Christ and the Ordinance (Law) of Sacrifice

FIRST WORDS
To My Friends, Colleagues, Church Fellowship, Curious People everywhere and especially my Grandchildren,
Always know that you are fully loved by God and you are loved by me. I pray that you remember our purpose is to reflect the entire Glory of God.

THE LAW OF SACRIFICE
As we leave behind the drama of the wilderness journey which became for Israel what they will forever call the Exodus, we move into a day of conquest and settlement.  Before we dig into the presence of Christ in the future events of Joshua and Judges, I think it might be wise to have a conversation about the nature of the sacrifices Christ called for in the laws and ordinances of Leviticus and Numbers.  We have talked about the reasons for offerings and tithes but we have not talked about the means of these sacrifices.  In our modern culture that leaves at least me with an unfinished theological foundation.

Let me state my question simply.  Why so much blood?  Are these not the pagan practises of those who worship the very false gods that Christ is warning His people to avoid?

Israel has been immersed in an Egyptian and world culture that is filled with the worship of Baal and Astarte who were chief among a pantheon of gods in the world.  The warrior like culture of the tribes descended from Ham, (shem-ham-japeth, sons of Noah) had filled the middle eastern region with the worship of these deities.  Remember the story of the tower of Babel?  This was a story connected to Ham and his descendants as they led the middle eastern world into the worship of many gods rather than the creator described to us at the beginning of the book of Genesis.  From the beginning He named Himself as Elohim and Yahweh.

I gave you that short paragraph to say we have a competition going on for the hearts and minds of the Israelite nation in terms of what we have come to call "worldview".  The world they had been living in since the middle of the book of Genesis, when Christ called Abraham to separate himself from the polytheistic worldview of the middle east, was to be replaced with a monotheistic worldview of the Creator God.  (This was actually a return to the earliest beliefs in our creation narratives.) The "period" (end of sentence) was put on this clash of civilizations and worldview by 400 years of forced captivity in Egypt.

Let me ask my question in a different way at this point.  Why would Christ set in place laws of sacrifice that mirrored the very practises of these ancient pagan worship practises?  I can't believe I am the only one curious about this at a basic level.

All of these other religions were steeped in bloody sacrifices of both animals and people.  It would have been more comfortable for me to believe that to set His people apart and show the world just how different they were, Christ would have charted a new course into the future.  Instead, I find laws that begin centuries of practice where the Israelites are to bring animals to the priests to be slaughtered as a means of obedience, thanksgiving and atonement for sin.

Please don't misunderstand me, I am not calling this into question in regards to Christ's Holiness, I am just interested in the "why".  Christ does nothing on accident or a whim and I can't believe this is the exception to that reality.

I have heard many explanations in my years of ministry and study about these early Israelite sacrificial practises.  Most of these have centered around this biblical statement.

Leviticus 17:11
"the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar."

There is also, in this 17th chapter, an admission that they (the Israelites) have been sacrificing to the "goat god" min.  The Israelites are told in Leviticus 17:7 to no longer offer these sacrifices to the "goat idols".  They are instead, told to offer this sacrifice to Christ.  Anyone's eyebrows going up yet?

In the explanations I have explored, the one that seems the most plausible goes back to the the killing of animals for the clothing of Adam and Eve.  In this explanation Christ killed animals and used their skins to cover the nakedness or the sin of man's original rebellion.  In this teaching, Christ is just bringing back the reality that the "life blood" of the animal is used because there is a real consequence of sin.  Death is that consequence and rather than Adam and Eve dying, the animal died.  Rather than the people of Israel dying, a perfect animal is used as a substitution of that death.  Rather than you and I dying, Christ who is the perfect sacrifice died in our place.  I think you get the general picture of this explanation and argument in relation to the blood sacrifice.  Christ is simply calling the Israelites back to the original purpose of the sacrifice He Himself instituted after the sin of Adam and Eve.  By the way, this explanation lays the foundation for the sacrifices that Cain and Abel are bringing to Christ in Genesis 4.  This explanation leaves much to be discussed and debated, but it moves us in a biblical direction for understanding.

There will even be poems and songs throughout the Old Testament that will talk about the "blood" of the grape being it's juice.

Deuteronomy 32:14
"curds of milk from herd and flock and with fattened lambs and goats, with choice rams of Bashan and the finest kernels of wheat.  You drank the foaming blood of the grape."

