EARLY ISRAELITE RELIGION AND SACRIFICE IN THE BIBLE

KEY CONCEPTS, TEXTS , TERMS, AND DIAGRAMS MEAT EATING – PERMITTED AFTER THE FLOOD

• At the end of the Flood story Noah sets up an altar for meat • Humanity is permitted to eat meat, albeit in restricted settings and • With certain rules • The Priestly regulations are not yet in force • Kosher Dietary laws permit only “Tahor” clean or ritually fit animals EARLY ISRAELITE RELIGION

Early Abrahamic religion was earth based and not strictly monotheistic “El” was the generic name for God World was populated with many deities Ishtar/Astarte widely worshipped in the Near East The “Goddess” does not disappear from Israelite religion, but is subsumed into the Divine and the composite deity of ancient Israel YHVH “YAHWEH” NOT JEHOVAH

• Comes from “the South” from Seir • Tribal God of Midian? Jethro teaches Moses • Name is mysterious and perhaps a verb or process • “Is, Was, and Will be” in one Name • Some 19th century scholars see YHVH as a mountain or volcano deity • Storm God in the Psalms, one of the Council of Deities • E.g. “Who is Like unto you among the Gods” – Exodus • God is then at the top of a hierarchy – henotheism develops from Monotheism LATER MONOTHEISM

• The notion that there is ONLY one God emerges from the uniting of local deities • The YHVH of the Negev is equated with the YHVH of Jerusalem • Centrality of the Cult – the Mishkan in Jerusalem under and Solomon, later enforced by Hezekiah is critical development • After the destruction – in the Book of Isaiah, YHVH becomes an international deity, and then a COSMIC deity • After the 5th century there is less interaction…God “disappears” ANTHROPOMORPHISM

• YHVH – the 13 characteristics are chanted on the Holy Days • God seems to embody HUMAN characteristics – and this is foundational • El Rahum v’Hanun…Compassionate and Graceful and Forgiving • God also “bursts forth” with anger in Leviticus and various other places – Nadav and Abihu, Korach story • Moses manages and calms YHVH from His anger • The unpredicatability seems youthful…and related perhaps to a projection of the weather and climate; God’s “personality” seems violent and destructive at times THEORIES OF ORIGIN

• /Hebrews come from Aramea? Or in the Bible are said to originate in Mesopotamia; Abraham comes from UR of the Chaldees • Other theories – Israelites are Canaanites who rose up in rebellion and overthrew the overlords …and established the Religion of YHVH • Israelites are sea peoples and occupied Egypt and some fled and came to Canaan • Book of Judges traces a gradual conquering of the Holy Land • Genesis 15 establishes a unilateral covenant with God – God gives the Land THE BIBLICAL SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM – PEACE OFFERINGS (LEVITICUS 3) • The Hebrew word for fellowship offering is shalem, occurring 87 times in the Old Testament, meaning peace offering, requital, sacrifice for alliance or friendship, voluntary sacrifice of thanks. • There were three forms of Peace offering: • Thank offerings for prosperity or success (Leviticus 7:12, 22:29). • Vow offerings to secure a desired blessing (Numbers 6:2, 15:3, 15:8). • Freewill offerings to thank God for His bounty and assure its continuance (Leviticus 7:16, 22:18, 22:21).

• Key Word for SACRIFICE is … to draw “close” THE BIBLICAL SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM – PEACE OFFERINGS (LEVITICUS 3)

• Peace offerings were unique in that the offerer could share together with the priest in the consumption of the meat, hence the name fellowship offering. • The procedure for the sacrifice was analogous to the . However, God commanded the animal’s fat to be removed and burned on top of the burnt offering as “an aroma pleasing to the Lord” (Lev 3:5). All fat is the LORD's. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your dwelling places, that you eat neither fat nor blood. (Leviticus 3:16-17)

