GOD GAVE very explicit instructions for the slaughter of animals required for the slaughter of animals for required offerings.
This week, we look at the first four: burnt, grain, peace, and sin offerings. (We’ll get to guilt offering next week.) We note some of the seemingly random requirements, such as slaughtering the bull for the burnt offering on the north side of the altar, and God’s repeated command to burn the long lobe of the liver, the organ used by pagans in their extispicy and haruspicy rituals to divine the future.
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ONE OF the great mysteries of the Bible is the sacrifice of the red heifer. According to Numbers 19, it is required to purify those who come into contact with corpses.
YAHWEH HAD very specific instructions for the offerings required for sin, guilt, peace, ordination, and even voluntary offerings, and there were precise ways in which the blood, meat, and offal of the sacrificed animals were to be handled by the priests.
