 Judaism and the forgiveness of sins. If you are Jewish, you are a target. Millions of evangelical Christians in North America are passionately committed to converting our people to their faith. They fund over a thousand different missionary organizations to spearhead this effort. These include groups like Jews for Jesus and chosen people ministries, as well as hundreds of messianic congregations reaching out to Jews of all stripes. Many of these organizations encourage and train ordinary Christians to share their faith with Jewish friends, neighbors, and business associates. When they want to begin a discussion with us, what will they speak about? They realize, of course, that it will have to be something that is relevant to us and that we are concerned about. While many Jewish people don't spend much time thinking about biblical issues like the Messiah, we are all sensitive to our failures and shortcomings in life. There just may be something to all those jokes about Jewish guilt. We let others down, we disappoint them, and sometimes we hurt them. Often this is the most true for those closest to us, and we certainly don't always live up to God's expectations. We may not usually speak using terms like sinning, but all this word really means is falling short of how we should be living. We know what we need to do for our friends to forgive us, but what about our relationship with the Almighty? The challenge. One of the cornerstones of Christian theology is that the only way to atone for our sins is through the offering of a sacrifice whose blood is shed in our place. The New Testament states this directly in Hebrews 922. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission or forgiveness. Is this idea consistent with the teachings of the Tanakh, the Hebrew Scriptures, or do the Jewish and Christian Bibles diverge on this issue? Christians generally insist that the absolute need for a vicarious blood sacrifice is rooted in the Torah, citing as proof Leviticus 1711. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. It is safe to say that when missionaries seek to convert Jewish people, one of their most common approaches is to speak about moral and spiritual failure, and insist that in the absence of the temple sacrifices in Jerusalem, we have no means of achieving forgiveness for our mistakes and transgressions. The following is a typical missionary presentation using this appeal. Since you no longer observe the sacrificial system commanded by God and declared to you by Moses, where in the Scripture do you find justification for so doing? If it was necessary for Israel to make a blood atonement for sin in the mosaic dispensation and even up to the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70, why have you ceased to bring your offerings on God's altar? Is it because you no longer believe you need a sin offering? You have no blood atonement at all, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission, for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul. Leviticus 1711. Therefore your sins are unatoned for, and your soul stands condemned before a holy God. From the tract Israel think by B. Johnson. How does Judaism respond to these claims? If we no longer have temple sacrifices, how can we be forgiven for our sins? These are actually very legitimate questions, and this video was produced to bring some clarity to this vital topic. Let's take a closer look at Leviticus 1711. You might remember that in junior high school we were sometimes assigned to read a passage and identify what is the central theme of this paragraph. In the same vein, let's look at Leviticus 1711 in context and think about what is its theme. And whatever man of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among you, who consumes any blood, I will set my face against that person who consumes blood and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. Therefore I say to the children of Israel, no one among you shall consume blood, nor shall any stranger who sojourns among you consume blood. Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who reside among them, who hunt down an animal or bird that may be eaten, shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. For the life of every creature, its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, you shall not consume the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever consumes it will be cut off. Leviticus 17, 10 through 14. What should immediately be obvious is that the topic of this passage is not out to atonement for our sins. Rather it discusses the prohibition against consuming blood. This prohibition directly stated in verse 10, and the next verse goes on to explain the reason for the prohibition. Blood contains the vital life force of the animal. The life of the flesh is in the blood. Consequently, when we bring an animal sacrifice, its blood serves as the atoning agent and not some other part of its body. It is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. Because blood was designated only for the holy purpose of being the atoning agent when applied to the altar, it could not be used in any other way. It could never be consumed