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Cheap Sacrifices
& The Need for Atonement
by Sam Nadler |
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Atoning sacrifice is one
of the most basic tenets of biblical Judaism. Yet today Jewish people by
and large have disavowed it. Why? In last month’s article “A Fence
Around the Law”, it was shown that misguided reverence for the Oral Law
was developed by the rabbinical leadership between 516 BC- AD 70. This
view of Scripture interpreted through Oral Law, ultimately contributed
to their rejection of Yeshua as Messiah. This month we consider the
second period in Jewish history, AD70 - 135--from the fall of Jerusalem
to the ‘Gentilization’ of the Church. What happened during this time
inhibits my people from even today seeing Yeshua as their atoning
sacrifice. |
Temple Sacrifices
The faith of Israel through its history
was based on the sacrificial system centered in the Tabernacle and later
the Temple. One could only approach God by first offering a sacrifice.
With that in mind, the question arises: “Why do Jewish people today
consider sacrificial atonement irrelevant to Judaism?” With the
destruction of the Temple in AD 70 the Jewish religious leaders faced an
enormous problem: how were they to maintain a people of faith without
prescribed sacrifices at the altar and the Temple? Incredibly, the way
the religious leaders reinterpreted the meaning of sacrifices 2,000
years ago affects Jewish thought and theology to this day.
Symbolic Sacrifices
Even before the Temple was destroyed,
sacrifices were seen as symbolic. Philo (20 bc - ad 40), a Jewish
philosopher from Alexandria, Egypt, taught that Temple offerings were
mainly symbolic in nature, and wrote that “the offering of domesticated
animals [sheep, goats, bullocks] and gentle birds symbolized the
submissive offerer.” Since these non-aggressive creatures were viewed as
the ‘persecuted’ in the animal world, the rabbis went on to interpret
that the offering spoke of the idea that “the one pursued is accepted by
God...” (Leviticus Rabbah 27:5).
Secondary Sacrifices
Prayer.
The importance of sacrifices was viewed as secondary. Since repentance
or contrition was necessary along with the sacrifice (Lev. 23:27), the
removal of the sacrifice merely enhanced repentance as the essential
element for atonement. “Prayer,” therefore, was considered even “more
efficacious than sacrifices” (Talmud Ber. 32b). |
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Phylacteries, the small box
containing Scripture passages, are worn on the forehead, and tefillin,
similar boxes attatched to the forearm or hand with leather straps, are
utilized by Orthodox Jews interpreting Deut. 6:8 -
“And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be
as frontlets between thine eyes.” |
Religious
Rites. Along with prayer, other religious
practices came to be seen as equivalent substitutes for sacrifices. Even
studying the verses of Scripture on sacrifice is regarded as one having
offered the sacrifice: “whoever occupies himself with the study of Torah
needs neither burnt offering, nor meal offering, nor sin offering nor
guilt offering” (Talmud Men. 110a). The reciting of the Shema (“Hear O
Israel…” Deut. 6:4) and the wearing of phylacteries are “as if he had
built an altar and offered a sacrifice upon it” (Tal. Ber. 15a).
Fasting. Fasting as well, became the
equivalent of sacrifice, such as the prayer of Rabbi Sheshet recited on
the evening after a fast day: “Lord of the World, when the Temple was
standing, one who offered a sacrifice of which only the fat and blood
were taken, and thereby his sins were forgiven. I have fasted today and
through this fasting my blood and my fat have been decreased. Deign to
look upon the pint of my blood and my fat which I have lost through my
fasting as if I had offered it to Thee upon the altar, do Thou favor me”
(Tal. Ber. 17a). |
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Later on, certain medieval rabbis
taught that the sacrifices were substitutes for the judgment on the
offerer (Jacob ben Ascher). This was especially meaningful to Kabbalists
(Jewish mysticism) and in Eastern Europe, where a chicken was used in
ritual sacrifice (Jewish Encyclopedia., Kapparah, pp. 435-436).
Wounds & Death. A noted Jewish scholar
from the 19th century, Solomon Schechter, went so far as to teach that
our own wounds atone for our sins, and that certainly the death of a
sinner would atone for his own sins. He even suggested that an innocent
child dying would atone for his generation (Aspects of Rabbinic Judaism,
pp. 308-310). The rabbis and writers of the Talmud made much of certain
Scriptures: “The sacrifices of God are a
broken spirit” (Ps. 51:17), and “take words with you and return to the
Lord. Say to Him, ‘Take away our iniquity, and receive us graciously
that we might present the fruit of our lips’” (Hosea 14:2)
What these scholars and rabbis overlooked is that in the Scriptures the
Lord gave these truths regarding repentance and contrition in light of
the need for blood sacrifice, and never apart from the offerings.
Maimonides (12th century rabbi, Moses ben Maimon) went so far as to
declare that sacrifice was archaic religion from which God had weaned
Israel. Thus modern Jewish writers such as Trude Weiss-Rosmarin, look
upon faith in Yeshua, and the doctrine of vicarious atonement as
unreasonable: “The idea of ‘vicarious atonement,’ that is to say, the
payment of the penalty not by the sinner but by a substitute, is
irreconcilable with Jewish ethics” (Judaism & Christianity: The
Differences, p. 52 ).
Saul's Sacrifice
What is patently ignored is that God
considers sacrificial, substitutionary atonement to be of utmost
importance, even when it isn’t convenient. For instance, in the Jewish
Scriptures we read that God condemned certain kings (Saul and Uzziah)
for assuming the right to perform sacrifice apart from the way He had
prescribed. In I Samuel 13, King Saul grew impatient while waiting for
Samuel to arrive and make sacrifices before he could proceed with the
battle. In a fit of pragmatism Saul offered the sacrifices himself
(v.10), and when Samuel did arrive Saul gave a ‘reasonable explanation’
that he had to get on with his attack. Samuel then rebuked Saul by
saying that this act was foolishness, that Saul had “not kept the
commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you... But now your
kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man
after His own heart, and ... has appointed him as ruler over His people,
because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you” (I Sam.
13:13-14).
Scriptural Sacrifice
Why is God such a stickler about
sacrifices? Because, the Word of God and God’s priorities cannot be
overlooked. God has told us how He wants to be approached. It is not up
to man to determine these things. For instance, if someone broke your
$400 window, but offered you only $25 to replace it, that would be sheer
arrogance on their part. Rather than offering you what they thought the
window was worth, it would be up to you to determine its value. The
doctrine of atonement (see Isaiah 53) has been lost to my people. Thus
to many Jewish people, believers make too much of sin, and Yeshua’s
death seems to be an unnecessary sacrifice. Yet even a perusal of
Scripture informs us that no one approaches God without a sacrifice: For
the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon
the, altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that
makes an atonement for the soul (Lev.17:11).
As It is Written
Surprisingly, even the disciples had a
hard time understanding the need for Messiah’s atoning death and the
promise of His resurrection “These are My words... that all things which
are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets, and in the
Psalms must be fulfilled” Then he opened their minds, that they might
understand the Scriptures. He said to them, “Thus it is written, and
thus it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the
dead the third day...” (Luke 24:44-46). As Yeshua taught those disciples
then, the Jewish people need to be taught today: it is what the Bible
says that matters, not the traditions of men. Please pray that my people
will come to understand not only the condemnation for sin, but their
need for atonement, and that God allowed the Temple to be destroyed
because the ultimate and final atoning sacrifice has been made in
Messiah’s death! Shalom. Y |
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