All Creation Groans— Sacrificial Substitute

Text: “8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.” (Genesis 22:8)

Animal sacrifices are all over the Old Testament. God doesn’t command His people to offer them until He gave the law through Moses. Long before that, though, the first time an animal sacrifice is recorded is in Genesis 4, when Abel offered “the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions” (Genesis 4:4). When Abraham and Isaac went off to offer a sacrifice, it seems perfectly familiar to Isaac. The only question he has is where the animal is.

And there were a lot of sacrifices. If you counted up just the lambs that were offered in the morning and in the evening as the daily sacrifices, the total number comes to almost 1,000 animals each year. And that does not count special sacrifices for festivals and other important days. When Solomon’s Temple was dedica of the Temple, Solomon offered 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep over a two-week period.

Of course, those daily sacrifices were only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. There were also burnt offerings to pay for sin/guilt and burn offerings to represent the giver’s complete dedication to God; there were grain/meal offerings which were given in thanks to God; and there was also a fellowship/peace offering which symbolized fellowship and peace with God. There were a lot of sacrifices throughout Old Testament history. I don’t how you would even begin to estimate what the total number of animals was.

That’s a powerful testimony to the price of sin. Imagine if our worship services began with a lamb or sheep being brought forward and killed before your sins could be forgiven. Would that change the way you hear those familiar words: “I forgive you all of your sins…”? Through the death of those animals, creation continually testified to the price of sin. Because the blood of that animal was poured out, because it died, you do not need to. The wages of sin has been satisfied— at least for now.

And yet, the reality is that all of those animals offered as sacrifices through the entire history of the Old Testament would not pay for your sin or mine. As one of our Lenten hymns puts it: “Not all the blood of beasts On Jewish altars slain Could give the guilty conscience peace Or wash away the stain” (“Not All the Blood of Beasts,” Lutheran Service Book #431. stz. 1). Their power lay in the fact that they were a shadow of the good things to come (Hebrews 10:1). Without them, the worshippers would no longer have any consciousness of sin (Hebrews 10:2). They are a daily, weekly, yearly reminder of sin (Hebrews 10:3). But they could not make perfect those who drew near (Hebrews 10:1).

Jesus’ sacrifice did what they could never have done: Christ the heavenly lamb, Takes all [your] sins away; A sacrifice of nobler name And richer blood than they” (“Not All the Blood of Beasts,” Lutheran Service Book #431. stz. 1). The biggest reason for Jesus taking on human flesh was so that He would have a body to offer as the final sacrifice for sin. Like the ram that replaced Isaac on that altar, He did more than remind you of the true price of sin. He bore it for you. He took your place under the Father’s knife and His blood was shed in your place.

Every time you come and confess your sin and ask for absolution, you are doing what the next stanza of that hymn says: “My faith would lay its hand On that dear head of Thine, While as a penitent I stand, And there confess my sin” .

Or, to borrow the words of Johann Gerhard: “[You] offer to [your] holy Father, the obedience of [His] Son. [You] offer to [Him] the perfect innocence of the one who became obedient to [the Father], even to death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:8). …This obedience… [you] offer as the price and satisfaction for [your] great disobedience [ and sin]” (Gerhard, Johann. “Remembering the Sins of Youth.” Meditations on Divine Mercy.).

There is one more point, though, if you and I are going to truly learn what all of those animals have to teach us. You must learn what this means: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13; cited from Hosea 6:6). It would be interesting to know the total number of animals offered as sacrifices there in the Temple. But perhaps it’s better that we don’t. Because those sacrifices were never about what the Israelites gave to God. It was always about the grace that He was giving to them.

Continue to turn your attention to Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Learn from Him how to show mercy to those who sin against you.

And learn from Him how to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). It has always been about what God has given to you, not what you give to Him. But, you have been sanctified by the blood of Christ. So your service to your neighbor, your simple acts of love, become a holy and acceptable sacrifice to Him. The blood of Christ has purified your conscience from dead works to serve the living God (Hebrews 9:14).

Through the death of those animals— those sacrificial substitutes— creation, itself, testified to the true price of sin for thousands of years. By their testimony, you understand better what God has given to you and what you are privileged to give to God.