Sacrifice in Israelite Worship

Sacrifices were a part of the tribute the Israelite worshiper offered to the God of the covenant. The Pentateuch goes into great detail concerning the altar and the sanctuary as the setting for sacrifice and the various types of sacrifices that were enacted in the worship of Israel.

Purposes of Sacrifice

In biblical times, sacrifice often accompanied the making of covenants, as in the cases of Noah (Gen. 8:20–9:17), Abram (Gen. 15:1–21), Isaac (Gen. 26:24–25), Jacob (Gen. 31:43–55; 35:6–12), and Moses on behalf of Israel (Exod. 24:1–8). Sacrifice was also a means of receiving direction from God; military leaders sometimes sacrificed to the Lord before inquiring whether they should go into battle, and Balaam offered a series of sacrifices to the Lord in order to determine whether he might pronounce a curse on Israel (Num. 23:1–30). Upon ascending the throne, Solomon offered extensive sacrifices at the tabernacle in Gibeon that he might receive the Lord’s guidance and wisdom to rule over Israel (2 Chron. 1:5–13). People also brought sacrificial offerings for purposes of thanksgiving, supplication, and atonement. Job was said to have made sacrifices on behalf of his children in case they had sinned against the Lord (Job 1:5).

Although grain, wine, and other foodstuffs were used in some offerings, the primary sacrifice was an unblemished animal. This was the only acceptable offering if the sacrifice were to atone for sin and may explain why the Lord refused Cain’s offering of produce but accepted the lamb brought by Abel (Gen. 4:3–4). Noah offered clean animals as burnt offerings after the Flood (Gen. 8:20); it is interesting that he differentiated between clean and unclean beasts even at this early period, before the law of Moses was given.

Sacrificial Altars

The altar, as the place where sacrifice was offered, occupied a focal position in Israelite worship. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob built altars to the Lord and made sacrifices, at which times it is often said that they “called upon the name of the Lord” (Gen. 12:8; 13:4; 22:9; 26:25; 33:20; 35:1). An altar could be built of earth or stones, but if stones were used they were to be rough and uncut (Exod. 20:25; Josh. 8:31). An altar built on behalf of the entire nation, as in the case of Elijah’s altar on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:30–32), was often constructed of twelve stones, representing the Israelite tribes. Unlike pagan altars of the same period, no altar used by Israel was to have steps up to it; the omission was to prevent the priest and worshiper from inadvertently exposing themselves to the altar as they approached it (Exod. 20:26).

The Mosaic Tabernacle From the giving of the Sinai covenant, the tabernacle or tent (’ohel), also called the “dwelling” (mishkan), was the central place of sacrifice for Israel; its functions were transferred to the temple or “house of the Lord” after its construction under Solomon. Both tabernacle and temple featured a three-stage approach to the presence of the Lord: the outer court surrounded the sanctuary proper, or Holy Place (miqdash, qodesh), which in turn led to the Holy of Holies, or inner sanctuary.

The Altar. The altar of burnt offering stood just within the entrance to the tabernacle courtyard. It was seven and one-half feet square and four and one-half feet high, constructed of acacia wood covered with brass, with a protruding horn at each corner. On this altar the priests burned the atonement offerings prescribed in the law of Moses. The altar of burnt offering was the first object a worshiper encountered when coming to the tabernacle; its prominent position was a reminder that sin must be dealt with as a matter of first priority.

The Sanctuary and Its Furnishings. Beyond the altar of burnt offering stood the laver, where the priests, who alone were allowed access to the tabernacle proper, washed both hands and feet before entering. The tabernacle structure itself was divided by a heavy, embroidered curtain into two rooms, the Holy Place, or sanctuary, and the Most Holy Place, or Holy of Holies. The sanctuary contained a seven-branched lamp made of gold, a golden table that held the consecrated bread for the priests, and the altar of incense, smaller by far than the brass altar outside and made of acacia wood covered with gold. At specified hours each morning and evening a specially prepared incense was burned on this altar, symbolizing the prayers of the covenant people to Yahweh.

The Holy of Holies. On the other side of the curtain, in the Most Holy Place, the ark of the covenant resided. This small, gold-covered box, with two fierce-looking cherubim guarding its cover, was the place where Yahweh met with Israel, and it symbolized the throne from which he ruled. Entry into the Most Holy Place was restricted to the high priest, who went in only once each year on the Day of Atonement.

Covenant Requirements of Sacrifice

When Yahweh granted his covenant with Israel on Mount Sinai, he gave detailed instructions for the sacrifices that were to be a part of the nation’s covenant responsibility as acts of tribute to the great King. These instructions included provisions for general sacrifices, sacrifices for consecration, and special festival sacrifices.

General Sacrifices. The law given to Moses mandated a variety of sacrifices. In sin offerings and guilt offerings, the blood of the slain animal was sprinkled on the altar to atone for the sin of the worshiper (Lev. 6:24–30; 7:1–6). Peace offerings were of either animals or grain; the worshiper brought these offerings on a voluntary basis as a thanksgiving or for other personal reasons (Lev. 5:14–17; 7:11–36). Whole burnt offerings were eaten by neither the priests nor the worshiper but were burned in their entirety on the altar (Lev. 3:1–17). Unlike pagan nations, which viewed sacrifices as food for the gods, Israel understood that Yahweh received only their “soothing aroma” (Num. 28:2 nasb). Offerings were brought in various combinations for the acts of cleansing required by the law, such as a woman’s purification after childbirth, recovery from certain diseases, and contact with unclean objects or dead bodies. Other sacrifices made restitution for trespasses against one’s fellow Israelites or for inadvertent legal infractions. A man who had completed a Nazirite vow was also to offer a sacrifice. The law specified that particular sacrifices, consisting of a burnt offering along with flour and wine, be made twice daily on behalf of the whole nation. These were doubled on the Sabbath and were always made in addition to sacrifices for special occasions.

