Why were the SACRIFICES NECESSARY BEFORE ... Will they be re-instituted again ... and if so WHY?

[George]

Shalom everyone,

I thought I would do an intensive STUDY on the reason why sacrifices were instituted in the past ... and are they coming again ... and if so, why?

What were the sacrifices for?  And why did God use sacrifices for the children of Israel?

First of all, the Bible clearly teaches that ALL SACRIFICES of ANIMALS could NEVER TAKE AWAY SIN!

Hebrews 10:11  And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 

All the sacrifices of Old Testament before the Lord’s arrival in the first century were LOOKING TO HIM!

Hebrews 10:1  For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 

So why were the sacrifices used by God in the OT?  First, it was a PICTURE of what the Lord would do for us.

Yeshua (Jesus) is the Passover Lamb!  Yeshua (Jesus) is the Yom Kippur sacrifice that allows believers to access the Holy of Holies, as well as the sacrifice that takes your sins as far as the east is to the west!

He is the fulfillment of all those things!

Until next time...

[George]

In order to understand the FUTURE ... ONE MUST understand the PAST!

First, MANKIND is SINFUL ... and if MAN was going to BEHOLD HIS GLORY ... the sacrifices were NEEDED!

Watch closely what the Bible teaches …. the SACRIFICES were used so the people to behold GOD’s GLORY!

Leviticus 9:6  And Moses said, “This is the thing that the LORD commanded you to do, that the glory of the LORD may appear to you.”

Read how Leviticus 9 begins ....

Leviticus 9:1  On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel, 

[why the 8th day … it was a NEW set of ordinances … NEW beginnings … to access the glory of God!]

Leviticus 9:2-4  and he said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a bull calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and offer them before the LORD. And say to the people of Israel, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both a year old without blemish, for a burnt offering,  and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the LORD, and a grain offering mixed with oil, for today the LORD will appear to you.’”

Why did Aaron offer a CALF as the first sacrifice?  BECAUSE it was in DIRECT connection with the golden calf of false worship!

Read the last verse of Leviticus 9 --

Lev 9:24  And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces. 

The fire was from God Himself … and HE REVEALED HIS GLORY!

Until next time...

[George]

If we study Solomon's TEMPLE ... we see the SAME PATTERN ...

2Ch 5:2  Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. 

2Ch 5:3  And all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast that is in the seventh month. 

What FEAST is this in the 7th month?  Feast of Tabernacles … it's a PICTURE of the FUTURE when the Lord RETURNS and we are TABERNACLE with Him for a 1000 years!

2Ch 7:1  As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. 

The FIRE CAME DOWN FROM God … just like in Leviticus … and the SACRIFICE WAS NEEDED so the people could BEHOLD the GLORY of the LORD!

2Ch 7:5  King Solomon offered as a sacrifice 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 

How intense was the GLORY?

2 Chron 5:13b-14 … “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever,” the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud,  so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God.

 

What were all these sheep to consecrate?  Notice closely …

2Ch 7:7  And Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD, for there he offered the burnt offering and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat. 

To consecrate the COURTYARD … NO WHERE in that passage does it say that the offering of the SHEEP was for a sin offering … or a offering for the people … it was USED to CONSECRATE the TEMPLE so the people could BEHOLD the GLORY of God!

Until next time ...

[George]

So what of the sacrifices of the Red Heifer?  Why are they NEEDED?

Notice what Hebrews says ....

Hebrews 9:13  For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 

To the SANCTIFICATIION and PURIFYING of the FLESH … so that the High Priest could ENTER the GLORY of God!

Read Numbers 19 carefully … the ASHES of the RED HEIFER were NEEDED for the High Priest to ENTER the presence of God!  The Glory of God!

Numbers 19:1  Now the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded: Tell the people of Israel to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish, and on which a yoke has never come.

According to the Rabbis, there have only been 8 that have ever been born!  Right now, I know of two that were recently shipped to Israel!

Num 19:3  And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered before him. 

Num 19:4  And Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. 

Num 19:5  And the heifer shall be burned in his sight. Its skin, its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, shall be burned. 

Num 19:6  And the priest shall take cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet yarn, and throw them into the fire burning the heifer. 

Num 19:7  Then the priest shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. But the priest shall be unclean until evening. 

Num 19:8  The one who burns the heifer shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water and shall be unclean until evening. 

Num 19:9  And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place. And they shall be kept for the water for impurity for the congregation of the people of Israel; it is a sin offering. 

