A Bloodthirsty God, or an Adaptable God

I am what most people would classify as an animal lover, and as an animal lover, it is troublesome and problematic for my faith to look at the Israelite religion and see the ritualistic sacrifice of animals which God seemingly required from his followers. There is of course the argument that God required these sacrifices because he is a Holy God and cannot tolerate sin, and the punishment for sin is death. However, if God is indeed God, doesn't he make the rules? This arguement somehow binds God to some Holiness Code that was created by somebody else. But if he is indeed God, then it would stand to reason that he created said Holiness Code. It would seem to me that holiness denotes all that is good, and if God was indeed so good, why would he require that the punishment for sin be so bloody? It doesn't really seem to add up.


Another option could be that these ritualistic sacrifices didn't originate as an idea of God's, but rather as the construction of humans. Perhaps the Israelite rituals had their roots in the religions of their time. It is this option that I would like to explore in this post.


I will start by looking at the general view of the Mesopotamians in regard to their role in the world, and how they related to the gods. Humanity was created by the gods to serve and obey them. The only means by which humanity could influence the gods was through prayer and sacrifice, or in other words persuasion and gifts. It is also attested in many texts that the gods had to be sustained or fed by humanity. When a sacrifice was made, it was for the purpose of being eaten by the god to whom it was offered. An example of this is seen in the Epic of Gilgamesh Flood Episode in the eleventh tablet where Utnapishtim, after exiting the boat makes an offering to the gods.


Then I sent out everything in all directions and sacrificed (a sheep). I offered incense in front of the mountain-ziggurat. Seven and seven cult vessels I put in place,and (into the fire) underneath (or: into their bowls) I poured reeds, cedar, and myrtle. The gods smelled the savor,the gods smelled the sweet savor,and collected like flies over a (sheep) sacrifice.


In the older sumerian version of the flood, after all of humanity has been destroyed the gods are seen lamenting their decision as there was nobody to provide them with food and drink. In the Genesis account of this we see God also enjoying the smell of the sacrifice. Although it does not indicate that he eats the sacrifice, it does seem to play a role in his decision to never again destroy the earth.


20Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.


Although it does appear in the previous passage that God does indeed consume the sacrifice, in Psalm 50:9-13, Yahweh specifically denies eating the sacrifices. "I shall take no young bull out of your house Nor male goats out of your folds. 10For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. 11 I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine. 12 If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains. 13 Shall I eat the flesh of bulls Or drink the blood of male goats?" However, we have already seen in previous postings that the Bible is fraught with seeming contradictions. This is likely an example of a progression in thought and ritual. If we look at several examples in Leviticus it seems quite obvious that it was believed that God did consume at least a portion of the sacrifice.


3: 16'The priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar as food, an offering by fire for a soothing aroma; all fat is the LORD'S.


21: 6'They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they present the offerings by fire to the LORD, the food of their God; so they shall be holy.


21: 8'You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he offers the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the LORD, who sanctifies you, am holy.


21: 17"Speak to Aaron, saying, 'No man of your offspring throughout their generations who has a defect shall approach to offer the food of his God.


Therefore, like their mesopotamian neighbours, the Israelites also believed that the offerings they made were consumed by God. It never goes so far as to as to say that God required this food, but it is obvious that the nature of some offerings were sustenance for God.


It is also attested in Sumerian literature that the offer of a sacrifice should be a perfect animal. There are several examples in the Gudea cylinders which detail the building of the temple of Ningursu.


When the night fell, he went to the old temple to pray, so that the inclination of the one from the dais of Ĝir-nun (i.e. Ninĝirsu) would become favourable for Gudea. When day broke, he took a bath and arranged his outfit correctly. Utu let abundance come forth for him. Gudea left Iri-kug a second time; he sacrificed a perfect bull and a perfect kid. He went to the house and saluted it.


