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April 2, 2017 |
| Sacrifices and Offerings | ||
Most Christians have a poor understanding of the sacrifices and offerings in the Jewish system. One result of that is a poor understanding of the meaning and purpose of Jesus' sacrifice and that leads to a poor understanding of how salvation works.
For most Christians the Jewish sacrifices and offerings were penalties to be paid as a way to work for forgiveness and salvation. Therefore Judaism is seen as a religion of works, and not faith.
This is completely wrong. That's what we will look at in this lesson. We will especially look at the Jewish understanding of the sacrifices and offerings. Their understanding is correct for the most part. The concepts of Repentance, Forgiveness, Atonement, and Salvation will also be covered and these relate directly to us.
As I've advised in the past I advise again that there is much to be learned from Judaism. We must be careful, though, in any area that touches on the Messiah. Because the Jews don't accept that Jesus was the Messiah and are still waiting for the promised Messiah they misunderstand many things in the Old Testament. Obviously sacrifices and offerings, and especially sacrifices for atonement of sin, are very related to the Messiah.
There is one Hebrew word that is translated as both "sacrifice" and "offering". It is Korban which is sometimes spelled Qorban, and appears in the plural as Korbanot or Qorbanot.
As we'll see below "sacrifice" and "offering" are at best incomplete translations of this Hebrew word. This causes us to think that we can please God by our suffering. Because we gave up something of value to us, God gets something of value to him. Again, this is a misunderstanding. This can be further misunderstood as "because we gave God something, he should give us something".
The word "qorbanot" is usually translated as "sacrifices" or "offerings"; however, both of these terms suggest a loss of something or a giving up of something, and although that is certainly a part of the ritual, that is not at all the literal meaning of the Hebrew word. The word qorbanot comes from [a root word] meaning "to draw near," and indicates the primary purpose of offerings: to draw us near to G-d.
Parts of the rituals involved in the offering of qorbanot were performed exclusively by the kohanim (priests). These rituals were only performed in the Temple in Jerusalem. The procedures could not be performed by anyone else, and could not be performed in any other place. Because the Temple no longer exists, we can no longer offer qorbanot.
There are three basic concepts underlying qorbanot: giving, substitution and coming closer.
Contrary to popular belief, the purpose of qorbanot is not simply to obtain forgiveness from sin. Although many qorbanot have the effect of expiating [atoning for] sins, there are many other purposes for bringing qorbanot, and the [atoning] effect is often incidental, and is subject to significant limitations.
The purposes of qorbanot are much the same as the purposes of prayer: we bring qorbanot to praise G-d, to become closer to Him, to express thanks to G-d, love or gratitude. We bring qorbanot to celebrate holidays and festivals. Others are used to cleanse a person of ritual impurity (which does not necessarily have anything to do with sin: childbirth causes such impurity, but is certainly not a sin). And yes, many qorbanot, like many prayers, are brought for purposes of atonement.
The atoning aspect of qorbanot is limited. For the most part, qorbanot only [atones for] unintentional sins, that is, sins committed because a person forgot that this thing was a sin. No atonement is needed for violations committed under duress or through lack of knowledge, and for the most part, qorbanot cannot atone for a malicious, deliberate sin. In addition, qorbanot have no [atoning] effect unless the person making the offering sincerely repents his or her actions before making the offering, and makes restitution to any person who was harmed by the violation.
There are many different types of qorbanot, and the laws related to them are detailed and complicated. This section will merely introduce some of the major types of qorbanot, their names and their characteristics. There are many subtypes within these classifications, and some other types that do not fit neatly into these categories.
Perhaps the best-known class of offerings is the burnt offering. It was the oldest and commonest sacrifice, and represented submission to G-d's will. The Hebrew word for burnt offering is olah, from [a root word] meaning ascension. It is the same root as the word aliyah, which is used to describe moving to Israel or ascending to the podium to say a blessing over the Torah. An olah is completely burnt on the outer altar; no part of it is eaten by anyone. Because the offering represents complete submission to G-d's will, the entire offering is given to G-d (i.e., it cannot be used after it is burnt). It expresses a desire to commune with G-d, and [atones for] sins incidentally in the process (because how can you commune with G-d if you are tainted with sins?). An olah could be made from cattle, sheep, goats, or even birds, depending on the offerer's means.
A peace offering is an offering expressing thanks or gratitude to G-d for His bounties and mercies. The Hebrew term for this type of offering is zebach sh'lamim (or sometimes just sh'lamim), which is related to the word shalom, meaning "peace" or "whole." A representative portion of the offering is burnt on the altar, a portion is given to the kohanim, and the rest is eaten by the offerer and his family; thus, everyone gets a part of this offering. This category of offerings includes free-will-offerings, offerings made after fulfillment of a vow, and thanksgiving-offerings (in Hebrew, Todah, which was obligatory for survivors of life-threatening crises). Note that this class of offerings has nothing to do with sin; in fact, the Talmud states that in the age of the messiah (when there is no more sin), this will be the only class of offering that is brought to the Temple.
A sin offering is an offering to atone for and purge a sin. It is an expression of sorrow for the error and a desire to be reconciled with G-d. The Hebrew term for this type of offering is chatat, from the word chayt, meaning "missing the mark." A chatat could only be offered for unintentional sins committed through carelessness, not for intentional, malicious sins. The size of the offering varied according to the nature of the sin and the financial means of the sinner. Some chatatot are individual and some are communal. Communal offerings represent the interdependence of the community, and the fact that we are all responsible for each others' sins. A few special chatatot could not be eaten, but for the most part, for the average person's personal sin, the chatat was eaten by the kohanim.
