Understanding Old Testament animal sacrifices
First, thank you for this forum. You are doing invaluable work! Can you help me understand the concept of sacrifice? There are many scriptural references to sacrificing animals, and Jesus is called the Lamb of God, because he was a sacrifice. I have trouble understanding all this, because as a modern American, I have no connection to the idea of an animal sacrifice being pleasing to God. In fact, the opposite seems true. I see God as more likely to help a "bird with a broken wing" than to take pleasure in its sacrifice. Because I don't understand this, I don't understand why God would want or accept the sacrifice of His Son. Can you explain it, or suggest some readings that might help?
Thank you for your kind words. I can appreciate your question because you and I are so far removed from the time and culture of the Old Testament sacrificial system. The animal sacrifices that God required from his followers beginning in Moses’ day underscored some very important truths.
Sin is serious. “The one who sins is the one who will die” (Ezekiel 18:20).
God is holy and cannot overlook sin. (Leviticus 19:2; Galatians 3:10)
God’s love spares people the punishment they deserved. Animal sacrifices taught the people that a Substitute would suffer their punishment. (Isaiah 53:4-6).
The quality of the sacrificial animals (Exodus 12:5; Leviticus 22:21) pointed ahead to Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God (John 1:29; 1 Peter 1:19), who would lay down his life for the sins of the world.
It can be difficult to connect “to the idea of an animal sacrifice being pleasing to God,” as you wrote. That is because God’s ways and thoughts are so different than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). What God did with Old Testament animal sacrifices was present his followers with ongoing vivid images of law and gospel: showing them the seriousness of their sins and the forgiveness of sins from a Substitute, the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
You asked about reading material on this topic. I can heartily recommend “Connecting Sinai to Calvary,” available from Northwestern Publishing House. The author does a masterful job of explaining, among other things, the significance of Old Testament sacrifices.
Regardless of our ability to relate to the Old Testament animal sacrifices, we can revel in the truth that “we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). John 3:16 explains so beautifully why God sacrificed his Son.