Q3. Animal Sacrifice

[Gabriela]

Why is animal sacrifice repulsive to modern people? How much of it has to do with a city vs. farming way of life?

Animal sacrifice is repulsive to most modern people because they are not used to the concept of actively killing their food.

In the city, most people keep animals as pets, so they would feel uncomfortable killing something that they had raised.

[Abbas Child]

Pastor Ralph has posed a question: "Why is animal sacrifice repulsive to modern people? How much has this to do with a city vs. a farming way of life?"

I personally feel that it is much harder to consider slaying an animal, if it has become a pet, whether on a farm or in the city. I just finished a deep look into the night of the first Passover; when the people of God killed perfect little lambs, with neither spot nor wrinkle. Their blood was then sprinkled along the side posts and over the top, or lintel of the door, so that the angel of death would "passover."

The thought of this shed blood from such a gentle creature is repulsive to our modern generation, until The Holy Spirit reveals to us the saving power of The Blood of God's Beloved Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. For without the shedding of blood, The Word tells us, that there is no remission from sin.

I would never want to kill a little Bambi; yet if my child's life depended upon its meat, I would certainly have to think it over. Our Heavenly Father never wanted to shed the blood of animals; yet the first parents sinned, and found themselves being cloaked in skins, provided by the death of an animal. Even in the midst of sin, God was merciful and covered them!

Repulsiveness comes with sin! And even farmers are sad when they have to put an animal down through illness. Farmers are raised to feed the hungry population, which requires the shedding of blood. Are they always happy with this process? I don't think so!

That is why we are all awaiting the great Heavenly gathering, when nothing but perfection will be before our eyes!! No more tears; no more death; and The Beloved Lamb will be The Light thereof, and there will no longer be a need for the sun, the moon, and the stars!

Blessed be The Lamb of God, for His Name is Holy!

elsie

[gwith4]

Animal sacrifice is probably repulsive to modern day people because we love animals so much. I just watched a TV show on "Animal Planet" where incredible rescues were made of all sorts of animals. Much time, money, energy, etc. was put into saving these animals -- both pets and wild animals. But, because they are living creatures, we do what we can to protect them. I think in some respects it stems from our "city" rather than farming upbringing -- but even on farms -- animals are slaughtered for food, etc. -- something which God has allowed.

Really -- the whole problem with animal sacrifice is that a perfect, innocent animal would have to die because of OUR sin -- nothing that the animimal had done. Sadly, very often for us (as it was for them -- see Jer. 7:21-26) our hearts become hard, and we forget that innocent blood was shed on our behalf.

The punishment we deserve fell on Someone else -- an innocent Lamb. Perhaps we would sin a little less -- or take it much less lightly if we could truly picture ourselves placing our hands upon the head of Jesus, then slaying Him, each time we sin.

[Abbas Child]

Animal sacrifice is probably repulsive to modern day people because we love animals so much. I just watched a TV show on "Animal Planet" where incredible rescues were made of all sorts of animals. Much time, money, energy, etc. was put into saving these animals -- both pets and wild animals. But, because they are living creatures, we do what we can to protect them. I think in some respects it stems from our "city" rather than farming upbringing -- but even on farms -- animals are slaughtered for food, etc. -- something which God has allowed.

Really -- the whole problem with animal sacrifice is that a perfect, innocent animal would have to die because of OUR sin -- nothing that the animimal had done. Sadly, very often for us (as it was for them -- see Jer. 7:21-26) our hearts become hard, and we forget that innocent blood was shed on our behalf.

The punishment we deserve fell on Someone else -- an innocent Lamb. Perhaps we would sin a little less -- or take it much less lightly if we could truly picture ourselves placing our hands upon the head of Jesus, then slaying Him, each time we sin.

From Abba's Child...What a powerful sentence that you have included in your post:

"Perhaps we would sin a little less -- or take it much less lightly, if we could picture ourselves placing our hands upon The Head of Jesus, then slaying Him, each time we sin."

This was a Rhema word and I thank you for it!

elsie

[KURT WEBER]

Some people are vegaterians and we have to respect them. Some people are different parts of the body of CHRIST. Therefore we are thankfull that the old atonment is passed and that JESUS paid the altimate price foir our sins

[charisbarak]

Animal sacrifice is repulsive to us these modern days. We are generally not in on the killing of the animals we end up eating, so we cannot relate. Those on farms, depending on livestock used for food, understand more, I think. I know some missionaries in a certain country where they slaughter lambs for special meals. It was hard for them to see this happen (it would be for me too) but they understood more about sacrifices after viewing the sacrifice (killing the lamb) these people made for them.

