The Everlasting Covenant - 18.3 Oblation to Cease

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18.3 Sacrifice and Oblation to Cease
by Hubert F. Sturges, M.D., www.everlastingcovenant.com, December 2009

Topics:
Sacrifices not Desired
Messiah to Live Forever
Messiah to Die
Teachers in Israel
Sacrifice and Oblation to Cease

Sacrifices not Desired

After 1500 years the Jews had come to look on the sacrifices and ceremonies as the sum and substance of their religion. They had lost sight of the Redeemer to which they pointed. The concept that Jesus Christ would come to die for their sins was completely foreign to their way of thinking. This dependence on the ceremonial law had become a deeply ingrained tradition and the very means of identifying themselves as “Jews.” Even the Christian Jews had difficulty in letting go of these traditions (Acts 15).

This was the “old covenant” mentality that was resurrected from the ashes of the debacle at Sinai. The gracious promises of “My” Covenant were forgotten. This situation must be firmly established in your mind, to understand what Jesus actually did for you on Calvary:

The purpose of God has always been to hear, to forgive and to restore to man the image of God. The life must be changed by grace. This was the purpose of Jesus’ sinless life, His sacrifice on Calvary, and His covenant. The ceremonial law served only as a reminder and an illustration of this plan of salvation. A rather long list of verses is presented to document this concept:

* Psalms 40:6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire;... burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
* Psalms 51:16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
* Proverbs 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
* Proverbs 21:27 The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?
* Hosea 6:6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
* Hebrews 10:5,6 “Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:... In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.”
    “Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22).

    11 “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
    12 “When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
    13 “Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
    14 “Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
    15 “And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood” (Isaiah 1:11-15, KJV).
   “For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
    “But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you” (Jeremiah 7:22-23).

    “I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
    “Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts....
    “But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream” (Amos 5:21-24).
Messiah to live Forever

The Jews could not conceive that the Messiah would die and they rejected statements that Christ could be the Messiah if He were going to die (John 7:19, 20; 8:21,37,40,48,59). They could remember only the prophecies of His eternal kingdom. This is pictured in this exchange between Jesus and the Jews:

    “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
    “This he said, signifying what death he should die.
    “The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man” (John 12:32-34)?
The following are some of the many verses that speak of Christ living forever. What was not realized was that the prophecies of the Messiah referred to both His first advent and His second, and the two were not clearly separated. Our lesson for today is that we must know what the prophecies say, then observe unfolding events to determine just how the prophecy is being fulfilled. Here is the list of verses: (2 Samuel 7:13; Psalms 72:7, 17-19; 89:4, 36, 37; Isaiah 9:7; Ezekiel 37:24, 25; Daniel 2:44; 7:14, 27; Micah 4:7; Luke 1:33)

Messiah to Die

When the covenant was given in Eden, Adam and Eve were told that their redemption would require suffering for the Messiah. “It (Christ, the seed of the woman) shall bruise thy head, and thou (the serpent, representing Satan) shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). An animal was killed to provide clothing for Adam and Eve, indicating the first sacrifice. When Cain and Abel offered sacrifices, they were instructed that it must be a blood sacrifice (Hebrews 9:22).

Sacrifices were made throughout Old Testament history up to the time of Christ. We do not have detailed information as to these sacrifices pointing forward to the coming Messiah. Old Testament history is sparse to say the least. Also, ancient peoples depended on the “Oral Tradition” much more than we do today. Thus the absence of instruction in the written record does not mean that it was not given. Moses personally instructed the people (Exodus 18:16, 20). It was also the duty of the priests and Levites to be teachers in Israel (see next section below).

Isaiah is termed the “Gospel Prophet.” He is very specific in these verses that Messiah would suffer and die. Psalm 22 describes in some detail the scenes of the crucifixion.

    “He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
    “And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
    “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand” (Isaiah 53:8-10).
Daniel prophesies exactly when He would die:

“And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: ... (Daniel 9:26).
His manner of death is implied in these verses. We must remember that some of these prophecies are significant in building faith AFTER the event, not necessarily in predicting in detail what would happen. As these events occurred, people could determine which parts of the prophecy were being fulfilled, and which parts were for a future event, e.g. the Second Coming.

    “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up” (John 3:14).
    “And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:
    “His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance” (Deuteronomy 21:22-23).
    “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Galatians 3:13).
The Teachers in Israel

The Priests and Levites were the professional teachers in Israel. (Leviticus 10:11; 14:57; Deuteronomy 17:9-11; 24:8; 33:8-10; 1 Samuel 12:23; 2 Chronicles 17:7-9; Ezra 7:25; Ezekiel 44:23).

God Himself would also teach the people and Prayer was an important medium. People would also learn from observing nature -- God’s created works. The people had a responsibility to teach and encourage each other and especially to teach the heathen the ways of God.

Sacrifice and Oblation to Cease

With this as a background, what happened at the Cross of Calvary? The following quotation expresses in beautiful words this final scene:

   “Suddenly the gloom lifted from the cross, and in clear, trumpetlike tones, that seemed to resound throughout creation, Jesus cried, "It is finished." "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit." A light encircled the cross, and the face of the Saviour shone with a glory like the sun. He then bowed His head upon His breast, and died....

    “When the loud cry, "It is finished," came from the lips of Christ, the priests were officiating in the temple. It was the hour of the evening sacrifice. The lamb representing Christ had been brought to be slain. Clothed in his significant and beautiful dress, the priest stood with lifted knife, as did Abraham when he was about to slay his son. With intense interest the people were looking on. But the earth trembles and quakes; for the Lord Himself draws near. With a rending noise the inner veil of the temple is torn from top to bottom by an unseen hand, throwing open to the gaze of the multitude a place once filled with the presence of God. In this place the Shekinah had dwelt. Here God had manifested His glory above the mercy seat. No one but the high priest ever lifted the veil separating this apartment from the rest of the temple. He entered in once a year to make an atonement for the sins of the people. But lo, this veil is rent in twain. The most holy place of the earthly sanctuary is no longer sacred.

    “All is terror and confusion. The priest is about to slay the victim; but the knife drops from his nerveless hand, and the lamb escapes. Type has met antitype in the death of God's Son. The great sacrifice has been made. The way into the holiest is laid open. A new and living way is prepared for all. No longer need sinful, sorrowing humanity await the coming of the high priest. Henceforth the Saviour was to officiate as priest and advocate in the heaven of heavens. It was as if a living voice had spoken to the worshipers: There is now an end to all sacrifices and offerings for sin.”  White EG: The Desire of Ages, 753-757