Num 19:10  And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. And this shall be a perpetual statute for the people of Israel, and for the stranger who sojourns among them. 

Num 19:11  “Whoever touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean seven days. 

Num 19:12  He shall cleanse himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be clean. But if he does not cleanse himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not become clean. 

Num 19:13  Whoever touches a dead person, the body of anyone who has died, and does not cleanse himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from Israel; because the water for impurity was not thrown on him, he shall be unclean. His uncleanness is still on him. 

Num 19:14  “This is the law when someone dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean seven days. 

Num 19:15  And every open vessel that has no cover fastened on it is unclean. 

Num 19:16  Whoever in the open field touches someone who was killed with a sword or who died naturally, or touches a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean seven days. 

Num 19:17  For the unclean they shall take some ashes of the burnt sin offering, and fresh water shall be added in a vessel. 

Num 19:18  Then a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the persons who were there and on whoever touched the bone, or the slain or the dead or the grave. 

Num 19:19  And the clean person shall sprinkle it on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day. Thus on the seventh day he shall cleanse him, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and at evening he shall be clean. 

Num 19:20  “If the man who is unclean does not cleanse himself, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, since he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. Because the water for impurity has not been thrown on him, he is unclean. 

Num 19:21  And it shall be a statute forever for them. The one who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening. 

Num 19:22  And whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean, and anyone who touches it shall be unclean until evening.” 

NOTICE it was USED to CLEANSE his clothes … cleanse his body … NOT TO TAKE AWAY SIN!  The Priest if HE touched ANY DEAD THING ... was not allowed in the Temple!  ONLY LIFE could be in the TEMPLE / TABERNACLE!  Without the cleansing process ... the priest could not enter the holiness of God!  

That's what Hebrews teaches ...

Hebrews 9:13  For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 

To the SANCTIFICATIION and PURIFYING of the FLESH … so that the High Priest could ENTER the GLORY of God!

Until next time...

[George]

Now through the blood of JESUS all SAINTS have this privilege to enter the HOLY OF HOLIES!

Hebrews 9:14  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 

This is why we can access the Holy of Holies … access the very glory of God!

So why are sacrifices in the FUTURE?  Because SIN still EXISTS — and FALLEN man in his FLESH cannot access the TEMPLE without being sanctified!  While they may be SAVED in the future … they will still be in their FLESHLY bodies!

Isa 65:20  There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. 

So let’s REVIEW … the SACRIFICES of the PAST could never take away sin … and the presence of God entered the Tabernacle and the Temple ONLY AFTER it was PREPARED for HiS GLORY!

Until next time...

[George]

So how many times does the BIBLE say there will be sacrifices in the FUTURE?

Jeremiah 33:14  “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.  In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.   In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’   “For thus says the LORD: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel,  and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.” 

Malachi 3:3-4  He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD.  Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years. 

Zechariah 14:16-21  Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths.  And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them.  And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there shall be no rain; there shall be the plague with which the LORD afflicts the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths.  This shall be the punishment to Egypt and the punishment to all the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths.   And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to the LORD.” And the pots in the house of the LORD shall be as the bowls before the altar.  And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the LORD of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day. 

Isaiah 19:21-25  And the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the LORD and perform them.   And the LORD will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the LORD, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.  In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.  In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth,  whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.” 

Isaiah 66:20  And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD.  And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD.  For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.  And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD. 

Isaiah 56:7  Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.

The Bible is full of examples of sacrifices in the FUTURE!  NOW WHY?  WHAT'S the PURPOSE?

Until next time....

 

[George]

The SACRIFICES of the FUTURE is NOT a REINSTITUTION of MOSAIC LAW, but RATHER a NEW SET OF INSTRUCTIONS … a NEW SET of ORDINANCES!

Ezekiel 43:12  This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of the mountain all around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple. 

Torah Beit HaMikdash in Hebrew …

NOTICE IT MUST BE HOLY … and yet SIN still is in the FUTURE!

So how can man STILL DEALING WITH SIN ENTER TO SEE HIS GLORY?

Holiness will be REQUIRED to ENTER the Holiness of God … and to SEE HIS GLORY!

Ezekiel 43:2  And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory. 

Ezekiel 43:4  As the glory of the LORD entered the temple by the gate facing east, 

Ezekiel 43:5  the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple. 

Ezekiel_44:4  Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple of the LORD. And I fell on my face.

