Sacrifices

Imagine that it's 50 AD and you're a disciple of Yeshua Mashiyach living in Jerusalem and you also happen to be a Cohen (priest). The knowledge of Mashiyach is spreading around the world like wildfire, people everywhere are entering into the Joy of Mashiyach, putting away paganism and religious traditions to live Righteous lives.  Even some high ranking government officials and wealthy merchants are now focusing in on the Malchut Elohim and elevating Torah Based lifestyles.  Then one day, Mashiyach appears to you and says He will be out of town for a bit, so he's leaving you in charge of the Temple for a few days.    At this time many of the Temple Cohen and Levi know Yeshua is Mashiyach and are in perfect harmony with YHWH, His Torah and Mashiyach as it says in Acts 6:7 "And the Word of Elohim increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests* were obedient to the faith."

So there you are, busy making some preparations for the coming week, all excited and ready to take on the job, you look at your watch and notice it's already time for dinner.  WELL... if your taste is like mine, you would appreciate a medium-well rib eye steak (I like mine Chicago) or some roasted lamb with a baked potato, brown rice herb pilaf, string beans fried in ginger and garlic, a glass of very dark dry red wine with a big salad... we can talk about desert later.

But there you are, looking forward to something substantial for dinner, some meat.  You see healthy looking cattle and some lambs being brought up to the Temple, and you're in charge of the Temple... and it's time to get the steak on the barbecue... BUT OOOOPS... WAIT A MINUTE... some uncircumcised Greek philosopher with an attitude comes along and says...

"HELLO... didn't you know the pseudo-messiah we invented did away with the sacrifices?"

You say, "Oh really?"   No more rib eye from the Temple?  OUTRAGEOUS!  According to the theories and traditions of Christianity ALL of the temple sacrifices were done away with the minute that Y'shua rose from the grave, but there are several problems with this scenario.

First of all, those who do not understand the basics of Torah do not realize that according to Torah, there must be reconciliation between YHWH and the sinner FIRST, before making the burnt offering.  A burnt offering was where the sins of the sinner where confessed on the head of the animal, the blood was sprinkled against the alter, the entire animal was made to go up in smoke.  Certainly as Yeshua has already born the sins of the world, it's not necessary to lay hands on an animal and confess our sins, not only not necessary, but very unbecoming and contrary to the PERFECT BLOOD of the LAMB.  But what is really important here is the exchange between the sinner and YHWH before the sacrifice is made.  The sacrifice itself is only a symbol of restitution, intent and good will that the sinner displays before YHWH and the rest of his community.

One of the biggest problems in Christianity is that sinners do all manner of sin unto YHWH, and against each other, and are rarely required to make restitution after they've "repented."  Certainly within pagan Christianity one is required to pay something to the priest, and then go on his merry way, but what about restitution toward the one offended?

There is also a trespass offering, or a breach of faith offering where someone acts improperly and sins against that which is set-apart unto YHWH.  Again the atonement could only be made after there was restitution, even on the day of Yom Kippur it was necessary that confession of sins be made before atonement could be made.  This is the order that has always been the key to understanding how we are restored unto YHWH after we have sinned.

The sacrifices at the Temple were not only prescribed for sin and atonement but also for peace, goodwill and national offerings and they are also part of the food quality and inspection service that YHWH requires for His people.  History clearly shows how the dietary laws in Torah have protected YHWH's people from epidemics that effected the rest of the population in which they've lived.  Today many struggle with all manner of disease that would easily have been prevented had they acknowledged the dietary laws and Torah requirements of food preparation.  The sacrifices at the Temple are to be done according to Torah, they served as the model of animal preparation, slaughter and butchering for all of Israel.

Sacrifices provided food for those who served in the Temple as well as those who brought the animal, in the case of the peace offerings it was a community celebration.  The cohanim were only given the breast and the right thigh, also third year tithes during Succoth were reserved for all of Israel to enjoy.  If a person does not understand the Torah requirements for sacrifice it is impossible for them to understand how YHWH intended the Temple to function.  The atmosphere at the Temple was to be one of prayer and holiness, all who entered into the Temple were to be ritually clean and have reconciled all transgression with YHWH and each other.  It was only in this context that sacrifice could be made, if a person were to try to sneak in the back door and hide concealed sin from the Cohen and their people, it would be soon found out and they would have to come clean.  Everybody knows that it's not always so easy to admit transgression and mistakes, the priests and the Temple served to restore those unto YHWH who were struggling with the weakness of the old man. The Temple stood as a place where all of Israel was welcome to come and be with YHWH and his people, and to be blessed by YHWH's cohanim, and to learn how YHWH's intent is to establish unity and interdependence among His people.  Without the knowledge of the Temple and the work of the Cohanim as prescribed by YHWH in His Torah, it would be impossible to jump that gap to truly understand and enter into the priesthood of MalkiTzedec.

