| THE REASON FOR SACRIFICE |
| Justice: someone has to pay. |
| In this way the priest will make atonement for him for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven. 4:35 |
| When you commit a crime, you don't get off in court just by saying "Sorry, I'll try not to do it again." Justice required that you pay for what you did. The Israelites, therefore, could not just march into God's presence to fellowship with him. They had to bring sacrifices to pay, or "atone," for their inadequacies. These sacrifices cost dearly. To subsistence farmers, a bull or goat represented a sizable contribution. Very poor people could give less - a pair of doves, or some flour. But, in all cases, a person would feel the cost, cost in terms of something he had worked for, something grown on his own farm. Up in Smoke A good portion of the national economy went up in smoke each year: hundreds of animals and a lot of manpower to gather wood, keep the fire lit, and offer sacrifices. Since the Tent of Meeting stood at the center of the camp, the smell of the two-a-day sacrifices always hung over the Israelites. They rarely could afford meat, but every day they smelled the aroma of barbecue dedicated to God. Offerings fell into three broad types. The guilt and sin offerings were usually offered first: they cleansed people from sin. Then came the burnt offerings, in which whole animals were burnt to ashes. Made at least twice a day, these sacrifices evidently expressed complete dedication to God. The final sacrifice was the fellowship offering, essentially a family meal shared in the presence of God. (The grain offerings were usually given along with one of the other offerings.) |
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