Often, we hear Christians quote a passage or verse of Scripture and say, “The Bible says . . .” as though that quote settles whatever issue or question is being discussed. For them, “The Bible says it, I believe, and that settles it.” However, the Bible says many things, and sometimes what is said, implied, or interpreted in a verse or passage is called into question by other verses or passages in the Bible. The books of the Hebrew Scriptures date over many centuries, and the perceptive reader will observe that these Scriptures are constantly evolving and self-correcting. We do the Bible a disservice when we ignore this process as Israel’s faith grows and changes to correspond to a deeper understanding of both the God they worship and themselves.
There are Scriptures in the Old Testament and the New Testament that speak of the efficacy and necessity of sacrifices in one’s worship of God and for the forgiveness of sin. Those who promote the Penal Substitutionary Theory of atonement quote such passages. One favorite verse of those who hold this view is Hebrews 9:22: “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin.” This verse is referring to the passages in Leviticus regarding blood as a symbol of life and sacred to God and its use in the sacrificial system of the Jerusalem temple (See, for example, Leviticus 17:11.) In a future article I will deal with this verse in Hebrews as well as other passages in the New Testament which interpret the death of Jesus using sacrificial language.
This article will demonstrate that within the Hebrew Scriptures, in spite of the Levitical tradition, we find a severe criticism of the whole efficacy of sacrifice.
This article will demonstrate that within the Hebrew Scriptures, in spite of the Levitical tradition, we find a severe criticism of the whole efficacy of sacrifice. There are verses asserting that God does not even want sacrifices from those who practice injustice and idolatry. A sacrifice must reflect what is sincere and pure within the heart of those offering those sacrifices. There is nothing magical or efficacious about a sacrifice itself. I want to quote and comment on several passages in the Hebrew Scriptures that make this point. These passages are just a few of those we could read, but they will demonstrate the prophetic criticism of the sacrificial system when it is not accompanied by the faithful living and worship of Israel. I would ask the reader to please read each of the paragraphs to appreciate how emphatically one part of the Hebrew Scriptures condemns the practice of sacrifice when those sacrifices are not accompanied by justice and the sincere love of and devotion to God.
*Amos 5:21-24—Amos represents God saying to Israel the following: I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Amos was the first of those Classical Prophets in Israel who spoke to the Israelite people from the 8th century through the 6th century BCE. He set the standard for all later prophecy with his focus on the sin of injustice. In the Hebrew Scriptures, “righteousness” is a synonym for “justice.” This recognition is critical in understanding Jesus’ charge to his disciples, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness.” Sacrifice and worship without justice are despised by the God of Israel.
*Isaiah 1: 10-17—Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord. I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more; bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and the calling of convocations—I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them. When you stretch out your hands (in prayer), I will hide my eyes from you; even though your make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.
These words are addressed to the king, rulers, and people of Israel. The evil in Israel is so prevalent and massive that Israel is compared to Sodom and Gomorrah. God is nauseated by the people’s sacrifices, prayers, songs, and worship services. God cannot endure the hypocrisy of their worship when it is contradicted by their evil and injustice.
*Micah 6:6-8—“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself down before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgressions, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah was a rural prophet who prophesied during the same century as Amos and Isaiah. Once again, we see God’s abhorrence of sin sacrifices when they are not accompanied by justice and true worship of the Lord. God says that even the sacrifice of children cannot absolve the people of Israel of their sins of injustice and greed. “To do justice, love kindness (hesed), and walk humbly with your God” is perhaps the greatest summary of the prophetic faith in the entire Bible.
*Jeremiah 6:20—Of what use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba, or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices to me.
Jeremiah prophesied in the 6th century BCE during the last days and the fall of Jerusalem. He was particularly critical of the monarchy, especially King Jehoiakim. (Read Jeremiah 22:13-19 for his denunciation of the king. After reading these verses, you will realize why Jeremiah’s life was in danger during much of his prophetic ministry.) We must always remember that the temple in Jerusalem was theologically and politically related to the legitimacy of the Davidic monarchy. In a very real sense, it served as the king’s chapel and was instrumental in promoting and preserving the divine right of the House of David to rule Israel. Throughout the ancient world, temple and kingship were vitally and inseparably connected. In Jeremiah 7, we find Jeremiah’s famous temple sermon where he predicts the destruction of the temple because of the people’s practices of injustice and idolatry. Especially take note of verses 21-23: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. For in the day that I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to them or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this command I gave them, ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people, and walk only in the way that I command you, so that it may be well with you.’” Israel is reminded that God did not demand sacrifices at Mount Sinai. God did not even speak of them. What God demanded was covenantal obedience.
