I’ve been reading through the Book of Hebrews once again.  it is heavily laden with references to the temple and the Levitical priesthood.  For most of us, those references only faintly ring a bell.  We have a general sense of what that is all about but to the Jews, but it was at the core of their culture.  Animal sacrifices emerge from the pages of the Bible in the early chapters of Genesis when Cain and Abel came before the Lord with their sacrifices.  Immediately after departing the Ark, Noah built an alter and offered sacrifices of some of the “clean” animals he had taken with him. The next major figure in scripture is Abraham who built numerous altars for animal sacrifice and even for his son Isaac if God had required it.  Finally, an entire sacrificial system was codified after Moses led Israel from Egypt to Mount Sinai where God revealed the Law by which Israel was to live.

The Law outlined how Israel was to relate to God and to one another.  The temple code was detailed and complex.  If you read through Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy you will see the difficulty of it all.  That is why most people skim the texts or skip over it all together. It outlines in detail the construction of the temple and all of its components. It spells out who the priests could be and how they were to dress. It detailed instructions on how and when to offer sacrifices. Each of these details were seen to be inflexible and holy.  You ignored the details at your own risk.  Priests offered sin sacrifices for Israel every day and once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies to offer the blood of animals before the Ark of the Covenant which represented the throne of God.  The moment was full of fear for the nation because if God did not accept their sacrifice, he would no longer protect and provide for the nation.  

The message of the sacrificial system was that sin was deadly serious in the face of a Holy God.  We tend to compare ourselves to the righteousness of other sinners and live as if God grades on a curve.  But our righteousness is compared to his righteousness and against that standard, no one has a chance.  Many of the great prophets, when confronted by the holiness of God or even his angelic representatives, fell to the ground terrified because they fully felt their sinfulness in the presence of his holiness.  

In the face of that great differential, the sacrifices also communicated that the just penalty for sin (rebellion) was death, but that God would accept the death of an innocent on behalf of man.  The greatest Old Testament witness of that truth was probably found in the Passover when a lamb without blemish had to be sacrificed and the blood smeared above and beside the door of each house.  When God’s angels came in judgment on Egypt, judgment passed over all those who were covered by the blood.  Each blood sacrifice after that was a reminder of the truth that only by the blood shed by an innocent substitute could man escape the judgment of God.  On certain feast days, primarily Passover, Jews crowded into Jerusalem to offer up sacrificial lambs for each family.  Jewish historians report that perhaps 150,000 lambs would be sacrificed on one day.  The amount of blood that ran from these animals had to make an impression of every Jew.

The problem with animal sacrifices was that they had to be offered day after day and year after year, which left the people of Israel feeling that something was missing. And if the animal was insufficient according to the Law or if the priesthood was inadequate or even wicked, then the sacrifice would not be accepted and sin would not be dealt with.

But then enter Jesus…the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  Enter Jesus our perfect and sinless high priest who offered a perfect sacrifice (his sinless self) once and for all. On top of that, as our High Priest he lives forever. We never have to wonder if this year’s sacrifice is adequate or whether this year’s high priest is acceptable.  The details are taken care of.  

The perfect sacrifice to which the Law of Moses pointed has been offered and is enough for all those who believe in him…forever. Not only that, but this High Priest also intercedes for us with the Father…he (the beloved of God) takes our needs and our failures before the Father…not as a group but as individuals. We do not have to enter into his presence with fear and trembling but can come before his throne of grace with confidence because the sacrifice offered for us and the one who offered it are perfect.  

I often think that as a Gentile, I miss so much of what Jesus has accomplished for us.  A good reading of Hebrews helps close that gap.  If you haven’t read it in while. I recommend a fresh reading. It will never be just us standing before the Father, but it will always be us and Jesus.