Jews - serious question, in more than one way (Leviticus 17:11)?

Question

It is written (Leviticus 17:11):
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.

Now, this written in the context of forbidding you to eat blood...

BUT, the reasoning given behind this commandment by God concerns the importance of blood, which (via animal sacrifices) was the way in which you atoned for your sins...

In other words, because of your sin, God could not allow you to be near Him (because He is sinless). And since sin leads to death, or bloodshed, God required a "sacrifice" on your behalf of your personal sins in order to be forgiven and "atone" for your sins...so you could draw near to God, yet again.

But as I understand it, you now celebrate atonement on Yom Kippur...and you do this through fasting and prayer...

However, there is no blood shed to atone for your sins!

So...how are you atoning for your sins...without bloodshed?

Jews...some of you indicate that blood sacrifices "are no longer needed", but does that mean Leviticus 17:11 is not true?

When and where in your scriptures does God say, "Nevermind that; I take that back"?

Answer 1

A male sheep is at its prime when it is a year old. And men are at their prime when they are in their thirties. Yehsua was thirty when He began His ministry and three years later He was entering Jerusalem, what we now call the Triumphal Entry. And Yeshua was totally without blemish or fault, the perfect sinless sacrifice. At the same time that Yeshua was entering Jerusalem the Korban Pesach lambs were being brought into the city by another, much smaller gate. Often the lambs being brought into Jerusalem drew an audience; the crowds would come to see the Korban Pesach lambs ... but that year they flocked to see Yeshua.

"You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, and then the entire assembly of the community of Isra'el will slaughter it at dusk." (Exodus 12v6 CJB)

Dusk. Isn't that a lovely word? Not quite dark, but not quite light. Dark enough that it is not light, but light enough that it is not dark. It is almost a battlefield where a struggle takes place to see whether light or dark will be supreme, will rule. And it was dusk when Yeshua hung on the cross and fought the battle of life and death, good and evil, light and dark.

"You are to sacrifice the Pesach offering, in the evening, when the sun sets, at the time of year that you came out of Egypt." (Deuteronomy 16v6b CJB)

"It was now about noon, and darkness covered the whole Land until three o'clock in the afternoon; the sun did not shine ... Crying out with a loud voice, Yeshua said, "Father! Into your hands I commit my spirit." With these words he gave up his spirit." (Luke 23v44-46 CJB)

I still think it is remarkable the way G-d planned the timing of Yeshua's death down to the very last minute, so that at three o'clock in the afternoon the Korban Pesach lambs were gathered in the Temple and killed for sacrifice and at the same moment, Yeshua drew His last breath and became the Ultimate Sacrifice, bringing atonement for all our sins and shedding His blood to be a sign for all who will accept it that we are His. Amazing!

"They are to take some of the blood and smear it on the two sides and top of the door-frame at the entrance of the house in which they eat it. The blood will serve you as a sign marking the houses where you are; when I see the blood, I will pass over you - when I strike the land of Egypt, the death blow will not strike you." (Exodus 12v13 CJB)

You could say that when each one of us accepts Yeshua as King in our lives and asks forgiveness for all of our sins, His blood is put on us, so that Satan sees that we belong to G-d and will not have the power to harm us.

"Also the parokhet in the Temple was split down the middle. Crying out with a loud voice, Yeshua said, "Father! Into your hands I commit my spirit." With these words he gave up his spirit." (Luke 23v45-46 CJB)

The parokhet was the large, beautifully woven curtain that hung in the Temple to separate the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, the place where the Ark was and where only the High Priest was allowed to go once a year, on Yom Kippur. There is a great deal of significance placed on the curtain being split when Yesua died, but I think that the truest one is that it showed that Yeshua has opened the way for us all to approach G-d for ourselves, through our High Priest, Yeshua.

We all know the story after this! Yeshua was placed in the tomb and left over Shabbat. Yeshua died on Thursday; Thursday evening the first seder would have been celebrated throughout the land of Isra'el. Thursday to Friday was the first day in the tomb. Friday evening was the beginning of Shabbat and there would not have been time for a visit to the tomb; Friday to Saturday was the second day in the tomb. Saturday was Shabbat, so there would have been no visit to the tomb; Saturday to Sunday was the third day in the tomb ... And on Sunday, the day after Shabbat, Yeshua rose from the grave, bringing eternal life for all who trust in Him!