With the temple’s destruction, the sacrificial system would come to an end. Jeremiah’s temple sermon served as the background for Jesus’ action in the Jerusalem temple when he turned over the tables, drove out the sacrificial animals, and temporarily and symbolically interrupted the temple activities. Jesus also predicted the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, a destruction which occurred during the Jewish War of 66-70 CE. I recommend reading Jeremiah 7 to appreciate its vital importance not only in Israel’s history but also in the ministry of Jesus. Jesus even quotes parts of Jeremiah 7 in his prophetic act anticipating the destruction of the temple. Jesus was not “cleansing the temple”—he was prophetically acting out its future destruction.
*Psalm 40:6—Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.
This is a remarkable verse in the Psalter. The Book of Psalms served as the “hymnbook” of the rebuilt Second Temple after the Exile. In this “hymn” the writer says that God neither desires nor requires sacrifices.
*Psalm 50:7-15—In this Psalm God continues God’s arraignment against the people: “Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. I will not accept a bull from your house, or goats from your folds. For every wild animal of the forest in mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the air, and all that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and all that is in it is mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?” Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High.
With splendid sarcasm, God tells Israel that all the animals of the earth already belong to the Lord. Do they really think that their God gets hungry or eats the flesh and drinks the blood of animals? God does not need or want these sacrifices. What God wants is a people who know how to show gratitude in both their worship and their daily living.
*Hosea 6:6—The prophet Hosea represents God saying the following in a Divine rebuke to the people of Israel: “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” Hosea is the only Classical Prophet whose words we have who actually lived in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Amos prophesied in Israel before Hosea, but Amos lived in the Southern Kingdom of Judah and was called to speak God’s word in neighboring Israel.
The Hebrew word translated as “steadfast love” has a meaning that is difficult to capture in one English word. The Hebrew word is hesed and includes concepts like loyalty, love, mercy, compassion, and faithfulness. On two occasions Jesus quoted this verse from Hosea regarding sacrifice. In Matthew 9:10-13 he said this to the religious leaders who had criticized him for eating with sinners: “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’” And in one of the most remarkable passages in the Gospels (Matthew 12:1-8), Jesus, in reference to his whole ministry, presence, and mission, said, “I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.” Jesus claimed to be greater than the temple in Jerusalem where sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins (among other kinds of sacrifices) were offered. In a very real sense, Jesus and the movement he inspired had become the true temple with God present and acting through him in a unique way at the culmination of the ages. Hosea and Jesus said that God was not interested in sacrifices. God was far more concerned with compassion, love, and mercy—none of which are easily found in the Penal Substitutionary Theory of atonement.
So, yes, there are passages in the Old Testament which see sacrifices as efficacious for the forgiveness of sin. But there are many passages which are highly critical of the sacrificial system. In Jesus’ day this tension continued among God’s people. John the Baptizer seems to be squarely in the prophetic tradition of critiquing temple sacrifices. He was offering forgiveness of sin at the Jordan River through repentance and baptism and not through sacrifices offered in the temple. Jesus also offered forgiveness of sin with no reference to the necessity of sacrifices or visits to the temple. He twice quoted Hosea in his own critique of the sacrificial system. His actions in the temple during the last week of his life not only critiqued the temple and sacrifices–they pronounced God’s judgement on the Jerusalem temple and foretold its destruction. Several New Testament scholars maintain that Jesus saw the temple in Jerusalem as obsolete and being replaced by his own presence, ministry, and proclamation of the Kingdom of God.
To maintain that Jesus’ death as a blood sacrifice was required before God could or would forgive humanity is a notion not affirmed by much of Scripture.
So, how does any of this relate to the Penal Substitutionary Theory of atonement? Much of the prophetic tradition, not to mention the teachings and ministry of Jesus, did not see the necessity of sacrifices for faithfulness to Yahweh or for the forgiveness of sins. I would challenge, therefore, the validity of any theory that maintains there must be a blood sacrifice to secure God’s forgiveness and humanity’s salvation. We might still see Jesus’ death in terms of sacrifice. We might even propose that God provided a means of salvation through the death of Jesus on our behalf. But to maintain that Jesus’ death as a blood sacrifice was required before God could or would forgive humanity is a notion not affirmed by much of Scripture. In our next article dealing with atonement, we shall see that, on many occasions, forgiveness and salvation were provided without a drop of blood being shed. So, why did the New Testament use sacrificial language and metaphors in reference to Jesus’ death? That question will be considered in a future article as we continue our discussion of atonement.
