Many people begin to read about the Old Testament sacrificial system and think something like: “Why all the blood? Why all this slaughtering of animals? It seems so gruesome and disgusting. Why did God require all of that? What was the purpose?”
Confusing as it is, the Old Testament sacrificial system was pointing to some very important truths. The first is that: The sacrificial system was pointing to God’s plan to save his people. To understand this we have to go all the way back to the beginning of the Bible. Adam and Eve enjoyed a perfect paradise. Their relationship with God was intimate and real. God would walk and talk with them. There was no barrier between them. But something happened to spoil that relationship. God had said to them, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:15-17). God was not keeping something good from them, he simply did not want them to know what evil was like through personal experience. He was sparing them from evil, for he knew it would bring suffering and death into the world. As a consequence of disobeying this important command, God told them they would die if they disobeyed. But every day that passed made the fruit of the tree look better and better. Add to that the satanic suggestion that God did not really love them because he was keeping something from them. Satan promised that if they ate from the tree that they would have special knowledge and power, and better still, they would become like God. So they ate from the tree and their world did become drastically different, but not for the better. The world around them changed. Their bodies looked different. They felt shame. They were afraid of God — something that had never occurred to them before.
But one thing did not happen — they did not die. Yes, the process of death had begun in them, but they did not die immediately as God had told them they would. Why was that? Did God make a mistake or lie to them? The secret to answering that question can be found in what God did next. Because they felt intense shame, Adam and Eve had covered themselves with leaves. But God gave them another kind of covering. The Bible says, “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). Was God just wanting to give them better clothing, or was something else happening here? The point to the story is that God told them they would die when they sinned against him and they did not. If they did not die, something had to die in their place. There was a substitute. God took the life of two animals in their place, and then he covered them with the skins of those animals. They deserved to die, but another life had taken their place.
The sacrificial system is based on this spiritual principle, that the people of that day deserved to die for their sins, but God in his mercy accepted a substitute to die in their stead. Max Lucado, in his book Six Hours One Friday, tells the story of Franciszek Gajowniczek: “It’s difficult to find beauty in death. It’s even more difficult to find beauty in a death camp. Especially Auschwitz. Four million Jews died there in World War II. A half-ton of human hair is still preserved. The showers that sprayed poison gas still stand. But for all the ugly memories of Auschwitz there is one of beauty. It’s the memory Gajowniczek has of Maximilian Kolbe. In February 1941, Kolbe was incarcerated at Auschwitz. He was a Franciscan priest. In the harshness of the slaughterhouse he maintained the gentleness of Christ. He shared his food. He gave up his bunk. He prayed for his captors. He was soon given the nickname ‘Saint of Auschwitz.’ In July of that same year there was an escape from the prison. It was the custom at Auschwitz to kill ten prisoners for every one who escaped. All the prisoners would be gathered in the courtyard, and the commandant would randomly select ten names from the roll book. These victims would be immediately taken to a cell where they would receive no food or water until they died. The commandant begins calling the names. At each selection another prisoner steps forward to fill the sinister quota. The tenth name he calls is Gajowniczek. As the SS officers check the numbers of the condemned, this last one begins to sob. ‘My wife and my children,’ he weeps. The officers turn as they hear movement among the prisoners. The guards raise their rifles. The dogs tense, anticipating a command to attack. A prisoner has left his row and is pushing his way to the front. It is Kolbe. No fear on his face. No hesitancy in his step. The capo shouts at him to stop or be shot. ‘I want to talk to the commander,’ he says calmly. For some reason the officer doesn’t club him or kill him. Kolbe stops a few paces from the commandant, removes his hat, and looks the German officer in the eye. ‘Herr Kommandant, I wish to make a request, please.’ That no one is shot is a miracle. ‘I want to die in the place of this prisoner.’ He points at the sobbing Gajonwniczek. The audacious request is presented without stammer. ‘I have no wife or children. Besides, I am old and not good for anything. He’s in better condition.’ Kolbe knew well the Nazi mentality. ‘Who are you?’ the officer asks. ‘A Catholic priest.’ The block is stunned, the commandant uncharacteristically speechless. After a moment, he barks, ‘Request granted.’ Prisoners were never allowed to speak. Gajowniczek says, ‘I could only thank him with my eyes. I was stunned and could hardly grasp what was going on. The immensity of it: I, the condemned, am to live and someone else willingly and voluntarily offers his life for me — a stranger. Is this some dream?’ The Saint of Auschwitz outlived the other nine. In fact, he didn’t die of thirst or starvation. He died only after the camp doctor injected phenol into his heart on August 14, 1941. Gajowniczek survived the Holocaust. He made his way back to his hometown, but every year he goes back to Auschwitz. Every August 14 he goes back to say thank you to the man who died in his place.”