Most Christians only go so far as to hear the words "animal sacrifice" and they reject everything else that Torah established within sacrifice and offerings.  It is not consistent with the Name of YHWH that He would call men to be Cohanim and Leviim ONE day, and then the next day inform them that they were on the unemployment line. YHWH is the ETERNAL King of the Universe, who established His own Priesthood, He doesn't need to change His own Word or "the Rules", it is incumbent upon us to understand what He desires for us and walk in it.  The Torah of YHWH is PERFECT converting the soul.  The humanistic idea that YHWH is ever changing and trying to figure out how to make up new and better Laws is laughable (mock-able).  YHWH isn't the ONE who changes, it is our understanding of Him that grows and changes and evolves, WE CHANGE to enter into HIS PERFECT WILL.  Those who have not been part of the commonwealth of the Israel of Elohim, are the ones who have to adapt to YHWH in each generation.  YHWH doesn't change his Torah so as to make people happy in their sins, that's what paganism teaches, pagans want to be "justified" in their paganism, they want to be affirmed for rebellion against Torah.  Neither Rav Shaul (Apostle Paul) or any of the disciples had the authority to  "sanitize" sacrifices for the MESSIANIC ERA to begin, this is very self serving theology that neither understands the Temple, the sacrifices or MASHIYACH!  The Temple stood for over 30 years after Yeshua ascended to His Father, and His talmidim "were continually in the Temple praising and blessing Elohim.  Amen."

Why then did YHWH let the Temple be destroyed by the Romans?  It wasn't the first time this happened, the reasons were essentially the same on both occasions.  The priesthood had turned the Temple into something like a gambling casino, according to Jewish historians, the Scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees were in-fighting for political control of the people, they sought money and power at the backs of the people and were cheating poor Israelites when they came to make sacrifice and offering.  They would use their positions of authority to deny certain sacrifices, then turn around and sell them to others for huge monetary profit, most Israelites dreaded going up to the temple and getting ripped off, the Rabbis and Priests had become as used car salesmen, life insurance salesmen and TV Evangelists.

Christians don't realize it, but they've made their own "sacrificial system", which happens when they take out their credit cards to buy their meats at the supermarket, they have "sacrifices" done for them there, then they carry their meat away in a buggy and go home and barbecue it.  Theologians see "shed blood", forgiveness, atonement, "sacrifice" and theology as one cerebral constant, according to Christians the Temple sacrifice instituted by YHWH had to be all done away with, because you actually had to DO something, instead of imagine it.  But most Christians still eat meat, which is of course sacrificed by somebody, somewhere, (most likely someone who is a pagan and doesn't confess the Name of YHWH as Elohim).  Christians go to their supermarkets and buy steak and lamb and do up meat dishes, but their food has not been sanctified in YHWH by those who slaughtered the animals, or by those who prepared the meat.  This is why pagans are so hot and heavy to curse the sacrificial temple service as required by YHWH and His Torah.  Because the Temple service has always been and will always be ALL about showing appreciation for what YHWH has done for us through His Son Yeshua, and about how we are to understand also that the life of animals is also respected and protected according to the Mercy of YHWH in His Torah.

The word "sacrifice" is extremely limited in it's ability to convey all the components of Mercy, Faith and Justice that is upheld by the office of the Cohanim and Leviim in the Temple service.  The pagans pay tithes to their pastors and gurus, and they eat all sorts of treif, pork, swine, pig, eel, snail, vultures, snakes, dogs, horses, and big macs, because their "theology" tells them their "sacrificial system" is more elevated than Torah.  But the reality of course, is that it's religious paganism, the pagans cannot appreciate the Temple nor the sacrifices because they've also been programmed to condescend to Jews, disregard Torah, avoid the Name of YHWH, and annul the priesthood of YHWH, in favor of their own modernized "sacrificial" system.

NO, it's not likely that a Cohen who lived for Yeshua would dare to even think to place his hands on an animal and confess someone's sins, without confessing the Name of Yeshua.  This would NEVER happen, it's UNTHINKABLE and foolish.  But if someone were to come to the Temple and confess their sins, say what they did, and how they asked YHWH to forgive them and presented an animal as a gift to the cohanim, then what?  No thanks?  Maybe they should just write a check and put it in the offering, give some cash, or give a Toyota?  You see good will is simply good will, regardless of the type or value of this good will, and this is what is at the heart of the Sacrificial System.  Without FAITH, you can accomplish nothing in your relationship to YHWH, and the fact that you have FAITH can also be demonstrated by exercising good will.