and we had to cover it with earth. Leviticus 17, 13 and Deuteronomy 12, 16 and 23 to 24. Since Leviticus 17 isn't coming to inform us about the principles of atonement, we will have to look elsewhere for the Bible's essential teaching on how to repair our relationship with God if we transgress His laws. Before proceeding, let us consider another point about what is and what is not being said in Leviticus 17, 11. The verse does say that since blood symbolizes life and contains the life force of the animal, God has given it to us as a means of atoning for our sins. But does the verse clearly teach that it is the only means God has provided to make atonement? As with any other biblical study, we will have to examine this question in light of the Bible as a whole. But for now, we should note that our verse merely says that blood can serve as a way to atone, but by no means are we told it is the only method of attaining atonement. In the Torah, there are multiple paths for atonement. For example, incense served to atone for the people in Numbers 17, 12 to 13, 16, 46 to 47 in Christian Bibles. And giving money is described in Exodus 30, 15 to 16, and Numbers 31, 50 as making atonement for your souls. The very same expression found in Leviticus 17, 11. The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar was told that he could atone for his sins by showing mercy to the poor in Daniel 4, 24, 4, 27 in a Christian Bible. And we see similar ideas in Proverbs 10, 2, and 21, 3. We should also point out that many Christians erroneously assume that the entire sacrificial system of the Torah was ordained as a vehicle to atone for sin. In point of fact, there were many different kinds of sacrifices and not all were for atonement. For example, the peace offering found in Leviticus chapter 3 was a voluntary sacrifice brought to express one's love and closeness to the Almighty. The Thanksgiving offering was a special kind of peace offering brought to express gratitude to God. In addition, there were numerous sacrifices for special occasions such as giving birth, purification from ritual impurity, and national holidays. Does the blood imperative make sense? The Christian insistence that atonement is only possible through blood sacrifice runs into trouble when the Torah discusses the question of those who cannot afford to purchase an animal. In certain situations, the Torah allowed a poor person to bring two turtle devs or two young pigeons if he couldn't afford a lamb. Leviticus 5, 7. However, what if he was so destitute that he could not afford even these small birds? But if his means are insufficient for two turtle devs or two young pigeons, then for his offering, for that which he has sinned, he shall bring the tenth of an ephah, a fine flower for a sin offering. He shall not put oil on it or place incense on it, for it is a sin offering. Leviticus 5, 11. Since flower could be used for a sin offering, it is clear that blood was not absolutely necessary for atonement. Another example will drive home the point. The proposition that only blood sacrifice could expiate sin creates a dilemma. Could it be that God would set up a system of atonement that would not be available to all people at all times? While the temple stood, sacrifices did, under certain circumstances, serve as part of the atonement process. But what would be the fate of Jewish people who do not have access to the temple? What were the Jewish people supposed to do after 423 BCE when the first temple was destroyed and we were exiled to Babylon? Or how did we atone for our sins after the destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in the year 70 CE? Christians erroneously claim that after the destruction of the second temple, rabbinic Judaism came up with novel, non-biblical measures to deal with the atonement issue since sacrifices could no longer be brought. They assert that Jesus' crucifixion in the year 30 CE served as a special sacrifice replacing the entire sacrificial system of the temple. Therefore, they explain, after the destruction of the second temple, we can be forgiven for our sins through faith in Jesus' sacrificial death. However, those making this claim fail to explain how Jews living in Babylon and Persia after the destruction of the first temple hundreds of years earlier could be forgiven for their sins. What did they do without the ability to sacrifice in the temple? It wasn't Talmudic innovation at all that provided a path for those seeking atonement after the second temple was destroyed. The Bible itself had already anticipated the possibility of the cessation of sacrifices. When King Solomon finally laid the finishing touches on the first holy temple in Jerusalem, he inaugurated it with a moving dedication speech. 