“To what purpose is the multitude
of your sacrifices unto me? Saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of
rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or
of lambs, or of he goats…..bring no more vain oblations….I am weary to bear
them…..when ye make many prayers, I will not hear….” (Isaiah 1:11-15)
Animal sacrifice is something we
of our day cannot relate to until we study the practice in full to understand
how it pointed to the sacrifice of the only sinless man who sacrificed himself for
every sinful person that will ever walk this earth. The year I studied this
ancient practice I discovered the power of personal consecration and wished I
could have witnessed animal sacrifice in person.
Israel of old lost the sacredness
and solemnity of animal sacrifice as they slid into such a sinful state that it
became to them a habit and an excuse for feasts and festivals (Isaiah 1:13,14).
The true meaning was lost, the Saviour was not honoured for His power of
salvation, and he rejected the killing of animals which held no redemptive
power.
I have read the abovementioned
scriptures before, but yesterday they brought a fresh perspective into my mind.
There is a practice akin to animal sacrifice which we of this day participate
in. Whereas ancient Israel needed an ongoing ritual to point them to Christ who
was to come to atone for them, we today have an ongoing ritual to point us to
Christ who has been and atoned for us. It is called the sacrament.
Well might the Saviour also reject
our partaking of the sacrament if it is done without the necessary commitment
of repentance. What good is our breaking of the bread in vain if it is not done
with a broken heart and a contrite spirit? In partaking the sacrament without intent
to repent, our sins continue to do what Paul called “crucifying the Son of God
afresh” (Hebrews 6:6).
The power of the sacrament is one
of purifying our souls to the state of forgiveness because the broken bread is
a revered symbol of the broken flesh of the Saviour who would lift us higher to
the throne of God than we can ever hope to lift ourselves. There is no sin,
except the sin against the Holy Ghost, that is greater than His Atonement for ‘though
our sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like
crimson, they shall be as wool (Isaiah 1:18). This is grace, this is mercy,
this is forgiveness of the suffering God for all of Israel who come to Him with
sincere repentance born of a broken heart.
He
is the Shepherd of Israel
Who
would not see us lost,
Who
rescued our souls
Never
counting the cost.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
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