Why Did God Require Innocent Animals in the Sacrifices?

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devonsams

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I was talking to my friend and he asked me: “Why did god require innocent animals in the sacrifice of the Jewish cerimonies? If God is all-powerful, all-wise, why would he ask poor innocent animals to be sacrificed? Wouldn’t be better if he asked to burn Herbs, trees, or any other symbolic process? He really wanted to kill Lambs? Have you ever looked at some jewish sacrifices? They let the sheep dying slowly, bleeding to death, it is horrible!”

I tried to explain him, and came into my mind 2 hypotesis that i was thinking:

1- It had to be innocent animals because only by that the sacrifice and the eucharist of Jesus Christ in the Cross would make sense to us.
2- God cannot create disorder, he cannot forgive someone who didn’t repent, as he cannot create love by obliging a person to love him, so the sacrifice of the lambs was in the same way of thinking, he could only forgive us by innocent blood, not by burning herbs, or other process.

So, anyone could help me to solve this? What is the best answer? My hypotesis make sense? Thank you! 🙂
 
  1. Because God was weaning humans from doing human sacrifice.
  2. Because sacrifices doubled as barbecues, in the ancient world; that was how the average pagan person got most of his/her meat for the year. Nobody is going to show up for a holiday onion roast for the gods. (Astarte did raisin cakes, but Astarte did other stuff too.) So yes, God asked for meat sacrifices because that way, the Children of Israel would be less tempted to go pagan. Remember what the main dish at Passover is, even today.
  3. Actually, God did accept sacrifices of the first fruits, bread, flour-sprinkled meat, etc. But generally people didn’t get to eat this stuff; it got burned up. The only exception was (I think) the showbread, aka the Bread of the Presence of God up by the tabernacle.
  4. Because sacrifice is about giving up a living thing to God, and animals are much more obviously alive than vegetables or grain. People rear livestock and birds from their mother’s wombs and eggs; animals have a lot more meaningful lives to people than just the products of sowing and weeding.
 
The difference between Abel and Cain’s sacrifices:
relijournal.com/religion/why-did-god-prefer-abels-sacrifice-and-rejected-that-of-cains/

To your question, consider that God often told the Hebrews not
to give him animal sacrifices. See: cgca.net/serf-publishing/sacrifices.htm

Apostate Israelites continued in their blood sacrifices to devil gods, such
as Baal and Moloch, they were often their own children, and prepared
as Holocausts, in the true sense of the word.

We know that God refused all Jewish animal sacrifices from Crucifixion
of Christ all the way up to the Destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70,
from the Talmud. That is clear evidence from Jewish sources that God no longer
would honor their attempts to appease Him, and to this day, of course, their
sacrifices profit their souls nothing without Christ.

shatteredparadigm.blogspot.com/2008/12/extraordinary-extrabiblical-evidence.html
hissheep.org/special/hebrew/ancient_temple_signs_and_the_last_days.html
windowview.org/hmny/pgs/talmuds.30ce.html

It is best not to focus on the doings and knowings of the Old Testament too
much. As Christians, we should live in the present, life with Christ as opposed
to trying to understand completely the motives and world of the ancient tribes.
 
This is speculation on my part, but I think to show us, viscerally, how bad sin is. In Genesis, when Adam and Eve had sinned, The Bible says God made clothes for them (not being to keen on the fig leaves evidently). In my mind’s eye, I imagine God violently skinning, what was formerly a docile beast, in front of the not-so-happy couple, and making them wear it (maybe blood-n-all?). I think the “Garden” is a metaphor for sexual sin (Eve does the “non-serviam” like Lucifer, aspiring to be God like him, and Adam, as everyone man can commiserate, gives up Heaven to be with a woman…thus an “Original Sin” that none of us can escape from, excepting if one is baptized in the name of the Most Holy Trinity) and, as some of us know, sexual sin is the most easily rationalized and justified sin in the world, so God was looking to make a point. Philosophers forever has said there is something of the Divine in seamen and blood for both are directly resposible for life. I’ll let you ponder that connection for a bit. Just recently I was able to witness a slaughterhouse. A lamb, with it’s throat slit, sounds like a baby!!! It was eerie and scary!
Sheep, oxen, all of it is unpleaeant, but the lambs were scary. THEN, THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES WAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD took on a whole new meaning. This is why Yahweh demanded blood sacrifices because it is unpleaseant, unnerving, and not something you want to do alot with GOD hoping you connected the innocent animal (your soul) and what your sin (slaughtering the animal) means. Just a little speculation by your friendly-amateur theologian! :D:newidea::bluelite:
 
Because the fall of man required the sacrifice of innocent** blood **to cover their sins. Plants and herbs don’t have blood. Also animals can’t sin so their blood is always innocent and that’s why God eventually sent His Son to shed His innocent blood once and for all to end the need of sacrificing animals. Animal blood could only cover temporarily, Jesus’ blood covers all sins forever past and future. It might also have something to do with how the devil used the animal kingdom, the snake, to tempt Adam & Eve and cause the fall of man.
 
Mintaka said:
  1. Because God was weaning humans from doing human sacrifice.
  2. Because sacrifices doubled as barbecues, in the ancient world; that was how the average pagan person got most of his/her meat for the year. Nobody is going to show up for a holiday onion roast for the gods. (Astarte did raisin cakes, but Astarte did other stuff too.) So yes, God asked for meat sacrifices because that way, the Children of Israel would be less tempted to go pagan. Remember what the main dish at Passover is, even today.
  3. Actually, God did accept sacrifices of the first fruits, bread, flour-sprinkled meat, etc. But generally people didn’t get to eat this stuff; it got burned up. The only exception was (I think) the showbread, aka the Bread of the Presence of God up by the tabernacle.
  4. Because sacrifice is about giving up a living thing to God, and animals are much more obviously alive than vegetables or grain. People rear livestock and birds from their mother’s wombs and eggs; animals have a lot more meaningful lives to people than just the products of sowing and weeding.
Click to expand...
👍
 
-Animal life is of the same value as human life, but plant life is somehow of a lower value?
-Animals have souls (can’t be morally innocent without one)?
 
knighttt said:
This is speculation on my part, but I think to show us, viscerally, how bad sin is.
Click to expand...
THIS^^^ a thousand times over.

It is spoken in the Word of God that “the WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH”. Something or someone had to pay for it, A sacrifice (something that is hard to give up) was necessary for atonement. You are to bring God your first fruits, not the leftover junk that doesn’t mean much to you. Read about why Cain’s sacrifice was not acceptable and why Abel’s was.

If anytime you are witness to death and dying- human or animal, you can look into their eyes and see the pain and know that SIN and the devil caused it. God did not. As ugly as it is to see death, is as ugly as ALL SIN is. Sin is violence to God, to the soul, and to all other living creatures he created. It is ugly. We need to be reminded.
 
devonsams said:
I was talking to my friend and he asked me: "Why did god require innocent animals in the sacrifice of the Jewish cerimonies? If God is all-powerful, all-wise, why would he ask poor innocent animals to be sacrificed? Wouldn’t be better if he asked to burn Herbs, trees, or any other symbolic process?
Click to expand...
I never like it when a judgement is made without any justification.

Why are the animals innocent?
Why are the plants guilty? What did your Herbs and trees do to deserve to be sacrificed that the animals did not?

Plants and animals are both living. Why don’t you sacrifice innocent rocks to God? That would be a better choice! Nobody has to die. AND you can sacrifice the same rock tomorrow!
 
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