1 Kings 8, 2 Chronicles 6. In this lengthy speech of almost 50 verses, you will notice that King Solomon does not speak about sacrifices at all. This omission would be strange if the most crucial part of the temple were the sacrifices. Actually, the central focus of the temple was the holy ark containing the Torah. The temple was first and foremost symbolic of God's present and revelation to the Jewish people. Exodus 25, 8, 1 Kings 8, 13. Toward the end of his speech, King Solomon deals with the possibility of the Jewish people being without access to the temple in the eventuality that they are exiled from the land of Israel. When they sin against you, for there is no one who does not sin, and you become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive to the land of the enemy far or near, and they take to heart in the land where they were taken captive and repent and pray to you in the land of those who took them captive, saying, we have sinned and done wrong and have been wicked. If they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive and pray to you to war their land which you have given to their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and their sublocation in heaven, your dwelling place and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you and all their transgressions that they have transgressed against you. 1 Kings 8, 46 to 50. This seminal passage puts the spotlight on the Christian distortion of Leviticus 17, 11. The Bible is clearly teaching that sacrifices were not absolutely necessary in order to atone for sins. Prayer and repentance are cited here as effective means for securing forgiveness. Certainly when the temple stood, a sacrifice was brought as part of the atonement process for unintentional sins. Leviticus 17, 11 teaches that when we did offer such an animal on the altar, its blood that contains the life force of the animal is the critical part of the sacrificial ritual. This is the only permissible use of blood and it may never be consumed. To summarize, Leviticus 17, 11 does not say that only blood sacrifices can atone for sin. 1 Kings 8 informs us that there are other means of atonement. Before moving on, we should point out that the Christian Bible went to great lengths to demonstrate that the atoning death of Jesus was predicated upon the Tanakh. In the New Testament book of Hebrews, a verse from the Psalms is cited as evidence that the sacrifice of Jesus was part of God's original plan for the world. Sacrifice an offering you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me. Hebrews 10, 5, referencing Psalm 40, verse 7. Verse 10 of this chapter in Hebrews informs us that the body spoken of is the body of Jesus. However, the Christian Bible took great liberties distorting the verse quoted from the book of Psalms, which never mentions a body being prepared. What follows is the actual verse from Psalm 40. Sacrifice an meal offering you have not desired, but my ears you have opened. Burnt offerings and sin offerings you have not required. The Christian claim of fidelity to the biblical text is exposed here as a very hollow one. Why Jesus could not have been a sacrifice for sin? Christian dogma asserts that the crucifixion of Jesus at Calvary served as the final atoning sacrifice for sin. Missionaries insist that this is not a Christian innovation, but reflects the requirements of the Jewish Bible. They point to Leviticus 1711 as the anchor in the Torah for the alleged necessity for blood sacrifices to atone for sin. However, if this text is examined carefully, it will be obvious that Jesus' death could never serve as an atoning sacrifice. This passage delineates how sacrifices are to be brought. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your soul, for it is the blood that atones for the soul. Leviticus 1711. Surely the Torah doesn't accept any shed blood as a sacrifice. Jesus' crucifixion may qualify as a sacrifice according to the New Testament, but since his blood was not offered on the Temple altar, it is not in line with what the Torah mandates. One of the most serious contraventions of the Torah that we find with the proposition that Jesus was a sacrifice is Scripture's strident opposition to human sacrifice. Before entering the land of Israel, Moses warned the people against following the repulsive spiritual practices of the nations they would encounter there. You shall not do so to the Lord your God for everything that is an abomination of the Lord, that he hates, they have done to their gods for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire for their gods. Deuteronomy 1231. There are actually several other factors that would render the crucifixion of Jesus an unacceptable sacrifice. According to the biblical guidelines in Leviticus, all sacrifices had to be offered by a priest who descends from Aaron. This was most certainly not the case with the death of Jesus who was crucified by Gentile Roman soldiers. As well, sacrifices brought to atone for sin had to be burnt on the Temple altar. Leviticus 4. Jesus was nailed to a cross. Furthermore, biblical law prohibited any sacrifice that was blemished or maimed. However, prior to his crucifixion, Jesus was beaten and scourged and whipped with lashes, which would render him unfit to be a sacrifice. Additionally, Jesus was circumcised in the flesh, which according to Philippians 3.2 is considered a form of mutilation. You can't have it both ways. Christians usually react to this line of reasoning by protesting that it's absurd to be so literal and that Jesus' death was more of a symbolic or spiritual