I was wondering if there are any religious people here who read the bible and enjoy it. How do you feel that in the bible God commands several men to kill animals for animal sacrifices and then enjoys the smell of the animals' burning flesh?

Nobody is biting the line yet??

:lol: at 4Life. Please. I'm sure the discussion would/will have few surprises.

Um, I'm religious (not Christian though) and I enjoy reading the Bible. How do I feel about Yahweh enjoying the smell of cooking meat? I think it's weird, considering he's usually thought of as being incorporeal. Sort of old-fashioned, the whole animal sacrifice thing. I think it's weird that Yahweh is prejudiced against people who grow vegetables (apparently). Yeah, Yahweh's just a strange guy. But not in a good way.

I'm a Christian. I read the bible. I love the Old testament as well as the new. God commanded the people to sacrifice animals. It is what he wanted. He didn't want apples and oranges. If he wanted those the people would have been sacrificing them. He wanted animals. You had to do as he said or you would be literally punished by him. God loves vegetables. He made them. He loves everything he has made.

About the smell. Animals flesh is want God commanded the people to sacrifice to him. It is how he was worshiped back then. God loved it. It is how he recognized that his people were worshipping him. I approve of the sarifices. It is what God wanted. If you're a christian, you will do what God tells you to do and not what you want. It is not about us, but God. We need to please God not otherselves.

Now that law is not in accept. Jesus came and nailed it to the cross. The Old Testament was a school teacher for us. It was only to perpare us for Jesus, and when Jesus came there was no more use for the Old Testament. We don't have to sacrifice animals now to worship God. We worship God in Spirit and in truth. That's why you don't see Christians sacrificing animals now ( for the worship of God). It was hard for those people. They didn't like it, but they had to do it. They wanted to please God. So yes I approve of it. It was part of God's plan to get us ready for Jesus. :)

The bible is so deep. It is deeper than many people think.

Monika

God evolved.

Into what?

Yo mama :p

Into a vegetarian!

Sorry, Monika, I'm feeling a bit silly tonight!

Aww, it's ok. :)

Hey I like your aveator.

Haha, Marie. So cute. :)

As an atheist, sometimes I marvel at how many discussions like this arise about the judeo-christian god, whom I (obviously) consider not to exist.

And still...

I barely have time to laugh at my own hypocrisy as I scurry off to discuss with as much (if not more!) seriousness the latest Harry Potter/Michael Crichton/Dan Brown/Orson Scott Card novel with my pals, and search for higher meaning, hehe. To each his/her own I guess ;-)

If you read closely, you see that God didn't literally enjoy the smell of burning flesh. It was the commitment the act represented that was pleasing. You know, say when you lived at home, your dad tells you to mow the lawn. Dad comes outside later on and smells (and sees) freshly cut grass. The smell may be pleasing to him because it's evidence that you did what was expected of you.

If you read closely, you see that God didn't literally enjoy the smell of burning flesh. It was the commitment the act represented that was pleasing. You know, say when you lived at home, your dad tells you to mow the lawn. Dad comes outside later on and smells (and sees) freshly cut grass. The smell may be pleasing to him because it's evidence that you did what was expected of you.

Well, yes, he "literally" did enjoy the smell of the cooking meat. You don't need to "look closely" for the literal meaning of something, you need to look closely for the underlying or non-literal meaning of something. :)

Numbers 28: 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a sweet savor unto me,shall ye observe to offer unto me in their due season.
3 And thou shalt say unto them, This is the offering made by fire which ye shall offer unto the LORD; two lambs of the first year without spot day by day, for a continual burnt offering.
4 The one lamb shalt thou offer in the morning, and the other lamb shalt thou offer at even;
5 and a tenth part of an ephah of flour for a meat offering, mingled with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil.
6 It is a continual burnt offering, which was ordained in mount Si'nai for a sweet savor, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD. shall ye observe to offer unto me in their due season.

I approve of the sarifices. It is what God wanted. If you're a christian, you will do what God tells you to do and not what you want. It is not about us, but God. We need to please God not otherselves.


I guess I've been puzzled by this for a long time. To approve of everything God wants...I have to ask, do you approve of the wholesale slaughter of the Midianites by the Isrealites on the command of God? This is one of the most distressing and un-enjoyable parts of the Old Testament, along with all the other tales of conquer and slaughter. The Old Testament God was a very violent character.

If you read closely, you see that God didn't literally enjoy the smell of burning flesh. It was the commitment the act represented that was pleasing. You know, say when you lived at home, your dad tells you to mow the lawn. Dad comes outside later on and smells (and sees) freshly cut grass. The smell may be pleasing to him because it's evidence that you did what was expected of you.

Yes he did, the scripture is so loud and very easy to understand. Have you read about Cain and Able? Abraham? It is all there he loved the flesh that he created to be burnted at stake! Monika is right, as sick of a christian God he was and still is.

I do not get him at all! I was raised a tongue talker pentecostal my whole life, and when I got a brain to think for myself, well why would "this christian god need this, whom we were taught that he created the aniamls and humans for his own pleasure, just to kill them!

