Andrew Meredith’s Reviews > Delivered from the Elements of the World: Atonement, Justification, Mission > Status Update

"Sacrifice is a "gate liturgy," a liturgy of return and access, designed for worshipers who are in the flesh, excluded from full enjoyment of the presence of God. Yahweh himself performed the first sacrifice, taking skins from animals to cover Adam and Eve. Sacrifice does not transform Adam or restore him to Eden. But under fleshly conditions it does what can be done: Yahweh's original sacrifice covers Adam's flesh. To kấpar is to cover, and by covering to put out of sight and to wipe away. Sacrifice enacts distance as well as proximity. Worshipers themselves do not draw near to Yahweh's table to offer themselves as bread for God (see Iehem "ělohim, Lev 21:21-22). They send animals to act as priest on their behalf. Worshipers do not pass by the cherubim in their own persons, but send substitutionary animals to represent them in Yahweh's presence, to submit to the sword and to be translated to divine smoke and fire on their behalf. The animal is killed in the course of its approach to Yahweh's fire; it cannot be otherwise, since worshipers approach Yahweh from a condition of "flesh," under wrath, exiled from Yahweh's cherub-guarded house. The animal cannot get into God's presence without suffering death at the hands of the cherubic priests with their swords and fire. Sacrificial smoke arises to heaven while the worshiper remains on earth. While worshipers draw near through the animal and the ritual, the rite itself reinforces their distance from God. As it depicts the boundary between the holy God who is a consuming fire and the fleshly worshiper, it also reinforces and maintains the boundaries of holy and common. Sacrifice is one of the elements that keeps the world in working order. The world of Israel is ordered by the separation of Israel from Yahweh, and every sacrifice reinforces that separation. The world of Israel is ordered by proximity to Yahweh, and every sacrifice gives limited access, while instilling hope that Yahweh might someday fully open up his house, or that there may someday be a sacrifice that can carry the worshipers themselves into Yahweh's house. Sacrifice is part of Yahweh's anti-flesh pedagogy: if worshipers are going to ascend to God, they have to shed their skin and be translated into something other than flesh. Every Israelite who sacrifices does what Yahweh did in the flood—destroys flesh in order to make room for a new creation. So long as they are flesh, they will have to be content to let the animal pass into Eden for them."

In Hebrew "ish" is fire and "ishsheh" is a burnt offering (a sacrifice), meanwhile "ish" (spelled differently in Hebrew but pronounced similarly) is a man and "ishshah" is a woman. There is an important divine marriage pun at play here.

The following is from a footnote that I found fascinating: "Prior to the appearance of the woman, the man is 'ādẫm, from the 'ādāmâ, the ground; with the presentation of the woman, he becomes ish. He begins as an earthen, unlit altar; but when the woman comes, he catches fire and speaks. Similarly, the arrival of the bride (Israel) "transforms" Yahweh. He has not been silent in Genesis, but nowhere do we hear anything like the discourses of Ex 25-40 and then nearly the whole of Leviticus. He is the divine Husband, whose tongue is loosed when he sees the Bride he has made for himself (see Zeph: 3:17) Yahweh himself becomes associated with ish (fire) only as the exodus approaches (Ex 3:2), as he leads Israel from Egypt (Ex 13:21-22; 14:24), at Sinai (Ex 19:18), in the finished bridal tent (Ex 40:38) and at the inauguration of the sacrificial system, when he breaks out in fire for the first time in the Bible to eat an 'isseh, bridal food (Lev 9:24). Not surprisingly, the first use of "jealousy" in connection with God is in Exodus (Ex 20:5; 34:14). Both of these are in connection with idolatry, adoring other gods. In Ex 20:5, Yahweh the Lover demands that his Bride devote themselves to him, not to an image; Ex 34:14 prohibits spiritual adultery or, as Yahweh calls it. 'harlotry' (v. 15). When 'ishsheh arrives, Yahweh reveals himself the divine archetype of the ish. For the first time, he is shown to be the consuming ish fired with jealous Passion for his beloved. Sacrifice provided way for bride Israel to approach Yahweh while remaining at a distance. It provided a way for the ravished divine Husband to "consume" his Bride in their marriage chamber."
The sacrificial system is, therefore, an ongoing wedding feast, presided over by the bridegroom priest (see Is 61:10-11).

In Exodus 34:7, nasa, often translated "forgives" means nothing of the sort. The text says that Yahweh "keeps hesed (covenant faithfulness) for thousands, who bears/carries (nasa) inquity, rebellion, and sin; yet He will not leave unpunished."

Israel, the nation of priests, bore the sins of the nations, the priests bore the sins of Israel (by consuming the sin offerings), the High Priest thus bore everyone's sins, and on the Day of Atonement (the Day of Coverings), he sprinkled the blood (which contained the life of the flesh, Lev 17:11) on the Ark of the Covenant, transferring it to Yahweh to carry, but not ultimately deal with it (yet).

"The Law is the sword that divides, and nothing but the Spirit can join together what the Law has torn asunder. The Law is spiritual, and only the spiritual can fulfill its righteous requirements. As long as Torah comes to those who are in the flesh, it can only kill. What is needed is something that can kill the flesh and raise up in the Spirit. What is needed is a form of sacrifice that does not rely on an animal substitute."

"Israel was chosen to bring blessing to the nations, but Israel turned the law into a symbol of national privilegea and boasting in flesh. Torah's purity rules were rules of access and welcome. Over time, Israel turned the good laws of purity into instruments to bar the way not only to Gentiles but also to other Jews. Jews came to regard impurity as even more virulently contagious than Torah says it is, and those who fail to follow the extended purity system of clean Jews are treated as outcasts. Purity laws, designed to provide access to God for people in the flesh, designed to regulate social connections within Israel, designed to prepare Israel for her mission to the nations, become instruments of exclusion and brute marginalization. At its worst, Pharisaical oral tradition is the law turned to flesh—turned into a means for reinforcing fleshly distinctions, restrictions and enhancing fleshly boasting--which is why Jesus so ferociously attacks the Pharisees."

Ultimately, the Law brought Israel under a curse. A curse that would wipe them away just as the flood did all flesh0 in the time of Noah.

"Only justification, whatever it is, however it is accomplished, can ensure the erection of a just society. The failure of Torah to create a just society is one dimension of the answer to our question, Cur Deus Homo? Who can save us from slavery to our own flesh? No law can do it, no matter how righteous. Only God can save."