Jesus, The Counterfeit Sacrifice & Priest

The New Testament proclamations that Jesus was God's perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world and that Jesus fulfilled the law in this regard are simply blatant misrepresentations of the Old Testament teachings.

One of the key assertions of the New Testament (NT) writers was the concept of "original" sin. This doctrine claims that sin is hereditary and is passed to all humans through Adam.While the Old Testament (OT) indicates man has an inclination to sin, it is does not originate from one person (Adam). The NT verses which establish this doctrine leave no room for anyone to escape this hereditary sin from Adam.

Rom 5:12,17-19
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and deathst as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned... For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

This claim that all the offspring of one man (Adam) inherited "original" sin which contaminates all humanity is contradicted by the OT teachings which state that each will die for his own sin and that through repentance each will redeem himself.

Ezek 18:20,30
The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him. Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be yo your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall.

Original sin is a NT invention which is used to set the stage for the need of a special savior, the man/god Jesus. This concept of original sin, taught by the NT, launches the mission of Jesus who is claimed to be the "sin" offering that pays the debt or atones for the sins of all humanity.

The NT writers portray Jesus as claiming he came to earth to fulfill the law (Matt 5:17). The NT goes further by claiming that only bloodshed can atone for sin. It claims that without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sin.

Heb 9:22
In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

This verse is an utterly false statement. In the OT there are different types of sins that require different types of sacrifices or atonement. Forgiveness does not always require bloodshed. Offerings of fine flour (Lev 5:11 ), money (Ex 30:15-16), jewelry (Num 31:50) and prayer ( Hos 14:1-4) can also atone for sin. In order for Jesus to meet the requirements and to fulfill the law for being a "perfect" atonement sacrifice for unintentional sin (which hereditary sin is), there are several conditions required for a proper unintentional sin offering which MUST be met:

1) The offering must be a "clean" animal, an animal approved by God for such a sacrifice (Lev 4). Humans are not on the list of animals which can be offered as sacrifice. Jesus was not qualified and failed to meet this requirement of the law.

2) The animal must be unblemished (Lev 22:22). Jesus was whipped, beaten, and circumcised. Circumcision was considered mutilation of the flesh according to the NT (Philip 3:2 and Gal 5:11-12). Jesus failed to meet this requirement of the law.

3) The offering must be made at the alter and the sacrifice would die of blood loss. The blood was then poured out at the alter and the sacrifice was burnt upon the alter. Jesus did not qualify and thus failed to meet these requirements of the law as he did not die of blood loss and did not die at the Temple and alter but on a hill.

4) Most importantly, the offering MUST be made by a Levitical priest. The full service priesthood was the exclusive domain of the Levites ( Ex 29:9). No Levitical priest offered Jesus as a sacrifice. Jesus failed to meet this requirement of the law. (The NT writers attempted to get around this problem which will be discussed later in this essay.)

1 Cor 5:7
Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast--as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

John 1:29
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

But this claim is also a direct contradiction of the OT teachings. The Passover lamb was NOT a sin or even an atonement sacrifice. The blood which was shed by the lambs was used to "paint" the door frames of houses to identify people of Israel so that the firstborn males of the Israelites would be spared from the plague of death which God would deliver to the land of Egypt ( Ex 12).

The Passover lamb was also not a community sacrifice as each household was to sacrifice it's own year old lamb. The lambs were also to be roasted and eaten. Jesus certainly did not fulfill this requirement of God's law and as the Passover lamb was in actuality many lambs which were NOT atonement sacrifices, the claim that Jesus was the Passover lamb who took away the sins of the world is completely bogus and a sham.

The closest OT representation of what Jesus was supposed to accomplish can be found in Lev 16 where all the sins of all the people are atoned for by the use of a scapegoat. This is called The Day of Atonement. The instructions given in Lev 16 speak for themselves:

Lev 16:20-22
When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites-ALL THEIR SINS--and put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert.

The Lev 16:30-34 instructions conclude with:
Because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from ALL YOUR SINS. It is a sabbath of rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance. The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeeo is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the people of the community. "This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites." And it was done, as the LORD commanded Moses.

