Day 4 - Sacrifice
- Pastor b.Side
- Mar 4
- 3 min read
“This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year.” And he did as the LORD commanded Moses. - Leviticus 16:34
God is eternally unchanging, so His Word must remain constant as well. In the beginning, God gave a simple command: do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. However, there were deeper implications behind this straightforward command. God was telling Adam that he had no business seeking “the knowledge of good” outside of the direct revelation of His Word. God had already defined what was “good.” Adam was not to consume anything that would lead to a different understanding of that. Similarly, Adam had no business consuming anything that would bring knowledge of evil. God warned him of the consequences. When he ate the fruit, he died. His soul was severed from the pure connection to God that he previously enjoyed.
Adam’s response to his sin was to try to run from God and hide the truth of his shame. He attempted to use fig leaves, of all things. His efforts ultimately failed. God had a plan to address this issue for Adam. He killed an animal so Adam and Eve could be properly clothed and covered. The blood of the animal was shed to cover sin. That was the standard God set at the start. The consequences of sin are serious. Human efforts to deal with it are inadequate, leaving us separated from God and eternal life. Only God can fix this. Substituting blood sacrifice is how God deals with the problems of sin, death, and hell.
“To make atonement for the children of Israel…”
This is so significant to God that He established a special day in the Jewish calendar to honor it. Leviticus Chapter 16 details God’s instructions to Israel for Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement. Leviticus 16:34 clearly shows that God intended this feast day to be an “everlasting statute” for Israel. He wants His people to remember that they are sinners who fall short of His glory. He wants us to recall the words of Hebrews 9:22, which say that there cannot be forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood. Therefore, on Yom Kippur, the people were to bring special animal sacrifices. Obedience would make God see those sacrifices as enough to cover sins for the year. Then, they’d need to do it again, and again…
“For all their sins, once a year…”
Yom Kippur is meant to be an “everlasting statute” because God intends to teach His people a lesson about sin that takes forever to learn. Despite all the animals sacrificed, it wasn’t enough to cover the total debt of sin that had built up. That’s why more sacrifices had to be offered. Human efforts can’t settle the debt of a spiritual currency. Only the blood of One whose nature is spirit and pure can pay that kind of debt. That’s why God took on flesh as Jesus. He died once for all, offering His perfect, eternal, unchanging blood as payment. Repeated animal sacrifices show that human efforts will never be enough to please God. Only the righteous work of Jesus—God in the flesh—is acceptable. That was true in the beginning, and since God is eternally unchanging, it will always be so.
Prayer for today
Our heavenly Father, thank You for continually revealing the true nature of our sin. Thank You for sharing the blessings of Your eternally unchanging glory through the blood of Your Son. Help us to respond with humility and gratitude today, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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