The Necessity of God’s Great Forgiveness

“The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.”

Leviticus 6:13

Perhaps one of the most fascinating questions involving Old Testament passages is this: why was animal sacrifice necessary, at one point, to atone for transgressions against God? Many would probably state, “We will never fully know on earth, but it is what God commanded His covenantal people to do until Jesus’ death and resurrection.” And while this answer contains the weight of truth it falls short of contemplating all the captivating correlations inherent to God’s call for His followers to participate in substitutionary offerings. Therefore, let us briefly explore a few points pertinent to this subject. One, the slaying of animals represented the ultimate consequence of sin: death. We tend to associate the original fall of mankind with the fact that Adam and Eve were exiled from God’s presence, cast out of the Garden of Eden. But God’s foremost warning to Adam in Genesis 2:17 was not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil because if he did so he would surely die. Hence, disobedience equals death and animal sacrifice gruesomely reminds us that sin is ugly in God’s sight. And it reminds us that sin has disastrous consequences.

Two, animal sacrifice signifies that worship costs God’s believers something, not just in a monetary sense, but spiritually as well. In an ancient agrarian culture animals were given a high value, as they are today. Consequently, to part with treasured livestock meant that God’s covenantal people were rendering offerings unto God, rather than hoarding wealth or money-making possessions purely for personal comfort and profit. Therefore, worship means we willingly and humbly participate in voluntary offerings to God. This is critical because Scripture highlights that any wrongdoing, whether intentional or unintentional, premeditated or accidental, is despicable to God and requires restitution. In essence, the things we make wrong God demands be made right. Ultimately, mankind must be willing to seek God’s great forgiveness. If we desire to find the holiness of God we must expel the haughtiness of humanity. In short, spiritual restitution in the Old Testament was expressed and absolved through sacrificial worship.  

With all of this in mind, an incredible verse resides in Leviticus 6:13. In this passage, God told the priests to not let the fire of the altar of sacrifice ever go out. The requirement to have the flame of the sacrificial altar continually burning symbolizes the unending guilt of God’s people and their perpetual need for redemption. Now link this thought to Jesus’ final proclamation from the cross: “It is finished” (John 19:30). What a glorious and superior consideration! The undying blaze that seared the flesh of the substitutionary offerings in the Old Testament was finally and permanently satisfied with Christ’s self-offering. Jesus’ generous and gallous act was sufficient. It was enough. It fulfilled the role that the ancient atonement observances served: complete, total redemption. So may a spirit of gratitude for Jesus’ redemptive work singe away our fleshly, egocentric form and set us ablaze for the activity of God, ever thankful for Christ’s forgiveness-laced sacrifice at Calvary.