Issue 1729 – Once – May 15, 2025
The discussion moved around to the number of animals killed daily in Jerusalem, to be offered as sacrifices in Jesus’ time. As far as I’m aware, no records have been found, but the numbers must have been astonishing.
The numbers must have been high daily, but incomprehensible when Passover came around. I’ve seen estimates that say as many as a million Jews would crowd into the city for the festival.
Certainly not every person would have offered a sacrifice, but even if it averaged one per family, it meant tens or hundreds of thousands of animals. To be super conservative, let’s use 10,000 animals, although I think the real number must have been at least ten times that. It would have been a mixture of lambs, calves, and doves.
The temple would have been a slaughterhouse. All of those animals would have to be killed, drained of their blood, and butchered. The smell and noise would have been horrific. The gutters for the blood must have poured rivers out into the Kidron Valley.
The person who was offering the animal had to place their hand on the animal’s head as it was slaughtered. This was not an impersonal ritual.
He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. Leviticus 1:4
You would think that having to have your hand on the animal as it was killed, along with the noise, smell, and blood, would have driven home the seriousness of sin. Yet, the people kept on sinning, in all probability even on the same day.
It’s easy for us to condemn the Jews for their foolishness in continuing to sin, but do we not do the same thing?
There aren’t enough animals in the world to cover the sins of the world. Fortunately for us, the Lord gave Himself up as the pure and spotless Lamb. He took the place of all that sacrifice, fulfilling the Law.
I know I could never atone for my sin, and I know that holds true for you as well.
The letter to the Hebrews reminds us:
Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me;in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Hebrews 10:5-8
May an understanding of what it cost Him to atone for our sins make us more reluctant to sin and quicker to repent. Thank God He did the atoning “once for all.”
Praise the Lamb of God that He loves us enough to do what all the sacrifices in the world could not.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
__________________________________________
Please like and share this post with friends and your circle of influence. Also, feel free to comment.
Did you know that we have an email version? It offers the same great content but in a different format. This is ideal for when you don’t want to check your Facebook or share with friends who don’t use Facebook.
___________________________________________
All contents, “Gleanings From The Word” and “Experience an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Life,” are © 2001, 2025 K.F. “Kevin” Corbin, Gleanings From The Word.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is from the English Standard Version (ESV).