This is EXACTLY the same situation shown EARLIER IN LEVITICUS and in 2 CHRONICLES!

Until next time...

[George]

The SACRIFICES are mentioned in EVERY CHAPTER of Ezekiel 40-48 — EXCEPT chapter 47, so ONE CANNOT avoid it!  In order to understand, one MUST STUDY the FIRST TEMPLE … why the sacrifices were used …

Currently the church is God’s spiritual Temple made of living stones (1 Cor. 3:16-17; Eph. 2:19-22) and WE in our RESURRECTED STATE in the future can access the TEMPLE and the HOLY of HOLIES for what Jesus already did for us!

HOWEVER, the SACRIFICES were used in Ezekiel to PURIFY what?

Ezekiel 43:20  And you shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and upon the rim all around. Thus you shall purify the altar and make atonement for it. 

Ezekiel 45:17  It shall be the prince's duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel. 

Ezekiel 45:18  “Thus says the Lord GOD: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a bull from the herd without blemish, and purify the sanctuary. 

Ezekiel 45:20  You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance; so you shall make atonement for the temple.

Did you notice ... the sacrifices were PURIFY THE TEMPLE .. .and for any instruments of ITS SERVICE?

The reason why the sacrifices are necessary in the future is because the glory of the Lord will once again be dwelling on the earth IN THE MIDST OF SINFUL AND UNCLEAN people!  God's promise is to DWELL with MEN and it is necessary to PROTECT HIS PRESENCE through sacrifice!  This RE-INSTITUTED sacrificial system is only TEMPORARY and will last for a 1000 years!

Until next time...

[George]

One of the KEYS of understanding the Ezekiel TEMPLE is knowing what the word ALTAR means ...

Ezekiel 43:13 - And these are the measures of the altar ^H4196 after the cubits: The cubit is a cubit and an hand breadth; even the bottom shall be a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and the border thereof by the edge thereof round about shall be a span: and this shall be the higher place of the altar. ^H4196

The ALTAR here is the word mizbaech.

This is the TYPICAL USE OF THE WORD ALTAR ... however the WORD CHANGES in the passage ...

 

Notice that it's the TERM MOUNTAIN of GOD! ... Har -- MOUNTAIN -- EL -- GOD!

Isaiah 2:2-4  And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.  And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.  And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 

Then it CHANGES AGAIN ...

Notice it CHANGES to the word ARI -- LION -- EL -- GOD!  It literally changes to the name -- LION OF GOD!

When Jesus returns ... He is coming back as the LION OF JUDAH!

THE ALTAR ITSELF is a KEY ... but the understanding that the SACRIFICES of the FUTURE are to ALLOW sinful men to be in the GLORY of God ... while the payment for SIN was paid for ONCE AND FOR ALL at the CROSS 2000 years ago, for 1000 YEARS WE WILL BE MEMORIALIZING the sacrifice that Jesus did for us!

Until next time ...

[George]

The sacrifices of the future … will be MEMORIALS of the Lord’s sacrifice … just as it was in the Levitical Priesthood!

Exodus 30:16  You shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the LORD, so as to make atonement for your lives.” 

Leviticus 2:2  and bring it to Aaron's sons the priests. And he shall take from it a handful of the fine flour and oil, with all of its frankincense, and the priest shall burn this as its memorial portion on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 

Leviticus 2:9  And the priest shall take from the grain offering its memorial portion and burn this on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 

Leviticus 5:12  And he shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take a handful of it as its memorial portion and burn this on the altar, on the LORD's food offerings; it is a sin offering. 

Numbers 5:15  then the man shall bring his wife to the priest and bring the offering required of her, a tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, bringing iniquity to remembrance. 

Numbers 5:26  And the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering, as its memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. 

So in conclusion, the purpose of the millennial sacrifices DO NOT DIMINISH the finished work of Christ!  There is NOTHING in the sacrifices of the future that conflicts with the death of Christ, the need for His sacrifice, or the completeness of His sacrifice!

The supposed contradictions of sacrifices in the future CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD when ONE studies the PAST, and for a fallen world not yet FULLY REDEEMED until the end of the GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGEMENT, the sacrifices are necessary so MEN and WOMEN CAN be in the PRESENCE of God's Glory!

The focal point of the sacrifices for 1000 years will remain on the Lord, and His sacrifice on the Cross 2000 years ago, and we will memorialize this for 1000 years!  

Be blessed when studying His WORD!