The people of the Old Testament lived because another living thing died in their place. Wee see this throughout the Old Testament. Noah was the most righteous man of his time and God spared him from death by the flood. But Noah knew that he was not perfect, and that he deserved to die just as the others had. So the first thing he did when he got off the ark was to offer a sacrifice to God — a substitute which would take his place.
The most dramatic story in the Old Testament is the story of Abraham. Abraham has been told by God to offer up his son Isaac as a sacrifice. But just as he is about to take the life of his son, God shouts for him to stop, and Abraham sees a ram caught in a thicket. Abraham called the place “The Lord Will Provide,” because God provided a substitute to die in the place of his son.
This was God’s plan from the beginning. The righteous demands of God’s laws had to be met, and death was the penalty for failure to meet God’s laws, but God had put in place a plan to spare the human race. God in his mercy allowed a sacrifice to be offered in the place of the one who had sinned. But, secondly, this was not only pointing to God’s plan to save his people, The sacrificial system was pointing to the seriousness of our sin. To many in our culture this all seems so unnecessary. We don’t understand the seriousness of sin and we expect God to excuse it. Psychology has become the new religion of the day. It explains our behavior and gives us reasons for the things we do. Our behavior has ceased to be a moral failure and has instead become the natural result of some damage that we experienced in our past. It is not sin, it is a psychological condition or illness. As soon as someone commits some horrible crime, the media goes into a frenzy checking their background for an explanation for why they did what they did. What psychology fails to address is that we often feel guilty because we are guilty.
We react to our moral conscience much like a man I recently read about. The author of the article said: “A good friend in North Carolina bought a new car with a voice-warning system.... At first Edwin was amused to hear the soft female voice gently remind him that his seat belt wasn’t fastened.... Edwin affectionately called this voice the ‘little woman.’ He soon discovered his little woman was programmed to warn him about his gasoline. ‘Your fuel level is low,’ she said one time in her sweet voice. Edwin nodded his head and thanked her. He figured he still had enough gas to go another 50 miles, so he kept on driving. But a few minutes later, her voice interrupted again with the same warning. And so it went over and over. Although he knew it was the same recording, Edwin thought her voice sounded harsher each time. Finally, he stopped his car and crawled under the dashboard. After a quick search, he found the appropriate wires and gave them a good yank. So much for the little woman. He was still smiling to himself a few miles later when his car began sputtering and coughing. He ran out of gas!” Like Edwin, we are getting better and better at shutting out God’s voice to our conscience. But hearing God’s voice and understanding the seriousness of our condition is one of the most important things we learn in this life.
The Bible helps us to understand that people are not so much sick as they are sinful. They do these things not because they have an psychological illness, but because they are evil. Their actions are the result of sin which lives in their hearts. The Bible says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). Our problem is not that we have been damaged psychologically, our problem is that we have lived our lives away from God and sinned against him. We deserve death, and we need to be forgiven. We have to stop justifying our behavior, explaining it away, and pretending that we cannot help what we do. We need to abandon the idea of redefining sin so that almost nothing qualifies as sin and almost no one qualifies as a sinner. The Bible says, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20, KJV). Isaiah the prophet wrote: But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). Sin is serious because it separates us from God both now and in eternity. Sin ruins our relationship with God and destroys our lives. No amount of excuses will make it go away.
But the third point that we dare not miss is that: The sacrificial system was pointing to God’s desire to forgive. God has made a way out for us. His moral laws never change, and their consequences cannot be ignored. But he has provided a way that we might be forgiven. The whole point of the sacrificial system was that God wants to forgive us and has made it possible for us to live. The Bible says, “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him” (Romans 4:7-8). When Moses asked the Lord to show himself to him, the Lord and passed by him saying, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin” (Exodus 34:6-7). When we confess our sins, we confess them to a God who cares for us and is more than willing to forgive.
When we psychologize our sin we merely cover over it and excuse ourselves. When we confess our sins our sin is taken away and we are forgiven by God. God loves us and wants to forgive our sins, but if we are not honest about our sins they cannot be forgiven. The Bible says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives” (1 John 1:8-10).
But the most important lesson of all is the fourth and final point: The sacrificial system was pointing to God’s perfect sacrifice. As we read in the Scripture today, the person presenting the sacrifice would confess their sins and place their hands on the head of the animal which would die in their place. Their sins would be transferred to their substitute. Then they would watch as the animal’s life was taken. The seriousness of their sin was shown to them vividly. The lamb would then be placed on the altar and offered to God as a sacrifice. Life for life. The blood of the animal for their blood. The blood of the animal, far from being gory, was sacred because the life of the animal was in the blood. The life in that blood was passed to the one whose sins were being atoned for. The animal was then taken off the altar, and the one who had offered the sacrifice would take the roasted lamb home and eat it, along with his family, as a sacrificial meal.
