Similarities between OT and NT covenants.

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Old Testament Sacrifices and New Testament Fulfillment: A Bible Study Outline​

The Premise​

When we compare the Old Testament to the New Testament (particularly from a Protestant perspective), we might initially think many things have been done away with:

• We don't have priests anymore
• We don't sacrifice animals anymore
• We don't get circumcised anymore
• We don't obey the commandments anymore

Or do we?
Upon closer examination, we discover that all these elements still exist in transformed form:

• There IS a High Priest in the NT (Christ)
• We ARE called a royal race of priests (1 Peter 2:9)
• There WAS a Lamb sacrificed (Christ, the Lamb of God)
• Our hearts ARE circumcised (Romans 2:29, Colossians 2:11)

This study focuses particularly on sacrifice - understanding the Old Testament sacrificial system and how it points to and is fulfilled in Christ.

Part 1: Understanding Old Testament Sacrifices​

The Basics: Who, What, When, Where, Why​

Who performed sacrifices?
Early in biblical history, patriarchs served as priests for their families:

• Cain and Abel (Genesis 4)
• Noah (Genesis 8:20)
• Abraham (Genesis 15, 22)
• Job (Job 1:5)

Later, God established the Levitical priesthood:

• Aaron and his sons were consecrated as priests (Exodus 28-29)
• The tribe of Levi was set apart for priestly service (Numbers 3)
• This formal priesthood served Israel as they became a nation needing organized worship structure

Offerings vs. Sacrifices​

Not all offerings were sacrifices, and not all sacrifices were specifically for sin:
Types of sacrifices/offerings included:

• Sin offerings - for atonement of specific sins (Leviticus 4)
• Guilt offerings - for restitution and atonement (Leviticus 5-6)
• Burnt offerings - complete consecration to God (Leviticus 1)
• Peace/Fellowship offerings - thanksgiving and communion with God (Leviticus 3)
• Grain offerings - tribute and thanksgiving (Leviticus 2)
• Covenant ratification sacrifices - establishing covenant relationship (Genesis 15, Exodus 24)

Corporate vs. Individual​

Sacrifices could be offered:

• Individually - when a person sinned (Leviticus 4:27-35)
• Corporately - for the whole nation, especially on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16)
• On behalf of others - the high priest for the people, Job for his children

The Process: Confession and Determination​

A crucial but often overlooked element: When you sinned, you had to go to the priest and confess (Leviticus 5:5). The confession determined what sacrifice was required:

• Small sins = doves or pigeons (especially for the poor)
• Medium sins = lambs or goats
• Serious sins = bulls or heifers

The priest acted as mediator, hearing the confession and prescribing the appropriate sacrifice. You couldn't just handle it yourself directly with God.

The Requirement: Perfect Animals​

This is critical to understanding the system. The animals had to be without blemish (Hebrew: tamim - complete, whole, perfect):
Key passages on unblemished animals:

• Leviticus 22:19-21 - "you shall offer of your own free will a male without blemish from the cattle, from the sheep, or from the goats... whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it shall not be acceptable"
• Deuteronomy 17:1 - "You shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God a bull or sheep which has any blemish or defect, for that is an abomination to the LORD your God"
• Leviticus 22:22-24 - Specific defects excluded: blind, broken, maimed, having sores, bruised or crushed
• Exodus 12:5 (Passover lamb) - "without blemish, a male of the first year"
• Leviticus 22:27 - Animal must be at least 7 days old
• Exodus 12:46 / Numbers 9:12 - "nor shall you break one of its bones" (Passover lamb)

The animal had to be:

• Free from any disease or sickness
• Free from broken bones
• Free from spots or blemishes
• In its prime (first year, not aged)
• The best of the flock or herd

This was costly - you were giving up your best breeding stock, your most valuable animals. And this perfection requirement points directly forward to Christ.

