.O.W. Word on Wednesday…
Leviticus 1:4
He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.
Leviticus 1:12
He is to cut it into pieces, and the priest shall arrange them, including the head and the fat, on the burning wood that is on the altar.
Leviticus 17:11
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.
[From me]
Have you really thought about how much our sins hurt God? When we lie, steal, gossip, complain, murder, commit adultery or over eat — it grieves God! The only thing that will bring us back into fellowship with God is a blood sacrifice. Thank God that Jesus paid that sacrifice once and for all!
What do you think?
10 responses so far
Speaking from an anthropolical perspective, the purpose of blood sacrifices in ancient cultures was to make a pact with the deity.
The reasoning is thus: “You’re big and powerful, and you’re also invisible. I have seen just what you’re capable of doing to human and animal life, what with your storms, floods, volcanoes and earthquakes. Seeing that you are capricious and ill-tempered, perhaps a little blood to nourish you and sweeten your disposition might avert your wrath from descending upon me and my tribe.
Here it is, then - a blood sacrifice in return for your letting me and mine live a bit longer.”
And there you have it- a simple system of bribery.
Actually, I have always found the idea of a blood-thirsty deity of ANY culture utterly repugnant. The mighty maker of a zillion galaxies, the wonderful, all-benevolent, omniscient Lord of All, who existed always, and he has to stoop to that sort of barbarity! How did he manage to get along without humans for so long?
Fransoise,
I find it fascinating that the concept of sacrifice to a God is such an integral part to so many religions that are completely unrelated to each other - from the Mayans to the Hindus, even when the notion of God in the various religions is so divergent. The idea of sacrifice seems to be deep-seated in us.
AAA - Hadn’t thot of the seeming universality of the blood sacrifice, but you’re right. Could that be an evidence of a common beginning?
A big difference in the other religions and in Christianity is that, while the blood of sheep and goats was a temporary covering for sins, it was God’s Son who shed the blood to pay for our sins, completely.
Hebrews 9:11 - 14 - But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle , not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; 12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
How we hurt Him, funny.
I think the shared element of sacrifice has less to do with the common lineage of the mythologies than it is a reflections of the human psyche. Compared to a lot of creatures, even some other mammals, we’re really willing to stick our necks out. Humans really do care a lot about other humans, and especially the ones they look like. There’s some sort of psychological bias that makes us more ready to take one for the team, and I think its bound to come out in our art and religion.
I’m sorry… We gossip and complain, and it grieves god? Doesn’t it ******* grieve him just a bit more that we rot in our mother’s wombs, that we are born places with no food, that we lose our minds to literally unbearable pain, that pain and fear are the strongest feelings that most of us will ever know… Just a bit? And if it does, am I to feel even more sorry for him and his horrible, horrible grief?
Are you sure the word you were looking for wasn’t “guilt”? I mean, what the hell? Grief? If God exists, and he looks at me and feels a great grief, well, it looks good on him from down here.
The Universe is a much more humane place without God.
Geekwad,
I’m sorry you feel that way. What happened in your life to make you feel this way?
Tom,
Could that be an evidence of a common beginning?
It may well be. Good point. We know that humans have a common ancestry originating in Africa so it’s possible that it goes back that far.
And as far as a common beginning of religion goes, that’s hard to say. It would have to go back as far as the earliest animism before migrations out of Africa.
Another possibility is that form often follows function (like whale fins and shark fins are similar because they perform the same function). If human populations independently learned to cement peaceful relationships by gift-giving, then sacrifice might have sprung from that. I don’t know, but it sure is an interesting question!
A big difference in the other religions and in Christianity is that, while the blood of sheep and goats was a temporary covering for sins, it was Godâs Son who shed the blood to pay for our sins, completely.
Agreed. Though it seems certain that it came out of earlier traditions, like those described in the Hebrew Bible, where sacrifice was an ongoing exercise.
Kevin,
My youth just jabbering away about that game!
Just wondering if anyone comes here thinking W.O.W means World of Warcraft? LOL
Back to the verses, isn’t it amazing how the OT was the foreshadowing of the NT and the NT the fulfillment of the OT? All the sacrifices of the OT points to Jesus’ sacrifice in the NT.
AAA I don’t know if blood sacrifies have been a feature of every culture. I have never come across any accounts of this vile practice in our aboriginal tribes.
It wouldn’t make sense for our indigenous people to do this, because they were meticulous in conservation of wildlife. However, as there were many hundreds of tribes, it’s feasible that it was practised by some.
As I stated before, how did “God” manage to get along without blood and grovelling, for the eternity he lived in before the “creation”?? What did he feed on, and who stoked up his ego?
blood days