This Day of Atonement pays for the sins of all the community, is to be performed by Levitical priests, is to be done each year, and the scapegoat IS NOT KILLED but released in the desert. Although this sacrifice most closely fits the description of the type of atonement Jesus was supposed to have accomplished for the sins of mankind, Jesus failed to meet these requirements as he was not a goat, was not released ALIVE in the desert, and was not ritualized by a Levitical priest. In summary, Jesus failed in all respects to fulfill the law as proper sacrifice for the sins of anyone.

This analysis would be incomplete without taking a look at how the NT writers attempted to "fix" the problem of Jesus not being a Levitical priest as required by law to offer a sacrifice. As will be demonstrated, the NT writers claimed Jesus was from the tribe of Judah and was not a descendant of Aaron and consequently not a Levite. The full service priesthy not a Levite. The full service priesthood was solely the property of the Levites as stipulated in (Ex 29:9, Num 25:13, and Jer 33:18) The NT writers, in order to get around this problem, performed some dishonest deconstruction of the OT teachings to accomplish their mission of turning Jesus into a priest so he could sacrifice himself.

The book of Hebrews is filled with these antics which deconstruct the Old Testament. Here is how it was done:

Heb 7:11
If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people)

First, the author of Hebrews attempts to discredit the Levitical priesthood. The first part of Heb 7:11 makes a false and misleading statement. The initial laws, including the commonly referred to Ten Commandments, were given to the people before the Levitical priesthood was established (Ex 20). The Levitical priesthood was actually established (Ex 40) after the Israelites had worshipped the golden calf and the Levites redeemed themselves by putting down the rebellion by killing their fellow Israelites (Ex 32). The people already had the law and did not receive it under the Levitical priesthood.

The author of Hebrews then introduces a "need" for a new priesthood in the continuation of Heb 7:11:

Heb 7:11 (cont).
,why was there still need for another priest to come--one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron?

The false statements continue:

Heb 7:12
For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law.

This is another false statement. The law doesn't have to change because the priesthood changes. The commonly referred to Ten Commandments were the same under the people's priesthood as they were under the Levitical priesthood. You'd think that if the Melchizedek priesthood actually superseded the Aaronic priesthood, Moses would have mentioned it. There is no priesthood which ever superseded the Levitical priesthood as the author of Hebrews claims. No such thing was ever done in the Old Testament.

The following verses continue the deconstruction of the OT teachings:

Heb 7:14-16
For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.

As noted earlier, here the NT writer admits Jesus is not a Levite but declares that Jesus is a "special" priest "like" Melchizedek and is a "special" priest "like" Melchizedek and is a bona fide full service priest based on his "indestructible life" and not on his ancestry. This is probably one of the most blatant examples of dishonest doctrine creation that the NT writers performed. God stated long after the era of the people's priesthood that only Levites (Ex 29:9) would be full service priests.

Heb 7:17
For it is declared: "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." (This verse refers to Ps 110:4)

Melchizedek was a king in Genesis (Gen 14:18) who performed some priestly functions. He performed these functions long before the full service Levitical priesthood was established by God. After the golden calf incident, the Aaronic (Levitical) priesthood superseded all other forms and was never replaced by anything as it was promised to the Levites as a lasting covenant. (Ex 29:9, Num 25:13 and Jer 33:18) In Heb 7:17 the author of Hebrews has attempted to make Ps 110:4 about Jesus when it is about David.

Ps 110:4
The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."

Heb 7:17 refers to Ps 110:4 which is about David, not Jesus. David was a priest like Melchizedek in that he performed some but not all priestly functions (2 Sam 6:17). While burnt and peace offerings am 6:17). While burnt and peace offerings existed prior to the Levitical priesthood, the full services of the Levitical priesthood did not. Instructions for sin offerings don't appear as a ritual until Ex 29. Until the tabernacle was built, there was no full service priesthood.