"When Shabbat was over, Miryam of Magdala, Miryam the mother of Ya'akov, and Shlomit bought spices in order to go and anoint Yeshua. Very early the next day, just after sunrise, they went to the tomb. They were asking each other, "Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us?" Then they looked up and saw that the stone, even though it was huge, had been rolled back already. On entering the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right; and they were dumbfounded. But he said, "Don't be so surprised! You're looking for Yeshua from Natzeret, who was executed on the stake. He has risen, he's not here! Look at the place where they laid him." (Mark 16v1-6 CJB)


Edit---

Gen 22:1-14
1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad[a] and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. 7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”
And he said, “Here I am, my son.”
Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
So he said, “Here I am.”
12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of the place, YHWH Yireh (The-LORD-Will-Provide) as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”

Matt 10:34-39
34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household. 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Shalom

Answer 2

Blood sacrifice was not the *only* method of atonement...

Answer: The major concern of this passage is with the prohibition of eating blood (verses 10, 12, 14). However, it also informs us that when an animal sacrifice is offered (instead of other acceptable means of atonement) for the expiation of sin it is the blood that makes atonement: ". . . the blood . . . I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls. . ." (Leviticus 17:).

The sacrificial atonement system of the Mosaic Law was given exclusively to the Jewish people: "I have given it [the blood] to you . . . to make atonement for your souls." Non- Jews could find remission of sin through sincere confessionary repentant prayer (Jonah 3:5-10).

There are also spatial limitations set by Leviticus 17:11 on where the blood shed for atonement may be offered. Leviticus 17:11 say specifically, "I have given it [the blood] . . . upon the altar." Biblically, the sacrificial animal's blood is acceptable to God only if offered "upon the altar," first, that of the Tabernacle, and later of the Temple. The Temple is the sole designated area in which the animal sacrificial system is permissible. Once the Temple was built, no altar might properly be built or sacrifice offered outside the Temple in Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 12:5-6, 11; 16:2, 5-6).

Of the sacrificial requirements, God says regarding the Temple "there you shall bring all that I command you" (Deuteronomy 12:11) and "there you shall do all that I command you" (Deuteronomy 12:14). In particular, the paschal lamb is mentioned as only being permitted to be sacrificed in the Temple (Deuteronomy 12:5-6, 11).

The Temple is not an allegorical notion but an actual geographical area. Therefore, referring to Jesus' body as a temple (John 2:21) is biblically unacceptable. In the context of Leviticus 17:11, his death was in no way a valid sacrificial offering.

Answer 3

Through repnetance, prayer and charity. throughout the Torah it is made clear that sacrifices without proper intention are emaningless- and many examples of this, aling with expicit statements that it is better to help the needy and repent than to give sacrifices without the corrcet intention are found throughout the Tamanach (what non-Jews call the Old Testament.) Also, it was always only ONE way that repentance was found- even in the days of the temple when sacriofices could be fofered- if for some reason a person could not bring an animal sacrifice- the sin offering could be of flour and oil- and theres no blood there! Also, you find where Miriam repents for speaking badly of Moses wife and she she is tricken with trarahas, she repents, isolates herself and then returns to the people- without any sacrifices.

So it is clear that blood sacrifices were only one way to atone. The Christian idea that Jesus replaces the sacrifices fails on various fronts:
1) Human sacrifice is completely forbidden to Jews. Their can be no sacrifices made which are themselves in violation fo acommandment with a death penalty- in this case sacrificing a person!
2) Someone cannot atone for you. You have to atone for yourself. There can be no forgiveness without repentance.
3) We do not need to be 'saved" from ourselves or from original sin. Unlike Christianity- in Judaism we are born innocent and sin free- we can only sin once we have the ability to understand and act appropriately.
4) Since no one nailing jesus to the cross had intention to sacrifice him for atonement, nor did anyone (and esepcially a majority as needed in such a case) think this was so- meaning that this would have been a killing and not a sacrifice since a meaningful sacrifice requires that the INTENTION be correct!

