Question:
Why does the god of the old testament need strict ritual animal sacrifice?
BeastieIB
2009-06-08 05:52:04 UTC
I have been reading the book of Leviticus. What purpose does it serve god to kill off the strongest of your livestock. isn't this a bad idea. wouldn't this practice damage future generations of livestock by killing off the strongest animals and not allowing them to bread.
Fourteen answers:
SSQ8
2009-06-08 06:00:26 UTC
Dear friend BeastieIB,

The animal sacrifice was a law given to human beings by God the Heavenly Father as a temporary image of the Saviour of Mankind Jesus Christ who sacrificed himself on the Cross at Calvary around 2000 years ago in the time line of A.D. in the history of human being in the family of mankind into generations of the earth.



For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. 4For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. (Holy Bible Hebrews 10:1-6)



Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Holy Bible Hebrews 10:7-10)



God bless you in Christ Jesus mighty name.
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2016-05-25 14:15:55 UTC
Your question has an underlining premise which might help you to understand the answer. The underlining premise is your basically saying that the Old Testament is the literal word of god. Personally speaking I don't believe this is correct, I believe the bible is a human construct, the same a language which I also feel is a human creation. This is my own personal belief, I believe God has no use for language, I believe a spoken language or written words are so benief this all powerful higher power. I don't believe any human made language is able to translate Gods desires into words because it is so vastly simplified and god is so superior to that. In fact I don't think its even possible to comprehend a Gods desires because desires themself are so benief a Gods true potential.I don't even think a human mind is able to comprehend the beauty and love of God because this higher power is so beyond are imperfect comprehensions. For me, the idea of a book representing the words of god is like trying to teach a goldfish to tell all the other goldfish that its bubbles are an interpretation of human history and human intelligence. Its just so incomprehensible is beyond naive IMO. Also I believe we are all god and beyond this 5 sense reality we are all pure love and light. The idea of death is just a human misconception of something which we don't understand and in reality it is just an illusion, or rather a transition away from the 5 senses reality and re-joining of the source consciousness of God. Only HUMAN BEINGs would create a belief in sacrifice. I personally think this is a confusion which originates in the ego where we think we are the most important living beings in this reality.
Bonnie
2009-06-08 05:58:48 UTC
Why is God so different in both testaments?

You see the Old Testament is filled with occurrences of God’s judgment upon sinners - the plagues of Egypt, Sodom and Gomorrah, King Nebuchadnezzar, David’s adultery with Bathsheba, and the list goes on. In fact if you start reading through the first five books of the Bible, you might get the impression that God is very strict, impatient, angry and wrathful. The New Testament can give the impression that God is a God of love and grace. So which is true? Is God a God of judgment and wrath or a God of love and grace? Actually He’s both.

Another thing to remember is that in the Old Testament, God’s chosen people were under the law. Now we live under grace meaning that all mankind’s sins have been paid for once and for all by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. No longer do we have to make our own atonement for sin as they did in the Old Testament because it has already been done for us.

So it is not necessarily a situation where God is uptight in the Old Testament and is now laid back in the New Testament. In fact if you read through the Book of Revelation, you will see more of God’s wrath poured out upon unrepentant sinners than anywhere in the Old Testament. So remember, God is the same yesterday, today and forever. The Old and New Testaments represent different times in history as well as different covenants between God and man, and yet they both show not only God’s judgment and wrath but His grace and love as well.
laz N
2009-06-08 06:25:58 UTC
This type of worship mainly done by the Israelites because God loved them right from creation. They have the Levites who perform this type of sacrifices and priests during that period of time. When they disobeyed God, God would turn His back to them and they suffer as a result of such disobedience. Sometimes a young lamb would be required to do a sacrifice for atonement. If this is done, God would admired the good smell and then listen to their requests. Sometimes a pigeon would be required also for sacrifices depending on the gravity of the offence committed by the people. God demanded sacrifices to make peace with them during that era.



Today, it is not like that, if anyone sinned against God, that person have to pray for forgiveness of such sin and sin no more. It is like this because Christ once died for our sins on the cross of calvary and that was a big sacrifice for mankind. No other sacrifices is required by any of us except one being faithful until death. The grace from Jesus Christ covers most of us today not by our own righteousness alone. But one has to believe to be covered with His grace.



Furthermore, that's why we have Old and New Tastement. The old were ruled and judged by the Law of Moses which God handed over to him while New Tastement centered most on following Jesus Christ's teachings and ordinances.



Sources: KJV Scriptures.
2009-06-08 06:01:49 UTC
It says in many places that GOD does NOT ask for animal sacrifice. This is just like circumcision, a practice adaopted for non-Gods and re-oriented to the service of the True God. But 'require' -- how silly.





Jeremiah 7

22 For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, 23 but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people.
Gregory
2009-06-08 06:07:13 UTC
it was done to provide food for the priest in the temple so that their families and them could eat.