The Problem: God Grows Weary of Sacrifices​

Despite instituting the sacrificial system Himself, God declares through the prophets that He is tired of their sacrifices:

• Isaiah 1:11-14 - "I have had enough of burnt offerings... I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats... Stop bringing meaningless offerings!"
• Amos 5:21-24 - "I hate, I despise your religious festivals... Away with the noise of your songs!"
• 1 Samuel 15:22 - "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice"
• Hosea 6:6 - "For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings"
• Micah 6:6-8 - "With what shall I come before the LORD?... He has shown you, O man, what is good: to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God"

Why did God reject sacrifices He Himself commanded?
Because ritual without repentance is worthless. They were:

• Going through the motions mechanically
• Treating sacrifice as a transaction: sin → sacrifice → back to sinning
• Living unjustly while maintaining religious ritual
• Missing the heart change that sacrifice was meant to represent

It's the same twisted logic we see repeated in both testaments:
OT version: "I've got my sin offering lined up, so I can do whatever I want. I'll just bring a lamb next week."
NT version: "Grace covers all my sins, so it doesn't matter what I do. Might as well keep sinning so grace can abound!" (Romans 6:1-2 - Paul explicitly rejects this)

Early Examples: Before the Law​

Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:3-5)
The first recorded offerings in Scripture:

• Abel brought firstborn of his flock with their fat portions (specific, best quality, involving blood)
• Cain brought "some" fruit of the ground (generic, unspecified, no blood)
• God accepted Abel's, rejected Cain's
• Hebrews 11:4 says Abel's sacrifice was "by faith"

We can observe the pattern without speculation: From the very first recorded sacrifice, blood and faith are connected to acceptance before God.
Job's Sacrifices (Job 1:5)
Job would rise early and offer burnt offerings for each of his children, thinking "It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts."
This raises questions:

• Can we sacrifice for others? (Yes - high priest did for the nation)
• For unknown sins? (Yes - Leviticus 4:13-14, 5:17-19 addresses this)
• Should we sacrifice "just in case"? (Not required, but not forbidden - Job's conscientiousness)

Abraham (Genesis 15, 22)
Some of Abraham's sacrifices were not primarily about sin atonement but about covenant ratification - God passing between the pieces as a smoking furnace and torch, establishing His promise.

Part 2: The New Testament Fulfillment​

Jesus Said: I Did Not Come to Abolish, But to Fulfill​

Matthew 5:17 - "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill."
The entire sacrificial system in the Law was pointing forward to Christ. Every lamb slain, every bull offered, every Day of Atonement - all of it was the shadow, and Christ's death was the substance (Colossians 2:17, Hebrews 10:1).
He didn't abolish the requirement for sacrifice - He fulfilled it by BEING the sacrifice.

There Was a Sacrifice in the New Testament​

The sacrificial system didn't disappear - it was completed:

• John 1:29 - "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world"
• 1 Corinthians 5:7 - "Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed"
• 1 Peter 1:19 - "the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot"
• Revelation 5:6, 12 - Christ as "the Lamb who was slain"

Christ: The Perfect Sacrifice​

Jesus met every requirement that had been established for centuries:
He was without blemish:

• Sinless - 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15, 1 Peter 2:22
• Even His enemies couldn't bring valid charges - Pilate: "I find no fault in Him" (John 19:4)

His bones were not broken:

• John 19:33-36 - When the soldiers came to break the legs of those crucified, Jesus was already dead, so they didn't break His bones
• John explicitly says: "For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, 'Not one of His bones shall be broken'" (Exodus 12:46, Psalm 34:20)

Every priest who ever examined a Passover lamb, checking for spots, checking for broken bones, checking for any defect - they were rehearsing, pointing forward to Christ.

Once for All​

The critical difference from the OT system:
Hebrews 10:11-14 - "And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God... For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified."
The OT sacrifices were:

• Repeated - daily, yearly, constantly
• Incomplete - "can never take away sins" (Hebrews 10:4)
• Ongoing - priests never sat down because the work was never done

Christ's sacrifice was:

• Once for all - "one sacrifice for sins forever"
• Complete - "It is finished" (John 19:30)
• Final - He sat down (the work of atonement is done)

No more sacrifices are needed. The sacrifice part is settled once and for all.