edit: Somebody mentioned the scarlet thread not turning white from the time of Jesus. I hate to dissapoint you- but the Talmud, in masechta Yoma- lists that as one of the miracles that DID NOT EVER HAPPEN in the Second Temple due to its lower level of sanctity since the mishkan was missing. A further statement says that this particular miracle ceased about ten years before the destruction of the First Temple since the people had largely turned to idol worship and the sacrifices were being offered by rote with no meaning behind them- and they did not receive atonement (and thus the eventual destruction of the First Temple). Yet more proof that sacrifices are useless without the correct intention.

Answer 4

"BUT, the reasoning given behind this commandment by God concerns the importance of blood, which (via animal sacrifices) was the way in which you atoned for your sins..."

It was ONE of the way to atone for sins. Here I have found a passage out of the Jewish Virtual Library explaining exactly what I want to say:

How do Jews obtain forgiveness without sacrifices?

Forgiveness is obtained through repentance, prayer and good deeds.

In Jewish practice, prayer has taken the place of sacrifices. In accordance with the words of Hosea, we render instead of bullocks the offering of our lips (Hosea 14:3) (please note: the KJV translates this somewhat differently). Our prayer services are in many ways designed to parallel the sacrificial practices. For example, we have an extra service on shabbat, to parallel the extra shabbat offering. For more information about this, see Jewish Liturgy.

It is important to note that in Judaism, sacrifice was never the exclusive means of obtaining forgiveness, was not in and of itself sufficient to obtain forgiveness, and in certain circumstances was not even effective to obtain forgiveness. This will be discussed further below.

But isn't a blood sacrifice required in order to obtain forgiveness?

No. Although animal sacrifice is one means of obtaining forgiveness, there are non-animal offerings as well, and there are other means for obtaining forgiveness that do not involve sacrifices at all.

The passage that people ordinarily cite for the notion that blood is required is Leviticus 17:11: "For the soul of the flesh is in the blood and I have assigned it for you upon the altar to provide atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that atones for the soul." But the passage that this verse comes from is not about atonement; it is about dietary laws, and the passage says only that blood is used to obtain atonement; not that blood is the only means for obtaining atonement. Leviticus 17:10-12 could be paraphrased as "Don't eat blood, because blood is used in atonement rituals; therefore, don't eat blood."

(http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/qorbanot.html)

Answer 5

Gratvol is right in his explanation. Still, the animal sacrifice was just a forshadow of another thing to come like most of the A.T. God demands blood because we (humanity) failed and the price for our sin is death. But God in his love for humanity provided a way of salvation. The Son of God took our place, being there no other sacrifice, His being the excellent one. He took our place! That is something huge right there! Some would ask, why did God allow all this to happen? I don't know the answer. I just know he is sovereign. Will the clay ask him that fashions it, dude, what are you doing? Will the creation ask the Creator, what do You think you are doing? I think we all know the answer to that. I don't think anyone will let me come into their living room, and sit in the sofa with my shoes up, take some soda from the fridge, etc. and not ask me "who do you think you are? This is my house!" The same principle applies to the Creator of heaven and earth. Thank God his mercies are new every morning, and He is a loving God. Anyway, I know many do not receive this as truth, but a careful review of the AT mesianic prophecies will show that they point to Jesus. And by the way, I say this in love, and I'll take this chance to say we Christians should show respect and love for the nation of Israel and the Jews. If anyone does not agree, you have not yet understood what Romans 8, 9 and 10 are all about.

Answer 6

I am sure other people can answer this better than me, but I'll try...The short of it is, as I understand it...Jews do not offer blood sacrifice anymore due to not having the proper place to do it, meaning the temple in Jerusalem.