A guilt offering is an offering to atone for sins of stealing things from the altar, for when you are not sure whether you have committed a sin or what sin you have committed, or for breach of trust. The Hebrew word for a guilt offering is asham. When there was doubt as to whether a person committed a sin, the person would make an asham, rather than a chatat, because bringing a chatat would constitute admission of the sin, and the person would have to be punished for it. If a person brought an asham and later discovered that he had in fact committed the sin, he would have to bring a chatat at that time. An asham was eaten by the kohanim.
A meal offering (minchah) represented the devotion of the fruits of man's work to G-d, because it was not a natural product, but something created through man's effort. A representative piece of the offering was burnt on the fire of the altar, but the rest was eaten by the kohanim.
There are also offerings of undiluted wine, referred to as nesekh.
The ritual of the red heifer (in Hebrew, parah adumah) is part of one of the most mysterious rituals described in the Torah. The purpose of this ritual is to purify people from the defilement caused by contact with the dead. The ritual is discussed in Numbers 19. If you find it difficult to understand, don't feel bad; the sages themselves described it as beyond human understanding. What is so interesting about this ritual is that it purifies the impure, but it also renders the pure impure (i.e., everybody who participates in the ritual becomes impure).
It is believed by many that this ritual will be performed by the messiah when he comes, because we have all suffered the defilement of contact with the dead. Thus, the existence of a red heifer is a possible, but not definite, sign of the messiah. If the messiah were coming, there would be a red heifer, but there could be a red heifer without the messiah coming.
As we see in the above article from jewFAQ.org, the point of the sacrifices was to come closer to God. Sometimes the sacrifice was to atone for an unintentional sin that was done, to pay or cover the debt caused by the sin. But in most cases the sacrifice was just to move closer to God.
The Bible book that describes most of the sacrifices is Leviticus, a Latin word meaning "book of the Levites". In Hebrew the book is called Vayikra which means "and he called to come close." So, again we see the idea that those sacrifices had the purpose of coming closer to God, whether that was restoring a ruptured relationship or building a stronger one. We need to draw near to him in humility and on his terms, though. So it was with the sacrifices. The people couldn't offer whatever sacrifice they wanted.
God has always wanted to be closer to his people. In that time when he was with his people in the tent of meeting, the tabernacle, or the temple, these sacrifices were the only way to be closer to God. Now we have Jesus sacrifice serving in that role. Through him we can move closer to God.
In our time, that temple and those sacrifices are gone and we offer other sacrifices instead, spiritual sacrifices, such as praise, and that sacrifice God wants most, ourselves.
The idea of drawing near to God appears in the New Testament but we don't recognize it because we don't understand.
Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Purify your hands, you sinners; sanctify your hearts, doubting souls. (James 4:8)
He to whom you draw near, the living stone, whom the children of men have rejected, and is chosen and precious to God. (1 Peter 2:4)
For the Law (Torah) perfects nothing, but hope, which is greater than it, entered in its place, by which we draw near to God. (Hebrews 7:19)
These were the steps:
All of this remains but looks different in Christianity. The sacrificial system is now seen as a prophecy in their time of what was to come and in our time of what has still only partly come.
In a previous lesson we talked about the Ark of the Covenant and how it was a symbolic description of Jesus. The stone tablets showed that he would be the law, the bowl of manna showed that he would be the bread of life, Aaron's rod that budded showed that Jesus would be a great high priest, and the atonement cover showed that he would be the atonement for sin through his sacrifice and therefore a replacement for the sacrifices for sin in the Old Covenant. We see how that changes the process below.
To be clear, Jesus himself wasn't sacrificed as a sacrifice for sin but as a passover sacrifice. Like the passover lamb, he was chosen by the people on his triumphal entry into Jerusalem to be their flawless passover lamb, which meant he would be slaughtered outside the house (Jerusalem) and his blood would be sprinkled on the door posts of the house and serve as their protection (salvation) from death. It was necessary for the priests to declare him to be flawless.
Having been sacrificed as their savior his sacrifice now serves in place of all the sacrifices and offerings, as an atonement for sin, as a peace sacrifice, as a gilt offering and as all the others.
This is a complicated lesson. What can we pull from it that we can use?
1. Understanding that the sacrifices and offerings were ways to become closer to God keeps us from making foolish decisions about the life God wants us to live. God is not pleased to see us suffer. Sacrifices necessarily require giving up something we value, God cannot be bought or controlled by the sacrifices we make.
2. God wants to be close to us and he has provided a way for us to be as close to him as possible at this time. Jesus is that way.
3. We have some understanding of the sacrifices to prepare us if we ever have an opportunity to speak with a Jewish person about Jesus. For example such a person might argue that the Jewish sacrifices never allowed the sacrifice of a human being. That's true but Jesus wasn't sacrificed at the temple as someone's personal sacrifice or even a sacrifice for the community. The sacrifices explained that it was possible for a substitute to stand in the place of a person and atone for the sins of that person. Being God and being raised back to life, his atonement would cover everyone who would accept him as their sacrifice, and cover for all time.
1 This lesson draws heavily from a Jewish FAQ page http://www.jewfaq.org/qorbanot.htm