 Is blood sacrifice required for the atonement of sins? Quite often missionaries will cite Hebrews 9 verse 22 in the New Testament which states quote, without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins or no forgiveness of sins. But is this true? Is this a Jewish concept? After all, the New Testament claims to be the fulfillment of Judaism. Let us examine this question based upon what was revealed in the Tanakh and see if the New Testament is correct about this important subject. The New Testament bases its idea on Leviticus chapter 17 verse 11 which states quote, 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 souls for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul end quote. From a simple reading, it seems that blood makes atonement for the soul. Without blood, atonement does not seem possible. But is this the whole story? We must always ask ourselves what is the full context of this verse? Let's have a look. If anyone of the house of Israel or of the strangers who reside among them consumes any blood, I will set my face against that person who consumes blood and I will cut that person off from the people for the life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it to you for making atonement for your lives on the altar for as life it is the blood that makes an atonement therefore I have said to the people of Israel no person among you shall consume any blood nor any stranger who resides among you shall consume any blood and any one of the people of Israel or the stranger who resides among them who hunts down an animal or a 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 eats it shall be cut off and quote from Leviticus chapter 17 the entire context verses 10 through 14 a careful reading of this passage in Leviticus clearly reveals that the Torah is speaking about the prohibition against consuming blood and not about atonement blood is important because when an animal is offered for sacrifice it is the blood that affects the atonement not the skin or the bones these passages also tell us that the only permitted use of blood is on the altar in the temple is a blood sacrifice the only means that God has given us to atone for our souls absolutely not just as a store allows us to pay by cash or check or credit card so too God allows us many ways to atone for our souls to appreciate this concept we examined the New Testament quote that the missionaries used to make their case we discovered that not only do they take verses from the 10 out of context but they also do the same thing with the New Testament verses the entire verse from the New Testament reads quote and almost all things are by the law purged with blood and without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins or forgiveness of sins Hebrews chapter 9 verse 22 almost all things this is what Hebrew says certainly Paul was aware that the atoning power of blood did not cover everything and that other means for atonement were available let's examine the tenak to see where atonement was achieved without blood if a person cannot afford an animal to sacrifice is atonement therefore impossible for him quote but if he is not able to bring two turtle doves or two pigeons then he who sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an effa a fine flower for a sin offering then shall he bring it to the priest and the priest shall take his handful of it a memorial part of it and burn it on the altar according to the offerings made by fire to the Lord it is a sin offering and the priest shall make an atonement for him in regards to his sin that he is sin in one of these and it shall be forgiven him and the remnant shall be the priests as a meal offering this is from the book of Leviticus chapter 5 verses 11 through 13 in fact sacrifices in and of themselves were never able to absolve the person who committed the wrong many Jews in biblical times made the great mistake of assuming that the critical antidote to sin was the shed blood of a sacrifice in the book of Proverbs King Solomon warned that quote the sacrifice of a wicked person is an abomination to God in chapter 15 verse 8 and 21 verse 27 of the book of Proverbs ultimately a sacrifice was only meaningful when it truly represented a sincere change in the heart and the actions of the person seeking forgiveness this reformation of the sinner and his returning to God or Chuva is the true repentance that God desires and is the only means to achieve forgiveness quote greet no more vain offerings in sense of abomination they are to me wash yourselves make yourselves clean put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes cease to do evil learn to do well seek judgment relieve the oppressed judge the orphan and plead for the widow this is from Isaiah chapter 1 verses 13 through 17 another quote the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit a broken and contrite heart these oh God you will not despise Psalm 51 verse 19 King David desired Bathsheba and he therefore sent your ryer her husband to the front lines of battle to be killed when the prophet Nathan confronted David of his sin he repented and was forgiven because sin offerings were only brought for unintentional sins as we see in Leviticus chapter 4 no blood offering was involved in David's atonement process and no sacrifices mentioned in the story quote and David said to Nathan I have sinned against the Lord and Nathan said to David Lord also has put away your sin you shall not die second Samuel chapter 12 verse 13 Nineveh was a sinful city comprised solely of Gentiles and described in the book of Jonah quote arise go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it for their wickedness has come up before me and the people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed the fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them to the least of them and word came to the king of Nineveh and he arose from his throne and he took off his robe and covered himself with sackcloth and satan ashes and God saw their doings that they turned from their evil way and God repented of the evil which he had said that he would do to them and he did not do it the book of Jonah chapter 1 verse 2 chapter 3 verses 5 6 and there's 10 5 to 6 and 10 turning away from sin and returning to God in repentance is the exclusive avenue to forgiveness as repeated numerous times in the Bible quote it may be that when the house of Judah hears of all the disasters I intend to do to them that all of them may turn from their evil ways so that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin Jeremiah chapter 36 verse 3 another quote let the wicked forsake their way and the unrighteous their thoughts let them return to the Lord that he may have mercy on them to our God for he will abundantly pardon Isaiah chapter 55 verse 7 Christians ask how is it possible to attain atonement without sacrifices since no sacrifices can be offered without the temple Jews have always done exactly what the Bible has instructed them to do in such a case when Solomon dedicated the first temple he told the people how to attain forgiveness should they be exiled and no longer have access to it quote they shall think to themselves in the land where they were carried away and repent and pray to you saying we have sinned and have acted perversely and have committed wickedness and they return to you with all their heart and all their soul then hear their prayer and supplication in heaven and forgive your people who have sinned against you first Kings chapter 8 verses 47 through 15 Hosea prophesied to the 10 northern tribes of Israel who were unable to go to the temple in Jerusalem because of the civil war and provided an admonition from God applicable to all of us quote oh Israel return to the Lord your God for you have stumbled in your iniquity take with you words and turn to the Lord say to him forgive all iniquity and receive us graciously for we will offer the words of our lips instead of calves Hosea chapter 14 verses 2 through 3 the prophet Daniel lived during the Babylonian exile when there was no temple or sacrifices and offers his words of confession quote we have sinned and we have committed iniquity and have done wickedly and have rebelled and have departed from your precepts and from your judgments Daniel chapter 9 verse 5 and his plea for forgiveness is as follows quote to the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness for we have rebelled against him oh Lord according to all your righteousness I pray you let your anger and your fury be turned away from your city Jerusalem your holy mountain because for our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers Jerusalem and your people have become a reproach to all those who are around us Daniel 9 verses 9 and 16 Daniel asked God for forgiveness for himself and his people knowing that he could not offer blood sacrifices would Daniel pray for something inaccessible of course not Daniel knew the teachings of Solomon and Hosea as well as the words of Nathan the prophet concerning to King David's forgiveness Daniel understood the central teaching of the to not concerning the essential actions required to attain God's forgiveness turning away from our transgressions and returning to God in sincere repentance