Passover and Sacrifice

Passover and Sacrifice

Passover (פסח) and Sacrifice (קרבן)

By Menashe Walsh

Picture the communal scene, a ‘Rabbi’ wrapped in Tallit[1] sat at a table demonstrates the story of the Passover using the traditional rabbinic visual aids of the Seder Plate, Wine and Matzos. Everybody sat at table with their Haggadas[2] following along listening to the story of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, reciting the traditional blessings, singing the traditional songs and eating foods which symbolically represent both slavery and freedom. The communal scene is not all it seems, however, the ‘Rabbi’ has upgraded this Seder to incorporate new ideas which give the participants even greater spiritual lessons! With a wink in his eye and a knowing nod of his head, the ‘Rabbi’ lets the participants of the Seder into a little secret. The little secret being just one of the many little secrets to be told this evening! Holding the machine baked Matzos for all to see, the ‘Rabbi’ tells how most Jews unwittingly fail to see the major significance of the pierced holes and stripes of the Matzos. How there are a trinity of three Matzos used in theSeder and why the middle MatzoJesus is broken and hidden only to be resurrected found later. The irony for most Jews not ‘in the know’… there is no lamb Jesus, no sacrifice crucifixion, only a burnt egg and a shank bone on the Seder plate! The ‘Rabbi’ knows the punch line which he is more than happy to tell. There is a lamb sacrifice for everyone’s personal liberation from Egypt sin, its Yeshua (Jesus). Who would have known that all of this is tied up to a historical event 3500 years ago and traditional rabbinic visual aids of the Seder Plate, wine and now modern day machine baked Matzos providing the stripes!

The Seder continues, the participants happy in the ‘new’ knowledge that a superior atonement has been secured for all, forever, by the body and blood of THE LAMB JESUS! To emphasize the superior atonement has been secured for all, a communion service is added to the Seder, like the communion service that Jesus the Jew did on the Passover just before he initiated the ‘new’ covenant by dying on a cross. It just makes so much sense does it not? It fits like a glove! Dead to the old and now alive in a new covenant!

Sacrifices

The problem with messianic ‘Jews’ and Christians trying to morph the historical biblical event of Passover into Jesus and the New Testament is something which is not readily apparent to the casual observer with only a cursory knowledge of the Jewish Scriptures. Additionally, other agendas such as Messianics putting on a Passover Seder to target disaffected or disenfranchised Jews, for the purpose of converting Jews to Jesus, tends to monopolize on the emotional vulnerability of such Jews. Emotional vulnerability along with a morphing of two separate distinct theologies may border on the downright deceptive and in some cases has proven to be a potent combination in conversion of Jews to Jesus but not on a sound biblical basis however!

So what is the point and where is the harm? The point is that nowhere in the Jewish Scriptures is it ever intimated or suggested that the Passover sacrifice is a sacrifice for atonement. Indeed sacrifices of any kind from the time of Cain and Abel to the birth of the nation of Israel emerge in the Torah as man-initiated events, without any reference to sin! One possible exception to man-initiated events is the near sacrifice of Isaac commanded by G-d. Despite heated debate within Judaism about the meaning of the binding of Isaac, Abraham on his own initiative, subsequent to G-d telling Abraham not to sacrifice Isaac, sacrifices a ram (Gen 22:13), even though Abraham tells Isaac that G-d will provide a lamb (Gen 22:8). Either way, both possibilities of lamb and/ or ram are not commanded by G-d! Moreover, in the binding of Isaac there is no mention that the purpose of sacrifice is for atonement of sin either! Additionally, the binding of Isaac, a typology used by Messianics and Christians, attempts to create a correlation between the “Binding of Isaac” (Abraham’s near sacrifice of Isaac) and God’s sacrifice of Jesus. Unfortunately the correlation breaks down practically before it ever begins. The typology says that God sacrificed His own son just as Abraham would have sacrificed his own son, had God allowed the act to be completed. However, Abraham was sacrificing his son to God, which showed Abraham loved God more than he loved his son Isaac, something that even God acknowledges in the text:

“He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” (Gen 22:2)

So who did God sacrifice Jesus to? Did God sacrifice Jesus to mankind in order to show mankind that He loved mankind more than he loved Jesus? Is mankind God’s god? God needs mankind’s approval in order to be God? Does this make sense? Of course it does not make sense. Indeed, sacrifices as man-initiated events are confirmed in the book of Jeremiah 7:

²² For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices. ²³ But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.’

