Why Did People Sacrifice Animals In The Old Testament?
The Bible explains that there must be a sacrifice of blood before God can forgive sins:
22 God's Law taught that blood was necessary to make almost everything clean. We see that God does not forgive people for their sins unless there is blood from a death.
9:21Exodus 24:3-8 describes the events that these verses are talking about. Hebrews 9:22 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
In the time before Jesus, people used animal sacrifices to do this:
5 A person must tell the priest if he has done any of these things. 6 He must give a sheep or a goat for a sin offering. Then the Lord will not be angry with him. The priest will kill the animal as a sacrifice to atone for that sin.
Leviticus 5:5-6 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
But Jesus died and he was the ultimate sacrifice:
28 Christ also died only once as a sacrifice. In this way, he took God's punishment for the sins of many people. Christ will return to earth a second time, but that will not be as a sacrifice for sins. That time, he will come to save those people who are waiting patiently for him.
Hebrews 9:28 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
To read about why Jesus’ death means that no more animal sacrifices are needed, see the Book of Hebrews.