In other words, by the time we get to the New Testament, we have a language that will allow us to talk about Christ's blood in relation to the juice that comes from the grape as it surrenders it's life.  All of these sacrifices, become an opportunity to talk about and point us towards the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ who will die in our place to free us from sin and spiritual death.

It is important to note, that if this is close to a valid explanation, Christ has corrected one very important aspect of the sacrifice.  No where does Christ ever institute the sacrifice of people.  Neither children or adults are fair game for the sacrifice.  This is a purely pagan practice that will be instituted by the descendants of Ham and his barbaric worldview, but prohibited by Christ.

I still need to share an interesting observation that did not go unnoticed by me.

We do not seem to have any proof that the blood sacrifice lasts for more than a few hundred years.  Certainly by the time of the rebuilding of the temple under Ezra we no longer hear or see evidence in scripture or in history that there are literal blood sacrifices going on in the temple.  Christ does not even seem overly concerned by the absence of this practice that He Himself instituted about 1400 years before He came as God incarnate.  It almost seems in scripture, that the movement through history of this practice, is designed to diminish until the ultimate sacrifice which can only be understood if we understand the original laws of sacrifice in Leviticus.  I believe, there is absolutely no foundation to understand the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, if we do not study and attempt to understand the animal sacrifice in the tabernacle.

I also want to make an observation about the ability of people to understand things that are to far outside of their worldview.  Christ uses that which the Israelites know to lead them in the way He wants them to go.  Christ does the same thing with the first commandment.  He does not tell the nation of Israel there are no other gods, He simply says they will have no other god before Him. (Exodus 20:2; Deuteronomy 5:6)  I believe Christ knew that to challenge to entire worldview of the Israelites was more than this fledgling nation could withstand.  They struggled to keep the commands Christ did place before them.

I think the blood sacrifice is a part of a sacrificial system that they could understand.  Christ was claiming what they already knew and in truth what He Himself had instituted in more ancient days.  To speak of atonement or forgiveness without the act of sacrifice was in many ways incomprehensible for Israel.

I hope these foundational, historical and theological ideas of the sacrifice leave room for conversation around a variety of ideas associated and attached to them.  Feel free to reason and debate with me about any and all of my ideas.

Until next week!

Yol bolsum,
Tim

Christ in Deuteronomy (The Witness of Moses)

FIRST WORDS
To My Friends, Colleagues, Church Fellowship, Curious People everywhere and especially my Grandchildren,
Always know that you are fully loved by God and you are loved by me. I pray that you remember our purpose is to reflect the entire Glory of God.

MOSES REFLECTS ON HIS JOURNEY WITH CHRIST
It is important for me to begin this week by sharing how I think the first five books in scripture were written.  I think we can safely attribute the actual writing of Genesis and Deuteronomy to Moses himself.  I believe we have to be a bit more circumspect about the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers.  I personally believe these were written accounts by Joshua (in coordination with Moses) as he accompanied Moses up the mountain and down into the dessert with God's people.  For Moses to have the actual conversations and participate in the experiences of these three books while at the same time maintaining such a precise accounting of the details seems a bit dubious to me.  This leaves Joshua as the only one who was always there and we know he will eventually write the book of Joshua for himself.

I make this point, because it matters to me as I read the book of Deuteronomy.  This book sounds different than the previous three and it just feels different.  It sounds and feels more personal.  In the laws, ordinances and offerings we get a first hand view of how they were practiced and not just recorded for posterity.  It has the same feel for me as the Federalist Papers in our own history here in the United States.  Our constitution is a cold and hard document.  It is supposed to be.  It is designed to be a guarantee of rights and processes.  The founders were not explaining or defending the laws and processes, they were enacting them.  The Federalist Papers on the other hand, are personal and alive with debate.  Why the laws were passed and how they were intended to be lived out were the topics of these papers.  That is Deuteronomy, it is a book written by Moses that gives us personal insight into the journey he took with God and the journey he took with God's people.  He will get some things right and quite frankly he will get one key thing wrong. I hope this is not too shocking.  We all get it wrong sometimes.  Isn't it wonderful that we have the records of both in relation to the people of God.

I would like to use the blog this week to talk about one of those places I believe Moses got it wrong.

MOSES GETS IT WRONG
Let me take you back to Israel in the dessert of Exodus 17.  We are not far into the journey with Christ when the people of Israel are thirsty.  They are not shy telling Moses of their discomfort.  Christ tells Moses to strike a rock with Aaron's staff the same way he struck the Nile in Egypt.  Moses does, and water comes from the rock to quench the thirst of Israel.  Another proof for the Israelites that they can in fact trust Christ to deliver them in their time of need.

