(August 5, 2012 at 10:22 am)spockrates Wrote: OK, please allow me to use a more modern translation, which is easier for my small mind to understand:
4 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Say to the Israelites: ‘When anyone sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands -- 3 “‘If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he must bring to the Lord a young bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he has committed. 4 He is to present the bull at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the Lord. He is to lay his hand on its head and slaughter it before the Lord.
(Leviticus 4)
This passage say to me that is a priest commits a sin that he did not know was a sin at the time he committed it, he must sacrifice an animal to atone for that sin, after he later realizes what he did was wrong.
21 “‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! 22 For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, 23 but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. 24 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. 25 From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. 26 But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their forefathers.’
(Jeremiah 7)
This passage says to me the sacrifices were necessary, but not sufficient. It's not enough to seek forgiveness and then hypocritically continue to do wrong. Faith is not enough to save someone from God's judgment. One must also repent and try to obey God.
Jeremiah does not say do good but don't seek forgiveness. He instead says do good AND seek forgiveness. So I see no contradiction, yet.
http://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInter...f/jer7.pdf
