Will there be sacrifices, offerings, Sabbaths, and Festival Observances in the Kingdom?

There is an anonymous commentator at Banned by HWA who regularly asserts that there will be sacrifices, offerings, and festival observances during the Millenium. This assertion is based on the premise that many of the prophecies found in the prophetic books of the Old Testament (like Ezekiel and Zechariah) apply to the Millenium and/or God's future Kingdom on this earth. Indeed, these prophecies have been a source of some consternation among Christians for many years and have been used as proof by others that the Bible is unreliable and contradictory. The consternation and the "proof" are a consequence of the aforementioned notion (that these prophecies apply to the future), and this is clearly at odds with what is revealed in the New Testament about Jesus of Nazareth (especially the book of Hebrews).

Recently, in response to my assertion that the book of Hebrews makes clear that Christ's New Covenant makes the old one obsolete. The commentator observed: "I would suggest that it is not the view of the author of Hebrews as your view misses the nuance of Hebraic argument. Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: and it is complicated, at least for me, in that you are not distinguishing between the Church Administration of the New Covenant and the Kingdom Administration of the New Covenant. Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Do you believe that Christ, after his return, will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah? I do; and the Ezekielian Torah is for the Messianic Age and therefore 'is a revision - and up-dating and a rectification - of selected topics of existent priestly legislation and practice very similar to, if not identical with, that of the Pentateuch [for the new era]...' (Moshe Greenberg, 'The Design and Themes of Ezekiel's Program of Restoration,' pp.233-35). It is more but it points in the right direction."

Unfortunately, the view of this commentator is not an isolated one. In response to the question, Why will people offer animal sacrifices in the Millennial Temple? in an article by David Levy for Israel My Glory, we read: "People often ask, 'If Jesus’ sacrifice was the only efficacious, once-for-all sacrifice to expiate sin (Heb. 9:12), why should animal sacrifices, which could never take away sin (10:4), be offered in the Millennial Temple during the Millennium?' It is true the sacrifices in the Millennial Temple will not expiate sin, just as the Mosaic offerings could not take away sin (v. 4). Many conservative commentators believe these offerings will be memorials, similar to communion that Christians take in remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. They believe the offerings will serve as visible reminders of Christ’s efficacious work. Although true, it seems these sacrifices also will have an additional function. Scripture says they will be offered 'to make atonement for the house of Israel' (Ezek. 45:17; cf. vv. 15, 20). This sacrificial system will not constitute a return to the Old Testament Mosaic Covenant or Law but will be a new system set up by the Lord with a dispensational distinctive applicable to the Millennial Kingdom."

I believe that these views are inconsistent with both the theology of the New Testament and a Christocentric interpretation of those Old Testament prophecies. In the remainder of this post, we will explore the scriptural evidence which demonstrates the validity of this observation.

In the Gospel of Matthew's account of the "Sermon on the Mount," we read that Christ said: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." Christ said that he came to FULFILL the Law and the PROPHETS. Moreover, throughout the New Testament, the prophecies of the Old Testament are interpreted through the lens of Jesus Christ. Don't believe me? Check out any good concordance of the Judeo-Christian Bible, and you will see that the phraseology of this or that prophecy being fulfilled by Jesus appears over and over again in the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Indeed, the New Testament makes clear that acknowledging Jesus of Nazareth as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah (Christ) is a fundamental tenet of the Christian faith (See Matthew 10:32, 16:15-16, Mark 8:29, Luke 9:20,12:8, John 1:41, 9:22,11:27, 20:31, Romans 10:9, Philippians 2:11, I John 4:15, 5:1, II John 1:7).

Moreover, most biblical scholars acknowledge that the anonymously authored epistle to the Hebrews is the most direct and cogent explanation of the Christian perspective on how the Old Testament should be interpreted in the light of the Christ event. In the eighth chapter of that book, we read: "Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second." The author then proceeded to quote from one of the OT prophets: "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more." This is immediately followed by: "In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away." In this way, the author of the epistle makes clear that he/she believed that Jesus Christ and his covenant represented the fulfillment of this prophecy.