So What About Us?​

The pattern continues, transformed:
OLD TESTAMENT:

• Priests (Levitical priesthood)
• Sacrifices (repeated, animals)
• Perfect lamb (examined for blemishes)
• Blood covering (temporary)
• Circumcision (physical sign of covenant)

NEW TESTAMENT:

• High Priest (Christ) + Royal Priesthood (believers - 1 Peter 2:9)
• One Sacrifice (Christ, once for all)
• Perfect Lamb (Christ, no broken bones, without spot)
• Blood atonement (complete and final)
• Circumcision of the heart (Romans 2:29)

Part 3: Important Implications​

Grace is Not a License to Sin​

Just as "obedience is better than sacrifice" in the OT, this principle still applies in the NT.
The danger of "cheap grace":

• Treating Christ's sacrifice as permission to sin freely
• Romans 6:1-2 - "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!"
• Jude 1:4 - Warning against those who "turn the grace of our God into lewdness"

The distinction in Hebrews 10:26-27:"For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment..."
This doesn't mean stumbling or struggling with sin (1 John 1:8-10 acknowledges believers sin and provides for confession and forgiveness). It means:

• Deliberate, ongoing, unrepentant lifestyle sin
• Knowing what's right and choosing wrong anyway
• Treating grace as a license rather than power to change
• No intention of repentance or change

There's a difference between:

• Stumbling - a believer who falls, confesses, repents, and fights against sin (covered by grace)
• Willful sin - deliberately continuing in sin with no intention of changing (trampling grace)

We Have Even Less Excuse Than They Did​

In the OT, the saints had:

• External law written on stone tablets
• Priests as intermediaries
• Repeated sacrifices

In the NT, we have:

• The Holy Spirit writing the law on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33, Hebrews 10:16)
• The Spirit dwelling IN us (1 Corinthians 6:19)
• Power to overcome sin (Romans 8:13, Galatians 5:16)

Ezekiel 36:26-27 prophesied: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you... I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them."
If Abraham, Moses, David, and Daniel could pursue righteousness without the indwelling Spirit - what excuse do we have WITH the Helper living inside us?

Are We Re-Crucifying Christ by Continuing to Sin?​

Hebrews 6:6 speaks of those who fall away and "crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame."
While Christ's sacrifice was complete and doesn't need to be repeated, there is something about treating His grace cheaply that dishonors the sacrifice. When we presume on grace to continue in sin, we're essentially saying His death wasn't sufficient to change us - just to cover us.
God preferred obedience over sacrifice in the OT. He still prefers obedience in the NT - not as a means of earning salvation, but as the proper response to the completed sacrifice of Christ.

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Conclusion (To Be Continued)​

This study establishes the foundation: the Old Testament sacrificial system, with all its requirements and patterns, was pointing forward to Christ. He fulfilled it perfectly - the spotless Lamb, the final sacrifice, the once-for-all atonement.
But fulfillment doesn't mean elimination. The structure didn't vanish - it was completed in Christ. We still have priests (a royal priesthood), we still have a sacrifice (Christ), we still have circumcision (of the heart), and as we'll explore further - we still have commandments to keep.
The question isn't whether these things continue, but how they've been transformed through Christ's fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets.