Keep in mind that in the MalkiTzedec priesthood lamb and steak were also on the menu, maybe they even had REAL sour cream on their baked potatoes, Avraham clearly wasn't doing the rabbinical meat and milk thing (Avraham prepared both milk and meat for one meal, but that's another subject).  There is much that could be said about the various sacrifices as mentioned in Vayikra (Leviticus).  Keep in mind that if you had to get food prepared for a celebration in Jerusalem, (or almost anywhere else on earth) you better have lots of prime rib, steak, lamb, roasts and protein on hand, because blood 0 types need real food, not soya beans.  In other words, I'll take the shwarma over a falafel anytime, and it better be Kosher because neither Mashiyach nor His Disciples would even think of eating unclean meat.  Christians might think their theology is going to overrule the Word of YHWH, but their own hell will freeze over before this happens.  YHWH is the same yesterday, today and forever.   Mashiyach didn't shed his blood and ascend to His Father so pagans could carry right on eating pork bologna blood sausages and defying the Word of the Living Elohim.

Now, please realize that this paper is isn't so theologically complex and sophisticated that I suppose it will cause Christians  to stop condemning the sacrificial system that YHWH gave, my best hope is that Christians will THINK about WHO YESHUA is and what TORAH teaches.  Even if Christians realize that in ACTS 21:22-26 Rav Shaul (Apostle Paul) made sacrifice, it's still hard for them to understand that sacrifice in NO WAY negates what Y'shua's blood accomplished on the torture stake.  There was never an animal sacrifice that took away sin, not even the holy sacrifices made on Yom Kippur, they were all shadows of the ONE sacrifice made for our atonement by the PERFECT LAMB who is Mashiyach.  And as difficult as this might be to understand, even Yeshua's blood will not take away sin unless we have FAITH to believe in His Blood, and we live for Him, and it's just that simple.

Pagans do not like to make restitution for their wrongdoing, most of the time when they lie, cheat, steal, gossip and do abominable things, they are rarely required to make restitution to those they have hurt, never mind making it right with YHWH and giving something in the honor of His name for restitution.  Most pagans live by cheap grace that teaches sin has no consequences but that an ocean of Messiah's blood is always there to dip from.  Most pagans only see all the Cohanim and Leviim as corrupt Jews who killed "the Christ".  No, we're not diminishing the souls of pagans here, we are just pointing out that... OOOPS, the pagans have a pagan way of looking at things.  The sad thing is that pagans have taken on the identity of "believers", but look what has happened.  For instance, pagans believe in god the father, god the son and god the holy ghost, three gods, but they choose to follow the son god.  So then their paganism teaches them that they can disregard god the father as passé and old, but Je-Zeus is a new and merciful god... yada, yada.  The polytheistic nature of pagan Christianity is the basis for all the division and denominationalism in the false Christian church system.  Men raise up new denominations like Hollywood puts out new movies, that's just the way it is, because the basis of pagan Christianity is polytheism which denies the One True Elohim whose name is YHWH and whose central Temple system is Universal, from Yerushalayim (not Rome).

Why are most  Christians such critics of the sacrificial system that operated in YHWH's House of Prayer in Jerusalem?  How many Levi and Cohen are there in Christianity who are qualified to make sacrifice in the Temple?  NONE.  They are making a big deal about something they have no right to judge, because they are not the ones chosen by YHWH to even conduct Temple sacrifice.  Many Christians barbecue meat but don't drain the blood, don't salt the meat, and didn't make sure the animal was sacrificed unto YHWH and treated with kindness, fairness and mercy, as required by Torah and the teaching of Rav Shaul, Peter and Ya'akov.  It is important for followers of Yeshua to acknowledge that it is YHWH Who gave the life of the animal, Who kept it healthy, and fed and nurtured it to become good food for us.  It is important for us to be thankful and grateful to YHWH for a medium well-Chicago rib eye steak in teriyaki sauce and where it came from.  Maybe there are Christians who can relate to this?  It's important for Christians to realize that it's not wise to speak evil of the Sacrificial system that YHWH ordained, as though it was a curse.  All Christians follow their own "sacrificial system", which is to do what is right in their own eyes, eat, drink and be merry...

