Most Christians are taught that Jesus died for their sins -- and the claim that Jesus was the "sin - bearer" for mankind is one the list maker has repeated often on the list of 365 supposed prophecies fulfilled by Jesus, including: 241. Isaiah 53:4b...He would bear the sins of the world... 1 Pet. 2:24 246. Isaiah 53:6a...He would be the sin-bearer for all mankind...Galatians 1:4 247. Isaiah 53:6b...God's will that He bear sin for all mankind... 1 John 4:10 254. Isaiah 53:8d...Dies for the sins of the world... 1 John 2:2 259. Isaiah 53:10b...An offering for sin... Matthew 20:28 265. Isaiah 53:11d...The sin-bearer for all mankind... Hebrews 9:28 The claim that Jesus died for the sins of mankind is referenced in the claimed "fulfillment" passage in the Christian bible, namely 2 Corinthians 5:21 which says "G-d made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of G-d." Today's claim -- and some additional ones we will visit later in this list all tie to the idea that Jesus' death removed sin from the world / mankind / followers of Jesus and so forth. This claim seems odd since there is still plenty of sin in the world -- including by many claiming to be Christians. No one can die for your sins. The T'nach (bible) makes this clear time and again -- we are responsible for our own actions. But did humans need Jesus to die to make them righteous? Not according to the T'nach (bible). All humans can be righteous. Was Noah righteous? Or Abraham? Or Daniel? These three were all righteous without sacrifices or Jesus. "Son of man, if a land sins against Me by trespassing grievously, I shall stretch forth My hand upon it and break its staff of bread, and I shall send famine upon it and cut off from it [both] man and beast. 14. Now should these three men be in its midst-[namely] Noah, Daniel, and Job-they would save themselves with their righteousness, says the L-rd G-d." Y'chezekel / Ezekiel 14:13 - 14. Noah, Daniel and Job could save themselves with their righteousness. No Jesus. No sacrifices at all. "For neither did I (G-d is speaking) speak with your forefathers nor did I command them on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning a burnt offering or a sacrifice. But this thing did I command them, saying: Obey Me so that I am your G-d and you are My people, and you walk in all the ways that I command you, so that it may be well with you." Y'rmiyahu / Jeremiah 7:22 - 23. "For I (G-d) desire loving-kindness, and not sacrifices, and knowledge of G-d more than burnt offerings." Hoshea / Hosea 6:6. "With what shall I come before the L-rd, bow before the Most High G-d? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Will the L-rd be pleased with thousands of rams, with myriad streams of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the L-rd demands of you; but to do justice, to love loving-kindness, and to walk discreetly with your G-d." Michah / Micah 6:6 - 8. "With loving-kindness and truth will iniquity be expiated, and through fear of the L-rd turn away from evil." Mishlei / Proverbs 16:6. "Performing charity and justice is preferred by G-d to a sacrifice." Mishlei / Proverbs 21:3. In Daniel 4 the king is told to bring charity and mercy to the poor to atone for his sins. No, sacrifices and blood are not needed to atone for sins -- and in most cases could not cover sins (only mistakes and some very specific minor individual sins). . . Qorban / קָרְבָּן (sacrifice) was only one form of atonement -- and only for very specific (usually accidental) sins. Serious sins always required repentance, turning to G-d and asking for forgiveness (both from the people you might have wronged and from G-d if you wronged Him). The Jewish bible tells us that when there is a Temple we are to bring qorban / קָרְבָּן (sacrifice) there and only there -- because it is the place chosen by G-d for sacrifices. Jesus was not killed in the only place sacrifice was allowed. Without a Temple we are forbidden from bringing sacrifices. We are following G-d's instructions by NOT bringing sacrifices at this time. Right now there is no Temple. There is a mosque -- and thus we Jews have no place in which to bring qorban / קָרְבָּן (sacrifice) . We sacrifice (as Hosea says): "Take words with you and return to the L-rd; say to Him: You shall forgive all iniquity, and accept the good and we will render (for) bullocks (the offering of our) lips. (in other words prayers instead of sacrifice." Hoshea / Hosea 14:.3. The Jewish bible tells us that sacrifices are not needed. Return to G-d and ask Him to forgive your sins -- and He will forgive you without sacrifices. No need for blood. Human sacrifices are forbidden in the bible. No one can die for the individual sins of another.
