Discourse: Sinaite to Christian – 24

Dear “CF,”

Just got back from my trip and had a wonderful break.  While away, got spoiled with having my needs met and provided for.  I am so thankful to ADONAI for providing me with breaks like this.  And now, back to sharing with you my present walk of faith.

I do not understand why you wrote that I should give myself a chance to read the NT.  For 25 years, since I became an evangelical Christian, all I read was the NT, at least 90% of the time.  I studied the NT from the perspective of evangelical Christianity, accepting all what was taught about it.  The only time, I gave attention to the OT was when I became a Messianic Christian, and that was when I began to see the contradictions between the OT and the NT.  This  resulted in more indepth study of the OT, resulting in my present conviction that there is only ONE TRUE GOD, YAHWEH.

I would like to correct your impression too,  that I accept the accuracy of the New Testament.  What I wrote was, the NT is historically verifiable, for the authors who wrote it were people who lived in the era it was written.  That the authors  wrote accurate narratives leaves a lot of room for  doubt, as most of it were written 3 to 4 generations after the death of Jesus, who was the main reason why they wrote what they wrote. At the time the authors of the NT wrote the gospels and the letters, they were writing letters of encouragement or admonitions to the various followers of Jesus in different assemblies in different places.  Not one of them even thought that their writings would, centuries later, be declared as scriptures.  In fact, the NT writings were canonized only in the late 4th century.

Historically, the most “authoritative” accounts of a historical Jesus come from the four canonical gospels of the NT.  Although the gospels are attributed to Jesus’ followers, no one knows who actually wrote any of them.  The editing and formation of the NT came from members of the early Christian Church.  Since the early church fathers possessed the writings and determined what would be accepted as scripture, there was plenty of opportunity and motive to change, modify, or create text that might bolster the position of the Church.

To your first statement, that Jesus is a divine sacrifice in human flesh, specially citing the book of Hebrews, here is my response:

Christians claim that those who do not accept Jesus as lord and saviour, are doomed for eternal damnation, because their sins are not forgiven by God. This  claim is rationalized with the allegation that in biblical times, the only way to bring about the remission of sins was through the blood of an animal as a sacrificial offering,  which the priest had to slaughter at the altar of the moving sanctuary (the Israelites were still wandering in the wilderness and later, at the temple when the temple was built in Jerusalem.)  According to this claim, since there has been no temple standing in Jerusalem since the year 70 C.E., valid sacrificial offerings can no longer be made and therefore, the only way for Jews and believers to have their sins forgiven is through the blood shed by Jesus through his sacrificial death on the cross.  Therefore,

it is through the blood of Jesus, who was “offered” as a sacrifice by God the Father “once and for all” that sins of mankind can be forgiven.  

This, Christians say, is a demonstration of the Father’s great love for mankind which can only be granted to those who accept the sacrifice of his son.

Let us consider 2 aspects of this claim, that Jesus was the “last and final sacrifice”.

• Torah’s Law of Sacrifice, the animal brought as a sin sacrifice had to be slaughtered by the person who offered it.

• Leviticus 4:27-29:  

And if any one person from among the common people sins unwittingly, by performing one of the commandments of the  Lord which may not be done, and incurs guilt, Or if his sin, which he has committed, is made known to him, then he shall bring his sacrifice, an unblemished female goat, for his sin which he has sinned; And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering; and he shall slaughter the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering.

2.  Torah’s Law of Sacrifice, some of the blood of the sin sacrifice had to be rubbed by the priest with his finger on the horns of the altar in the temple, and the rest had to be poured out at the base of the sacrificial altar.  The fat of the sacrifice had to be removed and burnt.

• Leviticus 4:30-31  

And the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it upon the horns of the altar used for the burnt offering; and then he shall pour out all of the rest of its blood at the base of the altar.  And he shall remove all of its fat, as was removed the fat from the sacrificial peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a pleasant fragrance to the Lord; and thus shall the priese make an atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven.

•  The New Testament is silent on what was done with the blood of Jesus and with the fat of his body.

3.  The New Testament accounts say, Jesus was beaten, whipped, and dragged on the ground before being crucified.

• Matthew 26:67  

Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him and others smote him with the palms of their hands.

• Matthew 27:26, 30-31  

Then released he Barabbas unto them and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. (30) And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him  on the head, (31) And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.

Torah says, a sacrificial animal had to be without any physical defects or blemishes.

• Deuteronomy 17:1

You shall not sacrifice to the Lord, your God an ox or a sheep that has in it a blemish or any bad thing, for that is an abomination to the Lord your God.

Thus, Matthew’s account of the torture of Jesus, prior to his crucifixion left him very blemished, thus not worthy to be a sacrificial offering.

4.  NT says that Jesus was “the Lamb of God” whose bones may not be broken, which refers to Exodus 12:46.

• John 1:29  

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

• John 19:36 

For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of His bones shall be broken.”

In the Torah, the Paschal Lamb was not offered for the removal of sins.  Rather, it is a festive or commemorative offering.

• Numbers 29:11  

One young male goat for a sin offering, beside the sin offering, besides the sin offering for atonement, the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

• Leviticus 18:15  

He shall then slaughter the he goat of the people’s sin offering and bring its blood inside the dividing curtain, and he shall do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull and sprinkle it upon the cover of the ark, and before the cover of the ark.

5.  The Torah states, the Paschal Lamb had to be slaughtered and its blood used to place markings on the side posts and lintels of the entrances to the dwelling.  Moreover, the meat had to be roasted and eaten, and whatever was not eaten by the time the Israelites were to leave their homes, had to be burned and destroyed.

