“For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. …But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:4, 12). The author of Hebrews spent a great amount of Scripture demonstrating that Jesus and the New Covenant are better than Moses and the Old Covenant. Christ’s priesthood is better than the priesthood of the Old Testament. His promises are better. His sacrifice is better, which is the point of Hebrews 10:4 and 12.
The Mosaic Law prescribed daily sacrifices, weekly sacrifices, monthly sacrifices, annual sacrifices and special sacrifices. A vast number of animals were killed during the approximately 1,500 years between Mt. Sinai and the day of Jesus’ death. It is impossible to know exactly how many animals were sacrificed under the Law, but we can look at some numbers to get just an idea of the enormous amount.
Numbers 7 tells us that at the dedication of the Tabernacle, 36 oxen, 144 sheep and 72 goats were killed over a twelve-day period. At the dedication of Solomon’s Temple, 220,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep were killed. The historian Josephus records that at one Passover 256,500 animals were sacrificed, though some modern commentators believe that Josephus exaggerated many of his numbers. They say that it would only have been possible to sacrifice around 27,000 in the allotted time, which would still have been a lot of animals. However, an ancient Jewish commentator states that King Agrippa wanted to know how many animals were sacrificed at the Passover. He had a count done, and they stopped counting at 1.2 million.
Yet, all of those animals could not take away sins! Only Jesus could do that. He died once for all mankind. All the millions and millions of gallons of blood shed during the Mosaic period could not match the effectiveness of the blood that Jesus shed in His scourging and crucifixion.
We are so very blessed by the sacrifice that Jesus gave. Through Him, we have remission of sins. Study your Bible. Learn all about the scheme or plan of redemption. Learn how to contact the blood of Christ (Ephesians 1:7; Romans 6:3-5), and if any of this is hard to understand, ask an adult to help you.