Read closely again, in the New testement, that is what was required by the law. Once a year all the people that beleived had to come into the Holy of Holies to smell rotting flesh, so there God could forgive them of ther sins. Yes the christian God loved to create animals in Genesis, just to sacrafice them for the sin of Adam and Eve that is carried down to our oun families.:-/

I am sorry, I meant the old testement

I'm a Christian. I read the bible. I love the Old testament as well as the new. God commanded the people to sacrifice animals. It is what he wanted. He didn't want apples and oranges. If he wanted those the people would have been sacrificing them. He wanted animals. You had to do as he said or you would be literally punished by him. God loves vegetables. He made them. He loves everything he has made.

About the smell. Animals flesh is want God commanded the people to sacrifice to him. It is how he was worshiped back then. God loved it. It is how he recognized that his people were worshipping him. I approve of the sarifices. It is what God wanted. If you're a christian, you will do what God tells you to do and not what you want. It is not about us, but God. We need to please God not otherselves.

Now that law is not in accept. Jesus came and nailed it to the cross. The Old Testament was a school teacher for us. It was only to perpare us for Jesus, and when Jesus came there was no more use for the Old Testament. We don't have to sacrifice animals now to worship God. We worship God in Spirit and in truth. That's why you don't see Christians sacrificing animals now ( for the worship of God). It was hard for those people. They didn't like it, but they had to do it. They wanted to please God. So yes I approve of it. It was part of God's plan to get us ready for Jesus. :)

The bible is so deep. It is deeper than many people think.

Monika

I enjoy what you wrote, even though I'm agnostic, and sixteen. I hope people don't put you down!

I would have to agree with Ludi on this.

My personal opinion is that the Bible was written by men who believe in God and wrote stories and accounts of history through God-colored lenses. They believed they were acting on God's behalf when they slaughtered heathen villages and so when they wrote down the historical account they wrote that God commanded them to do whatever it was that they did. Likewise they believed that God would want animal sacrifices, so when they wrote down levitical laws they wrote that God requires animal sacrifices.

i would say, elohim enjoys the smell of the burning flesh because it represents purification--from sins and debts. it is pleasing because the other alternative is the noxious scent of wrongdoing. only blood can purify because blood represents life. life must be given to overcome sin. when elohim set things up in the garden He specifically told adam and eve that only death compensates for sin.

do i understand all this (as a christian)? no.

do i like everything elohim has done? no.

does it bother me that elohim required the life of animals for whatever reason? also no.

in my worldview, He gave life to all the animals. so it is Her right to take that life away. this includes for human-animals.

I do not approve of the killing of animals for animal sacrifice ritual used in the past. I mean, what did a harmless, poor, and innocent animal do to get its throat cut by, let's say, a double bladed sharp knife? Um..I don't get the whole thing with the blood. God had a choice to forgive people in other ways. He Choose to forgive them by having them kill innocent, defenseless animals, which I think is very evil. Plus, the person who did the killing had to had evil thoughts in order to do it. Just thinking about taking a life away is evil. This is God's love people were suppose to share with each other and other living things? It's like he is contradicting himself. It's like the people who killed animals to " please God" were taking sharp stabs to animals, cutting their throats, and allowing them to bleed to death, and at the same time, saying, " God's love you. This is his love I am sharing with you right now!"

Biblical theology mandates that sins can only be forgiven by the spilling of innocent blood. Animals, due to their innocent nature, had to be the scapegoat. If you believe that God is the Creator, by ending their life on this planet in such a holy manner, you would be just as certain that their new life in heaven would begin. So although it's sad that they lost their life on Earth, they gained a much better life. (There is biblical evidence of animals in heaven.) Eventually (according to Christian theology) God sent his son as the ultimate sacrifice. Since Jesus was free from sin, he was able to give his life as the sacrifice for the sins of those who would believe in him and ask for redemption through him.

Oh bless you kpickell. So kind. You almost made me cry. Haha.

I think that many people don't understand why God does things. God's word is really heard to understand when you don't have the Holy Spirit working with you. The Holy Spirit is our helper. He helps us to full understand God's word. Only when you come to Jesus Christ and be baptized and become a child of God and study his word will the Holy Spirit revile God's truths. Your natural self reading the word will not understand it. You must have the Holy Spirit to help you. If not, all you will see is your own understanding of it.

The Old Testament is full of hidden truths of God. It is only in the New Testament that the veal is removed or to say that the Old Testament is made clearer. If you truthy want to know what God says, you will not look for contradictions in his word. There are none. When you read God's word, you have to read it with an open heart. You must want to know the truths for God. You just can't read it one time. You're not gonna understand it. It takes a while for the Holy Spirit to revile the meaning to you. You must read it more then once.

I know that a lot of you don't understand what i'm saying. For those who do, thank you. Thank for saying kind things about me. MP, you may think I don't know what i'm talking about. That's cool. I'm just happy that some understand it. God bless.

MOD POST

How many times do the rules need to be explained? Personal attacks are NOT appropriate, and will not be tolerated on VB. I just deleted several posts that were either rude personal attacks or responses to them. Please keep the conversation civil and on topic. Thank you.

(There is biblical evidence of animals in heaven.)

Can you post reference to the relevant passages? Thanks! :)