The Blood – DAM is the Life…and must return to the Ground . Origins of the kosher dietary laws in the Bible THE BIBLICAL SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM – PEACE OFFERINGS (LEVITICUS 3) • The animal could either be an unblemished oxen or smaller cattle of either sex. (Deformed animals were allowed for a for freewill offerings - Leviticus 22:23) • Peace offerings were always accompanied by grain and drink offerings. • Public Peace offerings could be public for the nation as a whole or private for individuals. • The right shoulder was “heaved” (laid aside for the officiating priest). • The rib cage was “waived” (symbolically presented to the Lord but physically given to the priests). • The rest of the flesh belonged to the offerer. THE BIBLICAL SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM – PEACE OFFERINGS (LEVITICUS 3)

• As the offerer had fellowship with God through his sacrifice and communed with the Divine in the Sacrificial Rite, the Rabbis teach that we can do this with prayer and contemplation

• Today we might conceptualize offering up ourselves internally as the “korban” – and through prayer, music, and kavvanah coming closer to the Divine. • For many Jews the sacrificial system should not be re-constituted • For others – they pray for the restoration of the sacrificial system • “Kirvah” – closeness through ecstatic music …is one of my ways THE BIBLICAL SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM – RED HEIFER OFFERING (NUMBERS 19)

• The purpose of this offering was to purify a person who had contact with a dead person. • An unblemished heifer that had never been yoked was killed outside the camp. • The High Priest ( or his successor) dipped his finger in the blood and sprinkled it seven times in the direction of the sanctuary. • The entire heifer was burned in the presence of the priest who cast cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet woolen material on the flames. • An undefiled man gathered the ashes and stored them outside the camp. THE BIBLICAL SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM – RED HEIFER OFFERING• On the third and (NUMBERS seventh day the 19) defiled person was sprinkled using hyssop with some of the ashes over which running water had been poured. • The tent and any furniture connected to the dead person was also sprinkled. • Since death is the result of sin, the red heifer is considered a . • Christians and Jews of course differ as to the meaning of this ritual…interpreted spiritually by both the kabbalists and the Church fathers THE OLD TESTAMENT SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM – RED HEIFER OFFERING (NUMBERS 19)

Hyssop THE OLD TESTAMENT SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM – MAJOR OFFERING SUMMARY Offering Purpose Animal Lay Use of Blood Priestly Lay Hands portion portion

Hataat Atone for sin Cattle, Sheep, Yes Smear on alter; sprinkle in Yes No Goats, Birds tent (on curtain for High Priest)

Asham Reparation/ Rams Probably Pour on alter sides Yes No Atonement for sin

Olah Surrender Cattle, Sheep, Yes Pour on alter sides No No completely to Goats, Birds God

Mincha Grain (wine) N/A N/A Yes No Shelamim Fellowship Cattle, Sheep, Yes Pour on alter sides Yes Yes with God Goats THE OLD TESTAMENT SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM – THE THE OLD TESTAMENT SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM – THE TABERNACLE THE OLD TESTAMENT SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM – THE TABERNACLE HIGH PRIEST -- COHEN GADOL CLOTHING OF THE PRIESTS – EPHOD, TZITZ, MITZNEFET, THE OLD TESTAMENT SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM – THE TABERNACLE THE OLD TESTAMENT SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM – THE TABERNACLE

EAGLE

OX LION

MAN THE OLD TESTAMENT SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM – THE TABERNACLE THE OLD TESTAMENT SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM – THE TABERNACLE

• The Tabernacle contained: • A little over one ton of Au (gold) • 3.75 tons of Ag (silver) • 2.5 tons of bronze • Total value of the materials at todays prices is approximately 47 – 48 million dollars. • The weight of the tabernacle and its furnishings is estimated at about ten tons (20,000 pounds). • It is estimated that there were between 32,000 and 75,000 adult male Levites! • A U.S. combat soldier carries at least 60 pounds requiring about 333,333 men to carry the Tabernacle and its furnishings. THE BIBLICAL SYSTEM – (ACACIA WOOD)

Acacia hardwood is a thick, dense byproduct of a species of tree or shrub in the Acacia family. The global Acacia family contains over 100 species of plants and trees that thrive in warm, tropical climates of Asia, Australia and Africa to the arid Middle East.