In 1987 the city council of Hialeah, Florida, passed several ordinances banning animal sacrifice for religious purposes. A district court initially upheld the council’s actions, citing four concerns: (1) health risks, (2) possible emotional damage to children present at the sacrifices, (3) cruelty to animals, and (4) the council’s interest in restricting the killing of animals to areas zoned for slaughterhouses. Six years later the United States Supreme Court disagreed with the district court’s ruling. In this 1993 decision, the justices found the Florida ordinances restrictive of the free exercise of religion, overturning Hialeah’s ban on animal sacrifice.

The provocative nature of this court case is understandable. We usually associate the ritual sacrifice of animals today with those who worship evil under the cover of darkness. It is easy to forget, however, the role of sacrifice in the history and prophecies of the Bible.

Ritual sacrifice has a future 

On a recent trip to Jerusalem, I watched an orthodox Jewish group carry out animal sacrifice as an “educational exercise.” Participants drove up in late model cars and met in a vacant lot, in broad daylight, in a hillside neighborhood within view of Jerusalem’s ancient temple. Organizers told us that in biblical times, Jerusalem’s high priest lived on this hill.

As I walked among orthodox families, I saw a rabbi sharpening his knife. I watched curious children and adults looking at the goat tethered for sacrifice. I cringed outwardly and inwardly as the animal died.

Someone from the group assured us that they did not see this as an atonement for sin. They saw it as a rehearsal done in anticipation of the day when sacrifices will once again be a part of Israel’s national worship. (These sacrifices are predicted in Ezekiel’s vision of a restored temple in the last days: Ezekiel 39-48).

The actions of these Jewish people are likely to raise questions. Some may wonder how anyone can look favorably on the fact that animal sacrifice is rooted in the Bible. How can we explain these blood rituals to those who believe that the sacrifice of animals represents not only cruelty to animals but religion at its worst?

Ritual sacrifices are not all alike

Unlike many cult rituals, the sacrifices of the Jewish Temple were done in broad daylight, not after dark. They were carried out only at the Temple altar, not in the shadows of a secret meeting place. Their purpose was to express contrition in the face of personal or national wrongs (Leviticus 6:1-7), not to manipulate spiritual forces for personal interest. 

Ritual sacrifices of the temple were usually eaten

Many have assumed that biblical sacrifice involved a wasteful killing of animals. In reality, however, the meat of most temple sacrifices ended up on the dinner table. After being used to illustrate a spiritual principle, the sacrificed animal was roasted and enjoyed by the family who brought it to the temple.

The animal I saw sacrificed at the Jerusalem “educational exercise” was no different. I watched men of the group clean and skin the goat and then put it in a large outdoor oven. The meat of the sacrifice became a meal for those who attended the event.

It is easy to forget that much of the rest of the world participates in the slaughter of animals. No one eats a piece of chicken or beef until the life of the animal has been sacrificed for the consumer. The difference is that the animals who give us our food die out of the public view in the privacy of commercial slaughterhouses.

By contrast, temple sacrifices added a deep spiritual significance to the animals who died there. The ritual could hardly be termed wasteful. In most cases only the fat and internal organs were burned. Even the hides were sold to local tanners for the making of leather goods.

Ritual sacrifice told a story of personal love

For thousands of years Jewish worshipers saw evidence of God’s love in their sacrifices. It was heaven’s way of reminding them that even unintentional sins were harmful (Leviticus 4:1-4). And while they may have understood that the animal was dying in their place, they could not see what we see.

With the advantage of hindsight, we can see that every part of the sacrifice was by design. No detail was wasted. Though the animals themselves were unaware of their role, they painted a picture which prepared the way for the ultimate expression of God’s love. A long history of Jewish sacrifice made it possible for a prophet named John to point at a rabbi from Nazareth and say to a crowd, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

Looking back we can see what John meant. Jesus did in His death what no animal sacrifice could ever do. He paid, once and for all, the price of sin and made His rescue available to all who believe in Him (John 3:16). Up until then, every animal sacrifice was a provocative ceremony that pictured and anticipated Christ’s death.

It may bother us to believe Ezekiel’s prediction that God will someday once again sanction the ritual sacrifice of animals. Didn’t Christ die once and for all? Isn’t the picture complete? The answer is yes. But as we use the symbols of His blood and broken body “to remember His death until He comes,” God apparently will use temple sacrifice to help His people remember how their Messiah suffered in their behalf.

I didn’t enjoy watching the goat die at the Jerusalem “rehearsal.” Some with me said the event made them physically sick. That effect, however, is the point of the sin offering. Christ’s suffering was immeasurable as He stood in our place. There is no way to know the agony that must have echoed throughout the cosmos when He cried, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). 

Father in heaven, I am troubled by my casual attitude toward the suffering of Your Son. I was more upset seeing a goat killed than I am when I eat and drink the elements of Communion to remember Christ’s death. Please forgive me for being numb to what He did for us when darkness dropped like a great curtain on His broken body. —Mart De Haan