• Exodus 12:6-10  

And you shall keep it under watch until the fourteenth day of this month; and the entire congregation of the community of Israel shall slaughter it at dusk.  And they shall take some of its blood and place it on the two doorposts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they will eat it.  And they shall eat of  the meat in that night, roasted over fire, and with unleavened bread; with bitter herbs they shall eat it.  You shall not eat from it raw, nor boiled in water; but roasted over fire, its head with its legs, and with its inner parts.  And you shall not leave any of it until morning; and that which left over until the morning you shall burn in the fire.

The NT does not say this was done with Jesus after his death.  In fact, Jesus was buried, as stated in Matthew 27:57.

6.  The NT claims that the death of Jesus was a sacrificial offering that expiated the sins of mankind for all times.

• Hebrews 10:10, 18  

By that will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.  Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

The Torah states, the Passover sin sacrifice, a male-goat, had to be offered on an individual basis (per household), not as a communal offering.

• Numbers 28:22 

And one young male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you.

7.   NT says, the death and blood of Jesus took care of (almost) all sins.

•  Hebrews 9:22 

And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

The law of sacrifice in the Torah says, the sacrificial sin offering brought atonement only for unintentional sins, except as noted in Leviticus 5:1-6, 20-26 ( in Christian Bible, it is Leviticus 5:1-6, 6:1-7).

• Numbers 15:27-31  

And if a person sins inadvertently, then he shall offer a female goat in its first year as a sin offering.  And the priest shall atone for the erring person who sinned inadvertently before the Lord in order to make atonement on his behalf; and it shall be forgiven him.  For the native born of the children of Israel and the stranger who resides among them, one law shall apply to him who sins inadvertently.  And the person who does anything presumptuously, whether he is a native born or a stranger, that person blasphemes the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has scorned the word of the Lord, and has violated his commandment; that person shall surely be cut off, for his iniquity is upon him.

8.  The New Testament claims, the death of Jesus brought about the remission of sins yet uncommitted, and of sins of those yet to be born.

• Hebrews 10:18 

Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

The Torah says, sacrifices could bring atonement only for sins committed before the offering of the sacrifice.  No sacrifice was provided for the atonement of sins committed after the sacrifice was offered, thus no sacrifice can bring atonement for sins of people born after it was offered.  This includes both a sin offering, described in Leviticus 4:1, 5:13 and a guilt offering described in Leviticus 5:14-26.  There are no sacrifices, for sin or guilt offering that could bring atonement for future sins.  No one could offer a sacrifice that would suffice for the rest of his life.  Let us take note that Yom Kippur is ordained by the Torah as a Day of Atonement to be celebrated yearly.  Torah has not designated a sacrifice that could atone for future sins.  Moreover, the claim of the writer of the book of Hebrews, that there are no more sin offerings necessary after the death of Jesus is not valid for the following reasons:

• For almost 40 years after the death of Jesus, sacrifices were still being offered in the second temple in Jerusalem, for all  sin and guilt offerings, as mandated by the Torah.
• The Old Testament prophecies about the building of the third temple in the messianic era and the resumption of the sacrificial system when that time comes.  Sacrificial system ended when the second temple was destroyed in the year 70 CE by the Romans.

Ezekiel 43:21-22  

And you shall take the bull of the sin offering, and he (the priest) shall burn it at the edge of the Temple, outside the Sanctuary.  And on the second day you shall offer an unblemished he goat for a sin offering, and they (the priests) shall purify the altar as they purified it with the bull.

(refer also to writings of the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah)

9.  The New Testament declares, that God’s only begotten son, Jesus died on the cross for the sins of mankind, and all who accept this belief will have eternal life.

• Romans 5:8-11 

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we still sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.  For if when we were still enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.  And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

The Torah strictly prohibits human vicarious atonement and mandates that everyone is responsible for his or her own sins.

• Deuteronomy 24:16  

Fathers shall not be put to death because of children, nor children be put to death for fathers; each person shall be put to death for his own sin.

10. The New Testament says, Jesus was “God manifest in the flesh”This would make him a human sacrifice.

• Romans 8:3

 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.

Since the Torah strictly prohibits human sacrifices, the concept of human sacrifice to a god is foreign to a Torah believer.  Human sacrifice is a pagan rite.

• Leviticus 18:21

And you shall not give any of your offspring to pass through the fire for Molech, and shall not profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.

The claim that Jesus was the “last and final sacrifice” shows that according to the sacrificial standard set forth by the Torah, Jesus could not qualify as a valid sacrificial offering of any kind.

To those who accept the claim of the NT that Jesus died for their sins, must study, understand and realize that this claim is not found nor supported by the word of YAHWEH,  as found in the Old Testament.  No one can take on, suffer, nor die for the sins of any man.  This belief was introduced into Christianity through the NewTestament and has no relevance to a true believer of the ONE TRUE GOD, YAHWEH.

The problem facing those who accept the two halves of their bible, Old and New, is, each contradicts each other.  GOD’s revelation is found in the Old Testament and it is the accepted foundation of our faith in GOD, should it not prevail over any other new revelation specially if the new contradicts what GOD has said.  There are those who believe in progressive revelation, but progressive revelation simply means interpreting what God has revealed more fully, not in contradiction to it.

Is there a need for blood for atonement of sins?

Again, let me quote Psalm 51:16

You do not desire sacrifice or else I would give it;You do not delight in burnt offering;The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.A broken spirit and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise.

With respect to your #3 question, I will answer that in my next email.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my convictions.  What I write is intended to explain why I believe what I believe.  I do not mean to give you grief, just an explanation of the basis of my conviction.  I know your love for the Lord is beyond question.

My prayer is that my love for YAHWEH will grow more and more as I get to know HIM more.

BAN@S6K