BibleProject | One Story That Leads to Jesusნიმუში

Modern readers may see animal sacrifice as strange or even barbaric. But in the Bible’s ancient Near Eastern context, animal sacrifice served a normal, central role in religious life. These sacrificial laws point to God’s mercy and grace—allowing Israel to deal with sin in a way they could understand while remaining close partners with God.

Like toxic oil slicked over water, evil pollutes God’s good world. Ancient Israel’s purification offering allowed priests to atone for the contamination that sin, death, and injustice created in the community. After sacrificing a blameless animal, the priest would sprinkle its blood on the altar, symbolically washing away the stain of death.

But sin does more than defile. It also wrongs both God and others. Israel’s restitution offering allowed the people to make amends when they mistreated God or another person. Once again, the priest would offer a blameless animal as a symbolic substitute for the person at fault. When the sin involved property, they also had to repay what they had taken plus an extra one-fifth of its value.

Every time the Israelites watched a sacrificed animal die, they experienced a brutal reminder of sin’s devastating effects and a visceral experience of trust in God. It was not the substance of blood that truly washed anything. It was the faith involved in trusting God’s instruction, which he promises will always lead to reconciliation and renewal, even if such restoration is costly.

Reflection Questions

• Compare Leviticus 7:26-27 with Genesis 9:4-6. How do God’s instructions about blood help you understand the ritual sacrifices in Leviticus?
• What requirements does God give for the condition of animals offered in sacrificial rituals? What do you learn from this, or what new thoughts does it spark?