 

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OT Hierarchy:

• People → Priests → High Priest → God (in Holy of Holies, once a year on Day of Atonement)
• Even the priests needed sacrifice for their own sins (Leviticus 16:6, 11 - bull for Aaron's sins before the goat for the people)
• The blood of animals was a placeholder, pointing forward (Hebrews 10:4)

NT Reality:

• Christ is our one High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16) who needed no sacrifice for Himself because He was sinless
• We are all priests - "royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9)
• We go directly to God - "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace" (Hebrews 4:16)
• One mediator between God and man - Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5)

Mediation vs. Intercession:

• Mediator = go-between who reconciles, establishes the terms. Christ alone does this.
• Intercession = advocacy, praying on behalf of. Christ intercedes (Hebrews 7:25), Holy Spirit intercedes (Romans 8:26-27), and we can intercede for each other (James 5:16)

The rope tradition (not biblical, but reflects the seriousness) shows the life-or-death nature of approaching God's holiness. Now? We're invited to come boldly because Christ tore the veil (Matthew 27:51).


Same pattern: priests didn't disappear, they were transformed. Sacrifice didn't disappear, it was fulfilled. Access to God changed completely.

 

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Three Reasons Jesus Cleared the Temple


When Jesus made a whip of cords and drove out the money changers and animal sellers from the temple (John 2:14-16), He wasn't just having a bad day. There were three profound reasons behind His righteous anger:


1. The Corruption of Commerce - "You've Made It a Den of Thieves"


The temple had become a religious enterprise. What should have been a place of sincere worship and repentance had turned into a marketplace where people's guilt was exploited for profit. "This little lamb, only eight months old, normally 59.95, but for you today - 49.95!" It was indulgences before indulgences existed - pay enough money, buy a good enough animal, and you're sin-free for another month. The spiritual had become transactional, and the poor suffered most under inflated prices they could barely afford.


2. The Lamb Was Standing Among Them


Here's the staggering irony: they were haggling over the price of lambs while the Lamb of God walked among them. John the Baptist had already declared it - "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). All this buying and selling of temporary, inadequate sacrifices, and the one perfect, final sacrifice was right there. The blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin (Hebrews 10:4), but they clung to the profitable old system even as its fulfillment stood before them. When Jesus said "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19), they thought He meant the building. He was speaking of His body - the real temple, the real sacrifice, the real meeting place between God and man.


3. "I Desire Mercy, Not Sacrifice" - The Heart Issue


Picture the scene: Jakob the priest standing there, axe in hand, a pile of dead animals beside the altar, blood everywhere. Day after day, year after year of slaughter. And God says through the prophets, "I'm sick of this." Not because sacrifice was wrong - He instituted it - but because their hearts weren't in it. "For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings" (Hosea 6:6). Jesus quoted this passage twice in Matthew (9:13, 12:7), driving the point home. The external ritual without internal transformation was worthless. They were going through religious motions while their hearts remained unchanged, oppressing the poor, pursuing injustice. Jesus was declaring: I want transformed hearts, obedience, compassion - not religious transactions.


The Lamb Was Standing Among Them (revised ending)


Here's the staggering irony: they were haggling over the price of lambs while the Lamb of God walked among them. John the Baptist had already declared it - "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). All this buying and selling of temporary, inadequate sacrifices, and the one perfect, final sacrifice was right there. The blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin (Hebrews 10:4), but they clung to the profitable old system even as its fulfillment stood before them.


Jesus didn't come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17) - there's a difference between ending something and completing it. The ultimate Lamb had to be slain, even in the NT. The Law's requirement for a perfect sacrifice still had to be satisfied - but this time, once for all. And that same Lamb who was slain is still covering sins today. When Jesus said "It is finished" on the cross, He wasn't saying the sacrifice stopped working - He was declaring the sacrificial work was complete. No more bulls needed. No more goats. No more doves. The perfect Lamb had been offered, and His blood continues to cleanse us from all sin (1 John 1:7).


Final paragraph (revised):


The temple cleansing wasn't just about stopping corruption. It was Jesus announcing that the old sacrificial system - corrupted by greed and inadequate by design - was being fulfilled in Him. The Lamb had arrived. The sacrifice still had to be made, but once it was finished, no more animals would be needed. No more excuses for unchanged hearts. The Law wasn't abolished; it was completed. And the Lamb who was slain continues His work even today.