In the next chapter (Hebrews 9), the author proceeded to explain how Christ was the fulfillment of the sacrificial system and the symbolism and ceremony described in Torah associated with the Day of Atonement. The author wrote: "But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God." Continuing in the epistle, we read: "Therefore he <Christ> is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant."

Thus, the author has set the stage to draw the following conclusions about Christ's fulfillment of both the prophet quoted and the provisions in Torah related to sacrifices and the Day of Atonement. The author of Hebrews concluded: "Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him."

In the following chapter (Hebrews 10), the author of the epistle summarized his/her conclusions about Christ's complete fulfillment of both the provisions in the Law and the prediction of the prophet. We read there: "For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, 'Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ When he said above, 'You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings' (these are offered according to the law), then he added, 'Behold, I have come to do your will.' He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified."

Did you catch that? According to the author of this epistle, Christ is the fulfillment of the sacrificial system! Sacrifices are no longer necessary - PERIOD! Christ's one sacrifice has atoned for our sins and has reconciled us to God. Future sacrifices cannot and will not accomplish what has already been accomplished by Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the ULTIMATE Lamb of God, sacrificed on our behalf. He is the one who has carried our sins away into the wilderness, away from us and God's presence!

Now, what about those prophecies related to a return to (or representing slight modifications of) the sacrificial system of Torah? Unfortunately, this is where the Armstrong Churches of God and too many other Christians have gone astray! They ignore or forget that ALL of the Old Testament prophets were sent to the sinful people of Israel and Judah during the period of the Davidic kingdom, or while they were in captivity after its prophesied fall! Don't believe me? Take another look at ALL of the writings of those prophets. The vast majority of those prophetic messages are clearly addressed to the people of Israel and Judah (there are a few which relate to some of the Gentile nations which interacted with the Israelites in some shape, form, or fashion). Indeed, the vast majority of these prophecies are predicated on the same principle which the Old Covenant was founded upon: "If you do this, God will do these things for you!" In other words, the fulfillment of many of these prophecies was contingent upon the repentance of the people for their continuing bad behavior, and their good behavior going forward.

Now, as we have already demonstrated, there is also another element present in many of these prophecies: That many of the things whose fulfilment was predicated on the Israelites behavior back in the day, would find their ultimate fulfillment in the work of the Messiah. In other words, the Israelites could have had a Temple like the one described in Ezekiel, but their continuous violation of the terms of God's covenant with them precluded that ever coming to pass!

In the fortieth chapter of Ezekiel, we read: "In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me to the city. In visions of God he brought me to the land of Israel, and set me down on a very high mountain, on which was a structure like a city to the south. When he brought me there, behold, there was a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand. And he was standing in the gateway. And the man said to me, 'Son of man, look with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.'" The prophet himself gives the context for what follows (the twenty-fifth year of their exile from their homeland). Moreover, once again, the prophet is told to give this message to "the house of Israel."

Frankly, some biblical scholars have ignored or failed to recognize that the majority of these prophecies were directed at the people of Judah and Israel back in the day, NOT to folks in the Twenty-first Century or the Millennium! Likewise, as we have already noted, some of them have ignored or failed to understand that many of the prophecies of the Old Testament were contingent upon the behavior of the people concerned (like Jonah's prophecy for the people of Nineveh). If Israel had heeded the warnings of her prophets and repented, they would not have been defeated, taken into captivity, and exiled from their homeland!

In similar fashion, if Israel had fulfilled its purpose (to introduce God to the Gentile world), then the vision of the prophet Ezekiel would have happened in their day. There would have been a Temple with water flowing from it, and the city of Jerusalem would have been known as "The Lord is There" (See Ezekiel 47 and 48). Nevertheless, imbedded within many of these same visions and prophecies, we are informed that there is also a connection to Messiah, that some of these elements will find their ultimate fulfillment in him, and not in the physical fulfillment which was contingent on the behavior of Abraham's physical descendants.

In other words, this writer does NOT see a return to the shadows and symbols of the Old Covenant. Christ's work makes that both unnecessary and untenable!