So troubling is the above to Christian theology, that the New International Version (NIV) of Jer 7:22, 23, adds an extra word to the translation which the Hebrew does not support:

²² For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices,²³ but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.

The extra word ‘just’, parachuted into the NIV translation of verse 22 gives the reverse idea that G-d did command the Israelites to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings for sins in stark contrast to the man initiated sacrifices found in the Torah (prior to Sinai) without reference to sin! Moreover, the ‘but’ of verse 23 renders verse 22 in the NIV illogical!

With respect to Passover, Christianity has made the substitutionary death of Jesus ‘the Passover lamb’, to be the sole basis for an entirely new religion! And here is the harm of such a distortion of the biblical narrative. The ‘Passover lamb’of Christianity is atonement for sin and has its worshipers passively worshiping the lamb itself because the lamb does the work for them, takes the punishment for them and pays the price of ALL sin for them![3] Indeed according to Christian theology it is impossible for anybody to actually make themself acceptable to G-d by their actions[4].

In contradistinction, the actions and thoughts behind the actions of the Israelites with respect to (but not only) slaying of the Passover lamb[5], where saving actions and thoughts by virtue of the Israelites choosing the G-d of Israel over the lamb god[5b] of the Egyptians! The Passover Lamb was a sacrifice to show ones’ allegiance to the G-d of Israel! Obedience to the word of G-d is more valuable to G-d than sacrifice[6]. And where one does need to bring a sacrifice for sin as commanded in the Torah, a primary prerequisite is teshuvaor in the not so accurate English term repentance. Judaism considers the prerequisite teshuva or repentance to achieve atonement and not the idea of a penal human substitutionary atonement which the Jewish scriptures teach against[8]. Without teshuva any sacrifice for sin is worthless otherwise! With the prerequisites of teshuva in place and obedience to the word of G-d being preferable than sacrifice, the sacrificial sacrifice[7] aspect of Torah is placed in its proper context.  Without the sacrificial sacrifice aspect of Torah in its proper context, Christianity makes sacrifice for atonement alone the sole basis of its religion without any reference to a personal effort to get closer to G-d. However, with Passover we are talking about something altogether different. Passover is a sacrifice of allegiance not a sacrifice of atonement.

---

[1] A Jewish Prayer Shawl.

[2] A booklet showing an order of service to follow for the Passover meal.

[3] 20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die; the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father with him, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son with him; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. 21 But if the wicked turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all My statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. (Ezekiel 20)

[4] ibid

[5] The lamb in the context of the Passover story was a god (amongst many) for the Egyptians. Indeed some of the ten plagues were with respect to the other idols of the Egyptians (frogs, river Nile, wild animals for example). Tellingly, the lamb, a sign of fertility, was killed in the middle of the month of Nisan (Aries in the zodiac and spring time too) and the blood of the lamb placed on the door lintels of the Israelites’ dwellings. The spiritual force of this Egyptian lamb god, in the middle of the month of Nisan (Aries in the zodiac) was supposed to be at its most potent then! The Israelites brazenly chose to go out of Egypt, painting their lintels and eating their lamb sacrifice, something never done before with respect to sacrifices of animals!

[5b]

The significance of the 10th of Nisan is mentioned in the Torah:

Speak to all the congregation ofIsrael, saying, “In the tenth day of this month they shall take every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house.” (Exodus 12:3) Tosfot [1] point out that by taking the lamb, the Jews piqued the interest, and the ire, of the firstborn ofEgypt. They pleaded with Pharaoh to release the Jews. When he refused, the firstborn rebelled and attacked their own parents [2]. Therefore the day is considered great, due to the miracle of God which was manifest and the subsequent unraveling of Egyptian society. Furthermore, by slaughtering the object of Egyptians worship, the Jews liberated themselves from the chains of spiritual slavery. When the Holy One, blessed be He, told Moses to slay the paschal lamb, Moses answered: “Lord of the Universe! How can I possibly do this thing? Do You not know that the lamb is the Egyptian god? As it says: If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us?” (Exodus 8:22) God replied: “As you live,Israelwill not depart from here before they slaughter the Egyptian gods before their very eyes, that I may teach them that their gods are really nothing at all.’” This is what He [God] actually did, for on that night He slew the Egyptian firstborn and on that night the Israelites slaughtered their paschal lamb and ate it. When the Egyptians beheld their firstborn slain and their gods slaughtered, they could do nothing, as it says: While the Egyptians were burying them that the Lord had smitten among them, even all their firstborn; upon their gods also the Lord executed judgment. (Midrash Rabbah – Exodus 16:3) God then said to Moses: “As long asIsraelworship Egyptian gods, they will not be redeemed; go and tell them to abandon their evil ways and to reject idolatry.” This is what is meant by: Draw out and take you lambs. That is to say: Draw away your hands from idolatry and take for yourselves lambs, thereby slaying the gods of Egypt and preparing the Passover; only through this will the Lord pass over you. This is the meaning of In sitting still and rest shall you be saved. (Midrash Rabbah – Exodus 16:2). The taking of the lambs was significant on another level as well. The Jews were now occupied with performance of a Divine decree; aside from the rejection of the Egyptian gods they were now actively fulfilling God’s command.

[6] See 1 Sam 15:22 , Jer 7:23 above and Amos 5;25.

[7] / Korban (קרבן) in Hebrew has its root in the concept of ‘to draw near’ to an unfathomable G-d.

[8] (Ezekiel 20:20, 21), 31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God; for every abomination to the LORD, which He hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to their gods. Deut 12

SOURCE: http://menashedovid1.wordpress.com/passover-and-sacrifice/

A blood sacrifice is not required for forgiveness of sins.

A blood sacrifice is not required for forgiveness of sins.


Even if God allowed one person to die for the sins of another, 

you do not need Jesus or any other blood sacrifice to die 

in order for your sins to be forgiven by God. 

IN SHORT... If one believed that a blood sacrifice was necessary before Gd would forgive you, then even one example where Gd forgave without a blood sacrifice would prove that this idea is UnBiblical. There are many such examples, but the most interesting is found in the Book of Leviticus. The reason this is so interesting is that it comes right in the middle of the discussion of sin sacrifices, which is found in the first chapters of this book. In Leviticus 5:11-13, it states, "If, however, he cannot afford two doves or two young pigeons, he is to bring as an offering for his sin a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering." One can also see that one does not need a blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins in the Book of Jonah 3:10. There, the Bible simply states that Gd saw the works of the people of Ninevah. Specifically it says that the works Gd saw were that they stopped doing evil, and so Gd forgave them. There are plenty of other examples, and the idea that one needs a blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins is UnBiblical.

A MORE COMPLETE EXPLANATION...

The God-man relationship was never limited to the animal sacrifices, nor was it ever the only means by which a human being obtained forgiveness from Gd for sin.

The centrality of the animal sacrifices ceased, not with the second destruction of the Temple by the Romans, but rather with the first destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians. Please remember that the vast majority of Jews never returned to the Promised Land under Cyrus of Persia. They remained in Babylonia. By the time Jesus was born, eighty percent of the world's Jewish community lived outside of the Promised Land, and could not have cared less about the cessation of the animal sacrifices. When the Temple was reestablished, the Jews of Babylonia made an annual financial gift for the maintenance of the Temple, but never worried that Gd was not going to forgive them their sins without a blood sacrifice, just as Diaspora Jews do today. The reason why they had no such fear, was that the Bible makes it explicitly clear that no blood sacrifice is necessary for the forgiveness of sins, and that the means for the Gd-man relationship was never exclusively through the animal sacrifices. Gd had given us other ways besides through blood sacrifices to receive forgiveness.

Those who believe that one must have a blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins look to Leviticus 17:11, which reads:

For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life." [Leviticus 17:11]

But if you read the whole context of this verse, you will find that it is in reference to abstaining from eating the blood of a sacrifice, and nothing more. Gd commanded the abstaining from eating or drinking blood because most other pagan religions ate the blood of their sacrifices as a way to incorporate their gods into their bodies and into their lives. (See The Golden Bough by Sir James Frazer, the chapter on "Eating The Gd." Perhaps this is the source of the Christian ritual of communion?) But the Holiness of the People of Israel requires them to not practice the pagan ways and not to hold the same beliefs of their pagan neighbors.

