God Commands, Approves of, and Delights in Burnt Offerings, Sacrifices,
and Holy Days.
Thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for
atonement. (Ex. 29 : 36.)
On the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of
atonement; it shall be a holy convocation unto you, and ye shall
afflict your souls and offer an offering made by fire unto the
Lord. (Lev. 23 : 27.)
And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar; ... it is a sweet
savor; an offering made by fire unto the Lord. (Ex. 29 : 18.)
And the priest shall burn all on the altar to be a burnt sacrifice,
an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord. (Lev. 1 : 9.)
God Disapproves of, and has no Pleasure in, Burnt Offerings,
Sacrifices, and Holy Days.
For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that
I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings
or sacrifices. (Jer. 7 : 22.)
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet
unto me. (Jer. 6 : 20.)
Will I eat of the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer
unto God thanksgiving, and pay thy vows unto the Most High. (Psalm 50 :
13, 14.)
Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the
new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies I cannot away with;
it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.... To what purpose is the
multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord. I am full of the
burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts, and I delight not
in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come
to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand? (Is. 1 :
13, 11, 12.)
God Forbids Human Sacrifice.
Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them [the
Gentile nations;] ... for every abomination to the Lord which he hateth
have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters
have they burnt in the fire to their gods. (Deut. 12 : 30, 31.)
God Commands and Accepts Human Sacrifices.
No devoted thing that a man shall devote unto the Lord of all that he
hath, both of man and of beast, and of the field of his possession,
shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy unto the
Lord. None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed,
but shall surely be put to death. (Lev. 27 : 28, 29.)
The king [David] took the two sons of Rizpah, ... and the five sons of
Michael; ... and he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites,
and they hanged them in the hill before the Lord.... And after that
God was entreated for the land. (2 Sam. 21 : 8, 9, 14.)
And he [God] said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou
lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there
for a burnt offering. (Gen. 22 : 2.)
And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without
fail deliver the children of Ammon into my hands, then it shall be,
that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me
when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be
the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. So Jephthah
passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the
Lord delivered them into his hands.... And Jephthah came to Mizpeh
unto his house and behold, his daughter came out to meet him.... And
he sent her away for two months; and she went with her companions and
bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. And it came to pass at the
end of two months that she returned unto her father, who did according
to his vow which he had vowed. (Judges 11 : 30, 31, 32, 34, 38, 39.)
God Tempts No Man.
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot
be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. (James 1 : 13.)
God Does Tempt Men.
And it came to pass after these things that God did tempt
Abraham. (Gen. 22 : 1.)
And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and
he moved David against them to say, Go number Israel and Judah. (2
Sam. 24 : 1.)
And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job,
that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright
man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil? And still he holdeth
fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy
him without cause. (Job. 2 : 3.)
O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived, [marginal reading,
enticed.] (Jer. 20 : 7.)