People of ancient times believed that various gods controlled the natural world, and so it was necessary to appease these gods in order to win their favour and protection. This was done by offering sacrifices to the gods on altars. Food, animals and even humans were sacrificed. Even when it began to be understood that there was only One True God, this thinking that God required human sacrifice was carried over. It would take some time for God's people to finally understand that God did not want human sacrifice, or any other material thing sacrificed. Everything already belongs to God.
So beginning with Abraham, who was told not to kill his son in sacrifice, the message slowly began to be understood, but it would take time. There is this story in the Book of Judges.
Jephthah
made a vow to the LORD. “If you deliver the Ammonites into my power,” he said, “whoever
comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the
Ammonites shall
belong to the LORD. I shall offer him up as a burnt offering.” Jephthah
then went on to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD delivered
them into his power.
When
Jephthah returned to his house in Mizpah, it was his daughter who came forth, playing
the tambourines and dancing. She was an only child: he had neither son nor
daughter besides her. When he
saw her, he rent his garments and said, “Alas, daughter, you have struck me
down and
brought calamity upon me. For I have made a vow to the LORD and I cannot
retract.” (Jephthah) did to her as he
had vowed. Judges
11:29-39
The temple of Solomon was build where the rituals practice of of offering sacrifice to God would continue. But this first Temple was totally destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC when they
sacked the city of Jerusalem.
With the temple gone and the people carried off into exile, we find this account in the book of Daniel. Daniel's
companions Ananias , Azariah, and Mishael refuse to bow to the emperor's golden statue and are thrown into a
furnace. Nebuchadnezzar sees a fourth figure appear in the furnace with the
three and God is credited for preserving them from the flames. Azariah offers this prayer.
Azariah’s Prayer in the Furnace.
For we
are reduced, O Lord, beyond any other nation, brought low everywhere in the world this day because of our sins.
We have
in our day no prince, prophet, or leader, no holocaust, sacrifice, oblation, or incense, no place to offer first fruits, to find favor
with you.
But with
contrite heart and humble spirit let us be received; as though it were holocausts of rams and
bullocks, or thousands of fat lambs, so let our sacrifice be in your presence today as we follow you unreservedly; for those who trust in you cannot be put to
shame. Canticle: Daniel 3:26, 27, 29, 34-41
An understanding of what God really wants of His people is beginning to to emerge. All things belong to God. However, there is one thing that God has given man dominion over, his free will, his heart, his freedom to accept or reject God's plan for him; his yes. In Psalm 51: 15 we hear:
O
Lord, open my lips,
That my mouth may declare Your praise.
For
You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
The
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You
will not despise.
In Psalm 40:6,
You
take no delight in sacrifices or offerings.
Now that
you have made me listen, I finally understand
you
don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings.
Then I
said, “Look, I have come.
As is
written about me in the Scriptures:
I take
joy in doing your will, my God,
for your
instructions are written on my heart.
A new temple is to replace the old, where true worship will be offered. It begins with Jesus purifying the existing temple.
Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to
Jerusalem. He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as
well as the money-changers seated there. He made a whip out of cords and drove
them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins
of the money-changers and overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves
he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a
marketplace.” His disciples recalled the words of scripture, “Zeal for your
house will consume me.” At this the Jews answered and said to him, “What sign
can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this
temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews said, “This temple has
been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three
days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. Therefore, when he was
raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they
came to believe the scripture and the word Jesus had spoken. John 2:13
You are
strangers and aliens no longer. No, you are fellow citizens of the saints and
members of the household of God. You form a building which rises on the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the
capstone. Through him the whole structure is fitted together and takes shape as
a holy temple in the Lord; in him you are being built into this temple, to
become a dwelling place for God in the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22
”With your whole hearts turn to God and he will blot out all your sins". Acts 3:19
This Grace I Seek:
- Purify my heart, O Lord, and reveal to me every false idle that I am serving. Let my YES, be yes, coming from a truly humble, contrite heart.
Examine for an Evangelist:
There are the three areas wherein we meet our life's challenges.
Where we must recognize the inordinate desires that dominate our hearts.
Where power and man-made value systems are contrived and put forward as truth.
Where the father of lies, deceives even the wisest of people, where faith is ridiculed and God is denied.
Where is your heart in all of these?
