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 Ceremonial Sacrifices
“as the Lord commanded Moses.”
In the Old Testament the Causal Law Was Known
Jesus Was Against Animal Sacrifice
Back to the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament. Anyone wishing to read more about magic of the voodoo sort can continue to read in Leviticus:
Then he presented the ram of the burnt offering; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. And Moses killed it, and threw the blood upon the altar round about. And when the ram was cut into pieces, Moses burned the head and the pieces and the fat. And when the entrails and the legs were washed with water, Moses burned the whole ram on the altar, as a burnt offering, a pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Then he presented the other ram, the ram of ordination; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. And Moses killed it, and took some of its blood and put it on the tip of Aaron’s right ear and on the thumb of his right hand and on the great toe of his right foot. And Aaron’s sons were brought, and Moses put some of the blood on the tips of their right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the great toes of their right feet; and Moses threw the blood upon the altar round about.
Then he took the fat, and the fat tail, and all the fat that was on the entrails, and the appendage of the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat, and the right thigh. And out of the basket of unleavened bread which was before the Lord he took one unleavened cake, and one cake of bread with oil, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat and on the right thigh. And he put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and waved them as a wave offering before the Lord. Then Moses took them from their hands, and burned them on the altar with the burnt offering, as an ordination offering, a pleasing odor, and offering by fire to the Lord. (Lev. 8:18-28)
If this macabre scene is not enough, read on in Leviticus:
So Aaron drew near to the altar, and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. And the sons of Aaron presented the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the base of the altar. But the fat and the kidneys and the appendage of the liver from the sin offering he burned upon the altar, as the Lord commanded Moses. The flesh and the skin he burned with fire outside the camp. And he killed the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons delivered to him the blood, and he threw it on the altar round about. And they delivered the burnt offering to him, piece by piece, and the head; and he burned them upon the altar. And he washed the entrails and the legs, and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar. (Lev. 9:8-14)
Further on it says:
And the fat of the ox and of the ram, the fat tail, and that which covers the entrails, and the kidneys, and the appendage of the liver; and they put the fat upon the breasts, and he burned the fat upon the altar, but the breast and the right thigh Aaron waved for a wave offering before the Lord, as Moses commanded. (Lev. 9:19-21)
“As the Lord commanded Moses …” And today? Infants are baptized, supposedly at Christ’s behest. Priests are set above the simple believers, supposedly under power of authority granted by Jesus, the Christ. One speaks of absolving sin, supposedly as charged by Christ; one ordains a “Holy Father,” and claims that Jesus Himself had appointed him, and so on …
Jesus dissociated Himself from the tradition of sacrifice. Twice He quoted the prophet Hosea to the Pharisees: I desire mercy, and not sacrifice …(Mt. 9:13 and Mt. 12:7). Through Hosea, God had spoken in the Old Testament: For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings. (Hos. 6:6)
In This Is My Word we read:
8. …“I have come to put an end to the sacrifices and feasts of blood. If you do not cease to offer and consume the flesh and blood of animals, the wrath of God will not cease to come upon you, just as it came upon your ancestors in the wilderness, who indulged in the consumption of flesh and were filled with rottenness and consumed by pestilence. (p. 209)
On page 73 of that great divine revelation it says:
For the one who places his life in the sonship and daughtership of God will not kill – neither men nor animals.
Jesus spoke with a clarity that was more than clear against the instructions in the “Books of Moses.” God spoke similarly through the prophet Jeremiah, as we have already seen.
In the statements of Jesus, the Christ of God, we perceive that the name of the prophet Moses was used for a cruel pagan cult. In the book This Is My Word, Christ Himself reveals:
“I have come to put an end to the sacrifices and feasts of blood” means that I have come to teach you the Gospel, the law of love, and to live it as an example for you, so that you may recognize that only the one who keeps the laws of God is rich in spiritual power in his inner being. People who possess the inner values will not lack in anything. For the one who is rich in his heart is with his neighbor, not against him, thus being for God, the life, which is the fullness. People who have inner values are also with the world of animals and plants and are not against God’s creations. The one who is against his neighbor will fight against him and kill him. And the one who is against his neighbor will not be for other forms of life – neither for the life of animals nor of plants or stones.
The one who is against the life in Me, the Christ, hungers and thirsts for success, wealth, power and prestige. He kills animals and consumes their flesh for his feasts and for the lusts of his palate. Thus, he demonstrates that he is far from God.
Animal sacrifices, too, are an abomination before God, the Eternal. He does not want animals to be sacrificed or consecrated to Him. God has given life to all forms of Being and thus to animals as well. Why should they be sacrificed to Him, since He Himself, the life, dwells in them?
However, if man were to sacrifice his human ego, his passions and cravings to Me, the Christ, and were to strive for and lead a life that is pleasing to God, that is, devoted to Him, this would contribute to the unity of all forms of life. God is the Spirit of love and freedom. Therefore, every human being should voluntarily sacrifice his ego. Only then will he become meek and humble of heart and will find his way to the great unity: God. This development of man towards Him is what God loves in His children.
And the one who devotes himself to the eternal Father-Mother-God, by transforming his humanness into the divine, will not slaughter animals or consume their flesh, nor will he kill any animal deliberately. Such people will also treat the plant world with selfless love, as this, too, is a gift of creation from God to His human children. The plants and the fruits of the field and forest give themselves willingly to man and want to serve him as nourishment and as remedy for his sick body.
The “wrath of God” comes from the pagan world of conceptions which was still very much alive in the Old Covenant. It was believed that the “gods” would take revenge on people. It would be good if the sinful person recognizes that it is he himself who has created the so-called “wrath of God.” The “wrathful God” is the human ego, which takes revenge for what it itself has caused, for man will reap what he sows.
The words “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” also were and are wrongly interpreted. Man should not take revenge on his neighbor and give tit for tat. He is called upon to forgive his neighbor, to ask him for forgiveness and not to do the same or similar thing any longer. The one who does not follow this commandment subjects himself to the law of expiation. It reads, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” Then he will reap – “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” – what he has sown. (pp. 209-211)
Already through the old prophets, God taught us the law of sowing and reaping, which lets us recognize the causes of our own fate. In Isaiah, for instance, we read: Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes. (Is. 5:18) In the Old Testament book of Wisdom it says: That they might learn that one is punished by the very things by which he sins. (Wis. 11:16) God does not punish and he does not give instructions that are sins. Our sin is the punishment that we have created for ourselves, our personal judgment.
Jesus wanted to do away with cruelty to people and animals. Today’s representatives of the church institutions, however, permit that cruelty to people and animals continue. Only the methods are different, however, even more cruel. In this way, they affirm what is happening. The efforts of few in the interests of animals are the exception that proves the rule.
to the next chapter
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