ANIMAL SACRIFICE
Many Orthodox Jews and Fundamentalist Christians actively support the rebuilding
of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Christians who agitate for this restoration do so because
they believe it is God's will that sacrificial religion be restored. They see the
resumption of Temple worship as a sure sign of the Second Coming of Christ.
And those Jewish people who are anxious to see the resumption of Temple worship
believe that ever since the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, almost two thousand years
ago, God has been awaiting the resumption of animal sacrifice.
Both Christians and Jews avoid the reality of what actually constitutes
"Temple worship" by referring to it euphemistically. One Christian writer,
typical of others, writes "The [Jewish] people will once again participate in the glories
of temple worship...a deep and satisfying spiritual life will be the portion of the
nation in that day." (Ryrie, THE FINAL COUNTDOWN. Emphasis added)
Another Christian spokesman declares that "Some way, somehow, the Temple will
be rebuilt [because] prophecy foretells the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple and the
reinstitution of sacrifices prescribed in the Law of Moses." (Rosen/Massie, OVERTURE
TO ARMAGEDDON)
And among Jewish people, there are prescribed prayers for the restoration of
sacrificial worship. "Lord Our God, look with favor on Thy people Israel their
prayer. Restore worship to Thy Temple in Zion and with loving grace accept Israel's
offering and prayer." The Traditional Prayer Book for Sabbath and Festivals
When consecrating a house, this theme is repeated. "Even as we have been
permitted to consecrate this house, so grant that we may together witness the dedication
of thy great and holy temple in Jerusalem." The Authorised Daily Prayer
Book:Revised Edition.
In our own day, we have never been faced with the realities of sacrificial
religion. To modern minds, phrases like the "holy of holies" and the "altar
of the Lord" conjure up some sort of ancient, godly society in which priestly men
served the Lord in His sanctuary. But the Temple was actually a slaughterhouse, and the
linen vestments of the priests were stained red with the blood of their victims. And terms
like the "altar of the Lord," obscure the fact that what is being talked about
is the killing and butchering of helpless victims, in the name of God.
Now, almost two thousand years after this bloody worship was ended by the
destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, there are large numbers of Jews and Christians who
are working and praying for its restoration. Those who are committed to this cause have no
compunction about the massive slaughter of animals that would take place in the name of
God. But neither do they have any compunction about a massive slaughter of human beings.
They believe this, too, is part of God's unfolding plan.
Fundamentalists interpret the scriptures to mean that the horrible suffering of
Armageddon, described in the book of Revelation, is God's will. And like the death of
sacrificial animals, they believe these deaths are to be welcomed, rather than avoided.
Such people believe that cruelty and violence are the means God will use to introduce His
reign of compassion and peace into the world.
They believe that God is as brutal as men, but because they also believe they will
be protected from the horrors to come, they look forward to this apocalyptic reign of
terror.
"Armageddon is a reality, a terrible reality [but] it sets the stage for the
introduction of the king, the Lord Jesus, in power and in great glory....You know why I'm
not worried? I ain't gonna be here." Jerry Falwell
"[Armageddon} can happen at any time...Pieces of flesh began to fall from
their bones. Their eyeballs began to rot in their sockets. Their internal organs slowly
began to turn to mush, and they fell, gushing blood, one after another. Bodies of the dead
and dying were piled all over the hills and valleys surrounding Jerusalem." Pat
Robertson
"Armageddon is coming. They can sign all the peace treaties they want [in the
mideast].They don't do any good. There are dark days coming. My Lord, I'm happy about it.
He [Jesus] is coming again...I don't' care who it troubles. It thrills my soul. " Jimmy
Swaggert.
Such testimonials to a God of brutality and violence help us to understand how
Christians and Jews who are working through political means to insure that Temple
sacrifices are resumed, can be so uncaring about animal beings: they are just as uncaring
about human beings.
These religious extremists should take a lesson from the past. In the time of
Jesus, there was also much intrigue going on among those Jews who were agitating for a
violent takeover of Jerusalem. They were convinced that if they mounted an offensive
against the Roman occupiers, God would give them victory and restore Jerusalem to their
rule.
In the first century A.D. the Sicarii and the Zealots began an increasingly
violent terrorist campaign. Under the leadership of men like Simon Bar Gioras and John of
Gisala, an extremist religious movement demanded that the land be purged of
foreigners.Whether Roman, Greek, or Syrian, they had to be driven out of Jerusalem. But as
terrorist attacks grew in number, the more moderate Jews who spoke out against the
violence were murdered. In one attack that the Zealots mounted against their fellow Jews,
8,500 people died.
Ultimately, the religious extremists were in command. But in spite of their claim
that the Lord was leading them, and that killing all those who stood in their way was the
will of God, they were horribly defeated. By 70.A.d. the Temple completed by Herod had
been destroyed and, subsequently, the Jewish people lost their homeland. It was the second
time this had happened.
