Tag Archives: Sacrifice

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Judges 11

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Molech or chemosh When [Jephtha] realized who it was, he ripped his clothes, saying, "Ah, dearest daughter—I'm dirt. I'm despicable. My heart is torn to shreds. I made a vow to God and I can't take it back!" Judges 11:35 (MSG)

The story in today's chapter is a horribly tragic event that is incredibly confusing in today's world. It's easy to walk away from the story scratching our heads and throwing our hands up in the air. Yet, God's message is like Aesop's stories. There is generally a reason the story has been told. We just have to find the clues.

The first clue is a theme that has been running throughout the book of Judges. The people of Israel have been in a continuous cycle of idolatry. Try as they may, they keep mingling God, Jehovah, with the gods and idols of the people around them. They keep falling into idolatry despite God's numero uno command in the Top Ten List of commands God gave them through Moses. At the beginning of Judges, the theme is announced and highlighted when God warns Israel not to get mixed up with foreign gods or "their gods will become a trap" (Judges 2:3).

In the midst of Jepthah's parley with the Amomnites (vss 14-27), he mentions their god, Chemosh and he sets up the battle as a clash of between Jehovah and Chemosh. Here, the second clue is revealed. One of the things scholars know about the ancient god Chemosh is that human sacrifice was used on special occasions to secure the god's favor. If bowing before idols is against the rules, then sacrificing humans to those gods is a downright abomination.

As soon as Jepthah's victory on behalf of Jehovah is complete, however, he makes a silly vow and ends up sacrificing his own daughter in a despicable, senseless act. Jepthah sacrifices his daughter to God the way the Ammonites would sacrifice someone to Chemosh (a.k.a Molech, pictured above). For all of Jepthah's high spirited talk, his actions reveal that his faith has gotten mixed up with the gods of the Ammonites. It' reminds us of what Jesus said of the people of Israel: "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." The moral of the story is revealed and points back to God's ominous warning at the beginning of the book: "don't get mixed up with other gods, or the consequences will be tragic."

Today, I'm thinking about the gods of this age and culture. I'm thinking about the god of sex, the god of money, the god of materialism, the god of convenience, and the god of self. I'm wondering how these gods have affected my relationship with God. How do my own actions reveal that my heart is incongruent with the words from my lips (and the words from my qwerty keyboard). 

Maybe I'm more like Jepthah than I care to admit.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Exodus 29

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Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. Then you will slaughter the bull in the presence of God at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Take some of the bull's blood and smear it on the horns of the Altar with your finger; pour the rest of the blood on the base of the Altar. Exodus 29:11-12 (MSG)

Have you ever picked up a novel and started reading it from the middle, or started watching a movie half-way in? It's a crazy-maker, isn't it? You find yourself trying to follow threads of the story without knowing what happened before. You feel lost and confused about characters and where the story is going.

According to God's message, the history of mankind is, indeed, a story. It's His-story. It is the story of man's willful disobedience, fall from God's grace and God's work of restoring that broken relationship. Without the context of the entire story, the chapters (like today's) are difficult to understand. The sacrificial system we read about it Exodus is brutal and confusing in today's world. Yet, it is an important piece of the larger story.

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the fruit in the Garden of Eden, relationship was broken and the punishment was mortality and death. For that ultimate disobedience to be forgiven, the penalty price of death had to be paid. God's message tells us that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness for sin. The consequence of our sins is brutally destructive. The price of our redemption is equally as brutal. That's why Jesus had to die, and his blood had to be shed. God's own son was the ultimate sacrifice.

The sacrifical system of Exodus is but a foreshadowing of the ultimate sacrifice God would make for me, for you, for all mankind. The daily, bloody affair prescribed for the wandering Israelites was a constant reminder of the seriousness of our disobedience – and the hight price of our redemption.

Today, I'm thankful for God, who provided the ultimate sacrifice for me.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and the_brazilian