Animals Approved for Sacrifice?

Prayer – Lord, sacrifice? Sacrifices just don’t seem to be part of our culture…not during this time. Sacrifices ended when the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD. I don’t think that sacrificing was any part of Christian culture, but You, Lord God, expect us to sacrifice…our sins and have a repentant heart. I guess that is a sacrifice—giving up our selfishness. OK. I’m willing give up my egotism—not just for part of the year—but forever. Thank you, Jesus, for the sacrifice You made that gave eternal life to all those who believe in You. 

Go into the boat...
I'm onboard the Ark at the Ark Encounter.
The actual size Ark in Kentucky, USA.
What an amazing structure!

When everything was ready, the LORD said to Noah, "Go into the boat with all your family, for among all the people of the earth, I can see that you alone are righteous. Take with you seven pairs—male and female—of each animal I have approved for eating and for sacrifice, and take one pair of each of the others. ... With them were all the various kinds of animals—those approved for eating and for sacrifice and those that were not—along with all the birds and the small animals that scurry along the ground." Genesis 7:1-2, 8

Noah was now 601 years old. On the first day of the new year, ten and a half months after the flood began, the floodwaters had almost dried up from the earth. Noah lifted back the covering of the boat and saw that the surface of the ground was drying. Two more months went by, and at last the earth was dry! Then God said to Noah, "Leave the boat, all of you—you and your wife, and your sons and their wives. Release all the animals—the birds, the livestock, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—so they can be fruitful and multiply throughout the earth." ... Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and there he sacrificed as burnt offerings the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose. And the LORD was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, "I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things. As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night." Genesis 8:13-17, 20-22 (Underlined for emphasis.)

 

Meditate. Consider God’s requirement for sacrifice.

 

What is your “sacrifice” to God?

While reading this section of scripture, I noted that Noah, the only righteous man at that time, was instructed to gather seven pairs of animals approved for eating and for sacrifice. Had God already ordained sacrifice of animals? Remember Adam and Eve’s coverings were made animal skins—thus a sacrifice had occurred. Their son, Abel, provided an animal sacrifice to the Lord from his flock. See Genesis 4:1-9. Cain gave an offering of grain from his harvest—but it was not the sacrifice that God wanted. Was it Cain’s attitude or the actual sacrifice…or both that were not pleasing to the Lord? We don’t do animal sacrifices, but what do you give as a sacrifice to the Lord?

You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. Psalm 51:16-17

 

When the Ark landed and the land was dry—Noah honored God by offering a sacrifice. The extra animals that God required Noah to take along into the Ark were necessary. Can you imagine that Noah would have sacrificed an animal…and end that species? God is so wise—and has great plans. Those plans include animals as well as people. The ultimate sacrifice was Jesus. God loved all of mankind—His creation—as much as His own Son, so He gave up Jesus to purify mankind for Himself. Those who believe in Him become part of God’s own family—adopted. Believe. It is a choice to make. Do you choose day by day to believe in Jesus as your Savior?

 

Verses of Salvation ~ For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf. And he did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal. If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice. And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him. Hebrews 9:24-28 (Underlined for emphasis.)

 

Happy Birthday Sweet Lucy

 

© 2024 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved. 

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted. 

New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. 

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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