The tradition of animal sacrifice...
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The tradition of animal sacrifice as an offering to God starts in the earliest days of the Old Testament, with the story of Cain and Abel. Cain, the farmer, made a burnt offering of the fruits of the field while Abel, the shepherd, sacrificed a young lamb. Abel's sacrifice was acceptable to God, while Cain's was not. Later Moses refined the practice of animal sacrifice by making it the special responsibility of the priestly tribe under Aaron. Even at the time of Jesus, this ancient ritual continued with sacrificial animals brought to the temple for slaughter and burning. Only with the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem in A.D. 70 did the practice end. Long before this time the prophets had pointed out that such sacrifices were often an evasion of the true meaning of religion. The verses which the writer of Hebrews quotes originated with the psalmist, Samuel, Isaiah and other prophets. They knew that animal sacrifice was an outward show which appeased the consciences of the people and enriched the coffers of the temple, but did not satisfy the requirements of God. They had instead become an easy excuse for not doing God's will. This is something for us to remember when we make an offering of money to the church or to some other worthy cause and call it a "sacrifice." The sacrifice God really wants is the dedication of our lives to his purposes.