Fast forward to Numbers 20 and we are faced with the same situation.  This time, one would imagine, that the Israelites would be a little further along in their faith.  God has been delivering them and traveling with them.  The only casualties have come from the result of rebellion on the part of Israel and punishment from a Holy God.  In numbers 20 the people are thirsty again and Moses is frustrated.  Christ once again tells him to take the staff of Aaron but Christ changes it a bit this time.  Instead of striking the rock, Christ tells Moses to simply speak to the rock.  If you are tracking with me you remember what Moses did and Moses said.  Listen to the account.

Numbers 20:8 - 13
"Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together.  Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water....Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?"  Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff.  Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank."

Do you hear the third person narrative going on in this story?  We have just received the simple facts of the story.  Christ said, Moses did and then Christ responds.  God is not happy.  Here's the thing, this is not even the mistake I am talking about!  To be sure it is a terrible mistake that Moses has just made, so severe in fact that Christ will deny him entrance into the "promised land" of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but it is not the mistake I want to talk about.

If we go a little further we find ourselves at the beginning of Deuteronomy.  Right at the front of Moses's first hand account of his journeys he is going to talk about this very occasion.  He will back track and pick it all up from Egypt to the last battle he will fight with Israel, but he begins with what is probably the most troubling episode in his life.

Deuteronomy 1:37 and repeated in 3:21
"Because of you (children of Israel) the Lord became angry with me and said, "You shall not enter it, either."

Moses has just blamed Israel for his mistake of disobedience to God.  Let's be clear about what exactly that mistake entailed.  Christ told Moses to simply speak His word over the rock.  Moses decides to make a statement about himself and Aaron instead.  The mistake is nothing less than Moses setting himself up in the position of provider and savior of the nation of Israel.  Remember the words? "Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water..."  The heart of Moses has slipped.  He has not lost favor with Christ.  He has not placed himself in a position that Christ cannot use him to lead the Israelites.  What he has done is make a mistake and allowed his heart to move away from the presence and the will of God.  In my language, Moses has failed to live out his basic purpose which is to reflect the glory of God.  Moses has chosen to reflect his own glory.

The real kicker for me, is when Moses recounts this story, he has not yet reconciled his heart to his own mistake.  He blames others for the condition of his heart and his actions in relation to God.  I understand this very well.  There have been many times in my life when I could have used a scapegoat.  A major part of the maturity of person hood, just like maturity of faith, is our willingness to accept responsibility for our own mistakes, shortcomings and sins.

For me, there is no other response here except to say, Moses got this totally wrong.  There is work to be done in his life in relation to the people of Israel and in the condition of his heart towards Christ.

Allow me to compare the response of Moses to the response of Christ in relation to the hardness of Pharaoh's heart.

 It is absolutely true that had the Israelites not complained and rebelled, Moses would have had no reason or opportunity to take this glory upon himself.  Would you agree with me in this situation that there is in fact a cause that we can point to for this action?  Would you also agree that no matter how dynamic that cause is, we cannot remove from Moses his personal accountability for his own actions? He was still the one that acted contrary to the word of Christ.

Is it not equally true, that Christ Himself is responsible for the plagues that set up a win lose scenario for Pharaoh?  Would you remove the responsibility for the choices Pharaoh makes from him?  Are you willing to totally blame Christ for Pharaoh's actions?  I am not, and yet Christ steps up in the book of Exodus and boldly claims responsibility for His part.  I hear in the words "God hardened Pharaoh's heart" as the admission that Christ's unwavering judgment played a huge role in why Pharaoh was not able to turn back.  Christ never backs away from righteous acts or judgments.  He always takes total and full responsibility and yet does not alleviate the reality of personal responsibility on our part.  He has chosen and so must we.

Is this not the same story that will be told at the beginning of the book of Genesis, when first Adam and then Eve try to mitigate their responsibility by bringing other's actions to their defense.  For Adam it was Eve and for Eve it was the serpent.

Could it be to this idea that Christ will go in the gospel of Luke, when He says that to "everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded"?  Is it this same idea in the book of Revelation 20 where John records the book of life is opened and "the dead are judged according to the things written in the book, according to their deeds"?

