Chapter 3 : The Law Of God Regarding Atoning Sins :

Although God gets angry because of sins and punishes who commits them, he is so Mercyful that he permitted many ways for atonement, including:

First Law: A day each year for atonement:

He allocated a day each year for Israel Children to supplicate in the temple.

“29 And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do not work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: 30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. 31. It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever. 32. And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest’s office in his father’s stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments: 33 And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation. 34. And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.” (Leviticus 16: 29-34)

As we see in the above verses, God made a statute forever to be an atonement for Israel Children. Verse 34 asserts that the statute is forever and it is only one day a year to forgive all the sins of Israel children. This verse contradicts the claim that God decided to send Jesus Christ for redemption bbecauseit is useless if there is a statute forever to forgive sins.

From an analytic point of view: we have seen that God loves people. He made this statute to forgive their sins. So why would Israel Children need Jesus redemption? All Israel Children sins will be forgiven even they have committed again. Redemption, on the other side, will only be for few individuals who believed in him. It was shown in the story of Jesus that only a few people believed in him. The rest were deprived of this advantage. Thus, this statute is better for them than redemption.

Second Law: Sin offerings

In addition to the yearly day when God forgives Israel Children sins, God gave them the sacrifice offering by which sins are forgiven. In the following part, we will see how Moses was given the law regarding sacrifice offering.

“36 And thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement: and thou shalt cleanse the altar, hen thou hast made an atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify it. 37 Seven days thou shalt make an atonement for the altar, and sanctify it, and it shall be an altar most holy: whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy”.  (Exodus 29: 36-37)

“And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD.”  (Exodus 30: 10)

“1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them: 3 If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the LORD for a sin offering”. (Leviticus 4: 1-3)

“13 And if the whole congregation of Israel sins through ignorance, and the thing be hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty; 14 When the sin, which they have sinned against it, is known, then the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation. 15 And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the LORD: and the bullock shall be killed before the LORD. 16 And the priest that is anointed shall bring of the bullock’s blood to the tabernacle of the congregation: 17 And the priest shall dip his finger in some of the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, even before the vail. 18 And he shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar which is before the LORD, that is in the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the altar of the burnt-offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 19 And he shall take all his fat from him and burn it upon the altar. 20 And he shall do with the bullock as he did with the bullock for a sin-offering, so shall he do with this: and the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them.”(Leviticus 4: 13-19)

Here is how a sacrifice is offered:

“24 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 25 Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the LORD: it is most holy. 26 The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it: in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation. 27 Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy: and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment, thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the holy place. 28 But the earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall be broken: and if it is sodden in a brazen pot, it shall be both scoured, and rinsed in water. 29 All the males among the priests shall eat thereof: it is most holy. 30 And no sin offering, of which any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of the congregation to reconcile withal in the holy place, shall be eaten: it shall be burnt in the fire. (Leviticus 6: 24-30)

Then please read the following verses of Leviticus 17:

17:1	And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
17:2	Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them; This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, saying,
17:3	What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp,
17:4	And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering unto the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD; blood shall be imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people:
17:5	To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest, and offer them for peace offerings unto the LORD.
17:6	And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savor unto the LORD.
17:7	And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.
17:8	And thou shalt say unto them, Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers which sojourn among you, that offereth a burnt offering or sacrifice,
17:9	And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer it unto the LORD; even that man shall be cut off from among his people.
17:10	And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.
17:11	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 maketh an atonement for the soul.
17:12	Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.

 

Also, read :

“5 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 6 Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty; 7 Then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed. 8 But if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the LORD, even to the priest; beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made for him. 9 And every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring unto the priest, shall be his. 10 And every man’s hallowed things shall be his: whatsoever any man giveth the priest, it shall be his”.. (Numbers 5: 5-10)

“5 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 6 Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. 7 And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean. 8 Then let them take a young bullock with his meat offering, even fine flour mingled with oil, and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin-offering… 12 And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, unto the LORD, to make an atonement for the Levites… 19 And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tabernacle of the congregation, and to make an atonement for the children of Israel: that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary”. . (Numbers 8: 5-19)

“1 If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him: 2 Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain: 3 And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke; 4 And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley: 5 And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried: 6 And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley7 And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. 8 Be merciful, O LORD, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel’s charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them”. (Deuteronomy 21: 1-8)

Let us see the story of Hezekiah, for example, when the people sinned and offered a sacrifice for all Israel Children, so God forgave them

“ 1 Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old … 4 And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street, 5 And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. 6 For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs… 20 Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD. 21 And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he-goats, for a sin-offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the LORD. 22 So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood and sprinkled it on the altar: likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they also killed the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar. 23 And they brought forth he-goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them: 24 And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel: for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel”. (2-Chronicles 29: 1 – 24)

Here is another story of atonement:

“11 Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity. 12 A Third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee, and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them”. (31-Ezekiel 5 : 11-12)  (then God shows how he forgave them)

“14 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 15 Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the LORD: unto us is this land given in possession. 16 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come. 17 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. 18 And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. 19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh: 20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” (31-Ezekiel 11: 14-20)

Did Jesus abolish the law of sin sacrifice?

We have read in the previous chapter the two forever laws to atone sins:

1- The day in the year.

2- Offering a sacrifice for forgiveness.