sacrifice. This would be fine if the Bible provided for such ethereal offerings, but such is not the case. The New Testament, though, insists that Jesus was a real sacrifice, literally fulfilling the biblical requirements. An example is the Gospel of John's account of Jesus' crucifixion. In his narrative, 1933-36, the author of John relates that there was a request to break the legs of Jesus and two others who had been crucified on a Friday in order to hasten their deaths so that they could be buried before the Sabbath. But coming to Jesus, when they saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, for these things were done in order that the scripture should be fulfilled. Not a bone of it shall be broken. The Gospel of John 1.29 likens Jesus to the Passover Lamb. According to the Torah law, the Passover sacrifice was not supposed to have any of its bones broken. Exodus 1246, Numbers 9.12. Since the author of John insists that Jesus was a literal sacrifice, to the extent that the biblical rules of the Passover had to be fulfilled by him, we cannot dismiss the problem cited above as legalistic nitpicking. One wonders why the New Testament chose to type Jesus as a Paschal Lamb. We know from Exodus 12 that the annual Passover sacrifice did not serve to atone for sin. It commemorated the exodus from Egypt. When the Lamb was slaughtered in Egypt and its blood smeared on the doorpost, it did not serve to atone for the sins of anyone. It was a sign for the angel of death to pass over Jewish homes during the plague of the firstborn. The only people in danger were firstborn males. The blood was not relevant to other people in the family and did not serve to atone for the firstborn. Another problem with using the Passover Lamb as an archtype for Jesus' sacrifice is that the Torah barred uncircumcised males from participating in the Passover ritual. Exodus 1248. However, historical Christianity based upon the teachings of the Apostle Paul did not advocate circumcision and actually derided the practice. Galatians 5.1-12. A more fitting prototype for Jesus would have been the Yom Kippur sacrifice, which atoned for the sins of all the people. It is noteworthy that according to Leviticus 1610 and 21-22, the animal that effectuated the atonement for the sins of the nation was not killed but sent live out into the desert. Again, according to the Biblical texts, the shedding of blood is not an absolute necessity for atonement. Vicarious Atonement. A Biblical Perspective. Is the idea that an innocent person can be killed instead of those who are guilty consistent with what the Bible teaches? We had a potential occurrence of this in the book of Exodus. After the sin of the golden calf, God expressed his intention to destroy the Jewish people. Moses interceded and offered to die in their place. In response, God says, Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot him out of my book. Exodus 32. 32-33. Throughout the Bible, God says that one person cannot die for the sins of another. Father shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers. Everyone shall be put to death for his own sin. Deuteronomy 24-16. 2 Kings 14-6. But everyone will die for his own sin. Each man who eats sour grapes his teeth will be set on edge. Jeremiah 31-30. The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity. The righteousness of the righteous will be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon him. Ezekiel 18-20. No man can by any means redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him. Psalm 49 verse 8. So you shall not pollute the land in which you are, for blood pollutes the land, and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who has shed it. Numbers 35-33. The Torah repeatedly insists that each person is responsible for his or her own sins. Although the New Testament book of Romans 4-5 says that Jesus came to justify the ungodly, the Jewish Bible teaches that he who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, both of them are an abomination to the Lord. Proverbs 17-15. The Future Third Temple in Jerusalem. If Jesus came as the final sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world, as it states in Hebrews 10-10-18, why do the Hebrew Scriptures predict that the temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt, and the sacrificial services resumed? This restoration of the temple is one of the key developments that will take place with the coming of the Messiah, as it says in Ezekiel. My servant David will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow my ordinances and keep my decrees and fulfill them. They will dwell on the land that I gave my servant Jacob where your fathers dwelled. They and their children, and their children's children, will dwell on it forever. And my servant David will be a leader for them forever. I will seal a covenant of peace with them. It will be an eternal covenant with them, and I will establish them and increase them. And I will set my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be among them. I will be their God and they will be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel when my sanctuary will be among them forever. Ezekiel 