In Part 1 we started looking at the reality of animal sacrifices: how the Word of God tells us they will be back in full swing during the millennial reign of Messiah, and how even the famed New Covenant (Jeremiah 30–33) itself testifies to the continued daily animal sacrifices! We left off on the question of why such sacrifices would exist in the future if they were abolished. We will cover that, and further, we will establish how the Word of God shows that Yeshua’s sacrifice and the animal sacrifices are not at odds at all!

Within the church, we tend to want to take this idea to Hebrews and say that Hebrews tells us this system is done “No more animal sacrifices needed!”, regardless, the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin!

‘For the Torah has in it a shadow of the good things to come, but not the actual manifestation of the originals. Therefore, it can never, by means of the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, bring to the goal those who approach the Holy Place to offer them. Otherwise, wouldn’t the offering of those sacrifices have ceased? For if the people performing the service had been cleansed once and for all, they would no longer have sins on their conscience. No, it is quite the contrary — in these sacrifices is a reminder of sins, year after year. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.’

Messianic Jews (Heb) 10:1-4 CJB

That seems rather clean-cut, does it not? And yet, as shown in the previous article, in Ezekiel we have sin offerings for this future Temple! So, what is happening? This requires us to slow down and examine this carefully because, in all honesty, we have a bunch of presumptions regarding the sacrifices provided in the Levitical system that just aren’t biblical.  

So, let’s go back to the start, back in Torah. It is here we see something easily overlooked, and it’s pivotal to understanding what the animal sacrifices were actually intended to do. While there were multiple types of offerings, the one truly in question here is the sin offering. But among the rabbis, it is better known as the purification offering because, while it deals with an aspect of sin, what it truly does is cleanse that which it makes atonement for. 

For example, in Exodus 29:

‘“Each day, offer a young bull as a sin offering, besides the other offerings of atonement; offer the sin offering on the altar as your atonement for it; then anoint it to consecrate it. Seven days you will make atonement on the altar and consecrate it; thus the altar will be especially holy, and whatever touches the altar will become holy. (vi)  ‘

Sh’mot (Exo) 29:36-37 CJB

Did you notice something strange here? The sin offering was directed to bring atonement for what? For the altar! For an inanimate object, a thing with no will and, as such, no ability to have sin! What sin does an inorganic, inanimate object commit!? And yet, it is having atonement made on its behalf. By the way, in Ezekiel, we see this exact setup repeated for the altar. 

‘He said to me, “Human being, Adonai Elohim says, ‘These are the regulations for the altar when the time comes to construct it, offer burnt offerings on it and splash the blood against it: you are to give to the cohanim, who are L’vi’imdescended from Tzadok and who approach to serve me,’ says Adonai Elohim, ‘a young bull as a sin offering. You are to take its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge and on the molding all the way around; this is how you will purify it and make atonement for it. You are also to take the bull which is the sin offering and have it burned up at the designated place [on the grounds] of the house, outside the sanctuary. ‘

Yechezk’el (Ezk) 43:18-21 CJB

That is very important. Let’s look at another example in Leviticus after a woman gives birth, she is to give a sin offering.

‘“‘When the days of her purification are over, whether for a son or for a daughter, she is to bring a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or dove for a sin offering to the entrance of the tent of meeting, to the cohen. He will offer it before Adonai and make atonement for her; thus she will be purified from her discharge of blood. Such is the law for a woman who gives birth, whether to a boy or to a girl. ‘

Vayikra (Lev) 12:6-7 CJB

Ask yourself what is happening here? What sin did she commit? This is tied directly to the birth of her child. You see like it says in Hebrews the blood of bulls and goats doesn’t clean the conscience of sin. But that isn’t even what they are being used for to begin with what conscience is there in an altar? What sin of the conscience is committed in the act of child birth? None!

Let’s look at Hebrews again:

‘For if sprinkling ceremonially unclean persons with the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer restores their outward purity; then how much more the blood of the Messiah, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself to God as a sacrifice without blemish, will purify our conscience from works that lead to death, so that we can serve the living God!’

Messianic Jews (Heb) 9:13-14

You see that the blood of bulls and goats restores the outward purity! It says it right there. The writer bases his argument about what the blood of Messiah does by using the fact that the outward purity is cleansed by the animal’s blood. In other words, if an animal’s blood, which is weaker and not as powerful as Messiah’s, is able to bring physical purity, then how much more is Messiah’s blood, which is more precious and powerful, able to, by Messiah’s atonement, bring a cleansing for the inside? It’s for the spirit. Further, it’s His sacrifice that leads to eternal life. No animal’s blood could ever do that, nor was it the purpose for which it was given.  

