Day 3: Acceptable Offerings
Moses said to Aaron, “Come to the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and the people; sacrifice the offering that is for the people and make atonement for them, as the Lord has commanded. Leviticus 9:7
Atonement:
1. Satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amend
2. Reconciliation
All salvation rests on this precept; Acceptance is always based on atonement. (Moore, 2007) Beth said to not let this fact escape our minds during this study today. I can’t speak for all of you, but it never left mine.
I have been contemplating what to say in this post today for awhile now. To me there are no words for the sacrifice that was made for us. After reading the history of the offerings and how it goes hand in hand with the sacrifice that God made on the cross, I just sat at my kitchen table in tears. I think a good hour went by before the frog in my throat finally eased up. I will try my hardest to express my thoughts for today, but I know that I am not going to do it justice!
In today’s study we got a deeper understanding of what the differences were in the offerings. The system of sacrifices atoned for sins - and it was one complicated system. I don’t know about you all, but I had a hard time reading the details of holding down the animal’s head and slaying it with the other. This made me cringe. It is through the sacrifice of the animal (or any substitute), that people could be forgiven of their sins. Beth stated, “We cringe at the thought; yet as the sinner held the animal’s head while its life fled, God’s purpose was clearly stated in living, crimson color: an innocent victim lost its life because of the sin of its killer.” Jesus was our innocent victim.
As I was reading this I couldn’t help but think how many animals were being sacrificed, because we know that there is a ton of sin each and every day. People continually sin – I continually sin. For this very reason God chose to make one final and ultimate sacrifice, and that sacrifice was his one and only beloved son, Jesus. He took all of our sins and placed them upon himself, so that we wouldn’t have to suffer. He made the ultimate sacrifice! Beth said, “Sins could be atoned for on the cross only by heaping them on Christ Jesus, the unblemished Lamb. Think how many were yours and mine.”
The unblemished Lamb of God died and conquered sin once and for all. What a precious gift!
What part of today’s study stood out to you the most and how has it affect you?
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4 comments:
I am a word person and I LOVE the word Atonement. God worked through the death of Jesus Christ to make us AT-ONE with Him. It was His AT-ONE-MENT. Every time I come to a study using that word I am so drawn to the close, close relationship that we are meant to have with God.
Sarah, I was also stricken with the illustration of the Israelites holding their sacrafice by the head as they killed it. Beth's question - how much the Father would have loved to hold his son's head?, was such an emotional picture. Instead, God waited in heaven as his son felt forsaken by His own, loving father. I was so intrigued by all the ways that God had to make the Israelites visualize Him every day. I think about how many times my students tell me that they need to see what we are talking about. That is what God had to do with the Israelites on a daily basis. We have this amazing gift of the Holy Spirit and God's word in order to help us know Him. Even with that, I still need lessons like this to truly show me what Christ did for all of us on the cross.
today's study really was an emotional one! i think it must be the picture that was painted for us... i wonder if there were many tears shed while the israelites were performing these tasks!... i also liked when BM pointed this out, "guilt was the emotional tie between the israelite and the animal. unspeakable love was the emotional tie between God and His Son." it truly is amazing to think of the depths of what God has done for us! it's almost unthinkable really, unfathomable for sure! of all the times i want so badly to put God in a box and have Him figured out so that i don't have to struggle through this life or learn another stinkin' lesson!... i only have to think of this amazingly HUGE sacrifice to realize and remember that His ways are SO far beyond my ability to grasp--He is SO much bigger than i can imagine!! and a God who would stop at nothing to save mankind (as wretched and awful as we've always been) is a God worth giving my life and allegiance to!
When I read how "Aaron and his sons were to slay and burn an evening sacrifice that God commanded to be left burning on the altar all night. They were to rise early in the morning and wait for the LAST of the ashes to fall through the brazen grate of the altar. The ashes invariably fell at dawn. Ancient Hebrew history records that the MOMENT the last ash fell, the priests BLEW THE TRUMPETS in celebration, shouting, 'IT IS FINISHED!' 'When he had received the drink, Jesus said, IT IS FINISHED. With that He bowed His head and gave up his spirit.'
WOW! I was deeply moved by this!
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