[Carol Janette]

I grew up on a small farm and we had to kill animals for our family's provision. Not only did we kill animals for eating, but my father hunted and trapped animals for their hides. He would sell the hides to make money to support our family. Being the oldest child it was my job to hold that dead animal while my dad skinned the hide from it's body. I can relate to the sacrifice instructions in the Bible. Being a "farmer" vs a "city" person may play a small part in the actual process of the killing and blood-letting of the animal, but it doesn't make you any less sensitized from the ordeal.

We were taught to appreciate all of God's creations, and realized that God Himself has provided those animals and even plants for our protection and provision. This type of mind-set keeps a person from hunting and killing animals for "pleasure".

[Saved55s]

Why is animal sacrifice repulsive to modern people?

In today's modern, fast moving society we are used to everything being packaged ready-to-eat in our supermarkets. We rarely think of the process of our meat being slaughtered before it's prepared for consumption. The death of animals to us in general is distasteful as we grow up in a society where we keep pets & are taught to love animals. The thought of having to sacrifice an animal would seem barbaric in many ways as we are not used to that way of life. We tend to want to think of spring lambs frolicking merrily in green pastures & not as a lamb being sacrificed. Our attitude these days would be why should some innocent animal pay for my sins!!!!

How much of this has to do with a city vs. a farming way of life?

Farmers are used to breeding stock & also familiar with the death of animals. Many kill their own livestock for food for themselves. Some survive solely on the stock they breed, it is their only source of meat. To these farmers killing an animal is more a normal part of their life where they breed stock for survival as opposed to city folk who go to the supermarket. City dwellers have everything prepared for them ready-to-go in supermarkets where there's no thought on the preparation of the meat they are purchasing.

[masika]

God wants us to offer ourselves , not animals , as living sacrifices- daily laying aside our own desires to follow Him , putting all our energy and resources at His disposal and trusting Him to guide us . We do this out of gratitude that our sins have been forgiven.

[Commissioned]

Q3. Why is animal sacrifice repulsive to modern people? How much of this has to do with a city vs. a farming way of life?

Animal sacrifice is repulsive to modern people because we see the killing of animals as necessary only for human survival. For many who live in the city, away from the farm life, they may never see an animal's life being taken away. Those who live or work on a farm may have many ocassions to see, assist in or themselves slaughtering of animals for commercial sales. This later group may become so acustomed to animal slaughter, that they see and feel nothing out of the ordinary.

[Miss Bo]

Q3. Why is animal sacrifice repulsive to modern people? How much of this has to do with a city vs. a farming way of life?

Animal sacrifice is repulsive to modern people because, in my view, we are taught to treat animals with love and care for them. We are taught that animals are pets and we should not hurt them. I grew up on a farm - I saw chickens, sheep, cows and rabbits being killed to provide food for the family. It was something I am still horrified by. I hated it and yet it caused me to have more respect for animal products. It also caused me to realize that something has to die to provide life for others - plants die and their decay gives other plants nourishment, animals die and give other animals nourishment, Jesus died and through rememberance of him in communion and accepting him into us we are able to live. I struggled with animal sacrifice in the Old testament and the fact that Jesus had to be sacrificed for us for years, but am finally realizing the entire connection. The majority of us see our meat in packages and miss the entire connection of the sacrafice of it getting there. Death , in some form, is needed for life. Jesus Christ was the ultimate death to give us life.

[Craig]

Q3. Why is animal sacrifice repulsive to modern people? How much of this has to do with a city vs. a farming way of life?

Animal sacrifice is repulsive to modern people because they cannot relate to it. It is not a part of their modern suburban or urban life styles. Most people go to the grocery store to buy their meat as well as produce and are not involved in the process of providing food for their table. They buy it already processed. Therefore, they cannot relate to the process, even though they know it exists and they partake in the end product.

[misindi]

I still remember my mother and grandmother killed our chicken and ducks and my brother and I crying if the chicken in question was born on our house. I am not disturbed by the idea of killing animals for food. What I think of the animal sacrifice is different because killing a bull or a sheep not only meant killing but most importantly it was money. You commited sin, you pay for it. How? with an animal whose price could be consistent with the sin.

Blessed we are that Jesus came as the Lamb of God, as we do not need to kill animals to Our Lord. Hearts I want, says the Lord, not sacrifices. Problem is we do not offer animal sacrifices nor we repent. Who knows perhaps if our society had to pay for every sin, could we see a change in moeurs?

I consider myself as a city dweller but because of my upbringing I see no problem in killing a chicken thopugh I could not do it myself.

[Ken Russell]

Q3. Why is animal sacrifice repulsive to modern people? How much of this has to do with a city vs. a farming way of life?

