HUMAN SACRIFICE

The Bible, especially the Old Testament, is filled with numerous stories of animal and human sacrifice. God, we are told, likes the pleasing aroma of burning flesh. Animal sacrifice is much more common than human sacrifice, but both occur and are "pleasing to the LORD".

Genesis, the first book of the Bible, has Abraham preparing to sacrifice his son to God. "Take your son, your only son – yes, Isaac, whom you love so much – and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will point out to you." (Genesis 22:1-18) Abraham takes his own son up on a mountain and builds an altar upon which to burn him. He even lies to his son and has him help build the altar. Then Abraham ties his son to the altar and puts a knife to his throat. He then hears God tell him this was just a test of his faith. However, God still wanted to smell some burnt flesh so he tells Abraham to burn a ram.

The first seven chapters of Leviticus have extensive rules regarding animal and food sacrifices. These offerings are supposed to be burnt so that God can smell them. If you read through these it seems clear to me that the priests were getting their followers to make a big feast for them every week. The priests were very particular about what kind of food to bring and how to prepare it.

Even more peculiar is God's obsession with first-born sons. In Exodus 13:12 -13 the Lord said "Consecrate to me every first-born that opens the womb among Israelites, both man and beast, for it belongs to me." Later it says that you can redeem (replace) an ass with a sheep and that you must redeem a child for an unspecified price. It is clear from the context that "consecrate" means a burning sacrifice. Of course, it was a sin not to obey the priests. Since any sins in the Old Testament were punishable by death, these priests used the threat of death to extort food and money from their followers.

Here, in Exodus, like with Abraham in Genesis, the human sacrifice can be avoided if it is replaced with another animal or money. In other words, to avoid the death of one’s first-born child, the father would have to pay whatever the priest demanded. What amounts to kidnapping and ransom was perfectly legal there and then. Such behavior is definitely immoral. And, here and now, it would most definitely be illegal.

However, in chapter 27 of the Old Testament book of Leviticus the Lord allows for no redemptions. The human being must be sacrificed. To avoid difficult language, I will present the entire chapter from the Good News Bible (without the use of quotation marks):


LAWS CONCERNING GIFTS OF THE LORD

The LORD gave Moses the following regulations for the people of Israel. When a person has been given to the LORD in fulfillment of a special vow, that person may be set free by the payment of the following sums of money, according to the official standard:

• Adult male, twenty to sixty years old: 50 pieces of silver

• Adult female: 30 pieces of silver

• Young male, five to twenty years old: 20 pieces of silver

• Young female: 10 pieces of silver

• Infant male under five: 5 pieces of silver

• Infant female: 3 pieces of silver

• Male above sixty years of age: 15 pieces of silver

• Female above sixty: 10 pieces of silver

If the man who made the vow is too poor to pay the standard price, he shall bring the person to the priest, and the priest will set a lower price, according to the ability of the man to pay.

If the vow concerns an animal that is acceptable as an offering to the LORD, then every gift made to the LORD is sacred, and the man who made the vow may not substitute another animal for it. If he does, both animals belong to the LORD. But if the vow concerns a ritually unclean animal, which is not acceptable as an offering to the LORD, the man shall take the animal to the priest. The priest shall set a price for it, according to its good or bad qualities, and the price will be final. If the man wishes to buy it back, he must pay the price plus an additional 20 percent.

When someone dedicates his house to the LORD, the priest shall set the price according to its good or bad points, and the price will be final. If the one who dedicated the house wishes to buy it back, he must pay the price plus an additional 20 percent.

If a man dedicates part of his land to the LORD, the price shall be set according to the amount of seed it takes to sow it, at the rate of ten pieces of silver per bushel of barley. If he dedicates the land immediately after a Year of Restoration, the full price applies. If he dedicates it any time later, the priest shall estimate the cash value according to the number of years left until the next Year of Restoration, and set a reduced price. If the man who dedicated the field wishes to buy it back, he must pay the price plus an additional 20 percent. If he sells the field to someone else without first buying it back from the LORD, he loses the right to buy it back. At the next Year of Restoration the field will become the LORD’s permanent property; it shall belong to the priests.

If a man dedicates to the LORD a field that he has bought, the priest shall estimate its value according to the number of years until the next Year of Restoration, and the man must pay the price that very day; the money belongs to the LORD. At the Year of Restoration the field shall be returned to the original owner or to his descendants.

All prices shall be set according to the official standard.

The first-born of an animal already belongs to the LORD, so no one may dedicate it to him as a freewill offering. A calf, a lamb, or a kid belongs to the LORD, but the first-born of an unclean animal may be bought back at the standard price plus an additional 20 percent. If it is not bought back, it may be sold to someone else at the standard price.

No one may sell or buy back what he has unconditionally dedicated to the LORD, whether it is a human being, an animal, or land. It belongs permanently to the LORD. Not even a human being who has been unconditionally dedicated may be bought back; he must be put to death.

One tenth of all the produce of the land, whether grain or fruit, belongs to the LORD. If a man wishes to buy any of it back, he must pay the standard price plus an additional 20 percent. One of every ten domestic animals belongs to the LORD. When the animals are counted, every tenth one belongs to the LORD. The owner may not arrange the animals so that the poor animals are chosen, and he may not make any substitutions. If he does substitute one animal for another, then both animals will belong to the LORD and may not be bought back.

These are the commands that the LORD gave Moses on Mount Sinai for people of Israel.