Centuries earlier, in 587 B.C. animal sacrifices were ended by the destruction of
the magnificent Temple built by King Solomon. It was razed to the ground by the Babylonian
army. The people had been repeatedly warned that this would happen.
The great Prophets of Israel had spoken out against the sacrificial cult, but they
had been ignored. Amos, Isaiah, Hosea, and Jeremiah warned of dire consequences the people
would bring upon themselves unless they repented of their sins. God wanted mercy,
compassion and social justice, not the slaughter of men and beasts. "When you
offer me holocausts, I reject your oblations and refuse to look at your sacrifices of
fattened cattle...but let justice flow like water and integrity like an unfailing stream."(Amos
5:21,22,24 JB)
But the "official" prophets said things were just fine--that God was
well pleased with His people and with sacrificial worship. They were proved wrong when
Jerusalem fell and the survivors were marched off to live in what came to be called the
Babylonian Exile.
After fifty years, the Jewish people were allowed to return to their homeland. And
by 516 B.C. they had reconstructed the sacrificial altar. It was dedicated by a massive
slaughter of animals.
The altar was set up on its old site...and on it they offered holocaust to
Yahweh, holocaust morning and evening...in addition to the perpetual holocaust...New Moon
feasts and all the solemnities sacred to Yahweh. (Ezra 3:3-5)
This resumption of sacrifices, as reported in the Bible, is almost a word-for-word
refutation of the Prophet Isaiah's oracle against such worship. "What are your
endless sacrifices to me, says Yahweh. I am sick of holocausts of rams...the blood of
bulls and goats revolts me...the smoke of them fills me with disgust...Your New Moons and
your pilgrimages I hate with all my soul...your hands are covered with blood, wash, make
yourselves clean." (Isaiah 1:11, 13-16 JB)
Once the cult of animal sacrifice was restored, there is no further biblical
denouncement of it until the ministry of Jesus. And the message he proclaimed, "I
will have mercy, and not sacrifice" (Matt. 9:13) was not new; he was repeating
the message Hosea had given, centuries earlier (Hosea 6:6). Neither was his stand against
the violence human beings inflicted on each other, as well as on the animals. The prophet
Micah had denounced the abuse of both human and animal beings.
"Hear this, you leaders of the house of Jacob, you rulers of the house of
Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right; who build Zion with bloodshed
and Jerusalem with wickedness....yet they lean upon the Lord and say, is not the Lord with
us? No disaster will come upon us. Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a
field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with
thickets." Micah 3:9-12.
Like Micah, Jesus prophesied against violence: "All who draw the sword
will die by the sword." (Matthew 26:56) And like the prophet, he also foretold
the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple. "Jesus left the temple and was walking
away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to the buildings. Do you see
all these, he asked? I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another;
every one will be thrown down." (Matthew 24:1,2)
Jesus foretold this event the day after he had disrupted the sale of animals for
slaughter at the Jerusalem Temple.(Mark 11:15-18) Obviously, the people of his own time
knew what he was trying to do, because the next day Christ commended one of the teachers
of the Law for his understanding. This scribe said that what God wanted was the love of
one's neighbor and of Himself--not the burning bodies of slain animals. And "when
Jesus saw that he had spoken wisely, he said to him 'You are not far from the kingdom of
God.'" (Mark 12:32-34)
But just as it was in the time of the great prophets, so it was in the time of
Jesus: animal sacrifices continued until the Temple was destroyed. And this time, the
Jewish exile lasted two thousand years.
Now, once again, the Jewish people have been restored to a homeland. And once
again religious extremists--Christians and Jews--make the same claim: take up the sword,
drive out the foreigners and God will restore Jerusalem to the chosen people. Then, Temple
sacrifices can be resumed. These extremists believe that this bloodbath of human and
nonhuman beings is a necessary prelude to the appearance of Messiah. For Christians it
would be the Second Coming and for Jews, the first.
These are the same promises that were made by the false prophets of the past.
Instead of victory, they brought destruction and desolation to their people. Like those
ruthless men, these modern zealots claim that violence and brutality are the means God
will use to usher in the peaceable kingdom.
But the Bible exposes this claim for the lie that it is. "Be not deceived,
God is not mocked, whatsoever a man soweth, that also shall he reap."(Gal. 6:7)
The mutilation and slaughter of countless humans and animals will not bring about a Godly
reign. As in the past, it will again bring about a reign of terror which will end in
destruction, not in a millennial world.
People of faith--both Jewish and Christian--must repudiate the teachings of those
among us who would use God as a justification for human brutality. As long as men are
allowed to claim the Lord's blessing on the slaughter of any creature, no one will ever be
safe from the violence that they inflict on others, in the name of God.
This article was reprinted from the July/Aug 1998 issue of Humane Religion. Copyright
1998 by Viatoris Ministries
HUMANE
RELIGION
