In the bible, why did God tell people to kill animals as a sacrifice to him? Why would that kind of thing?

Question

be pleasing to him?

If its supposedly about sacrifice, he could command them to give up something else, like a percentage of their grain or other crops. Killing animals is unnecesary

Answer 1

To understand why Christianity is a “bloody religion,” we must go back to God’s declarations regarding blood in the Old Testament: “the life of the flesh is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11, 14). Here God tells us that life and blood are essentially one and the same. The blood carries life-sustaining nutrients to all parts of the body. It represents the essence of life. In contrast, the shedding of blood represents the shedding of life, i.e. death.

Blood is also used in the Bible to represent spiritual life. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden by disobeying God and eating fruit of the forbidden tree, they experienced spiritual death immediately, and physical death years later. God’s warning, “You shall not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17) was fulfilled. Their blood—their lives—were now tainted by sin. In His gracious plan, however, God provided a “way out” of their dilemma by declaring that sacrifices of blood, first the blood of animals and finally the blood of the Lamb of God (Jesus Christ), would be sufficient to cover the sin of fallen mankind and restore us to spiritual life. He instituted the sacrificial system, beginning with the animals He himself killed to provide the first garments, thereby “covering” the sin of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:21). All the Old Testament sacrifices which followed from then on were temporary ones, needing to be repeated over and over. These continual sacrifices were a foreshadowing of the one true and final sacrifice, Christ, whose blood shed on the cross would pay the penalty of sin forever. His death made any further bloodshed unnecessary (Hebrews 10:1-10).

As far as Christianity being a bloody religion, it is. But it is uniquely a bloody religion. Contrary to bloodless religions, it takes sin seriously, indicating that God takes sin seriously and gives a death penalty for it. Sin is not a small matter. It is the simple sin of pride that turned Lucifer into a demon. It was the simple sin of jealousy that caused Cain to slay Abel, etc. And in Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit, they believed the deceiver over a good and loving God, choosing to rebel against His love and denying the goodness of His character. Christianity is a bloody religion because it views sin as a holy God views it—seriously.

Also, because God is just, sin requires a penalty. God cannot merely forgive in mercy until the demands of justice have been met. Thus the need for a sacrifice before forgiveness is possible. The shedding of the blood of animals, as Hebrews points out, could only "cover" sin for a time (Hebrews 10:4) until the intended and sufficient sacrifice was made in Christ's atoning death. Thus, Christianity is different from other bloody religions in that it alone provides a sufficient sacrifice to take care of the sin problem.

Last, although Christianity presents a bloody sacrifice in these regards, it is the only religion that is bloodless in the end. The opposite of death is life. In Jesus' death, He brought life as is shown in so many verses. And in trusting Christ and His atoning sacrifice for one's sins, one is saved from death and has passed into life (John 5:24; 1 John 3:14). In Him is life. All other paths lead to death (Acts 4:16; John 14:6).

Recommended Resource: Why Believe in Jesus?: Who He Is, What He Did, and His Message for You Today by Tim LaHaye..

Answer 2

Remember the priests?
the ones that said what god's rules were?
sacrifice was offered at the temple
those priests ate well


actually in the older days
before they constructed first temples
people kept holy the day by gathering in some flowered meadow
and brought their best first 10 percent to share with each other just like a potluck

It was just too good a thing for the priesthood to not take over
they likely just began by insisting on being servers then with that control in a few generations they they were entrenched enough to get what they now have n the dogma books

Answer 3

The bible carries its most significant messages in the 'internal' or 'spiritual' meaning behind the literal stories. Much of the bible can really only be understood when what the story represents is explained. Just as the story of creation is not the 'story' of the physical creation of the world - it is the stages that we go through in life and the changes in states we reach as we choose good over evil. For example the first stage in this process or the 'first day of creation' is the dividing of light from the darkness -- that happens early in our life- when we have reached the stage where we have the ability to tell good from evil. See full explanation at http://newearth.org/frontier/arcana/

See also the attached links below to explore the deeper understanding of what the bible says as well as powerful information on what living and being married in heaven is like. Cool stuff.

Answer 4

Read the book of Leviticus in the Bible. There you will find out that blood was the only way to forgive sin. Because God loves the people in His creation, He did not want their blood. The animals' blood could do it, because blood is the life of the animal. Peopel are worth more to God than animals, but He loves His whole creation. God already had in mind that Jesus would be the Lamb that would be slain later for the sins of all. Those who confess the sins to God and ask for forgiveness will be forgiven. This plan was from the beginning of the world.
God knew that people would not be able to stay faithful to His commandments, so He sent Jesus who became the sacrifice. His blood became the means to spend eternity with God.

Answer 5

So where does it say that God wanted them to? Do you still see it being done in Israel? The Old Testament is about the Jews. That is why it is more common then in the New Testament. Actually if anything you should be somewhat happy about how things are done with Kosher when it comes to meat. Just remember though people tend to have ideas about things that they were never told to do.

Answer 6

Animal sacrifice in the Bible provideded a powerful and visual example of the cost of sin. God made certain that people knew their sin cost blood, or rather that the result of sin is death. Animal sacrifice is no longer needed because God's son Jesus sacrificed His own life for the sins of all humanity by dying on a cross (a bloody way to die.) By submitting their lives to Jesus, believers recieve new life through Christ's sacrifice of blood. The symbol of blood is shocking, but there is no other substance so precious to life that could make up for the sin of all humankind.

Answer 7

The only part of a sacrifice meant for God was the aroma. The meat, grains, oils, etc. were meant to feed the Levites who had no other means of support.
.

Answer 8

It was to be a similitude of the sacrifice He would make with Christ. It was to remind the people about the sacrifice of His Son. That is why after Christ came, they were told they no longer needed to make burnt offerings.

EDIT: it was animals instead of grains for a reason. And specifically, it was the firstlings of their flocks, which means the best. This was a great sacrifice for the people, because animals were worth a lot more than grains of things like that. Especially the best ones. A lot could be done with them, but they showed faith to God by giving it to Him, instead of keeping it for themselves.

Answer 9

The point of the sacrifice was not to enrich or satisfy God. It was an act of humility. The first sheaves or loaf from the grain harvest, the first fruits, or the first kids or bulls from the flock were sacrificed as an acknowledgement of people's dependence on God and their trust that he would always provide enough. In fact, when it got to be routine, with people buying their "sacrifices" from vendors at the Temple, the whole point was essentially lost.

The modern equipment might be to destroy your first production model, marketing presentation, short story, artwork or whatever you produce each season. The point is the loss of value to you, not any gain of God's. But modern commerce frowns on humility.

Yes, I know. Nobody asked the animals.

Answer 10

Apparently, you lack accurate knowledge about these things, so the best thing for you to do is pray before you read the Bible and if you are truly sincere in your heart, God will send you his holy spirit that will enable you to obtain accurate knowledge.

Also, call up an Elder from a kingdom hall in your area and ask for a personal home Bible study so that he can answer your questions for you pointing out scriptures that back up his answers. A public forum like this --- You will not get your quick fix, so dig a little deeper so that EVEN YOU can come to attain accurate knowledge about Godly and Bible truths.

Trust..