37-24-28. In case someone suggests that the temple will be rebuilt in the Messianic Age, but sacrifices will not be resumed, the Bible unambiguously dispels this numerous times. Even those I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, for my house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples. Ezekiel 56-7. All the flocks of Qadar will be gathered together to you. The rams of Nebiot will minister to you and they will go up with acceptance on my altar. And I shall glorify my glorious house. Ezekiel 60-7. And it shall be the prince's responsibility to provide the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the libations. He shall prepare the sin offering, the meal offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering to make atonement for the house of Israel. Ezekiel 45-17. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, my worshipers, my dispersed ones will bring my offerings. Zephaniah 3-10. And every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of hosts, and all whose sacrifice will come and take them and boil in them. Zechariah 14-21. And he will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. Malachi 3-3-4. God's Abilities. A Christian claim that God can only forgive us if blood is shed on our behalf seriously undercuts his absolute omnipotence. It is problematic to say that God's ability to forgive us is dependent on anything. One of the most basic teachings in the Bible is that since God is merciful and loving, he sometimes forgives us simply because of his infinite mercy. We see an example of this in Micah 7-18-19. Who is a God like you who pardons iniquity and overlooks transgression for the remnant of his possession? He does not retain his anger forever because he desires kindness. He will again have compassion upon us. He will suppress our iniquities. You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. There are many other sources supporting this idea. For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding and steadfast love to all who call upon you. Psalm 86, verse 5. I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding and steadfast love and ready to relent from punishing. Jonah 4-2. In Psalm 103, verse 6-17, we see that God's relating to us with generous mercy and kindness is tied to his recognition of our frail spiritual natures. This is related as well in Psalm 78, verse 37-39. Their heart was not steadfast toward him, nor were they faithful in his covenant, but he, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. Often he restrained his anger and did not stir up all of his wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a fleeting breath not returning. Even when we do not seek God appropriately, he has the ability to reach out to us with love and forgive us for his own sake and agenda. You have not brought me the sheep of your burnt offerings or the fat of your sacrifices, but you have burdened me with your sins. Nevertheless I, I am he who will wipe out your transgressions for my own sake and I will not remember your sins. Isaiah 43, 23-25. But they and our ancestors acted presumptuously and stiffened their necks and did not obey your commandments. They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders you performed among them, but they stiffened their necks and determined to return their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and you did not forsake them. Nechemia 9, 16-17. The Biblical View of Atonement One of the most telling indications that Christianity is off base in its insistence on the absolute centrality of blood sacrifice is that none of the Biblical prophets speaks about it. There is not one instance in the prophetic books where the Jewish people are told that in order to get right with God they need to make sure to bring sacrifices. If that is the case, what is the fundamental teaching of the Tanakh on the issue of atonement? What theme is reiterated time and again by the holy prophets in the Jewish Bible? There is actually a passage in the Bible where the question of how to atone is directly raised. We saw that the foundational Christian source for the need to have blood, Leviticus 1711, is from a passage that contextually is not dealing with the issue of atonement. However, in the Hebrew Bible, the pressing question of what we need to do in order to relieve ourselves of the burden of our sins is squarely and poignantly raised. Now you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, thus you have spoken saying, since our sins and our iniquities are upon us and we are wasting away because of them, how can we live? Ezekiel 3310. This is the critical question before us. What is the essential response to sin? God could have given the Christian answer and stressed the need to have our sins covered by sacrificial blood, but this is not the response God gives here. Say to them, as I live the word of the Lord, I do not desire the death of the wicked one, but rather that the wicked one returns from his way that he may live. Repent, repent from your evil ways. Why should you die, O house of Israel? Ezekiel 3311. There is no ambiguity about the context here. Ezekiel has zeroed in on the issue of how to atone for our sins, and God tells us that the way we do this is through repentance, turning away from our sins and returning to him. In the Bible, this is called tshuvah, meaning turning or returning. This is the essential response and antidote to sin that our Bible repeatedly stresses. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to the Lord and he will have compassion on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. Isaiah 557. Perhaps the house of Judah will hear of all the evil that I intend to do to them so that they will repent each man from his evil way and then I can forgive their sin and transgression. Jeremiah 363. And if my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 714. But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all my statutes and practices, justice and righteousness he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him because of the righteousness that he has practiced he shall live. When a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness he will save his life. Repent and turn away from all your transgressions so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you. Ezekiel 1821-22, 27 and 30. If the wicked person restores the pledge gives back what they have taken by robbery and walks in the statues of life committing no iniquity they shall surely live, they shall not die. None of the sins that they have committed will be remembered against them. They have done what is lawful and right and they shall surely live. Ezekiel 33 15-16. If you return to God you will be restored if you remove unrighteousness far from your tent. Job 22 23. Turn from evil and do good so you will abide forever. Psalm 37 verse 27. Since repentance and not blood is the essential biblical path to atonement we now understand how in 1 Kings 8 Solomon explained that even if the Jewish people won't have access to the temple they will still have access to God. Ezekiel 11 16. They can turn directly to him in prayer and repentance. This foundational teaching about the primacy of repentance is the focus of the book of Jonah. God sends Jonah to warn the evil city of Nineveh of his coming judgment. Jonah doesn't come into the city and tell the people that unless they begin offering sacrifices they are doomed he says only that the city will be overturned. Their response to his warning is to repent. They fast, pray, and turn from their evil. What is God's response? When God saw their deeds that they turned from their wicked way then God relented concerning the calamity that he had declared he would bring upon them and he did not do it. Jonah 3.10. The most potent way of expressing regret for past actions and a desire to turn back to God is through confession and prayer. God is able to penetrate the heart of the penitent to know if he or she is sincere. We are always able to approach God directly in prayer. Psalm 145 verse 18. And God assures us that sincere prayer as an expression of repentance can achieve forgiveness for our sins. Hosea was a prophet to the ten northern tribes of the kingdom of Israel during the civil war between them and the two tribes of the southern kingdom of Judah. Because of the strife the tribes up north could not get to the temple in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices. Did this leave them with no way of atoning for their sins? Hosea taught them that prayer can take the place of temple sacrifices and he urged them to return O Israel to the Lord your God for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him take away all iniquity and receive us graciously and let our lips substitute for bulls. Hosea 14.2.3. King David had already expressed this concept when he sang let my prayer be counted as an incense offering before you and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice. Psalm 141 verse 2. This is why King Solomon in his dedication of the first temple directed future generations who may be in exile and without access to the temple to pray for God's forgiveness and restoration. 1 Kings 8 46 to 52 and 2 Chronicles 6 36 to 40. The scriptures continuously emphasize the vital importance of contrite prayer in the repentance process. Deliver me from blood guilt O Lord the God of my salvation and my tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praise for you do not delight in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. These O God you will not despise. Psalm 51 verse 16 to 19. I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that has horns and hooves. Psalm 69 verse 31 to 32. For you Lord are good and ready to forgive and abundant in loving kindness to all who call upon you. Give ear O Lord to my prayer and give heed to the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I call upon you for you will answer me. Psalm 86 verse 5 through 7. Are Christian missionaries consistent with the Jewish Bible when they claim that atonement is only possible with a blood sacrifice? Did the rabbis just make up the idea that we can restore our relationship with God through prayer and repentance? The Biblical record here speaks plainly and clearly for all to see. The prophetic protest. The making of atonement