If we were all honest, I believe we would love to have our sins forgiven. There is a liberation in knowing that you are made whole–free of debt. We would all love to think that whatever we do is not a violation or offense to anyone–that no one is collecting interest on us. We would love to have our shoes removed thinking we tred sacred earth. That would be grand. Yet without God, the desire for wholeness quickly becomes a pursuit of license. It is really about wanting to do what we want–autonomy, and refusing the naysayers. This is where our thinking of acceptance and love has drifted down the drain, percariously setting over the edge of anarchy. If we simply had no standards, then we could all let bygones be themselves, right?
But judges exist because we all believe in some form of justice. Justice means, in one way or another, there must be a payment–sadly, even when the scales are twisted and partial, someone is still getting their dessert. Injustice simply means it is the wrong person who has to pay in probably the wrong way. But true justice is not merely about getting along but making the right payment.
13 Take care that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place that you see, 14 but at the place that the Lord will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I am commanding you (Deuteronomy 12)
Biblical teaching informs us that sacrifices have to happen in the right way and in the right place. They cannot happen until the Temple is restored…at least this is where this idea comes from. Yet, some think that Hosea 14:2 teaches, or allows us that prayer could replace the sacrificial system. Well, at least that is how some Jewish people read it. King Solomon also asked God for forgiveness through prayer (alone?) in 1 Kings 8:48-52. Still, others use the story of Jonah as a picture of repentance without deeds alone to obtain forgiveness. But we must remember that the word of God teaches us not simply the method but the means of a heart as well. Those stories are getting at what a repentant heart should be; it doesn’t mean a priest didn’t bring a sacrifice on the next high holy day.
The sacrifices or offerings come from the Jewish word Qorbanot which has a literal meaning in the idea of drawing near or relationship with God. So, while one can, in a sense, accomplish the drawing near with prayer, does prayer alone release guilt? Does it make one closer to God if blood has not cleansed the pallet? Does a change of heart, really occur without deeds?
11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. (Leviticus 17)
Now, to reduce this to a mere dietary restriction is to miss the point. The dietary restriction is derived from this principle because of life’s presence in the blood. Life is in the blood. Therefore blood is needed to atone for life. It is, after all, a life that violates the maker, and that life is now in the balance. If that specific life doesn’t pay the price, a scapegoat is needed, thus a replacement sacrifice is to make satisfaction.
The interesting thing today is that Jews have, in a sense, adopted the Christian teaching that you can be forgiven of your sins through prayer. Prayer is good, and a repentant posture is grand, but as stated, there were still sacrifices taking place on the altar. The furniture of the Tabernacle didn’t include a chair because the work was never done. And without the Temple, they cannot.
We must look to a different sacrifice. A time was coming when the work would be ended, but that would require the Messiah. It is Jeremiah 31 language which is in the context of refuting the old saying that the “Fathers ate grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” No, everyone will now die for their own sins. Everyone then must approach God personally, and individually.
But this kind of individual approach would mean God is enacting something new, a new covenant perhaps? God will write on our hearts, God will be our teacher, and He will forgive our sins. But it doesn’t happen by osmosis. God speaks about this forgiveness through His suffering servant in Isaiah 53. This not only mentions his suffering unto death, his experience of the grave, but the satisfaction of the Lord over this event, resulting in the cleansing of iniquity.
As blood paves the way for a new, truer, and deeper relationship with God–one that is personal and forgiven, we begin to understand how we are covenantal cleansed. It was Jesus who declared to the sinful Samaritan woman that soon, it would not matter if they worshiped on the Mountain or in the Temple. It was Jesus that changed that institution; it was not a natural progression of Jewish theology. The Jews’ problem with Samaritans, among other things, was the very place that they were worshipping–meaning where they gathered and made sacrifices. The Samaritans are still doing it to this day.
Jesus’ message was that He was about to covenantally cleanse His people, just as the prophets foresaw. Jesus would come and cleanse His people who were pursuing Him by faith. They would be those who sought the Lord and took Him at His word as Abraham did. Jews and Gentiles are welcome to worship now, and it doesn’t matter the shape of the building. We let the Lord determine where the Holy ground is. He sets the standards, He burns the bushes. True blessings come from having your sins washed away and understanding that you are walking in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. That is only possible if it is the Lord’s offering, not ours. We do not convince the Lord what is true and righteous, He teaches us. He then uses His own blood to cover our wickedness and cleanse us from all our unrighteousness.
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3)
This is how we draw near now. The Lord invites us to come and lay our burdens upon Him and be forgiven. But the payment was made through the flesh of Jesus to cleanse the people that would come as Abraham came. They believed in God and it was accounted to them as righteousness. That is what the Lord is seeking, that is what we ought to pursue. Don’t pursue your own righteousness, let the Lord grant you His justification.
thanks
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