It was reported in the Jerusalem Post today that several people were arrested for “planning to sacrifice a Passover offering in the Jerusalem area.” https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-798276
In response to this article, I would like to make two points:
1. The descendants of the Twelve Tribes, as Yahweh’s chosen people, were commanded by God to make these sacrifices. From a religious perspective of the Jewish people God has not changed his mind regarding the Old Testament rules of sacrifice.
2. God, Yahweh, provided a better and permanent sacrifice through Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He became the ultimate sacrificial lamb. God’s prophets foretold his death and resurrection. Jesus as a Jew observed the Passover according to Jewish custom. Just days before His death he went to Jerusalem to observe the Passover with his disciples. He declared His death and resurrection to them.
The prophet Isaiah says, “5 But He was [a]pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our [b]well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5 New American Standard Bible 1995
God brought about the restoration of Israel in May 1948. Jeremiah prophesied “14 “However, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ 15 but it will be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ For I will restore them to the land I gave their ancestors.” Jeremiah 16:14-15 New International Version
My opinion that the law forbidding sacrifice indicates that many of the descendants of the Twelve Tribes while reunited in Israel have yet to accept Yahweh’s authority and adhere to His commands under Old Testament laws. They are going their own way, which is equal to idolatry. More importantly, they fail to view Jesus as the promised Messiah.
Picture by Luke Hodde/Unsplash