Yeshua’s sacrifice it the basis of the New Covenant promises, salvation, of which the most important part is the Resurrection with physical bodies that are free of sin! This fact is why the Apostles continued in the Temple offerings and animal sacrifices! There was no contradiction at play! But again, the question remains: if that is the case, then why the need for the animal sacrifices during the future 1,000-year reign of Messiah? Indeed, upon His return is the first resurrection of the righteous dead. 

‘Then I saw thrones, and those seated on them received authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for testifying about Yeshua and proclaiming the Word of God, also those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received the mark on their foreheads and on their hands. They came to life and ruled with the Messiah for a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is anyone who has a part in the first resurrection; over him the second death has no power. On the contrary, they will be cohanim of God and of the Messiah, and they will rule with him for the thousand years.’

Revelation of Yeshua to Yochanan (Rev) 20:4-6 CJB

We must remember that upon His return, while there is a resurrection of the dead, there are still people living on earth. Upon His return, He saves what is left of Israel at the end of Jacob’s Troubles. This can be found in many prophecies, but one of the most explicit will be Zechariah 12–14. By the end of which, we see all of surviving physical Israel saved but still capable of sin and death. These are those who, upon His return, mourn for the one they pierced. Why do they mourn? Because unlike any Messianic Jews, Jews who hold to their Messiah at the time, they will not be getting resurrected bodies. No, the first resurrection and rapture are only for those who hold to the Messiah of Israel and the Word before He returns. But when He returns, He will be saving what is left of physical Israel at this time from that satanic invasion of the beast that is on the cusp of destroying them. They mourn because, despite being saved, they will now see that it was Yeshua all along, and as other prophecies state, they will bear the shame because it was Yeshua all along. But despite this, He is saving them to survive just as he promised!

Yet here is the big news: while the resurrected dead will have glorified bodies and cannot die and wouldn’t need the sacrifices, “normal” people will still be on earth during this 1,000-year reign. Sin and death will still exist. It isn’t until the end of the 1,000 years, when a new heaven and earth are created, that sin and death are no more. It is also then that Revelation says there will be no more Temple, but again, that is after the 1,000 years. The point of the animal sacrifices is that while a Temple is in place, these sacrifices are needed, as the Temple houses the presence of God Almighty. Some would counter that we have His presence in us, and, well, yes and no… We have but a part, a piece of the Holy Spirit within us, some possibly more than others, but this is but a fraction of what was housed in the Temple of God. This is why a person who wasn’t in a purified state would die when interacting with holy objects in the Temple, let alone if they entered into the Holy of Holies. This is vastly different than the fragment of the Holy Spirit that each true believer in Yeshua has. That said, what else does prophecy tell us about this time? The survivors who live into the 1,000 years will come up to the Temple for the feast.

This is but one example:

‘Finally, everyone remaining from all the nations that came to attack Yerushalayim will go up every year to worship the king, Adonai-Tzva’ot, and to keep the festival of Sukkot. If any of the families of the earth does not go up to Yerushalayim to worship the king, Adonai-Tzva’ot, no rain will fall on them. If the family of Egypt doesn’t go up, if they refuse to come, they will have no [annual] overflow [from the Nile]; moreover, there will be the plague with which Adonai will strike the nations that don’t go up to keep the festival of Sukkot. This will be Egypt’s punishment and the punishment of all the nations that don’t go up to keep the festival of Sukkot.’

Z’kharyah (Zec) 14:16-19 CJB

This is the fullness of the New Covenant on earth, when the Torah is fully established as the law of the land for all the earth because the Kingdom of God will literally rule the whole earth. This is what was promised throughout Scripture.

You see, in the end, the animal sacrifices were never seen or used as a means of salvation, but as a means to have the presence of the Father Himself nearby. But what Yeshua and His blood bought was the very thing that brings all the promises of God to fruition, ending in eternal life in the new heaven and earth; not just nearby the presence of God, but fully in His presence, where the very light by which we will see anything will be the light of His glory and nothing else! No animal blood could do this. I pray you are blessed by this and that you can see just how well the Word of God connects these things when we allow it.