The idea is not that we make no mistakes or commit no sin.  The idea is that we take responsibility for our mistakes and sin (confession and repentance) just as Christ takes responsibility for His Holiness and standards of expectations for us.  It is in this way that the people of God in the Exodus learned to walk with Christ and become holy.  It is in this way that we learn to walk with Christ and become holy.

For those who know me well.

NO EXCUSES!

Yol bolsum,
Tim

Christ in Genesis (pt. 1)

FIRST WORDS
My dear Children,
Always know that you are loved by God, and remember that you are called to reflect the entire Glory of God.

Before I can share some of the places I have experienced and understood Christ in relation to His written word, I must give you a few thoughts to consider as we read God's Word together.

Please allow me to begin with the way I understand the Trinity as the three "expressions" of God in relationship with all of creation.  I do not pretend that this will be clear at this point, but I hope to make this clear as we read and discuss together.  By "expression" I am referring to the way God reveals Himself and is active with us throughout His entire written word and eventually in our individual lives.  As we read together I admit I may change my mind about some of the nuances but I remain concrete in my affirmation of One God revealed to humanity and all creation in three ways or (expressions).

• The Father
• Sending Agent
• Defines the vision and purpose of God
• Is the sum total of the entire "nature" and "character" of God as it can be intellectually defined
• All in God that is beyond "word" or "action"
• The Son
• Christ (This is the greek word for "Anointed One") - New Testament
• Messiah (This is the Hebrew word for "Anointed One") - Old Testament
• Logos (This is the Greek word in the New Testament literally meaning "word")
• All physical manifestations of God in the world.
• Incarnate (God in Human form)
• Theophany (Any appearance of God represented in creation.  Ie..Fire/Smoke..)
• All physical action God takes in the world
• Holy spirit
• God's ability to inhabit or visit upon that which He created with a soul.

CHRIST IN CREATION
The bible begins with these words.  "In the beginning God created..." (Gen. 1).  These words are quickly followed with the "how" of this miraculous feat.  "God said...", in other words "God spoke" all of creation into existence.  This creative expression from God comes through the presence of our Lord and Savior Christ who will one day become the incarnate word Jesus Christ.  Christ is the Logos which creates and brings forth the foundations of the world and all that is created.  John 1:1 will bear witness to this truth.  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God".  John will further bear this out as he will talk about Jesus in relation to "light" and link it back to the creation account when light itself was created through the presence of Christ in the creation process.

One of the most dynamic realities of Christ in creation comes to us with these words from God expressed through Christ.  "And God said (He spoke - word/logos) let Us (Trinity) make man in our image.  In other words we are created to be the image bearers of God as we were created by Christ.  In the fullness and complete nature of the Trinity (Father/Son/Holy Spirit) we are each created to be image bearers of God.  We are created with purpose and vision imprinted upon our souls (The Father).  We are created to bear an anointed and holy image in relation to a Holy God (The Son).  We are created in some way to be a physical presence in this world as we reflect the character and nature of our Creator (The Son).  We are created to be filled with the presence of God through His Holy Spirit (The Holy Spirit).  We are created in the Image of God (The Trinity).  We are the only part of creation who are created with all three expressions of God.

CHRIST AS JUDGEMENT
It has become very popular in our modern world to relegate the judgment of God to a cranky, disgruntled old man who now sits in the shadows of history.  I often hear this old man referred to as the "God of the Old Testament".  Progressive Christians and humanists alike say that if in fact a being like this ever truly existed, we have been well served to have moved beyond this relationship with a harsh, judgmental, bigoted, racist now dottering and cranky old man.  Here is the catch.  If God is changeable then nothing He says, teaches or stands for in His Nature and Character is absolute.  His Nature and His Character can be redefined generation to generation.  This no longer fits the idea that we are to be reflections of a somehow divine image.  The divine image simply becomes a reflection of us and what we believe.  But, if in fact it is true that the same God who created us, is the same God who is worthy to judge us and this God will eventually be the same God who is able to save us, then we must do a better job of understanding what it means for this very God to be one and the same.  It is not a cranky old man sitting in the shadows of history that is the God of curses and wrath in the judgments of Genesis 1-25.  It is in fact none other that Christ Himself that comes looking for Adam and Eve in the garden calling them to account for their sin.  It is Christ who pronounces judgment on Adam, Eve, the Serpent and the earth itself in Genesis 3.  It is Christ who calls Cain to account for the murder of his brother and places the mark of the curse upon him.  It is Christ who looks at His created world and is sorry that He ever created it.  It is Christ who calls down the rain and the wrath from heaven that will destroy all created life with the exception of Noah and his family.  It is Christ who calls down fire from heaven to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.  Likewise, it is Christ who currently sits at the right hand of God the Father (the expression of God which tells us His vision and purpose) and will Judge both the living and the dead.  It is this same Christ who will in revelation come once again and break the scrolls to pronounce judgment once again upon all of creation.  It might be popular and make us feel better to relegate judgment to the Father and express only the embracing love of salvation through Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, but it is not the truth of scripture.  Judgement is an expression of Christ in our lives and the world that is born from the very first birth pangs of creation itself.  Christ was there, Christ created, and for this reason it is to Christ we must turn for salvation.