No God would bless the family with more animals



they only brought one animal for sacrifice not the whole herd
Morey000
2009-06-08 05:58:41 UTC
Everything is relative.



compared to the Mayans, who needed to rip the heart out of a virgin every evening to ensure that the sun would rise the next morning,

this was considered an improvement.
2009-06-08 06:18:45 UTC
Sacrifice was done for multiple reasons. One reason was to teach about the coming sacrifice of God himself, when he would allow his son to come to earth and take upon him the sins of mankind.

Another reason was to provide meat for the Temple priests.

A third reason was to prove the faith of those who worshiped God. Sacrifice is good for the soul.
2009-06-10 01:00:25 UTC
Like you raise angus beef, does eating one do anything to end your farming?



Cain and Abel brought offerings. So did Noah, Shem and all his bros. So did Abraham but Ishmael refused and married a pagan princess and none of his descendants become God-Fearers, but Hagar's relatives did, via mother to mother, like the neshomah.





There were more than just offerings, you even have Mary bringing an offering after birth, offering after 40 days of Jesus' birth so he wouldn't have to serve religiously, then he told people to be checked by one of the priests and take the offering. Paul made an offering, and you have Jesus making a Pesach Shani, 28 days after the 1st counting of the Omer, he went a got a lamb and because only men attend this, it fits, also, he even had his bar mitzvah. So a Jewish Soul is Godly, quite.



Other offerings: most popular, was the thanksgiving one. There were others like oil, wood, incense, wheat, matzah, doves, bulls, and the communal sin offering of the HE-Goat.



God-Fearers outside of Temple would offer deer, and other kosher animals and even today, Muslims make the God-Fearers' offering which Christians forgot about.



Still the SAME God just you need to read the Hebrew as it applies to you as a God-Fearers, books like: "Seven Colors of the Rainbow", "Seven Laws for Seventy Nations", "To Be A Righteous Gentile".



The Big Ten is for the Jews and there are 7 for the non-Jews which you will find in your own bible in Acts.



Unfortunately, the Noah Precepts have been on again and off again in the history of mankind since Noah, Shem and Abraham. Even though all "corners" of the world have been exposed to them and included them in their books, (they are also in the New Testament and the Quran and others). But the pressures of wars, superstitions, antisemitism and even burning of libraries, the Precepts have stood out. Even Japanese language is from a Hebrew Biblical base. Chinese record the Precepts before Egypt even had the plague problem.



So, even before the Greek's left the Holy Land alone, the Hebrews/Jews had learning centers, teachers, scientists, and doctors around the globe. Of course, the 7 have footnotes, as to how to apply or know the differences or to get a real definition.



The following comes from Chabad.org. Excerpted from a speech delivered before the 18th International Peace Conference, held in Munich in Fall of 1999.



"According to the sages of the Talmud, there are 70 families with 70 paths within the great Family of Man. And each individual has his or her path within a path. Yet, there is one universal basis for us all.

"Anyone who lives by these rules, acknowledging that they are what God wants of us, is considered by our tradition to be righteous. That person is a builder with a share in the world as it is meant to be.

"The creed of Noah is a sacred inheritance of all the children of Noah, one that every person on the face of the earth can recite every day. And if enough of us will begin to say these same words every day, we will see a different world very soon. Sooner than we can imagine.

"Here is a phrasing of the Creed of Noah, according to ancient tradition, with a touch of elaboration:

"I, child of Noah, 
caretaker of our precious Planet Earth, 
accept upon myself the responsibility for peace and oneness in our world, 
as accepted by Adam and by Noah, 
transmitted by Moses and his people over the ages:

1. I will not worship anyone or anything other than the One Creator, who cares for the creatures of our world, renewing the Act of Creation at every moment in infinite wisdom, being life for each thing. In this is included prayer, study and meditation.

2. I will not show disrespect for the Creator in any way. This may be seen to include respect for the beauty and life of the Creation.

3. I will not murder. Each human being, just as Adam and Eve, comprises an entire world. To save a life is to save that entire world. To destroy a life is to destroy an entire world. To help others live is a corollary of this principle. Every human being that G-d has created is obliged to provide for others in need.

4. I will respect the institution of marriage. Marriage is a most divine act. The marriage of a man and a woman is a reflection of the Oneness of G-d and His creation. Dishonesty in marriage is an assault on that Oneness.
Patrick H
2009-06-08 05:57:15 UTC
It was the belief of the ancient Hebrews that he required sacrifice. I personally doubt it.
2009-06-08 05:57:08 UTC
It says he likes the smell of burning flesh: http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?search=aroma+pleasing+to+the+LORD&searchtype=all&version1=31&spanbegin=1&spanend=73
2009-06-08 05:55:24 UTC
God love(d) blood.
gutbucket
2009-06-08 05:55:38 UTC
I have no idea. It's almost as if it's just a fairy tale.
Evan
2009-06-08 05:55:56 UTC
The answer is no. Thank you for asking. Please come again soon :-)


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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