The whole quotation from Leviticus 17 reads:

Any Israelite or any alien living among them who eats any blood-- I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from his people. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life. Therefore I say to the Israelites, `None of you may eat blood, nor may an alien living among you eat blood. Any         Israelite or any alien living among you who hunts any animal or bird that may be eaten must drain out the blood and cover it with earth, because the life of every creature is its blood.' That is why I have said to the Israelites, `You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off.'"

Many might still insist that blood is needed to atone for sins. But there are many examples in the TaNaCh where other things besides blood atone for sins. If you are poor and unable to afford a blood sacrifice, Gd allows you to use flour (which has no blood and is not an animal!). If the poor were not able to offer a sacrifice of flour, forgiveness would only be for the wealthy. Gd would never exclude humans from obtaining forgiveness on the basis of wealth.

If, however, he cannot afford two doves or two young pigeons, he is to bring as an offering for his sin a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering. He must not put oil or incense on it, because it is a sin offering. He is to bring it to the priest, who shall take a handful of it as a memorial portion and burn it on the altar on top of the offerings made to the Eternal by fire. It is a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for him for any of these sins he has committed, and he will be forgiven. The rest of the offering will belong to the priest, as in the case of the grain offering. [Leviticus 5:11-13]

So here, right in the midst of the commandments concerning the sacrifices for sin, the Bible tells us we do not need any blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin. This proves that the idea that one needs a blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin is an UnBiblical idea.

Remember, too, the story of the book of Jonah. Jonah tried to escape from doing Gd's will, and preaching to the People of Ninevah. After the problem with the great fish, he goes to the people of Ninevah, says five words to them (in the original Hebrew) and what do they do? They fast ("let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water" Jonah 3:7) just as the Jews do on Yom Kippur. The people of Ninevah also prayed ("Let them cry mightily to Gd." Jonah 3:8) just as the Jews do on Yom Kippur. And, finally, the people of Ninevah stopped doing Evil, started doing Good ("Let everyone turn from his evil ways and from the violence which is in his hands." Jonah 3:8) as we are, hopefully, inspired to do on Yom Kippur. What was Gd's response? Gd forgave them of their sins because of their works ("When Gd saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, Gd repented of the Evil which He had said He would do unto them, and He did not do it." Jonah 3:10) Please note that the text does NOT read that Gd saw their sacrifices, the People of Ninevah were never commanded to sacrifice. Nor does the text read that Gd saw that they had the right faith. Rather it says that Gd saw what they did, their works.

We have proof of other non-blood sacrifices:

So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. [Numbers 16:47]

And in the following verse we see jewelry offered for atonement, but no blood is shed.

So we have brought as an offering to the Eternal the gold articles each of us acquired-- armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces-- to make atonement for ourselves before the Eternal. [Numbers 31:50]

It should be obvious that a blood sacrifice is not needed! Another example is that Isaiah had his sin removed by a live coal:

Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for. [Isaiah 6:6-7]

But many will say, that without a Temple, we cannot offer any kind of blood sacrifice. This is true. That is why Gd gave many different methods of atonement to the Jews. There was a time in Israel's history when they became all too consumed with the sacrificial ceremonies. For this, Gd rebuked them. Gd reminded them that the Laws of Gd were more important than the sacrifices.

For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your Gd and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. [Jeremiah 7:22-23]

Out of all the methods Gd gave to us for atonement, the sacrifices were the weakest. This is true because sacrifices only made atonement for one kind of sin. Many may point out several verses that show that there needs to be a sacrifice for sins. They often point out these verses that show that sacrifice does atone for sin. But they seem to leave out which sins are forgiven by these sacrifices, and that is UNintentional sins and only         UNintentional sins:

The Eternal said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites: `When anyone sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Eternal's commands--" [Leviticus 4:1-2]

If the whole Israelite community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Eternal's commands, even though the community is unaware of the matter, they are guilty. [Leviticus 4:13]

When a leader sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the commands of the Eternal his Gd, he is guilty.[Leviticus 4:22]

If a member of the community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Eternal's commands, he is guilty.[Leviticus 4:27]

When a person commits a violation and sins unintentionally in regard to any of the Eternal's holy things, he is to bring to the Eternal as a penalty a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value in silver, according to the sanctuary shekel. It is a guilt offering. [Leviticus 5:15]

