Why was there animal sacrifice?

Question

I am offended by animal sacrifice. Why would a 'god' (or any religious deity) want with an animal sacrifice? Doesn't that sound a little messed up? Is there still animal sacrifice today? Does the bible claim that animals do or do not go to heaven? Does 'god' not like animals? Do animals have beliefs? Are You offended?

Answer 1

im not necessarily offended however i do find it a bit weird. before jesus, the ultimate sacrifice, you had to sacrifice animals to be forgiven of your sins. as far as the whole do animals have beliefs thing idk ask an animal

Answer 2

The Bible speaks of, "without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins." As a Christian, I believe that the sacrifices pointed to the Son of God, sacrificed for mankind. The Jewish sacrifices would have not only been obedience but would have come at a cost to themselves. This would have been symbolic of the cost of sacrificing the Son of God.
Last year, I saw a documentary on a native tribe that sacrifice a bull yearly to their "gods", so it is still done in some parts of the world. The Jews do not sacrifice now because there is no temple and altar to sacrifice on. The temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans.
I do not know of any place in the Bible that states that animals go to Heaven so to guess would only be speculation. I'm sure God loves animals as He made them Himself.
As to animals having beliefs, I personally believe that is what separates man from animals.....the understanding of right and wrong and a concept of God.
I personally do not care for the idea of animal sacrifice. I'm glad that practice is not done in our society today.

Answer 3

Well, there are no gods, so that's moot.

At least in some places, early sacrifices were basically fertilizer.

When you sacrifice a critter and let its blood fall, and bury it, or place a fish-head in your field, the gods accept your sacrifice and reward you with better crops.

Hey, it worked.

Others sacrificed animals and read their entrails as a way of predicting the future.

Don't know whether people still do this today -- that is, sacrifice animals for any reason.

Do animals have beliefs?

Not religious ones.

One of the cats here seems to believe that if he can see the bottom of his food bowl, there isn't any food there (even if there is), and that all loud vehicles (garbage trucks, for example) are after him, and will crash through the wall and hunt him down and mangle him.

He also believes (correctly, as it turns out), that when he knocks on the front door (by banging the screen door), that we will let him in.

I'm not especially offended by animal sacrifice -- we're much crueler to the animals we eat (their lives are unnecessarily horrible before they're slaughtered).

Answer 4

Animals were sacrificed to God as a prerequisite for Jesus' sacrifice. The blood was used for atonement.

No, God does not require animal sacrifice today. Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. There is no more.

The Bible does not address whether animals go to Heaven or not.. However, they cannot sin because they do not know what sin is. Man does. I feel that God loves them enough to automatically bring them to Heaven. He loves His creation.

Animals have instincts and some beliefs. I don't know if they know about God or not. I do know that people don't know about Jesus unless they are told about Him.

I am not offended that God required animal sacrifice. It was to have people understand about Jesus. I do love animals too.

Answer 5

i come across it thrilling that human beings have a demanding time killing an animal. You eat meat do not you? don't be cowardly continuously having to have someone do the dirty be best for you. Kill the animal. To have a blot you should have a blood sacrifice. you should have blood to sprinkle on the members of the blot with the intention to cause them to sparkling for the God's. without blood the blot won't be able to be a blot. how are you going to call your self a heathen, follower of the heathen Gods, conflict gods, and be scared to kill your own food and get blood on your hands? Hunters do all of it the time only for relaxing. Hell my grandmother does it out on my grandfathers farm everytime she needs to practice dinner dinner. that's no longer unlawful to sacrifice an animal in a blot and then use it for feasting contained in the symbul (so long via the undeniable fact that is an animal that's criminal to kill) any more advantageous than that is to shoot bambi and then practice dinner it for dinner. yet yeah, I accept as true with the guy up there. if you aren't any further killing some thing and then sprinkling that's blood on human beings it will be noted as a husl because that's definately no longer a sacrifice our God's call for, neither is it a purification by technique of blood and for this reason it isn't a blot.

Answer 6

Animal sacrifice was to prefigure the sacrifice of Jesus.

