Because every word of Scripture was inspired as a divine testimony to
Jesus Christ, everything that God instituted — including animal
sacrifice — was intended to point people to Christ, and to the mercy
which is ours through His sacrificial death on the cross (John 5:39,
1John 5:13, Acts 4:12, John 20:31, 1Peter 1:21). Furthermore, the Bible
makes it clear that in every century, from the fall of Adam until now,
there has only been one way to be saved, and that is through faith in
God’s promise of forgiveness in Christ (Psalm 13:5, Galatians 3:6-22).
Why then, you may ask, was there animal sacrifice at all? What purpose
did it serve? How did it relate to salvation? And, what meaning does it
have for us today? The purpose of this essay is to answer such
questions.
Animal sacrifice predates the law, and was
instituted by God’s prophet Abel, as a way of helping future
generations to understand the spiritual significance of Christ’s death
(Luke 11:50-51, John 5:39). That being the case, even though the law of
Moses went on to require animal sacrifice, those sacrifices were not
works of righteousness, because they were not something that people did
to make themselves righteous. Instead, they were God’s way of teaching
those under the law that they had to confess their sins and look to Him
for mercy. At the same time, they made it clear that sin must be atoned
for, and that forgiveness does not come just for the asking (Joshua
24:19). Thus, God intended for animal sacrifice to direct people away
from their own works, while comforting those who might otherwise
despair with assurance of His mercy (Hosea 6:6, Psalm 147:11).
Since forgiveness does not come through the law, it
was faith in God’s promise of atonement, not the act of sacrificing,
that brought forgiveness (Hosea 6:6, Galatians 3:6-22). Because God
instituted the sacrifices to point forward to Christ’s sacrifice, all
who placed their trust in God’s promise of forgiveness were placing
their faith in Christ (Psalm 13:5). What’s more, because they were
trusting in Christ, the Spirit bore witness with their spirit that
forgiveness was in some way connected with the promised Messiah (Psalm
13:5, Isaiah 54:5, Romans 8:16). Therefore, the promise was of primary
importance, and the act of sacrificing an animal was only intended to
represent what the promise signified.
It is important to understand that because
forgiveness does not come to anyone simply by going through a ritual,
it was never the blood of bulls and goats that covered or removed sin
(Hebrews 10:4). On the contrary, the third chapter of Galatians makes
it clear that forgiveness came to those living under the law in the
same way that it comes to us, namely, through faith in God's promise
(Galatians 3:6,18, Psalm 147:11, Hosea 6:6). Salvation always has been,
and only can be, received through faith in God’s promise of forgiveness
in Christ (Galatians 3:18,22, 2Peter 1:4).
Under the law of Moses people were not allowed to
offer up their own sacrifices, because God wanted to make it clear that
they were not performing a work. Instead, they were to bring the
sacrifice to an anointed priest who would offer it up on their behalf.
That arrangement testified to the fact that atonement does not come
through what we do, but through the sacrifice that God's anointed
(Christ) made for us (Leviticus 4:20).
If the practice of animal sacrifice had been
invented by man or copied from the heathen, it would have been just as
worthless as the sacrifice Cain offered (Genesis 4:3-7). It is only
because it was instituted by God (through Abel and later through Moses)
as a testimony of Christ, that it was of any value whatsoever. At the
same time, the great number of blood sacrifices made it clear that
forgiveness did not come cheaply. God intended for animal sacrifice to
stress the importance of seeking His mercy, while directing those who
trusted in Him (through type and shadow) to Christ. [Hebrews 8:5, Hosea
6:6, Psalm 147:11, Hebrews 10:1,10, Acts 4:12, John 1:29, Psalm 32:1-2,
Romans 4:6- 9.]
Unlike sacrifices, the ceremonies of Baptism and the
Lord’s Supper convey a clear and direct promise of forgiveness in
Christ. Nevertheless, like sacrifices, they were instituted as a way of
pointing those who repent to Christ, while assuring them of God’s
mercy. God’s promise to all who are baptized is “He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved,” while His promise to all who
partake of the Lord’s Supper is “my body… is given for you… my blood…
is shed for you” (Mark 16:16, Luke 22:19-20). Therefore, even though
God uses the ceremonies of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper to give us His
promise of forgiveness in Christ, it is only through personal faith in
Christ that we receive what is promised (Galatians 3:22, 2Peter
1:4).
Because Christ is the Lamb of God “slain form the
foundation of the world”, the way of salvation has not changed and
never will change, “for there is none other name under heaven given
among men, whereby we must be saved” (Revelation 13:8, Acts 4:12).
Therefore the blood of bulls and goats cannot cover sin, and never
covered sin (Hebrews 10:4). Instead, God simply used animal sacrifice
to point those living under the law to Christ (Hebrews 10:1). At the
same time, He designed those sacrifices to help us understand the
significance of Christ’s sacrifice, and the importance of that
sacrifice to our salvation.