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This article is called, “Why Did God Require Animal Sacrifices Part 1.” Some people already understand this concept from the Bible but there are so many who do not and are not concerned at all. That also includes many Christians and that is a shame. If there is anyone who should understand it should be Christians, they of all people should know and understand what it really took to pay for their sin, salvation and forgiveness. Let me say here it is NOT the blood or sacrifice of any animal that has ever or ever will bring forgiveness and salvation These animal sacrifices only temporarily covered sin for a short period of time. Then they had to be repeated. The true purpose of the animal sacrifices ALL pointed to the “ONE TRUE SACRIFICE THAT WOULD NOT ONLY COVER THEIR SINS BUT WOULD PERMANENTLY TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.

Sometimes when I write articles I study always and find the best information that I can find for an article. This is one of those articles and I chose to use got questions .com they are a great website with tons of Biblical information and I recommend it to any reader. So, I will use their information in this article and add a conclusion, some pictures and a song at the end of the article.

“God required animal sacrifices to provide a temporary covering of sins and to foreshadow the perfect and complete sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Leviticus 4:35, 5:10). Animal sacrifice is an important theme found throughout Scripture because “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). When Adam and Eve sinned, animals were killed by God to provide clothing for them (Genesis 3:21). After the flood receded, Noah sacrificed animals to God (Genesis 8:20-21).

God commanded the nation of Israel to perform numerous sacrifices according to certain procedures prescribed by God. First, the animal had to be spotless. Second, the person offering the sacrifice had to identify with the animal. Third, the person offering the animal had to inflict death upon it. When done in faith, this sacrifice provided a temporary covering of sins. Another sacrifice called for on the Day of Atonement, described in Leviticus 16, demonstrates forgiveness and the removal of sin. The high priest was to take two male goats for a sin offering. One of the goats was sacrificed as a sin offering for the people of Israel (Leviticus 16:15), while the other goat was released into the wilderness (Leviticus 16:20-22). The sin offering provided forgiveness, while the other goat provided the removal of sin.

Why, then, do we no longer offer animal sacrifices today? Animal sacrifices have ended because Jesus Christ was the ultimate and perfect sacrifice. John the Baptist recognized this when he saw Jesus coming to be baptized and said, “Look, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). You may be asking yourself, why animals? What did they do wrong? That is the point—since the animals did no wrong, they died in place of the one performing the sacrifice. Jesus Christ also did no wrong but willingly gave Himself to die for the sins of mankind (1 Timothy 2:6). Jesus Christ took our sin upon Himself and died in our place. As 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Through faith in what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross, we can receive forgiveness.

In summation, animal sacrifices were commanded by God so that the individual could experience forgiveness of sin. The animal served as a substitute—that is, the animal died in place of the sinner, but only temporarily, which is why the sacrifices needed to be offered over and over. Animal sacrifices have stopped with Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was the ultimate sacrificial substitute once for all time (Hebrews 7:27) and is now the only mediator between God and humanity (1 Timothy 2:5). Animal sacrifices foreshadowed Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. The only basis on which an animal sacrifice could provide forgiveness of sins is Christ who would sacrifice Himself for our sins, providing the forgiveness that animal sacrifices could only illustrate and foreshadow.

MANDATORY SACRIFICES

There were two mandatory sacrifices in the Old Testament Law. The first was the sin offering. The purpose of the sin offering was to atone for sin and cleanse from defilement. There were five possible elements of a sin sacrifice—a young bull, a male goat, a female goat, a dove/pigeon, or 1/10 ephah of fine flour. The type of animal depended on the identity and financial situation of the giver. A female goat was the sin offering for the common person, fine flour was the sacrifice of the very poor, a young bull was offered for the high priest and the congregation as a whole, and so on. These sacrifices each had specific instructions for what to do with the blood of the animal during the ceremony. The fatty portions and lobe of the liver and kidneys were given to God (burnt); the rest of the animal was either totally burned on the altar and the ashes thrown outside the camp (in atoning for the high priest and congregation), or eaten within the tabernacle court.

