seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Deuteronomy 12:15 Nevertheless, you may slaughter your animals in any of your towns and eat as much of the meat as you want, as if it were gazelle or deer, according to the blessing the Lord your God gives you. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it. 16 But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water. 17 You must not eat in your own towns the tithe of your grain and new wine and olive oil, or the firstborn of your herds and flocks, or whatever you have vowed to give, or your freewill offerings or special gifts. 18 Instead, you are to eat them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place the Lord your God will choose—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns—and you are to rejoice before the Lord your God in everything you put your hand to. 19 Be careful not to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land.
This is from the easy English site.
In the desert, the Israelites ate all their meat as a sacrifice. In their new country, they would eat meat for their ordinary meals. They would kill animals for food in the towns where they lived. The people did not have to be clean in order to eat the animals. However, people had to be clean in order to eat the food for sacrifices. They would eat the meat for sacrifices only at the chief place for worship. God told them that the blood caused the animal to live. They had to pour out the blood. They must never eat the blood in any meat. They had to give back the blood to God. (See Leviticus 17:10-14.)
The Israelites gave some sacrifices as a way to thank God. They brought other sacrifices, often lambs (young sheep), as sin offerings. Those sacrifices were to ask God to forgive them.
The Israelites gave some sacrifices as a way to thank God. They brought other sacrifices, often lambs (young sheep), as sin offerings. Those sacrifices were to ask God to forgive them.
This is from a site called freebiblecommentary.org.
"you may slaughter" This shows a widening of the Law. If an animal was killed for food and not sacrifice, it could be killed anywhere.
"unclean and the clean" This does not refer to unclean animals as far as food, but unclean animals as far as sacrifice. A blemished sheep could be eaten by humans as could some wild animals like deer, but not pigs, etc.
"you shall not eat the blood" This relates to the Hebrew reverence for blood as the symbol for life. Even when they killed animals, whether for eating or sacrifice, they poured the blood out and did not eat it, because life belonged to God. The blood represented life, life belongs to God!
"unclean and the clean" This does not refer to unclean animals as far as food, but unclean animals as far as sacrifice. A blemished sheep could be eaten by humans as could some wild animals like deer, but not pigs, etc.
"you shall not eat the blood" This relates to the Hebrew reverence for blood as the symbol for life. Even when they killed animals, whether for eating or sacrifice, they poured the blood out and did not eat it, because life belonged to God. The blood represented life, life belongs to God!
There is a lot of territory in the Promised Land. When the people left Egypt and as they traveled through the desert for those 40 years, there was a need for one Temple but it was movable. That would not be available daily once they got into the Promised Land. The people would be spread out over a massive area. These changes don't affect the sacrifice but they do relax those laws a little so that they can function on a daily basis without impacting the sacrificial way of life too much.
God still insists on choosing the place where they were to make those sacrifices. The reason was to keep them away from those pagan temples they had been instructed to destroy. God knew they had to eat. God knew they had to offer their sacrifices. They use to do everything in one place... but that may not be a option when the Temple is in this new set up.
That would be a long way to go to make the daily sacrifice and have a meal....