There have been many times in history where no Temple stood and no sacrifices could be made. King Solomon, the builder of the first Temple, remarked as he dedicated the first Temple that when one cannot bring qorban / קָרְבָּן (sacrifice) to the Temple G-d will listen to prayers and sincere repentance. "When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and confess your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple, 34 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their fathers." M'lachim Alef / 1 Kings 8-33. No need for blood. Human sacrifices are forbidden in the bible. No one can die for the individual sins of another. Not only can humans not be sacrificed, but even the blood of various kosher (domestic) animals is not the sole means of atonement. There is atonement through repentance (Vayikra / Leviticus 26:40-42, Shmuel II / II Samuel 12:13-14, Yonah / Jonah 3:10, Yechezkel / Ezekiel 18:21-32, 33:11-16), kindness (Mishlei / Proverbs; 16:6, Daniel 4:24), prayer (M'lachim I / I Kings 8:46-50, Hoshea / Hosea 14:2-3, Daniel 9:19), removal of idolatry (Y'shayahu / Isaiah. 27:9), punishment (Y'shayahu / Isaiah 40:1, Eichah / Lamentations 4:22), death (Y'shayahu / Isaiah 22:14), flour offerings (Vayikra / Leviticus 5:11-13), money (Sh'mot / Exodus. 30:15), incense (Bamidbar / Numbers 17:11-12), and jewelry (Bamidbar / Numbers 31:50). Even in bringing a sacrifice there were many things that added up in the atonement process. Sacrifice without obedience was useless. Obedience without sacrifice when sacrifice was required and possible, was useless. Obedience without sacrifice when sacrifice was never required or when sacrifice wasn't possible - was and is sufficient in and of itself, since it's all that G-d requires when sacrifices cannot be offered (see Y'chezkel / Ezekiel 18/33 and Hoshea / Hosea 14:2-3). Sacrifices tend to be "lumped together" as "one size fits all" by missionaries. In fact there were many types of sacrifices -- some brought every single day -- most of which had nothing to do with sin. Most sacrifices were to thank G-d and for peace -- not to atone for sins. There were also communal sacrifices for the entire nation of Israel (and sacrifices for all the nations -- not just Israel) as well as individual sacrifices for personal wrongdoings. The Christian bible and missionaries tend to ignore the fact that the worse individual sins could not be atoned for with blood sacrifice. Only the חַטָּאת chatat (a mistake, a "missing of the mark" -- you tried to do good but missed) and the אָשָׁם asham (guilt / trespass sacrifice) could be brought as a sacrifice for sins / guilt. Why animal sacrifice at all? Why blood as the question was posed? In sacrificing an animal the animal had to be domestic -- and owned by the person bringing the sacrifice. It had to BE a sacrifice. (Think back to the story of Cain and Abel where Abel brought his finest and Cain only brought "some"). . . The person bringing the sacrifice had to place his hand upon the animal and watch it being killed. He had to feel the life leaving the animal and realize that life is fleeting. It can be gone in a second. We must be grateful to G-d for our lives and for every precious second we are on this earth. G-d does not need, or even want sacrifices. G-d gave sacrifices to man. Jews were used to bringing sacrifices and this is why G-d permitted them. Qorban / קָרְבָּן (sacrifice) gave man a way to feel closer to G-d by giving Him something of value (be it money, flour, an animal, etc.). In pagan religions the gods were bloodthirsty and needed blood to be satisfied. In Judaism G-d permitted man to bring sacrifices because man needed them -- He needs nothing. Maimonides, aka the Rambam, suggested that qorban / קָרְבָּן (sacrifice) was ordained as an accommodation of man's primitive desires. In his Guide to the Perplexed (3:46), the Rambam explains that the nations of the world that worshiped animals generally worshiped one of three domestic animals: either sheep (as did the Egyptians, Targum Onkeles Sh'mot / Exodus 8:22), goats (as in Vayikra / Leviticus 17:7) or cows (as in India, until today). The prophet Isaiah does say that G-d's servant suffers because of (not "for") the sins of the world. This is not the same as the Christian concept that a human being can be a "sin" sacrifice -- or that the death of a person (even Jesus) could somehow "atone" for the sins of others. The theme of Y'shayahu / Isaiah 53 is that G-d is speaking from the future -- the messianic age when there is world peace, global knowledge of Him -- and all the Jews will be returned from exile to the land of Israel. Isaiah begins with G-d speaking at the end of the last verses of Read the last three lines of Y'shayahu / Isaiah 52: "Behold, My servant will succeed; he will be exalted and become high and exceedingly lofty. 