CHAPTER 2
The Special Character of Old Testament Sacrifices
If the difference between sacrifices is determined by the quality of the religion they express, then it is obvious that sacrifice to the True God differs root and branch from the idolatrous sacrifices that express the various forms of pagan piety. The apostle Paul warns his children of them just as he warns them of service to idols. It is as if they exist alongside sacrifices to the True God, in competition with them in their preeminence. This of course does not prevent these sacrifices in and of themselves, along with all pious paganism, from expressing a low level of religious consciousness unenlightened by revelation. As “natural revelation,” which does not oppose true religion yet remains ignorant of it, these pagan sacrifices, as with paganism in general, do seem to possess a certain positive religious value. However, that is abolished when set next to true religion and does stand in opposition to it. One such pagan counterfeit and temptation in religious life is magic, accompanied by the ritual mechanization of sacrifice. It is well known that not only the worship of false gods but also the false worship of the True God is the subject of stern denouncements by the prophets (in Isaiah, Hosea, Amos, Jeremiah, etc.). Against this ritualism and magic the prophets valorize the worship of God in the spirit of truth, the spiritual sacrifice that is a truly human act (Isa. 1:11–17, Jer. 7:20–22, Amos 5:21–22). “. . . For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hos. 6:6; NKJV). “The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit” (Ps. 50:19 [LXX]). However, these kinds of judgments do 7
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