The animal sacrifices only temporarily atoned for the sins of the Jewish community. But because Jesus is God, His sacrifice was eternal and made for the whole world so that all generations of people may have a chance to repent and be forgiven by God for all our sins.

After Jesus offered Himself as the perfect eternal sacrifice for all, animal sacrifice was no longer needed for atonement of sins. That's why Christians don't sacrifice animals.

utuseclocal483 has a good answer. But I don't think that when it is talking about the lion and the lamb in the Bible that it means that animals will be in heaven. I think that it's more likely referring to the new earth that is to come after Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead.
.

Answer 7

What most people will not tell you about Animal Sacrifice, is that in most Pagan cultures, and even in early Jewish cultures the meat was eaten and the hide was used.

I do not agree with animal sacrifice but that is because it usually causes the animal undue pain and suffering. and the gods that i worship believe in useing all of any animal that you kill. there is nothing to gain from it in my religion.

i have no problem with killing an animal as they are my food. i do however give thanks to the spirit of any animal that i consume for giving it's life so that mine may continue.

as for does it still exist. yes. many people that practice Vodoun and Voodoo practice blood magic and are not ashamed of that fact.

a few months ago when Castro got sick people all over little Haiti were Sacrificing doves and chickens and asking the gods to take him so that they could return home... still others were buying the doves and chickens and setting them free as another form of the ritual but on a more peacful note.

Answer 8

The offensive nature of animal sacrifices was necessary to remind man that death was the result of sin, and that the coming Messiah would allow himself to be sacrificed so the sins of man could be forgiven.

It's a bit presumptious of anyone to suggest that God is in any way "messed up".

There is no longer any need or requirement for animal sacrifices.

As for your other questions, animals were put on earth for man to make good use of.

There is no known provision for an animal afterlife, or for any type of immortal animal soul.

Answer 9

Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The animal sacrifices of the OT were merely temporary coverings for sins and were a symbol of the coming, perfect, once and for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ; the spotless, sinless Lamb of God. It was through obedience to God and faith in what He promised considering these sacrifices that saved the OT people from God's righteous and deserving wrath on sin.It was God who first demonstrated this temporary means of sacrifice -the first symbol of Jesus Christ's sacrifice to come- in Genesis Chapter 3 when He Himself covered Adam and Eve in the skins of an animal. Some animal had to die in order to provide those skins.Therefore God Himself set the precedent for justification in His sight. Yes, animals are mentioned as being in heaven
God created man in His own image, not animals. Animals were created for the benefit of man. The Bible clearly teaches this. Animals do not have a conscience, nor do they have the ability to reason.Never forget that it was the sin of man that brought sin and death into the world and necessitated the shedding of blood for the sacrifice for that sin.

Answer 10

The only atonement for sin was blood, so people formed blood covenants to God (Old Testament= Old covenant) and sacrificed innocent animals to atone.

In the NT, Jesus became the final blood sacrifice for our sins, because he willingly took that role. That's why we don't need animal sacrifice anymore; Jesus has paid the price in full.

It's not that God doesn't like the animals, it's that an innocent must atone for the guilty; someone has to stand in place for the punishment we deserve. Jesus is the Lamb of God.

There is much animal sacrifice today, especially in Central American and South American local indigenous religions. They kill chickens as offerings to the Sun and Rain Gods.

The bible doesn't state a position for animals with souls; but it does say that there are animals in heaven (and hell)

Animals in heaven include birds, In hell, there are worms.

Answer 11

there were animal sacrifices because God wanted man to show his faith. In order to show his faith man sacrificed animals. The reason is because animals were a measure of wealth and held a lot of value. If a man sacrificed an animal he was giving up his wealth for the blessing of god. The bible does mention animals in heaven. It says the lamb and the lion Lay side by side. God loves animals, he created them, and he says that man masters all animals. All animals are given to man. So for man to kill an animal is not an offense in gods eyes. If man kills an animal out of anger or wickedness, god would not be pleased, out of necessity (food, clothes, money) god does not mind.