Admittedly, this is a nasty and disgusting subject that, justifiably, should make a decent person’s stomach turn, but it’s in the Bible, was part of the heathen culture around ancient Israel, and, more importantly, IT IS PART OF THE HEATHEN CULTURE AROUND US TODAY! Many innocents are being victimized by evil people in high and low positions of power in our society today. Yeshua said that the devil comes to kill, steal and destroy. This is not just figurative language. It is literally happening in your neighborhood, city, state, region and country as I’m writing this. So please read on…inform yourself, so you can be part of the solution. Make no mistake, the preaching of the gospel is the best defense and offense against these horrific activities.

Leviticus 17:1–14, Exploring the concepts of sacrifice, blood letting and eating blood.

The sacrificing of animals as an act of worship or for any reason is a foreign concept in our modern, secularized society, but this was not the case in the ancient biblical world. Concomitant with sacrifices is the idea of freewill offerings,which, in the ancient world, were often made together as an act of worship to various deities. 

With regard to sacrifices, man’s first act of worship outside the Garden of Eden was to make offerings and sacrifice to Elohim (Gen 4:1–4). Making a sacrifice to Elohim was also Noah’s first act of worship after the flood (Gen 8:20). The same is true of Abraham upon receiving the covenant from Elohim (Gen 12:6). At key points in his spiritual journey, Abraham repeated this same act of worship (Gen 12:8; 13:3, 18). The same is true of the Israelites who after having received the Torah at Sinai made a sacrifice to Elohim as they entered into a covenantal agreement with him (Exod 24:4). Subsequently, YHVH instructed the Israelites to establish an entire sacrificial system as a means to be reconciled to him. Similarly, animal sacrifices and offerings being made to various deities was an important aspect of the heathen cultures of the biblical world. Even in the first century, the Greeks were still sacrificing animals in their pagan temples to their gods and goddesses (1 Cor 8:1–13; 10:20) as were the Jews prior to the destruction of their temple in A.D. 70 (Acts 21:24 cp. Num 6:13–21).

So, in the mind of the ancients, what was the purpose of sacrifice? The ritual killing and offering of an animal was part of a religious ritual either to appease or to gain the favor of a deity. 

With this concept in mind, several points should be noted. Man’s rebellion and sin against Elohim in the Garden of Eden caused man to be cut off from his Creator and incur his judgment against man’s sin. The Garden of Eden and the fall of man event is part of the mythos of many ancient civilizations Continue reading →