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Part 1:
The Gospel of Adam, Abel, Abraham and JesusIn Genesis, we find this beautiful marriage between Adam and Eve. And in Revelation, we find the marriage supper of the Lamb, celebrating the mystical union between Christ and the Church.”
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Part 2:
The Forbidden Fruit, and the Gift of SorrowAs a loving Father, God permitted them to face the challenge of death, because He knew it would aid them on the quest for humility, repentance, and spiritual healing.”
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Part 3:
Two Brothers, Two Sacrifices, and The Strategic LieThis is the world into which Abraham was born, of a nation steeped in pagan worship and human sacrifice, surrounded by nations which were equally deceived.”
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Part 4:
Abraham’s World, His Sacrifice, and the Passover LambHaving turned their backs on Egypt’s gods, and having slain lambs and bulls — two of the most sacred animals in the Egyptian religion — God’s people were set to live a new way, loving God and loving their neighbor, following the two greatest commandments.”
IX. Apostasy, Chastisement, and Repentance
Alas, this beautiful restored relationship between God and man was not to be. At least not yet. God’s people turned their backs on God, and sinned, pressuring Aaron to make an idol of a golden calf. Both outwardly and inwardly, they had returned to the gods of Egypt.
Knowing that nothing was more deadly to His people than idolatry, God severely disciplined His people, compelling them to utterly destroy the golden calf they had made.
The sacrifice of a lamb and a bull had not been sufficient to teach His people the necessary lesson. To wean them from the gods of Egypt, drastic measures were needed. So God instituted an enormous number of additional blood sacrifices. For the next several hundred years, God’s people—and especially the priests who descended from unfaithful Aaron—would be burdened with nonstop blood sacrifices, evening and morning, day after day, year after year, so that they might become utterly sick of it. The neverending slaughter of sheep and bulls would be a constant reminder that there was to be no return to Egypt, and no return to Egypt’s gods.
God still treasured the love and gratitude He had received from Abel, Melchizedek, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and His people were still welcome to bring Him free-will offerings of oil, flour, and garden produce. They also could bring offerings from their flocks.
God had neither need nor desire for the shedding of blood. But for God’s people to worship Him faithfully, it was absolutely necessary for them to sacrifice their attachment to false religions. Thus, for the next several centuries, these blood sacrifices of lambs and bulls would be required.
Goats would also be sacrificed. One of the key sacrificial days for God’s people would be the Day of Atonement, when the High Priest would take the blood of a bull and goat into the Temple, into the Holy of Holies, to be sprinkled on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant.
For nearly 1000 years, God’s people would shed the blood of countless animals to keep the Day of Atonement, and to observe the other sacrifices.
Alas, the Israelites remained stubbornly attached to idolatry, and refused to give it up. Because of God’s love for His people, He sent them many disciplinary judgments and warnings, but they would not listen. Throughout the years of the Judges, and throughout the years of the Kings, they kept worshiping idols, and could hardly be persuaded to abandon them. Instead of showing gratitude to God who had given them their own kingdom, they kept turning their back on Him and worshiping carved idols of wood and stone.
The Israelites had grown so hard of heart, that only the severest measures would get their attention. So, finally, God allowed Babylon to conquer Israel, bringing their kingdom to an end, destroying their temple, and carrying their people off into captivity.
God’s people were stunned, disheartened, and deeply affected to their core. They never imagined they would face such a harsh judgment. Over the next seven decades, they were humbled and shattered, forced to raise their descendants in a foreign land where they could no longer partake in blood sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem.
They no longer had the Ark of the Covenant, as the prophet Jeremiah had hidden it away in an undisclosed location. Other sacred items used for temple worship were taken from them and carried off to Babylon.
After years of exile, God, in His mercy and love, miraculously allowed them to return to their homeland and rebuild the temple. Thanks to God’s loving discipline, His people finally learned their lesson after almost a millennium of succumbing to idolatry. The shock of the exile helped them break free from this sin, and for the next five centuries, they remained steadfast in their faith, no longer bowing to the gods of surrounding nations.
Having been cleansed of idolatry, the need for blood sacrifices diminished. God takes pleasure in offerings motivated by love and worship, rather than those of animals. With their rejection of pagan practices, God began to wean them off the necessity of blood sacrifice, as they no longer needed it to please Him.
God’s people were unable to properly observe the Day of Atonement without the Ark of the Covenant, as the High Priest could not fulfill the required rituals. For over 500 years, they did not observe this holy day as God had made it impossible without the Ark. This was a lesson from God that the blood of animals could not truly erase sins, and He desires mercy and thanksgiving over sacrifices.
Ultimately, God’s plan for redemption culminated in the incarnation, where God became man in the person of Christ. Through this union of divinity and humanity, He brought healing to every aspect of human nature, from unborn infants to the young and beyond. Becoming an adult, Jesus brought healing to those in full maturity. Tasting death, He conquered it, bringing resurrection and healing to those in the graves. As the first Adam was wounded in the side for Eve, the second Adam was wounded for the Church. Just as Abel pleased the Lord with a free-will offering, Jesus pleased the Father with His own sacrifice out of love. Jesus fulfilled all primal sacrifices that pleased the Lord. If the Serpent had known the humiliation they would face with the Resurrection, they would never have crucified Him. The Serpent spreads lies to slander God and denigrate the Savior, but cannot change history. They push the false narrative that God demands blood sacrifices out of wrath, but in reality, God is a loving Father who forgives without the need for bloodshed. Many non-Christians are repelled by the distorted image of God portrayed as hateful, causing them to turn away in disgust and avoid Him altogether. This false representation of God as bloodthirsty and angry stems from the deceitful words of the ancient Serpent, leading people to fear God rather than love Him. Just as the Serpent once deceived people into worshiping demons as gods, he now deceives them into believing that God is like those demons. However, the Serpent cannot stand to be mocked or dismissed, especially as people come to realize that God is a loving Father who deeply cares for them and is ready to embrace them with eternal love. The enemy cannot bear to see people fully restored to a loving relationship with the Father, as this goes against his deceitful ways.
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