He is to bring to the priest as a guilt offering a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. In this way the priest will make atonement for him for the wrong he has committed unintentionally, and he will be forgiven. [Leviticus 5:18]

Now if you unintentionally fail to keep any of these commands the Eternal gave Moses-- " [Numbers 15:22]

The priest is to make atonement for the whole Israelite community, and they will be forgiven, for it was not intentional and they have brought to the Eternal for their wrong an offering made by fire and a sin offering. The whole Israelite community and the aliens living among them will be forgiven, because all the people were involved in the unintentional wrong. "`But if just one person sins unintentionally, he must bring a year-old female goat for a sin offering. The priest is to make atonement before the Eternal for the one who erred by sinning unintentionally, and when atonement has been made for him, he will be forgiven. One and the same law applies to everyone who sins unintentionally, whether he is a native-born Israelite or an alien. [Numbers 15:24-29]

But if someone were to commit a sin intentionally, he would be punished!

But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the Eternal, and that person must be cut off from his people. [ Numbers 15:30]

For some intentional sins, the punishment was severe:

While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. Then the Eternal said to Moses, "The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp." So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Eternal commanded Moses. [Numbers 15:32-36]

Gd is a righteous judge. For intentional sins to be atoned for, there had to be repentance and restitution and often punishment because the sins were committed on purpose!

A thief must certainly make restitution, but if he has nothing, he must be sold to pay for his theft... If a man grazes his livestock in a field or vineyard and lets them stray and they graze in another man's field, he must make restitution from the best of his own field or vineyard... If a fire breaks out and spreads into thornbushes so that it burns shocks of grain or standing grain or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make restitution... But if the animal was stolen from the neighbor, he must make restitution to the owner... If a man borrows an animal from his neighbor and it is injured or dies while the owner is not present, he must make restitution. [Exodus 22:3, 5, 6, 12, and 14]

Whoever kills an animal must make restitution, but whoever kills a man must be put to death. [Leviticus 24:21]

Say to the Israelites: `When a man or woman wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the Eternal, that person is guilty and must confess the sin he has committed. He must make full restitution for his wrong, add one fifth to it and give it all to the person he has wronged. [Numbers 5:6-7]

It would be nice to live in a society where, if a criminal stole and stripped your car, he would have to replace it, and then give you 20% in addition to what it was worth.

There were other methods used to receive atonement that were superior to the sacrificial system. This is what Gd truly desires from us, Teshuvah, which means repentance and return to Gd.

..if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. [2 Chronicles 7:14]

But if from there you seek the Eternal your Gd, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.[Deuteronomy 4:29]

He prays to Gd and finds favor with him, he sees Gd's face and shouts for joy; he is restored by Gd to his righteous state. [Job 33:26]

Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. [Psalm 34:14]

The Eternal is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. [Psalm 34:18]

It is true repentance and prayer that Gd wants from us, NOT sacrifice!

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of Gd are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O Gd, you will not despise. [Psalm 51:16-17]

Remember, the Psalms were written to sing praises to Gd in the Temple, right where the sacrifices themselves were to be performed. They understood quite well Gd's attitude towards the sacrifices:

Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.[Psalm 40:6]

Gd wants us to pray for forgiveness, and it is prayer that replaces the sacrifices, just as Gd commanded us to do as Hosea stated:

Take words with you and return to the Eternal. Say to him: "Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the bulls of our lips. [Hosea 14:2]

(Please note that many Christian translations intentionally mistranslate this passage. The Hebrew is quite clear, "Pa-reem S'fa-tay-nu, the bulls of our lips." Instead they mistranslate the Hebrew as if it said, "Pay-rote S'fa-tay-nu, the fruit of our lips." This means that for the specific purpose of misrepresenting what the Bible says, that Gd accepts prayer in place of sacrifices, they change the word of Gd!)

He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy. [Proverbs 28:13]

Another superior method is charity:

Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the Eternal a man avoids evil. [Proverbs 16:6]

To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Eternal than sacrifice. [Proverbs 21:3]

For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of Gd rather than burnt offerings. [Hosea 6:6]

Please note:  The following quotations all come from I Kings 8, in which King Solomon dedicates the only Temple in the world to the One True Gd. It was in this very Temple that the sacrifices were to take place. Yet at the dedication of this very Temple, Solomon states that one need only pray to Gd for forgiveness, after repenting, and Gd would forgive:

...and when a prayer or plea is made by any of your people Israel-- each one aware of the afflictions of his own heart, and spreading out his hands toward this temple--then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart (for you alone know the hearts of all men)... [I Kings 8:38-39]

The Gentiles too, were to pray directly to Gd for the forgiveness of their sins, and without the need of a sacrifice!