exclusively conditional to blood sacrifice is a serious error that had already been repudiated by the prophets of Israel centuries prior to the canonization of the Christian scriptures. Unfortunately Christianity fully embraced this guiding principle and enshrined it at the center of its theology. Sacrifices served as an important catalyst to spur people toward full contrition and repentance. The sacrifices were also a powerful external symbol an expression of the internal changes that had taken place within the penitent person. But the Bible openly teaches that sacrifices in and of themselves were not a vehicle that automatically secured forgiveness. This could only be achieved by breaking with past errors, charting a new course for the future and sincerely turning back to God in repentance. It is important to understand that it wasn't only that sacrifices were not sufficient and affected by themselves to atone for sin. God considered it an affront when people related to him in this way. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. Proverbs 15, 8 and 21, 27. The biblical prophets were relentless in their denunciation of those who made the disastrous assumption that God's primary interest was in sacrifices as the way to deal with their sinful behavior. Why do I need your numerous sacrifices, says the Lord? I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle and I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, remove the evil of your deeds from my sight. Cease to do evil, learn to do good. Seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. Come, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool. If you are willing and obey, you will eat the goodness of the land. Isaiah 1, 11 through 19. Has the Lord as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken more than the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15, 22. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. Proverbs 21, 3. For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Hosea 6, 6. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. And the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5, 22 to 24. With what shall I come to the Lord and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, in 10,000 rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you. But to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6, 6 to 8. This passage from the prophet Micah summarizes the theme of our discussion. How are we to approach God? What exactly is needed to atone for the sins of our soul? It is important to pay attention to what Micah did not say. Christian theology would have liked him to say, what does the Lord require of you, but to offer blood sacrifices and believe in the Messiah who will come to die for your sins? Micah doesn't say this. Rather, he teaches us that ultimately all God requires is that we practice justice and kindness and live humbly with him. This is the bottom line. Necessity is the mother of invention. It is worth pondering what led Christianity into the biblical quagmire of insisting that Jesus died for our sins and that without the shedding of innocent blood, atonement is not possible. The Messiah portrayed by the Jewish Bible will be a wise and righteous descendant of King David who will rule as the King of Israel when the world has reached a utopian zenith. We are told that during his reign the Jewish people will undergo a spiritual revival and be reunited and gathered to the land of Israel. Our temple will be rebuilt and we will live in peace and serve as a spiritual beacon to the world. This will lead to a universal embrace of God and his ways and world peace will prevail. Jesus' main message was that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew 417, 1017, Luke 10 9 and 11. The ultimate reign of God over the entire world is one of the central features of the Jewish messianic vision. It is clear that Jesus' followers expected him to redeem the Jewish nation from the Roman occupation and bring about the kingdom of God. They were most certainly not expecting him to be killed without accomplishing these things. The gruesome crucifixion of Jesus came as a huge shock and crushing disappointment to his followers. Rumors began to circulate that he had risen from the dead and had ascended to heaven, but none of the positive utopian developments they were expecting seemed to be moving forward. The pagan and brutally barbaric Roman empire was still flourishing and the kingdom of heaven seemed like a remote dream. Cognitive dissidents pressed them to believe that Jesus would soon return to complete his mission. The original second coming idea did not envision a lapse of centuries. Jesus' followers anxiously expected him to return within that generation. When this failed to materialize, cognitive dissidents said in again, but in a more pronounced way. In order to maintain their belief that Jesus was the promised Messiah, some of his followers felt compelled to construct a new messianic profile that could explain away his death. This crisis is what led to the novel rationalization that the purpose of the Messiah's coming was to die as a sacrifice that would atone for the