The Romans destroyed the temple in 70. AD...until it is rebuilt no sacrifice. We atone for our sins through "Repentance, Prayer and Charity change the evil of the decree" ("T'shuva, Tephilah, and Tzedakah maverin et Roeh HaGezerah")

Answer 7

I like the way blessed woman wrote about being of the seed of Abraham.
I too am from the seed of Abraham. We cannot sacrifice because there is no Altar, there is no Temple.
The scarlet thread stopped turning white at the same time Jesus walked on this earth.
The Temple was destroyed and a million Jews (a little less, maybe) followed Jesus until about 15 years later when Cornelius the very first Goy (Gentile) was converted to what was then a complete all Jewish religion.
We can only do TESHUVAH through the Messiah.

All is His plan, His purpose. The New Jerusalem will come down, the city Abraham sought who's builder and maker is God.
There will be no need for anymore bloodshed.
My cousin thinks so, and is a part of a group of those who are pushing for such. It will be meaningless and only bring Gods wrath.
Again I say, We can only do TESHUVAH through the Messiah.

Your pic reminds me of Matt Hughes. One of my favorite UFC fighters.

Answer 8

I am not a Jew, but there is an answer to your question. My understanding is that Judaism is unable to sacrifice today. Sacrifice could only be offered in the temple. When the temple was destroyed by the Romans, the Jewish people were left without a way to officially sacrifice.

If the temple were to be rebuilt (which now is impossible as an Islamic Mosque is on the site) then I believe that Orthodox Jews in Israel would return to sacrifice.

Pastor John

Answer 9

The exact way the Bible says

"O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and return unto the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and accept us graciously: so will we render as bullocks the offerings of our lips" (Hos. 14:1-2)


Even if one offers a sacrifice but dose not repent or seek forgiveness his sin is not removed. Isaiah 55:7


Sacrifices were simply a way of reaching a state where one could repent, they in no way substituted for it.

Even in biblical times where Jews were either too poor or lived to far a way from Jerusalem to bring regular sacrifices they could and still needed to repent.


Edit--
That was the point I was trying to make nowhere did God say that he changed his mind, sacrifices were never an absolute requirement. In fact some sins can never be covered by a sacrifice.

An intentional sin cannot be atoned by sacrifice. In the Bible only unintentional sins are covered by sacrifice. So in your mindset if I ever intentionally sin I am doomed because no sacrifice can cover it. Obviously this is not so.

Only genuine teshuva (repentance) removes sin.

"Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams" (I Samuel 15:22

Answer 10

This is an excellent point that you make, one that should be taken and examined more seriously! We find more of the puzzle in Genesis, where Noah is told:

Gen 9:5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man.
Gen 9:6 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

Then, God goes on to include animals:

Gen 9:9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
Gen 9:10 And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.

Consider every cut, scratch, bruise, and puncture that humans and animals endure over the course of a lifetime...those that draw blood...and then imagine what it would be like to experience them ALL AT ONCE. Certain death, it would most likely be. Perhaps God has provided the Atonement in such a way that is merciful but just: TIME. I believe this is the essence of the Jubilee laws, that were supposedly never carried out... but over the course of the lifetime, may well be unwittingly implemented, and applied to every creature of God.
The only other atonement for sin is keeping Sabbath, and there are plentiful benefits promised in the OT for those who willingly do this, and the Jubilee takes care of the unattended sins: (sustained losses) and the Sabbath time accrued: (extended Forgiveness, Prosperity, Mercy and Grace)

Another point I would like to share is that this Sabbath time is not an option...it is MANDATORY!!!
(Like the Fram oil man used to say: "You can pay me now, or you can pay me later!")

Lastly, we have a modern option: Blood donor services!
This option was not available in Moses day, but God again provides us with another alternative for the giving and saving of life itself...

May the LORD bless you and keep you!
May the LORD make His face to shine upon you!
May the LORD lift up His countenance on you, and grant you peace!
Thus, they will link My name with the children of Israel, and I will bless them.

Answer 11

Ok, I am not jew, but I really have hard time understanding why on earth a PERFECT GOD WOULD NEED BLOOD TO FORGIVE? THAT IS MORBID, THAT IS A CULT!
Why does God need aninal sacrifices or human blood(jesus).
IT DOES NOT MAKE ANY SENSE! All of it reflects the barbaric times when the bible was written, GOD HAS NO NEED FOR BLOOD!