As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name -- for men will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm -- when he comes and prays toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel and may know that this house I have built bears your Name. [I Kings 8:41-43]

Notice here, that Gd allowed the Gentiles to pray directly to him, without the need of a mediator. Gd never did exclude anyone from Him. All Gd asks for is a contrite heart, and the willingness to follow Gd!

Remember, still, that the whole of the sacrificial system was centered at the Temple. Solomon continues:

When they sin against you -- for there is no one who does not sin--and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to his own land, far away or near; and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their conquerors and say, `We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly'; and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their fathers, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their conquerorsto show them mercy. [I Kings 8:46-50]

So if you repent, Gd will save you!

The Eternal is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. [Psalm 34:18]

And he will restore your righteousness! Even though you sinned!

He prays to Gd and finds favor with him, he sees Gd's face and shouts for joy; he is restored by Gd to his righteous state. [Job 33:26]

Gd has clearly shown us that sacrifice is NOT necessary for atonement. Gd has made it abundantly clear to Israel what we are to do for atonement:

With what shall I come before the Eternal and bow down before the exalted Gd? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Eternal be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Eternal require of you? Only to do Justice, and to love Mercy and to walk humbly with your Gd. [Micah 6:6-8]

Blood sacrifice, the ritual slaughter of animals, has been basic to religion through history, so that it survives in spiritualized form even in Christianity. How did this violent phenomenon achieve the status of the sacred? 

When Christianity Becomes Idolatry

Are You Making Christianity an Idol? 6 Questions to Help You Find Out.

by Matt Johnson

I am standing in front of a church congregation with a microphone in-hand. The pastor had asked me to give a short testimony about when I came to the church and what was going on in my life at the time. Here’s, essentially, what I said:

I came to the church during a confusing time in my life. I was struggling with theological and philosophical ideas and there were some people in the church who understood my questions and helped straighten me out.

Recollections of Idolatry


Fast forward about five years. I am on a stroll with my wife through a park on a sunny spring day. Out of nowhere I get a revelation. That little speech in front of the church all those years ago was idolatry.


The backstory to that mini-testimony is that a couple years prior, I’d come out of a rebellious, sinful time of my life. I’d gotten “straightened out” but I had never truly faced my sin before my savior. Instead, I’d accepted the counterfeit of deep theological study. I’d fallen for the subtle lie that knowledge of good Christian theology served as my justification.

All I’d done was exchange the truth for a lie and served created things for the Creator God (Rm. 1:25). I’d taken a good gift from God and used it for my own purposes of looking good in front of others. If I were to infuse some truth serum into that speech, it would sound a little more like this, “Hi, I am guilt-ridden over some past sin but I’ve pridefully never really faced the fact that my sin is treason against God. So rather than call it sin, I’ll just say I’ve been trying to crack a  ‘theological problem’ so you’ll think I’m smart.”


Even good Christian theology can become an idol. When Christian belief is information detached from the substance of Jesus’ objective work on the cross for sinners, it becomes idolatry. Like it or not, you and I are guilty of it. How so?

1. Do you live for the approval of others in the church?
2. Do you stew over your spiritual performance and personal holiness more than you steep in what God has already accomplished for you in Jesus?
3. Are you prideful about your biblical knowledge?
4. Do you love to debate finer points of theology with others and get angry when you’re challenged by your views?
5. Are you feeling burnt out and joyless in your service to those in the church?
6. Are you uncomfortable with suffering people and find you’re quick to recite Bible verses as a way to avoid awkward, personal engagement? 

If you answered "yes" to any of these, there is a good chance you have taken God’s good gifts and used them for your own selfish purpose.

You have used God to make yourself look good through your service, your knowledge, and personal growth. This form of idolatry is hard to detect because the “fruit bearing” looks good to everyone else.

Let's face facts though; it's idolatry.

Religion is a golden calf


The clearest picture of idolatry in the Bible is the Exodus 32narrative on the golden calf.

This narrative isn’t simply a message that pagans, perverts, and addicts need to hear; it's also for religious folk like you and me.