The other mandatory sacrifice was the trespass offering, and this sacrifice was exclusively a ram. The trespass offering was given as atonement for unintentional sins that required reimbursement to an offended party, and also as a cleansing from defiling sins or physical maladies. Again, the fat portions, kidneys, and liver were offered to God, and the remainder of the ram had to be eaten inside the court of the tabernacle.

The sacrifices in the Old Testament pointed forward to the perfect and final sacrifice of Christ. As with the rest of the Law, the sacrifices were “a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ” (Colossians 2:17). Christians today recognize Christ’s atoning death on the cross as the only needed sacrifice for sin, offered once for all (Hebrews 10:1–10). His death opened the “holy place” for us (Hebrews 10:19–22) so that we can freely enter God’s presence and offer our “sacrifice of praise” (Hebrews 13:15; cf. 9:11–28; 4:14—5:10).

CONCLUSION

Dear Reader, I want you to understand a very important part. No one was excluded from giving their sacrifice to have their sins covered. This included rich or poor, bond or free. All sacrifices were seen as true and equal. There were primarily 5 specific sin offerings depending on what sin they had committed. And there were also voluntary offerings for sin. There was the mandatory sin offering and the offering for unintentional sin. God made a way for the poorest people to the riches people to have their sin covered-no one excluded. It was not always animal sacrifice but also included some fruit and grain offerings.

The sacrifices in the Old Testament pointed forward to the perfect and final sacrifice of Christ. As with the rest of the Law, the sacrifices were “a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ” (Colossians 2:17). Christians today recognize Christ’s atoning death on the cross as the only needed sacrifice for sin, offered once for all (Hebrews 10:1–10). His death opened the “holy place” for us (Hebrews 10:19–22) so that we can freely enter God’s presence and offer our “sacrifice of praise” (Hebrews 13:15; cf. 9:11–28; 4:14—5:10).”

The Jews in the Old Testament had to sacrifice all of the offerings over and over throughout their entire life. They looked forward to their Messiah they were promised, that would come and set up His earthly Kingdom promised to them in Gods word. They looked forward to Salvation and forgiveness, and eternal life in heaven, that He would give them. Yet under the law of God all the animal sacrifices offered over and over could never take away sin, “BUT ONLY COVER IT FOR A PERIOD OF TIME. THEN IT WAS STARTED OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

As one scholar put it, “THE JEWS WERE SAVED ON CREDIT.” They looked forward to the cross for Messiah to come, where by we Christians look back to the cross where the sin debt and penalty of sin was paid once for all time by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is free to all humans but it cost Jesus His very life.

Jesus paid the penalty and payment for our sin so that we could be reconciled back to God and forgiven. Sin is a killer just look at Romans 3:23 and Romans 6:23, that is why we all die. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Will you turn from yourself and turn to God for forgiveness and Salvation? Will you put your faith and trust in Jesus for Eternal Salvation? Will you bow your heart, and call upon God. I Corinthians 10:13 says, “For who so ever shall call (ASK) upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” I promise you on the authority of God’s word, that he will save you, forgive you and make you, His child. HE IS THE SUPREME AUTHORITY WHO POSSESSES ALL POWER AND HAS ALREADY SHOWN HIS ETERNAL LOVE TO YOU AND THE WHOLE WORLD. Let God’s Righteous, eternal love, change your life, and save your soul eternally. II Corinthians 5:21 “For he (GOD) hath made him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” JESUS FULFILLED ALL THE HOLY REQUIREMENTS OF THE LAW FOR US, BECAUSE WE CANNOT.

If you have prayed and received God’s forgiveness for sin, please let me know in the comment section at the bottom so I can rejoice with you. Also, your thoughts, opinions and comments are welcome so leave them also in the comment section at the bottom. This concludes “Why did God require animal sacrifices part 1″. Now please enjoy this beautiful song. RAY