Sacrifices are an often brought up topic when someone is showing the Law is no longer for today. It is also often stated that this is what Jesus meant when He said "it is finished" on the cross.

What does the Bible say on the subject?

Well, let's look at Paul. It is thought the events of Acts 21 happened around 59 AD/CE. That is 29 years after the Resurrection. What does Paul do? He agrees to go along with the vow to show he is still following and teaching the Law of Moses. The vow described in Acts 21 sounds like the Nazarite vow as described in Numbers 6, which includes offerings of a male lamb, a female lamb, a ram, grain, drink, and bread.

Paul doesn't argue. He does it. Keep in mind, the Nazarite vow is a serious vow. This isn't something that is taken lightly. It is also voluntary. It is not commanded that anyone, except Samson, had to do it.

Then if we look into what Paul wrote, Paul spoke about the sacrifices and offerings often. I have several verses in the comic, but why would someone do this if those sacrifices and offerings were "not for today"?

How often do you hear a sermon where a pastor describes himself as being poured out like a drink offering? I don't know about you, but if I heard that in my past walk, I would not have known what they were talking about because we were never taught the sacrifices and offerings. We also never read those because "it was finished". It didn't matter anymore.

When we keep the Bible in the context of itself and read it without the lenses of doctrine, we can make these connections. We can see it is one complete story that doesn't change, or contradict itself.

Are sacrifices and offerings for today? Yes, they have been in place since Adam, as we see when they left the Garden. We also see them happening during the Millennial Reign (later chapters of Ezekiel).

Why aren't we doing them then? Just like in Daniel's time, things aren't in place. We don't see Daniel or any of the other exiles doing sacrifices. Why? Because nothing was in place to do them. The Temple was gone, the priesthood in captivity, along with everyone else. Where are we at today? No Temple, no priesthood. Much the same as then.

When you look into the sacrifices and offerings, there is a very specific order of things. We also have an example of what happens when you do your own thing thinking you are doing right with Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu.

In the end, if we can't do them, why does it matter? Because it is all about your heart. If in your heart you turn away from learning and understanding part of Scripture because you think it doesn't apply to you, your missing out on understanding the heart of God and what He wants from us.

https://thestraightandnarrow.cfw.me/comics/822

#bible #biblestudy #webcomic #cartoon #christian #church #messianic #hebrewroots #wwjd