When God looked down from the mountain and found his people had crafted the Golden Calf, he wasn’t simply witnessing immoral living. He saw a people he had redeemed that had taken his good gifts and used them against him. While it's not explicitly stated in the text, the gold the Israelites used to make the calf was intended for God’s purposes. Later in the narrative we see the leftover gold is used for the building of the tabernacle. Just think about that for a minute. The Israelites used God's gift for their own selfish purposes.


In creating the golden calf, the people had committed high treason. Even though the true God had always proven himself faithful, they just couldn’t wait. They needed a God that met them on their terms, a God of their choosing that they could define and control. We’re so quick to judge those primitive, control-addicted Israelites. What we miss in those people are you and me.

Hi My Name's Joe Christian and I'm a religious addict


Religion is control addiction. In the appendix to Redemption, Mike Wilkerson comments on a lecture given by David Powlison at the 2008 CCEF conference titled, The Addict in Us All. Religious addiction has a least two components: impression management and escape from sin.

“Religiosity is about the show, the 'impression management,' and the trappings of religion, but not its faith and certainly not its God. Like any other addiction, religiosity serves as an escape from reality. Are youdevastated by the loss of a loved one? 'God is sovereign,' blurts the stoic religious addict, like a knee reflex, and by this he means, 'Don’t feel it; don’t think about it; just detach yourself from it. Since God is sovereign, why should you bother?'

The religious addict escapes the reality of his own sin too....he justifies himself by the doing of and associating with religious stuff: serving, reading, teaching, praying, and church-going, along with adopting the lingo, aesthetic tastes, and moral lifestyle typical of other religious people. These are his “sacrifices” to gain his god’s favor and retain his righteous standing. But he is as deceived and rebellious as the Israelites imitating orthodoxy through idolatry.”

Religion is about control amidst brokenness


Religion is God-talk we use for our own controlling purposes. We use his word as a defense mechanism against him and other people. It’s a kind of excuse-making for God as if we’re smart enough to know what he’s up to when life is difficult. Its time to face the pain of a broken world without our pre-packaged religious answers. To gloss over our pain and suffering or someone else’s through religiosity is inhumane.

We love the story of the cross as a get-me-out-of-hell free card. But nobody wants to face the cross when it’s time to put sin to death, extend love to others in crisis, or come to terms with the brokenness of our world. The problem is, like the Pharisees, we prefer our safe religion over the death of our selfish spiritual aspirations.


Graced pharisees called out of slavery

The word Pharisee is synonymous with hypocrite. Many Christians don’t know when they are being hypocritical. Identifying our need to appear religious by spiritual performance or being a Bible know-it-all is difficult because doing religion seems like the right thing to do. It feels good to us and looks good to others, but our religion offends God.

If this is all true, if you and I are religious addicts and idolaters, we have a big problem on our hands. God’s anger against us is justified in the same way his anger was justified when the Israelites made the golden calf. Now is the time for repentance.

The good news is when we confess, he is faithful to forgive: 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Fortunately, many of the Hebrews were spared for Moses' sake. We too are spared for Jesus' sake. He is the greater intercessor. Not only does he intercede on our behalf and forgive us our sin, he restores and sustains us. Reaching back to Exodus 17, 1 Corinthians 10:4 says the Israelites "drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ."

God has called us out of slavery. We are his treasured possession.

While we are faithless, he has remained faithful. Our idols are wrought with the unholy sacrifice of his good gifts. We have crawled up into God’s lap only to slap him. But thanks be to God, rather than punish us, he graces us. And his grace is big enough even for Pharisees like Paul, and like you, and like me.

He leads us out, he leads us through, he atones for sin, and he leads us home.


Matt Johnson is a pastor at Mars Hill Church and publication manager for Re:lit and Resurgence. He also serves as a leader in Mars Hill's Redemption groups. Throughout the 90s and the early part of the decade, Matt was a traveling musician. Matt met his wife, Rose, at Mars Hill in '97 and they served in music ministry together for over 10 years. In recent years Matt has written music criticism for Paste Magazine, Three Imaginary Girls, Seattle Sound, and Bandoppler. Matt and Rose got married in 2001 and they have two young daughters.

More from Matt Johnson or visit Matt at theresurgence.com

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"He leads us out, he leads us through, he atones for sin, and he leads us home"

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