But there was a problem. Because people kept on sinning, there was no end to the sacrificing of these animals. It was not a perfect system. What could be done? God knew there was only one thing that could be done, and he had planned it from the beginning. There needed to be one sacrifice for all people and all time. This perfect sacrifice is hinted at as the New Testament opens and we hear John the Baptist saying, as he points to Jesus, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). The Bible teaches that Jesus was not just another good man or moral teacher. He was not just a prophet or religious leader. Jesus Christ was God who came in the flesh as one of us. As the perfect man he came to undo the sin of Adam. He died to identify with the sins of the entire human race. As God he came to take our place and atone for our sin. The entire sacrificial system was temporary and pointed to the future. It was meant to give Israel a living picture of what it would mean for the Messiah, the Savior, to come and die in their place. Isaiah had prophesied about him: “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:4-6).
The apostle Peter would write: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24). At the Last Supper, Jesus said to his disciples: “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28).
Jesus Christ was the perfect lamb of God who died in our place that we might live. He was our substitute, the perfect sacrifice. He said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). As Adam and Eve were covered with the skins of the animals which had died in their place, so we are clothed with Christ, the perfect sacrifice. As with Noah we are saved from God’s wrath against our sin. If we are in Christ, he is our ark of safety. As with Abraham and Isaac, God has provided Christ as our substitute who suffered and died in our place.
I recently read the story of a man who nominated his brother as a hero. He writes about the story which took place during their childhood: “One day Lee and I were visiting our grandparents. They lived in a desert community of California on a parcel of land. Lee and I loved to visit Grandpa and Grandma’s place since there were so many places to investigate and it was so different from our suburb home. We took every opportunity to investigate the creatures on our grandparent’s land. The only exception to our curiosity was Grandpa’s dog. I don’t remember his name, just that he was always angry and could not be trusted outside of his cage. I was terrified of that dog and never went close to his cage if I could avoid it. One day when I was about 5 and Lee was about 8, the dog got out of his cage and saw me walking in his path. That monster came at me with teeth bared and nothing but hatred for me. I took off running for the house as fast as I could, screaming for help. But I was no match for the dog’s speed and he was fast gaining on me. When Lee heard my cries for help he came running to help me. He got between the dog and me to allow me to run on ahead. But this meant the dog was after him now, and there was no one to help him. The dog bit him once on the thigh and twice on the shoulder before grandpa got there to pull the dog off. Lee still has the scars of that horrifying experience to this day. I’m 48 now and I still have a vivid memory of running scared with the dog very close, but then it not being close as I made it to the house. I never saw the dog bite him but I can just imagine the horror on his face as he took the bites meant for me.”
What better picture could we have of what Jesus Christ has done for us? He threw himself in harm’s way and took our punishment on himself. He took the wounds meant for you. He bled and died for you and me. And it was all symbolized thousands of years ago as God had his people place their hands on the head of the one who would die for them. As we take communion, we feast on the sacrifice of our Substitute — Jesus, the perfect lamb of God.
“What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-33).
Rodney J. Buchanan
February 13, 2000
THE SUBSTITUTE
Leviticus 1:1-9
“He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him”
(Leviticus 1:4).
1. The sacrificial system was pointing to ___________ ___________________________________________________ .
2. The sacrificial system was pointing to ___________ ___________________________________________________ .
3. The sacrificial system was pointing to ___________ ___________________________________________________ .
4. The sacrificial system was pointing to ___________ ___________________________________________________ .
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION (Feb 13, 2000)
1. Share a time when someone took the rap for you, or went through something difficult or painful in order to protect you.
2. What was the first point in the sermon? How was this at work in the life of Adam, Noah and Abraham?
3. What problem did the sacrificial system address?
4. What was the second point in the sermon? Why is this difficult for our culture to understand?
5. According to the sermon what is the new religion of our culture today? How does it address the problem of sin?
6. How do many in our society handle accusations of wrongdoing? What is the Christian approach?
7. What was the third point of the sermon? What does this say about the nature and character of God?
8. Read Psalm 51:1-17. How do you explain the grievous sins of David and his being called “a man after God’s own heart”?
9. What is the hardest thing about accepting forgiveness?
10. What was the fourth point of the sermon? Explain this in your own words.
11. What was the significance of Jesus being called “the Lamb of God”?
12. Read Isaiah 53:4-6. What significance does this have for your personal life? Read the words of hymn #361, “Rock of Ages.” What is this hymn saying?
