When we think of the Old Testament, we think of... animal sacrifice. Then we quickly blow it off as an archaic practice and forget about it. At most, we blow it off as some sort of communal celebration employing ritual symbolism, and nothing more. Because it was performed by the historical ancestors of one of the world's most powerful religious groups, we wash it in a bath of innocence and leave it at that. No peeking into dark corners and creepy cupboards for such fine, upstanding, normal people.
If we were speaking about a strange 'cult', or a people with less financial and social clout, the story would be quite different. If the religion we were talking about was Voodoo, or creepier yet, Santería, we'd hardly see animal sacrifice as anything so innocent or pure. We'd readily acknowledge the eerie connection between killing an animal and feeding a spiritual being with the life-force draining out of it.
Well.... that is precisely what animal sacrifice is all about, and the ancient Hebrews were no exception. If anything, I'd say they were a hell of a lot worse. The god that they worshiped shows signs of originally having been something of a man-eater. Okay, in less dramatic terms, the god of the ancient Hebrews settled for animal sacrifices in place of human ones. It was a trade-off that is recorded in the Old Testament itself. Instead of offering up their first-born sons, the ancient Hebrews were instructed in suitable alternative animal sacrifices. Make no mistake about it; there is no whitewashing the fact that their god considered the sacrifice of their first-born as his right to demand. The fact that this is substitution is so clearly stated in the Hebrew bible means that first-born sacrifice was a part of their practice at some time in their history. If it wasn't, it would not have borne mentioning in their sacred texts.
Of course, even as I was writing the paragraph above, I double-checked my information so as not to make an ass of myself over the conclusions that I had personally drawn from the texts, as well as the texts themselves. While doing so, I found an interesting site that draws the same conclusions I have (click here). So, I am certainly not alone in my evaluation of the scriptural evidence.
So, the ancient Hebrews probably practiced human sacrifice, but that is not the scary thing. At least, that is not the thing that scares and disgusts me. What scares and disgusts me is the whole idea of feeding a so-called 'god' with the life-force of innocent animals in exchange for your own, which is what sin sacrifices were created to do. You've got one hungry god there! Do nice gods want to eat life-force? I don't think so!
'For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.' Leviticus 17:11 (New American Standard Bible)
This definitely gives a person cause to re-evaluate their opinion of YHWH and his ancient Hebrew worshipers! The life-force is in the blood, and as we know from other religions practicing animal (or human) sacrifice, the life-force found in the blood of the sacrificial victim is offered up to the god (or gods) in order to feed them. It is their supper, plain and simple, all white-washing put aside.
Like many of the gods in the region, YHWH was a god that needed constant feeding. Animal sacrifices were offered several times a day, and their blood - therefore their lives - poured out as an offering.
YHWH was certainly no vegetarian, and every major action that he performed on behalf of his Hebrew worshipers seems to have been accompanied by acts of bloodletting on a mind-blowing scale. Any people-group who were inconvenient to his plans for his followers (or his followers' plans, as the case may be) were put on the hit-parade of those to be wiped out. First among them were the Egyptians, whose first-born were slaughtered in that event we now known as 'the Passover'. Bet you never consciously realized that the 'peaceful' celebration of Passover is, in reality, a celebration of an horrific slaughter of innocents.
Then came the conquest of the land of Canaan. In exchange for doing precisely what he them to do, YHWH promised the Hebrews the land would be theirs. What he told them to do was wipe out nation after nation, sparing only a few here and there. Much juicy, delicious blood, so full of life and vigour was once again spilled, and a great time was had by all - provided the 'all' was Hebrew.
Blood sacrifice can take many forms, and war is oftentimes just another way to feed a ravenous god. As we head into what may just be the start of another global conflagration, please remember this: they want to rebuilt that oh-so bloody temple in Jerusalem.
All images courtesy of Pixabay