One of the many elements many that read the Bible overlook is its many verses on Sacrifice. You see, the major problem is most do not even read the book. They think the Bible is a book full of moral stories to learn from and to follow. Most people also believe that there is only 10 commandments as well. Well, that is the kiddy version, in the old Hebrew Bible there is actually 613 commandments ( real number ) in there detailing how to do all sorts of crazy things. One section saying how to do slavery, another showing how to do sacrifices and another showing how one should go about stoning there kids. Seriously, stuff that would make anyone think what the heck is this crazy book on about..
All words that are supposedly linked to the commandments of God.
This is what makes me upset, all my life I have had to hear from other people that are religious, the reasoning’s for there religion when in reality all that person is doing is taking some crazy words from the past turning them around to suit there needs to create a belief system on. I mean we all know the universe is amazing, we all know there are things that we cannot fully understand yet why so many many need to follow words from these old books to match to there belief structure?
Would it not make more sense to be spiritual instead and say or feel that i believe in something beyond the universe and to say we do not know what it is.. Does that make more sense than to follow a religion based on some old writings from 1000’s of years ago about some crazy stories here and there.. It does not make sense?
The problem is the selective aspect of reading, it is one thing to believe in God but do you actually believe in the Bible..? If you do believe in the Bible as a rule book well then I think you maybe one step away from the loony bin..
Read on to find out why..?
In this topic I wanted to focus on what the Bible says on Sacrifice, there are many out of the 613 commandments on the subject showing and detailing how to kill to suit God. If one believes the bible is a guidebook these are the acts that you would support as well. Now let me ask, do you agree with these today..? A normal response is of course not, so why follow a book that is full of these sort of stories..? One cannot read part and say, well i like that part so i agree there, i don’t agree with slavery so i will ignore that part detailing how it is okay.. Come on.. It is all there in the book.
— Now, before I begin with all the verses and such, let me first say the ritual acts in the Bible are no different to any forms of black magick that at the time of writing in the Bible they probably thought were the right thing to say. After all, If someone was going to be sacrificed they could refer to the bible as a guide book to not make God upset. The truth is Sacrifice was part of life back then as we all know now is an act of nothing else but evil. On the subject of sacrifice the references below are in relation to either animal or human sacrifice. Sometimes slaves were sacrificed as well.
226. He must shave after bringing sacrifices upon completion of his Nazirite period
348. To salt all sacrifices
349. Not to omit the salt from sacrifices
360. Not to eat the meat of minor sacrifices before sprinkling the blood
369. To offer all sacrifices in the Temple
370. To bring all sacrifices from outside Israel to the Temple
371. Not to slaughter sacrifices outside the courtyard
373. To offer two lambs every day
And let’s add two verses referencing sacrifice –
Exodus 13:2
“Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”
2 Kings 3:27
Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel. And they withdrew from him and returned to their own land.
For more phrases on Sacrifice.
What to make of all this?
The rules clearly state inside the Temple was best and for sacrifices to be salted. Best not to do it outside the courtyard either. Not to eat any of the meat of the sacrifices before hand. Two lambs a day was also good, plus if none above a good old fire sacrifice was also excepted back then.
More To Ponder:
Now, could you imagine your priest at your local church instructing you how to kill and to obey god as a sacrifice.. It is absurd and so priests ignore.. Not because they want to, because it would make the whole church look like any other cult.?
Overall, whether referring to animal sacrifice or human sacrifice it all really is barbaric values that we all disagree with today. I mean who sacrifices there lambs to God these days? Who sacrifices there first born babies? Who sacrifices people for winning battles..?
This is why morality can never be used as a key element of argument for those that believe in the Bible. In that book, there simply and apologetically is none.
Hey Timon, i agree that organised religions that preach from the bible are somewhat primitive & barbaric but the thing about modern priests and the revised bible is that many of the verses used in church gatherings are in essence a ritual pact of self sacrifice of life energy while living & spirit/soul upon death. So while animals are spared people are sacrificing themselves & their children through rituals like baptism and daily offerings of prayer & worship, just because no blood is spilled it doesn’t mean that it isn’t still happening. The sad thing is that most of those involved are so ignorant of the price they are paying due to having no spiritual awareness or practice of spirituality due to the bible vilifying any and all arts & practices of self empowerment with misleading concepts like good & evil or stating them to be against god and when it would make them question their beliefs it is a “test of faith” to imply that they should just ignore it and continue being obedient slaves. It is so frustrating to have spirituality and know it as truth from experience but see people choose to believe in religions without proof or experience, simply accepting revised, edited and mistranslated opinions of long dead people just because it is compiled into a book. I don’t think that the system of indoctrination through religions is ever going to stop, or achieve anything good as it is just perpetuating ignorance and breeding a never ending supply of willing human sacrifices too a god that only desires power and cares nothing for humanity except for their obedience and worship. All other “gods” before Jehovah wanted mankind to aspire to be like them and reach their level, which is why ancient civilizations had such passionate and rich cultures that revolved around individual empowerment not mass subservience. If people want to fool themselves into thinking they owe their existences to a being that demands obedience and sacrifice than what is the point of free will? Maybe one day they will see the lunacy in the arbitrary rules & laws of religions bases on Jehovah’s word are and realise that “god” & “the devil” are one and the same being, that has deceived humanity into becoming a fount of existence just for him to consume.
Hey Luke,
Very good points on the modernization of major religions today and how it effects many people still today. All comes down to control in these organisations as well, if you get enough people believing something no matter how far out there many will because they are following the crowd. True spirituality involves breaking through these barriers and breathing true free air, mind, spirit and like you say free will.
Have a nice day.
Also the purpose of salting of sacrifices is to inhibit the natural process of transcendence into the cycle of reincarnation. This is only found in sacrifices too Jehovah and differs from pagan sacrifice which honoured life & death as sacred entities or deities that would bring fulfilment to their people through bountiful harvests, favourable weather etc. The use of salt in rituals is commonly used as a barrier for spirits or to separate the ritual from outside forces. Cults that worship Satan use salt as well because Satan & god are just different aspects of Jehovah, based around the focus of homage through different stances of worship, one for subservient “good” fearful followers and the other for wrathful “evil” wicked followers. Both focus the sacrifice to a singular being in hope of favour but his domain is not the flow of life & death. As Jehovah refers to “death” as an enemy in the bible, this is why he seeks willing human sacrifices so as to bolster his own spiritual energies to a level that rivals Dayeth “death”, the eternal father of existence, of whom is strengthened through all natural death & is coupled with Eyah “life”, the perpetual mother of souls, whom brought all of this existence into being through their union after descending from the higher realm beyond incarnation.
The purpose of reincarnation is to bring about a state of individual enlightenment that transcends the need of physical incarnation through a realisation of harmonious potentiality within all things, bringing about truly empowered beings.
People are so distracted by the tiniest of things that it will take an eternity of incarnation, death & reincarnation in order for them to gain enough perspective to reach an enlightened state capable to move beyond petty desires and doubts. So sacrificing your self to another only destroys your own potentiality.
I accept that not many people will accept this, I wouldn’t want you to simply take my word for it, rather I want to give you a hint to seek out your own understanding of things without allowing bias words of man to govern your fate as all beings must grow at their own pace & there is plenty of time for that.