CHRIST AS SAVIOR
This is not a study of sin, but to speak of the saving power of Christ we must speak of Genesis 3 and the rebellion of humanity.
SIN
The origin of sin predates Adam and Eve, but the reality of sin in our lives and as an active agent in our lives can be traced directly to the rebellion of Adam and Eve.  The reality of sin as we read the biblical account of "The Fall" in Genesis 3 is that we can never claim we are unaware.  This awareness of "good" and "evil" is in fact the very reason we thought sin looked so appealing.  In Gen. 3:4 Adam and Eve saw that sin was good for wisdom which brought with it the "knowledge of good and evil."  In other words we chose sin because we wanted to be able to decide for ourselves what constituted good and evil.  The word of God in Christ and the written word of Holy Scripture can help us in this messy decision making process, but ultimately we now must decide for ourselves what is good and evil.  Genesis points to this "Fall" as the cause of our separation from God, our tendency to separate from each other and our never failing struggle to keep some kind of boundary between us and the ever increasing reality of evil and sin in this world.  It is this sin which gives rise to the first murder ever recorded in human history. (Gen. 4)  It is this sin which causes God to look upon the world and regret He ever created it. (Gen. 5)  It is this sin that will give rise to the jealousy, greed, sexual depravity and outright rebellion against our purpose of being reflections of our Holy God.  Even after judgment, curses and a flood we watch sin exert its influence as humanity begins to rebuild after the devastation.  The pinnacle of our self seeking nature vs. our God Reflecting purpose comes to the front as we build a city and a tower.  We build the tower, "so that we may make a name for ourselves..." (Gen. 11:4)  We are created to reflect the glory of God and yet the nature of sin that lives in humanity seeks to continually find ways to make a name for ourselves.
SALVATION
The remedy for sin did not begin on the cross of golgotha in the life of Jesus Christ.  The remedy of sin is founded upon the saving work of Christ from the very beginning of the scripture.  In the midst of judgment on the original rebellion God pronounces a prophetic word that the last word had not yet been spoken.  Gen. 3:15 has Christ speaking these words to Satan.  "He (Jesus Christ) (God Incarnate) will crush your head, and you will strike His heel."  Long before Jesus Christ came into the world God in Christ spoke words of life into the reality of sin which would bring forth death and destruction.  Adam and Eve had not yet digested the fruit (that was even as they ate it giving them indigestion) before Christ is speaking the realty of Salvation and Restoration.  In case you think this is just a future reality we watch as Christ continues to bring judgement to bear on sin so that there can always be a place for life and rebirth.  When Cain kills his brother Christ could have destroyed but instead he pronounced judgement and gave him back his life.  When humanity had reached a point where our hearts could no longer conceive a good or holy thought Christ brought judgment into the world to purge sin and bring forth life in the salvation of Noah.  In the ashes of Sodom and Gomorrah we find the life and birth of a world that will be blessed from the descendants of Abraham.

Christ as savior is forever linked to a Holy God that through Christ will pronounce judgment on sin that He might also through Christ bring the reality of salvation and life.  The pinnacle of this will be met in the person of Jesus Christ our Lord and savior.  Grace will always be about God's glory and never about the glory of man.  When you find yourself seeking to make a "name" for yourself, build a home for yourself, have what you want, be "fulfilled" or have your needs "fulfilled" remember that your purpose is to reflect the glory of God.

FIRST TIME EVENTS IN GENESIS

• First Time God speaks through an angel
• Gen. 16:7
• First Time God heals in the bible
• Gen. 20:17
• First Time a woman asks to have an answer from God
• Gen. 25:23

Yol Bolsun,
Tim