The following verses contradict these laws and claim that Jesus has abolished the law of sin sacrifice:

“26 For such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; 27 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.” (Hebrews 7: 26-27)

“Jesus Christ abolished the law of sin sacrifice when he sacrificed himself on the cross for sinners (Hebrews 7:27). The Holy Bible says that Jesus made atonement between Holy God and sinful man and “made peace with through the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:20) and also says about Jesus: ” In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7). ” ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:” (1 Peter 1:18-19). Also says: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29). ” Who his own self-bare our sins in his own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). With Jesus death on the cross, he completed the law of sacrifice by offering himself as a sacrifice. Therefore, people need not to offer sacrifices for their sins because Jesus ” gave himself a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:6). Thus we see that with the death of Jesus Christ, the time of sin sacrifices had ended, because he was the last sacrifice by God. Christ died for the sinners. After that, he rose to give them life, whoever believes in him gets salvation and eternal life.”

Here we say:

• The verse (Hebrew – 7-27, did not read clearly that Jesus abolished the laws of sacrifices, and there is no verse in the Bible that reads that clearly. This was only concluded from the verse. This conclusion might be right or wrong, while both of the laws of sacrifice and a day in the year are mentioned clearly and in details in the Bible, as we saw earlier with no need for explanation or interpretation, they are two forever religious duties as we saw in the mentioned verses.
• In all cases, It cannot abolish the forever statute which is one day every year. It is enough to forgive man’s sins every year.
• If we examined the law of sin sacrifice closely, we would discover that it involves three kinds of punishments. First, material punishment because the sinner has to pay for the sacrifice. Second, physical punishment because the sinner will have to bear the hardship of offering the sacrifice. Third, spiritual punishment as he has to supplicate to God in the altar and ask for forgiveness. These three punishments would make man hesitate before he commits any sin which in turn reduces sins and crimes in the society. The sin offering is not only to receive atonement from God but also from man. While redemption affords atonement when you only believe in Jesus Christ as a savior and redeemer.
• Bloodshed is the way for forgiveness, without blood there is no forgiveness. “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 maketh an atonement for the soul.” (Leviticus 17: 11 )   Offerings involve bloodshed, but when Jesus died on the cross, there was no bloodshed. Therefore, we cannot say that Jesus died as an offering from God for forgiveness. A death that God accepts as an offering must involve slaughter and Jesus was not slaughtered.
• According to the verses we mentioned earlier (Leviticus 6:26 and Leviticus 17:3), slaughter must be done by a priest in the tabernacle of the congregation because whoever touches its blood shall be holy. Also, the law provides that whoever slaughter outside the tabernacle of the congregation shall be cut off from among his people. The crucifixion of Jesus was not a sacrifice for the following reasons:

1. Crucifixion was not in the tabernacle of the congregation nor was it in the sanctuary of the Lord.
2. Only who touches the sacrifice can be forgiven as it says: 03-Leviticus : ” Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy” (Leviticus 6:27 ) , but when Jesus died nobody touched his flesh to be holy, thus the death of Jesus would be of no use to anyone unless he touches his flesh.
3. The sin sacrifice must be offered by a priest to God for forgiveness. Sinners prepare it to ask God for forgiveness. But Jesus death was not like that. Actually, the priests sentenced him to die on the cross for claiming that he is the son of God or for defilement the Sabbath as we will see later. His death then was not a sacrifice, but an execution as per priest’s orders. No one of the crew that witnessed his death asked for forgiveness in exchange for this offering. The priests did not ask for forgiveness nor did the people. They went to see if the man who claimed to be the sons of God can save himself. Even the disciples did not ask for forgiveness. Jesus himself did not say anything that might seem like he is asking for forgiveness for the people he would die for.

• Finally, We saw in Chapter Two that God punishes only the sinners, and no one is punished for a sin committed by another one. Children are not punished for the sin of their parents. Therefore, the punishment that the man receives is only for the sin that he commits, the man who committed sins, before the crucifixion, had to offer his sacrifice to atone his sins and repent to God before the priest in order to be forgiven, Now according to redemption, we ask this: When someone commits a sin, is the death of Jesus enough to be forgiven or he has to repent as well?

1. If the death of Jesus is enough and the sinner is fine, then this means that everyone will be forgiven including killers, thieves, adulterers, the good and the wrongdoers alike and the latter will not be punished. This is not acceptable by anyone because this will entail chaos, decay and rampant crimes. Therefore Jesus redemption is not correct because it abolishes the law of God:

“And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.18 And he that killeth a beast shall make it good; beast for beast. 19 And if a man causes a blemish in his neighbor;    as he hath done, so shall it be done to him; 20 Breach for breach, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again. 21 And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it: and he that killeth a     man, he shall be put to death. 22 Ye shall have one manner of      law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the LORD your God”.( Leviticus 24:17-22)

“5And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 6 Speak unto      the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty; 7 Then they shall confess their sin     which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass   with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part        thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath           trespassed. 8 But if the man has no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the           LORD, even to the priest; beside the ram of the atonement,     whereby an atonement shall be made for him. (Numbers 5:5)

2. If one still has to repent and compensate for damage, then the difference between atonement according to the Torah and the concept of redemption is that the sinner according to the Torah has to repent and offer a sacrifice. While according to the concept of redemption, man has to repent in addition to the sacrifice that was offered by Jesus himself. Thus we see that the difference is only the kind of the offering, instead of sheep or cattle, it is Jesus. Therefore, Jesus didn’t redeem us with his death and even redeemed the offerings because he died instead. So sinners do not have to offer sacrifices because Jesus did that for them.

 

Conclusion:

The law of God provides a statute forever which is a day every year for atonement as well as sin offerings.

The death of Jesus was not redemption for man, because there was no bloodshed, the priest did not offer it, and no one asked for forgiveness when Jesus was executed.

The crucifixion of Jesus was an execution sentenced by the priests. It was not an offering for God to forgive sins.

Saying that Jesus abolished the law of sin offering and died to redeem people is not correct, because, in that sense, he did not redeem man but redeemed the offerings.