14 Just as multitudes were astonished over you (saying) "His appearance is too marred to be a man's, and his visage to be human, 15 so will the many nations exclaim about him, and kings will shut their mouths (in amazement) for they will see that which had never been told to them, and will perceive things they had never heard. " Y'shayahu / Isaiah 52:13 - 15. (The quote is from the Artscroll Stone Edition translation, the link is to the Judaica Press translation). Then in Y'shayahu / Isaiah 53: 1- 9 the gentile nations speak (also from the future messianic era) -- admitting their shock to discover that the one they thought was despised by G-d, and whom they rejected, is really G-d's beloved servant -- now raised high in the messianic age. In the last few verses of the chapter G-d tells us that in those holy days of the messiah servant will be given the wealth of his persecutors. Needless to say -- Jesus was never given the wealth of his persecutors -- they murdered him and he died. Read Isaiah verse 12 for yourself: "Therefore, I will assign him a portion in public and he will divide the mighty as spoils -- in return for having poured out his life for death and being counted among the wicked, for he bore the sin of the many, and prayed for the wicked. " Y'shayahu / Isaiah 53:12. The gentile nations often stole from the servant (the Jews) -- even murdering them and enjoying the fruits of their stolen wealth -- living in the homes of those they killed, and enjoying their art, their goods and even their clothing. The Nazis, for example, even removed the golden tooth fillings from the Jews they murdered and used the gold for their enrichment. Even as the Jews have been murdered or exiled they prayed for the peace of the world and prayed for the wicked -- bearing the burden of the sins of those evil people -- but rather than seeking revenge, they prayed to G-d that all people turn to Him. . . In the messianic age the world will come to realize that the Jews were right -- there is only one G-d -- "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the L-rd has shone upon you. . . And nations shall go by your light and kings by the brilliance of your shine. Lift up your eyes all around and see, they all have gathered, they have come to you.. . Instead of your being forsaken and hated without a passerby, I will make you an everlasting pride, the joy of every generation." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 60:1 - 4. 16. Again, this did not happen with Jesus. No one can die for the sins of an other -- Moses actually offered to die for the sin of the golden calf, and G-d turned Him down with the clear message that each person is responsible for his own actions. Read Sh'mot / Exodus 32:30=34. Y'shayahu / Isaiah 53:12 speaks of a very specific type of sin -- the חֵטְא / cheit -- a mistake (a missing of the mark). You tried to do the right thing (it wasn't willful or knowingly doing something wrong). "Sin” is a חֵטְא / cheit -- an unintentional sin through carelessness — a “missing of the mark." Making mistakes (trying to do the right thing and missing aka sin) is all about learning from your mistakes and making up for them via apology, repayment, etc. G-d tells Cain way back in B'reshit / Genesis 4 that he can over come sin (this is "after" Adam and Chava (Eve) sinned, so OOPS there goes the idea of "original sin"). Y'shayahu / Isaiah 53:12 does not speak of willful sins or sins done on purpose -- no -- it only mentions the accidental sin, the חֵטְא / cheit. T'nach tells us time and again that the sin sacrifice ( חַטָאת קָרבָּן chatat qorban), teshuva (repenting of your sins and returning to G-d) and tzedakah (doing good for other people, aka "charity") atone for sins. The Torah also tells us that the חַטָאת קָרבָּן (sin sacrifice) only atoned for mistakes (a "missing of the mark" -- you tried to do the right thing and "missed." Intentional sins could be forgiven with acts of charity and repenting -- but not with blood (sin) sacrifices). The only other type of blood sacrifice which atoned for wrongdoing was the אָשָׁם / asham (guilt / trespass) sacrifice. A third sacrifice people think had to do with sin (but it did not) was the עֹלָ֖ה / olah. An עֹלָ֖ה / olah was not a טָּאת / sin sacrifice or a אָשָׁם / guilt sacrifice. An עֹלָ֖ה / olah, translated as "burnt sacrifice," was a voluntary sacrifice generally