Sacrifices for Consecration. The consecration of priests and holy objects also required sacrificing animals and applying the blood to the person or thing being sanctified. After the tabernacle had been completed, Aaron and his sons were cleansed and made holy in this way before assuming the priesthood. The tabernacle itself and all its furnishings were likewise sprinkled with blood before they were fit to be used in the worship of Yahweh.

Festival Sacrifices. The Mosaic laws established three major annual festivals, all of which involved the presentation of sacrifices: Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles, which included the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement. Specified portions of the offerings of wine, grain, oil, and flesh were given to the priests; internal organs and fat were burned on the altar as a sweet odor to the Lord; and the rest was usually returned to the worshipers as food for themselves and their families. This was particularly true of Passover, the feast that commemorated Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian slavery. Passover was essentially a covenant meal, celebrating the event of the exodus from Egypt, which had established Israel as the Lord’s covenant people. Hence, when the worshiper received back the sacrifice he had given, this was a picture of the Lord hosting his people at his own table and of their participation with him in a reaffirmation of the covenant.

Sacrifice and Atonement

In Israel’s worship, the link between sacrifice and atonement for sin is most clearly seen in the ceremonies associated with the Day of Atonement. On this day each year, the high priest was to enter the inner sanctuary bearing the blood of the sacrifice from the brass altar outside. Sprinkling the blood on the lid of the ark of the covenant, he made atonement for the entire nation. Kapporet, the Hebrew word for the lid that covered the ark, also carries the meaning of atonement or propitiation, in the sense of “covering.” The blood atoned for Israel’s sin by symbolically covering the kapporet so the Lord could no longer see it. Yahweh’s forgiveness was mediated; the sin did not cease to exist, but God refused to look at it or allow it to disrupt his relationship with the covenant nation. “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven,” writes David, “whose sins are covered” (Ps. 32:1). When the principle of parallelism is applied to this verse it is clear that the two phrases are the same: one’s transgression is forgiven when the sin is covered.

It is also true that under Mosaic law the worshipers, mindful of their sin, understood the sacrificed animal as a substitution for their own lives. Because all sin was a violation of God’s law, any transgression was a sin against the Lord himself and punishable by death. Violators could be forgiven only if a death occurred, either their own or that of a substitute. From the Christian point of view, the sacrifices of the tabernacle and temple could not really take away sin (Heb. 10:4); the entire Mosaic sacrificial system is an extended picture of the true atonement that was to come in Jesus, the Lamb of God.

Local and Family Sacrifices

The concept of sacrifice extended beyond the centralized rituals of the Mosaic sanctuary. Apparently the building of altars as acts of personal or family devotion was an accepted practice in Israel, even when the tabernacle was in place with its complement of priests and Levites, who were designated to officiate at sacrificial rituals. Joshua sacrificed to the Lord after the unfortunate episode with Achan and the subsequent victory at Ai (Josh. 8:30–31). The men of Israel built an altar at Mizpah after punishing the tribe of Benjamin (Judg. 21:4). Samuel prepared a sacrifice for the people at Ramah (1 Sam. 7:17). David’s family made sacrifice at the new moon, as did the court of Saul (1 Sam. 20:18–29), although new moon festivals were observed with special sacrificial offerings at the tabernacle site. Despite the Law’s mandate of one sanctuary for the worship of Yahweh (Deut. 12:5; 16:16), these acts are not condemned, as is the continued worship at the various “high places” (1 Kings 22:43; 2 Kings 15:4; and others), probably because they did not pretend to be rites that rivaled those of the central sanctuary.

Davidic Worship and the Sacrifice of Praise

After David became king he installed the ark of the covenant in a tent in Zion. The tabernacle with its daily round of sacrifices was located several miles away in Gibeon, but the Most Holy Place was apparently empty for more than sixty years. The Bible does not tell us what the high priest did on the Day of Atonement when he carried the blood from the altar into the sanctuary, which no longer housed the ark. It does provide a description, however, of the worship activities that were carried on before the ark in David’s tent. Except for the celebration at its initial installation, there is no reference to burnt offerings being made before the ark in Zion; instead the picture is of teams of worshipers singing, dancing, playing instruments, and prophesying in rotating shifts, day and night (1 Chron. 16:1–38; 25:1–8). This is apparently what both the psalmist and the writer of Hebrews have in mind when they speak of the sacrifice of praise or thanksgiving, the fruit of lips that give thanks to the name of the Lord (Pss. 107:22; 116:17; Heb. 13:15).

Neglect and Restoration of Sacrifice

After Solomon built the first temple in Jerusalem, the ark was returned to the inner sanctuary and the altar of burnt offering moved to the temple courtyard. Eventually this temple was destroyed and rebuilt and then destroyed again. During periods of apostasy in Israel the sacrifices to Yahweh were neglected; in times of reform they were reinstituted. At the time of the birth of Christ, Herod’s temple was being built in Jerusalem, and it was to this structure that Jesus was carried when his mother brought sacrifices for her purification according to the law. There is no record that Jesus participated in sacrificial rituals, although he did attend more than one national feast in Jerusalem and ate the Passover lamb with his disciples.