Most of us are city dwellers and have never seen an animal slaughtered. We are sympathetic towards the animal and find it distasteful to kill an animal even though we have no qualms about eating meat. God chose animal sacrifice to show us how much He hates sin and as a forerunner to the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus would make for us. God's feelings about sacrificing His Son are infintely more acute than any we could ever have over sacrificing an animal.

[delmix61]

As stated in the lesson, People today, at least those that have never been in a farm life, take meat for granted. They never even think of it as having been a living animal. also, not having been raised with sacrifice they find it brutal. In the days of Jesus it was just a part of life. People were raised with the understanding that that is what they had to do.

[Jewell]

Animal sacrifice is repulsive to modern people because we're not accustomed to it, we haven't been exposed to it, and often our animals become our friends.

Those who live on a farm, especially where stock is raised (versus crops) learn to accept that the animals are just that - stock. They know they will be butchered for meat and accept it as a way of life.

[BillR at Holy Apostles]

Animal sacrifice may be repugnant to modern people because many of us are so removed from killing anything. But, there are hunters and farmers among us who, judging from some of the posts, don't find the killing of animals as repulsive. In their cases, it's just part of the game (hunting or ranching).

Some posts mention that we've come to look as animals as pets and as movie characters. That also makes it harder to conceive of killing an animal for any reason at least for some of us. Others are right to point out that we who don't kill animals for sport or profit (or necessity) are hypocritical to some degree if we eat meat bought from supermarkets and then decry their killing (or sacrifice, presumably).

This is all good stuff; but I wonder if we aren't missing the point of the question. It asks why animal sacrifice is repulsive, not animal killing. Another way to answer this question may be that modern people find animal sacrifice repulsive because we don't want to deal with the repulsiveness of the depth of our sin. One of the posts mentions that for the early Jews, and perhaps other cultures, the sinner had to do the killing. And the animal killed was not used--it was burned up completely, wasted for any use.

Think about this for a moment. Even for those who now kill animals for sport or for business, an animal sacrifice means you do the killing with no normal reward. That is, you don't keep what you kill and consume or sell it. Instead, you kill for no reason other than to atone for your sin. If you don't like killing, the situation is only worse.

My answer is modern people don't like animal sacrifice because they think it is a very primitive and pointless exercise that we, as modern people, have outgrown. I think it reflects how callous we are to sin, and how we seriously underestimate how repugnant our sin is to a Holy God. I might even venture that the repulsiveness we may experience reflects how God looks at sin. And perhaps that was why He demanded it; to show us tangibly how repulsive our sins are to Him. That is, by going through the actual sacrifice, the sinner may have been repulsed, but was at least diminished by the waste of the experience.

And that is what sin really is--repulsive and wasteful.

As for the city/farming distinction, it likely plays a role today, making the thought of actually killing animals more repulsive for city dwellers. Yet I still think farmers, ranchers, and hunters would find animal sacrifice to be wasteful--not something they would want to do even though it may not be as repulsive to them as it is for a city dweller.

[Marleen]

We as modern West European People living in 2008, would even have problems killing a chicken. It's not part of our lives anymore. We now buy everything 'killed for us and even completely cut up in the pieces we like'. 'Blood' is something that is FAR AWAY from our daily lives. it is foreign to me to have to kill an animal.

[Brendamay]

I am a retired Farmers wife, We kept Cows and stock, we raised the calfs to a certain age, then sold them on as stores. Then they would be fattened up then slaugtered for meat. I am glad that we didn't keep them to the end, as we looked after them and made sure there lives were full. They spent there days in the fields, coming in only for the winter. But we did have Cockerals, which we raised for the Christmas Dinner. My husband killed them quickly, and My Mother in law and myself plucked them, and dressed them for the table. I didn't like the job, but it had to be done. That was a long time ago now, I do not think it is practised anymore as it is all done in the factory. I do not think I could do it today.I feel that it is sinful to waste a life of an animal. by this I mean to cook, for food, then throw away without eating it. I do feel repulsed at the thought of sacrifice. I agree with

a previous post. That God wants us to be a living sacrifice. and Daily follow him.

[saricha1130]

I actually live in the city and have a Ranch as well. So this is an interesting question. Most people are repulsed by the fact that I send my calves to slaughter. They are also not so happy with the fact that I castrate most of my bull calves. Yet, there are many reasons I do these. One is to bring a better price at auction. But also, it keeps the calves calmer during their transitions as they progress in growth. If I do not catch them within the first month, I don't do it. It can be too stressful on them. Their focus should be to grow and be healthy.