sins of those putting their faith in him. The champion of this new construct was the apostle Paul. Not surprisingly, he tried to link this innovative concept of the Messiah to the Jewish Bible by appealing to a verse from the prophet Isaiah. We find this in Paul's book of Romans. And so all Israel will be saved as it is written. The deliverer will come from Zion and remove ungodliness from Jacob. Romans 1126 apparently citing Isaiah 59-20. However, checking the original passage in Isaiah reveals the flawed foundation of the claim made in the book of Romans. A redeemer will come to Zion, to those of Jacob who repent from willful sin. The word of the Lord, Isaiah 59-20. Isaiah didn't teach that the Messiah's purpose is to remove sin. Rather, he will come to the Jewish people when they show themselves worthy by turning away from sin. While attempting to pass his messianic concept off as thoroughly biblical, Paul ends up impaling himself on the very verse he attempts to co-opt once the careful reader spots his corruption of the text. This passage from Isaiah actually caused Paul tremendous difficulty, which is probably why he felt the need to edit it. The problem Paul faced was a simple one. If it were possible for people to repent of their sins and return to God, then what need would there be for Jesus to die for them? As we have seen in this video, the program for atonement that God established in the Bible is through repentance. God assures us that if we turn from our sins and to him we will be forgiven. This system had been in place for thousands of years, so why would there be a need to replace it with faith in the atoning death of Jesus? Paul was very cognizant of this problem and spelt it out himself. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could come through following the Torah, then Christ died in vain, Galatians 221. It is easy to see how redefining the concept of Messiah pulls a theological thread that leads to the unraveling of the entire garment of biblical teaching. In order to support its unbiblical notion of the role of the Messiah, Christianity was forced to distort numerous other biblical concepts. The first casualty was the assertion that it is impossible for us to really keep the Torah, and consequently that we cannot be righteous in the eyes of God. As Paul admits, if we could keep the Torah, Jesus died in vain. God himself thunderously refutes the assertion that it is too difficult for us to keep the Torah. For this commandment that I command you today, it is not hidden from you, and it is not distant. It is not up in the heaven for you to say, who can ascend to the heavens for us to take it for us, so that we can listen to it and do it? Nor is it beyond the sea for you to say, who can cross the sea for us to take it for us, so that we can listen to it and do it? Rather, it is very close to you and in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. Deuteronomy 30, 11-14. Of course, it would be impossible to imagine that God would give the Jewish people a Torah at Mount Sinai 3,300 years ago, knowing full well that we were not capable of observing it, and yet threatening us with dire consequences if we did not properly keep it. The claim that we are not capable of observing the Torah hinges on the Christian idea that after the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, human beings became irreparably corrupt. The Torah, however, never teaches this and actually reveals that humans have free will and are capable of overcoming temptations to sin. Right after the Garden of Eden episode, God says to Cain, Surely, if you improve yourself, you will be forgiven. But if you do not improve yourself, sin will crouch at your door. Its desire will be toward you to tempt you, but you can conquer or rule over it. Genesis 4-7. Because we are imperfect physical beings living in a material world, we sometimes make mistakes and even succumb to temptation. That is our nature as human beings. Even righteous people will sometimes sin. For there is no man wholly righteous on earth that always does good and never sins. Ecclesiastes 7-20. People who do wrong can still be considered righteous if they try to correct their ways. This is the distinction between righteous and wicked people. The wicked keep on sinning and do not seek to improve. The righteous recognize when they do wrong, regret their mistake, resolve to change and pray to God for forgiveness. The Bible calls this teshuvah, repentance. For though the righteous one may fall seven times, he will get up, but the wicked ones will stumble through evil. Proverbs 24-16. God assumes that we are able to obey his instructions and that is why we are held responsible for the way we live our lives. We can choose to live in obedience to God and live righteous lives that are pleasing to him. Scripture lays this out for us. I call heaven and earth today to bear witness against you. I have placed life and death before you. Blessing and curse, and you shall choose life so that you will live, you and your offspring. To love the Lord your God, to listen to his voice and to cleave to him, for he is your life and the length of your days. Deuteronomy 30, 19-20.