The fact of the matter is that it is the SACRIFICIAL system which showed us the reality of our sin and the necessity of  MASHIYACH YESHUA, to come as Yeshua Ben Yoseph.  If the Sacrificial system had not pointed to Mashiyach and his shed blood, there would be no understanding the atonement, forgiveness, or redemption He made for us.  Everybody knows that you can't have the cake and eat it... don't they?  As Netzarim we do not speak evil of the Sacrificial system because we know that it was brought into existence by YHWH for a very important reason.  It is extremely foolish to say the sacrificial system which YHWH ordained was ever a curse, this is done in ignorance by those who do not understand it, it wasn't "Christians" who were called to officiate in the Temple.  Food is an important thing, by appreciating food we can understand a bit about surrendering our own rights to YHWH, sharing our food with others, and giving thanks to YHWH for what HE has given us.  THIS is one of the aspects of the sacrificial system, yes it points to much greater things like forgiveness and atonement, but it uses FOOD to do so.  In other words, its not acceptable to just to throw a bunch of words and theoretical theology about love out there regarding what Mashiyach has done for us, without also understanding and giving something that costs us.  We are required to be obedient and do YHWH's Commandments as our acceptable sacrifices unto Him, and part of that obedience is how we understand and contribute by "sacrifice."  The action of surrendering something of value to YHWH, giving to His Priesthood, giving to the poor, to the widows, and to the fatherless is a demonstration of that Covenant love.  The requirements of showing mercy to animals, providing for firstborn redemption, sharing, equalizing and distributing wealth, community social values, hygiene, health, food preparation and many more considerations were modeled in the sacrificial system at the Temple.  But the pagan world has undermined the values of the Temple sacrificial system in an attempt to install it's own pagan priesthood, and sacrificial system... it's just that simple.

Everybody knows that pagan Christians in the West spend about 98% of their tithe on themselves, they "sacrifice" mainly unto themselves to have HUGE glass cathedrals, monstrous conferences and shows and entertainment, the finest of everything, the top 10%, the cream of their religious tithe goes toward making fat pastors and evangelists who are on a crusade to build big global enterprises.  When Christians speak evil of the Temple and the Sacrifices, it indicates how bankrupt their minds are when it comes to understanding YHWH and His Torah, they've missed the salient point, it's not about "theology".  It's time to leave pagan things behind and enter into the riches of YHWH and His Mashiyach, and understand the offerings and the value of giving and sharing administered by a priesthood of YHWH, not man.  If you are like myself and enjoy beef and lamb dishes, maybe it would be good to think about where the animals were raised and how they were prepared and how and what they were fed and how they were slaughtered and how completely they were bled, and find out whether it was done in a manner that is pleasing to YHWH and according to Scripture or not.

If Rav Shaul (Apostle Paul) were to visit a modern "Christian community",  he would know the source of the meat before he sat down for a meal.  An animal has to give it's life and die before it can be eaten, the "sacrificial system" was put in place by YHWH to elevate the value of human life to a much higher notch than the pagan world had known.  In so doing the value of animal life was also elevated to the point that a little lamb was brought right into the homes of many Egyptians and Israelites and cared for up to the point of it being sacrificed and eaten, while it's blood marked the doorframe outside the home.  It is not wrong to eat Lamb on the Passover of Pesach.  Is it not even wrong to sprinkle some blood on your doorpost, if you want.  NO, it's not necessary to do so, but it's not WRONG either.  At no time in the history of humanity have righteous Jews ever put their faith in the blood of an animal to save them, ALL FAITH is placed in YHWH according to His Name and the Covenant He made by His Word in His Torah.  Think about this!  The blood of sheep and goats could never take away sin, never, not from the very first to the very last animal sacrifice, the idea that an animal can take away sin is pure paganism.  This is why it is very telling of Christians who speak evil against the sacrificial system, it shows that they have never understood from the very beginning that offering an animal is an act of faith, obedience and good will to YHWH.  It is an act of gratitude, kind of like when someone does something good for you, you invite them over for dinner and fire up the barbecue.

YHWH be with you,

Shalom U'Vrachot,

Baruch Ben Daniel

Note: That as of late fall 2005 and early 2006 the head of the Vatican (hill of divination), or the father of the demons, (whichever you prefer) has made a deal with the State of Israel to take control over more "holy sites" in Jerusalem.  The pagan institution has done this to make a bid for more world power and install it's own injustice system from Jerusalem, a pseudo Messianic system birthed in hell.  It is likely that the roman catholic institution will want to let the Jewish people build a pseudo-Temple under the governance of Rabbinical Judaism, even now Rabbinical Judaism is concocting new traditions to modernize the sacrifices.  Will it be a false religious system, yes, because if Yeshua is not acknowledged as Mashiyach they've only got the old time "religion" that's already been weighted in the balance by Mashiyach and found wanting.  The point is, let's not get Torah requirements confused with the Traditions of Scribes and Pharisees, these are often two very different values and institutions.  But it is also a shame to speak against the sacrifices of good will, peace, thankfulness and restitution made over an animal that becomes a steak dinner for a group of people who are thankful to YHWH for all His provision, the greatest of which is MASHIYACH!

*Greek says cohanim (priests) Aramaic reads Yehudeans.