I have had a cow I had to put out of its misery. She was suffering from pneumonia. I was a new rancher and had only book smarts. My advice was coming from my father and he declared me incompetent to rule pneumonia as a diagnosis. The cow suffered for my inability to stand up and take proper measures.

In the city, there is no fuss with animals, but you deal with a great more feroucious beast than any cow or bull - that would be the human species. People have forgotten we are to commune with one another, or that we are really brothers and sisters. They have become wrapped in the environment of the concrete beast and their only goal is to purchase a home where they do not have to do yard work. Needless to say, child rearing is quite different than it would be in the country. There is little appreciation for the farmer for those who live in the city. I know... i was one of them.

I never understood why a farmer would break his or her back creating a crop or cattle when the return was so little - until I did it for myselfr. And the first calf I pulled became my calf and my hope of more to come. Watchibng them grow and trying different feeds to see the best results... and the swell in my chest as I drove around the corner to my Ranch and saw them grazing in the field... I love this life. And... I appreciate the needs of the city.

[paulcrf]

Q3. Why is animal sacrifice repulsive to modern people? How much of this has to do with a city vs. a farming way of life?

Modern city people are not used of killing animals because they eat ready to cook meat usually in styrofoams tray. Unlike the Israelites who were herdsmen, killing animal for food was part of their routine. For city people, killing animal is something we have not been acquainted doing with.

[dawnp63]

Q3. Why is animal sacrifice repulsive to modern people? How much of this has to do with a city vs. a farming way of life?

1. "modern" people like to think that they "have come a long way" from our "ancestors". Western culture wants things sanitized and clean - that's why we go the supermarket to buy our meat, not to the neighborhood butcher. Many Eastern countries have open markets where you buy your meat that is either butchered right then, or was butchered that day and just hanging there....

2. Many people try to say that animals = people (animal rights activists) or even that animals are better than people. Genesis 1:28 says that God gave to Adam/man dominion over every living thing that moveson the earth, swims in the sea or flies in the air.

[OleManOz]

Q3. Why is animal sacrifice repulsive to modern people? How much of this has to do with a city vs. a farming way of life?

To preface my story I must state that I am much older than most of you.

When I was about 12 years old (in the mid to late 40's) my mother and brother and I were walking home from the neighborhood theater. As we were crossing a usually busy street (not so busy at 10pm) I noticed that our cat had showed up and was starting to follow us home. As she was crossing the street a car came along and flattened her. I had to walk past that cat for several days on my way to school. I saw parts of my cat that I hoped never to see. It was a mess.

I think that was when my stomach started to turn every time I saw such a sight and it has stayed with me to this day.

The folks on the farm usually raise most of their own food such as chickens, pigs and cattle. They also slaughter their own livestock. A country kid soon becomes conditioned to such sights. Attending sacrificial rites would not bother them in the least. I would avoid such ceremonies because every slaughtered beast would remind me of my cat.

OleManOz

[OleManOz]

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To preface my story I must state that I am much older than most of you.

When I was about 12 years old (in the mid to late 40's) my mother and brother and I were walking home from the neighborhood theater. As we were crossing a usually busy street (not so busy at 10pm) I noticed that our cat had showed up and was starting to follow us home. As she was crossing the street a car came along and flattened her. I had to walk past that cat for several days on my way to school. I saw parts of my cat that I hoped never to see. It was a mess.

I think that was when my stomach started to turn every time I saw such a sight and it has stayed with me to this day.

The folks on the farm usually raise most of their own food such as chickens, pigs and cattle. They also slaughter their own livestock. A country kid soon becomes conditioned to such sights. Attending sacrificial rites would not bother them in the least. I would avoid such ceremonies because every slaughtered beast would remind me of my cat.

OleManOz

ADDITIONALLY, a day later

Q3. Why is animal sacrifice repulsive to modern people? How much of this has to do with a city vs. a farming way of life?

Farm folk raise their own chickens, pigs and/or beef. They slaughter the animals and their children help with any little chores they might be able to perform so they are initiated into the process and become numb to any feelings of attachment or mercy as regards the animals.

We city folk do not have any such experiences to prepare us for such an event so it attacks our tender feelings with brute force. To us, animals are pets or things to be protected, not hit over the head with a sledge.

[Delivered]

Q3. Why is animal sacrifice repulsive to modern people?

I think it should be repulsive to all people, just as sin is repulsive to God. For God to get His point across, He instructed his people, who were slaves in Egypt, to take a young lamb into their home, and in so doing, it became as a pet to the family, an innocent animal that would be sacrificed so that they may be saved. The blood of the lamb would be put on the door post, so that death would pass over them.

How much of this has to do with a city vs. a farming way of life?

I don