Like Utu, he rose on the horizon for the city. He wound (?) a turban (?) on his head. He made himself known by the eyes of holy An. He entered the shrine of E-ninnu with raised head like a bull and sacrificed there faultless oxen and kids. He set bowls in the open air and filled them full with wine. Ušumgal-kalama was accompanied by tigi drums, and ala drums roared for him like a storm. The ruler stepped onto the outer wall (?) and his city looked up to him in admiration. Gudea ……. (6 lines missing)


In Mesopotamian religion, the reason for the flawless animal is generally that it is more acceptable to the god (perhaps more tasty), whereas in Israelite religion, the flawless animal is often interpreted as being innocent (thus the blood of an innocent is spilt for the guilty) which is theologically more convenient when it is reconciled with salvation through Christ. However, the reason for the perfect animal may very well be in line with the mesopotamian reason for the sacrifices.

Motivation for performing these rituals for their respective deities seems to have been the same in both Israel and their neighbouring cultures. This was the prospect of reward. If one performed the rituals and served the gods, they would be rewarded by the gods. Examples of this can be seen in Babylonian wisdom literature. One proverb even goes so far as to say that one can control their god by witholding sacrifice.


"Do not sacrifice, sir, do not sacrifice. You can teach your god to run after you like a dog."

If one wishes to see the rewards that were promised to the Israelites who obeyed Yahweh, simply look at Deuteronomy 28.


1"Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
2"All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the LORD your God:
3"Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.
4"Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.
5"Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
6"Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
7"The LORD shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways.
8"The LORD will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you.
9"The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways.
10"So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will be afraid of you.
11"The LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your beast and in the produce of your ground, in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.
12"The LORD will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.
13"The LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully,
14and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.


There is another type of sacrifice that is not quite so bloody, but was also required by the gods and by Yahweh. This is an offering of worship. Take a look at a couple of Psalms.


Psalm 6
4Return, O LORD, rescue my soul; Save me because of Your lovingkindness. 5For there is no mention of You in death; In Sheol who will give You thanks?


Psalm 30
8To You, O LORD, I called, And to the Lord I made supplication: 9"What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness? 10"Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me; O LORD, be my helper."


It is clear from these verses that the psalmist is indicating that if God doesn't answer his plea, he is in danger of losing a worshiper. It also implies that God desires, if not needs the worship of his followers. If God didn't require worship, why would the psalmist use this as a bargaining chip?


In these very few examples (there are many many more), I have attempted to demonstrate how the ritualistic sacrifices of the Israelites were not unique in their practice. Rather, they were one religion amongst many that practiced ritualistic sacrifice to their respective deities. Even their reasons behind the sacrifices are very similar. Both used sacrifices to feed the gods as well as used them to obtain blessings and the help of their god in this life.


This leads us to the conclusion that in all likelihood, God did not mandate this sacrificial system of the Israelites, but rather the popular religion of the time involved these bloody practices and the Israelites naturally adopted this system inserting their own theological ideas into it. If this was the case, why would God have allowed such brutal pagan practices to occur amongst his people?


One option that I have come up with to reconcile this is quite simple. Here we see an example of how God comes into the culture of the time and adapts to that culture in order to reach humanity. If one looks at this passage in Hebrews 10 in light of this conclusion it takes on a kind of fresh light.


5Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7Then I said, 'Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.' " 8First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). 9Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.


This is quite the contrast from the God we see in the the early OT who seems to delight in the smell of the savoury sacrifices.


If we take this idea a step further, Jesus' death seems to be even more sacrificial on his part as he steps into the culture of the time and dies (perhaps needlessly) in order to fulfill a theological idea of a sacrificial system created by the Israelites and their surrounding pagan cultures. Of course this is just one idea of how to reconcile this seemingly brutal example of religious syncretism in the Israelites. It does however provide some comfort to myself to think that perhaps God is not a bloodthirsty God, but rather one who is so desperate to help humanity and to reach us, that he will even adapt and use our hellish rituals and cultish practices in order to have a relationship with us.