The new doctrine of deception is further advanced in the following:

Heb 7:18-19
The former regulation [that only Levites could be full service priests] is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.

God NEVER set aside his following regulation that only Levites could be full service priests:

Ex 29:8-9
Bring his sons and dress them in tunics and put headbands on them. Then tie sashes on Aaron and his sons. The priesthood is theirs by a lasting ordinance. In this way you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.

The Levites, by acting as God's enforcers to quell the rebellion which occurred when the people worshipped the golden calf, ensured themselves of God's promise that they, and only they, would be full service priests:

Ex 32:28-29
The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. Then Moses said, "You have been set apart to the LORD today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and ere against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day."

The regulation regarding the priesthood, which the author of Hebrews declares is "weak and useless" is in fact God's LAW, and God's law is not "weak and useless" but PERFECT and ETERNAL as the following verses clearly show:

Ps 19:7
The law of the LORD is PERFECT, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

Ps 119:160
All your words are true; all your righteous laws are ETERNAL.

The author of Hebrews has invented a new doctrine, and in effect declares God's prior law concerning the priesthood NULL and VOID. There is no "new" priesthood which replaced the Levitical priesthood. This is a fabrication which twists a verse about David into one about Jesus and then claims it is also a new priesthood which replaced the "faulty" Levitical priesthood. No such replacement ever occurred since the Levitical priesthood superseded all other forms and was promised to them as an everlasting covenant. Once the author of Hebrews has turned Jesus into a new priesthood of one member, the former requirement that only Levitical priests coirement that only Levitical priests could make such offerings is bypassed.

The end result of all the scripture twisting and deconstruction of the OT teachings is finally manifested:

Heb 7:27
...He (Jesus) sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.

Problem solved! Jesus, who could not be a Levitical priest can now make a sin offering. A new priesthood is invented by claiming that Jesus is the subject of Ps 110:4 instead of David and that God's promise which proclaimed that only Levites could be priests and make sin offerings was overturned.

The New Testament writers created a new priesthood for Jesus, ignored virtually all the requirements of a proper sin offering sacrifice, claimed Jesus was a singular Passover lamb which ignores the non-atonement nature of the Passover lambs (plural) sacrifice, ignored the promise by God that sin was not imputed by heredity from father to son, ignored the fact that Ps 110:4 is about David, and foisted a counterfeit sacrifice and priest upon the world and called him the Savior which all men MUST believe in to avoid the everlasting flames of hell.

Jews who follow God's instructions by obeying his laws and repenting when they sin are consigned to the flames of hell because they do not believe that Jesus was everything that the NT writers claimed he was. The fate of Jews who faithfully honor and hold to the teachings of the OT is sealed by the NT writers.

John 3:18
Whoever believes in him (Jesus) is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

The innocent (those who follow the law and repent according to the OT instructions) are condemned by the doctrine of "original" sin and their failure to believe Jesus is the Savior. The guilty (those who disregard God's laws and instructions and instead worship a man/god) are acquitted by the "perfect" sacrifice of Jesus for the sins of all men. Christians would do well to take to heart the OT teachings they so often ignore: "Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent-- the LORD detests them both." (Prov 17:15)

Since the New Testament writers could not fool the Jews into believing these concocted claims, they turned their evangelizing efforts to the Greeks and other non-Jews who had no detailed knowledge of God's laws as defined by the Old Testament. Non-Jews had little or no interest in looking up God's laws in the Jewish scriptures to see if they matched the claims of the Christian writers.

The final irony is that over the centuries millions have swallowed the bait, hook, line and sinker without ever looking at what the Old Test without ever looking at what the Old Testament actually says.Christian believers don't even submit these New Testament claims, which they declare as God's word to the world, to even basic scrutiny. Candy coated salvation, concocted priesthoods, and improper sacrifices may please the senses but they do not stand up to the requirements as set down in the Old Testament.

Also in an ironic sense, the following Old Testament scripture seems prophetic when applied to Christians who have rejected God's word and have accepted the New Testament counterfeit sacrifice and priest:

Isa 29:13
The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.