brought to G-d as a donation to G-d or to seal a vow. . . but sometimes brought for impure thoughts, not deeds). The חַטָּאת / cḥattat (accidental sins) and אָשָׁם / asham sacrifices were PRIVATE offerings brought by INDIVIDUALS, not “atonement” offerings on behalf of the entire nation. Also, no individual sacrifice could be brought for someone else or in advance. The type of offering was specified (female goat or lamb being the most common, but sometimes a bull, birds or flour) -- only domesticated (not wild) kosher animals were fit for sacrifice. Human sacrifices (Jesus anyone?) are totally forbidden by the Torah. Read Vayikra / Leviticus chapter 5 to learn about the אָשָׁם / asham (guilt / trespass) qorbanot (sacrifices) and the very few things they covered: Read Vayikra / Leviticus chapter 5 to learn about the אָשָׁם / asham (guilt / trespass) qorbanot (sacrifices) and the very few things they covered:
The אָשָׁם / asham (guilt / tresspass) qorbanot also atoned for stealing things from the altar. You also brought an אָשָׁם / asham if you weren't sure if you'd sinned -- or what sin you might have committed. If you weren't sure you'd sinnd you'd bring an asham, instead of a חַטָּאת / cḥattat (accidental sins). This is because a חַטָּאת / cḥattat (accidental sins) means an admission of the sin, and you'd be punished for it. If a person brought an asham (because they weren't sure they'd sinned) and later discovered that he had in fact committed the sin, he would have to bring a chatat at that time. Here is a translation along with the Artscroll Stone Edition footnotes at the bottom of each response to aid in your understanding of the passage. Y'shayahu / Isaiah 52:13 Behold, My servant will succeed; he will be exalted and become high and exceedingly lofty. 14 Just as multitudes were astonished over you (saying) "His appearance is too marred to be a man's, and his visage to be human, 15 so will the many nations exclaim about him, and kings will shut their mouths (in amazement) for they will see that which had never been told to them, and will perceive things they had never heard. 53:1 Who would believe what we have heard! For whom has the arm of HaShem been revealed? 2 In the past he grew like a sapling or like the root from dry ground; he had neither form nor beauty. We saw him, but without a desirable appearance. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of pains and accustomed to being sick. As one from whom we would hide our faces; he was despised and we had no regard for him. 4 But in truth it was our ills and he carried our pains -- but we had regarded him diseased, stricken by G-d and afflicted! 5 He was wounded as a result (because of) our rebellious transgressions, and oppressed as a result our iniquities. The chastisement upon him was for our benefit, and through his wounds we were healed. 6 We have all strayed like sheep each of us turning his own way and HaShem inflicted upon him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was persecuted and afflicted but did not open his mouth; like a sheep being led to the slaughter or a ewe that is silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth. 8 he was removed far away from the land where they lived and a plague came upon them (לָֽמוֹ / lamo) through the transgression of my people (the gentile nations). He submitted to the grave with the wicked and joined with the wealthy in his executions (בְּמֹתָ֑יו / b'motav) 9 He submitted himself to his grave like evil men; and the wealthy (submitted) to his executions for committing no crime and with no deceit in his mouth. 10 HaShem desired to oppress him and He afflicted him; if his physical being would acknowledge guilt he would see offspring and live long days and the desire or HaShem would succeed in his hand. 11. He (he servant) would see (the purpose) and be satisfied with his life's (not immortal soul) distress. With his knowledge My servant will cause the multitudes to be righteous; it is their וַעֲוֹנתָם / iniquities (for impulsive, lustful wrongdoings) that he will carry. 12. Therefore, I will assign him a portion in public and he will divide the mighty as spoils -- in return for having poured out his life for death and being counted among the wicked, for he bore the sin of the many, and prayed for the wicked. Footnotes from Artscroll Stone Edition: Isaiah 52:13 i.e. G-d's servant the people of Israel (Rashi) 52:15 Just as Israel had once been astonishingly degraded, so it will astonish the nations by its exaltedness when the time of redemption arrives. 53:1-3 this is the prophecy foretelling what the nations and their kings will exclaim when they witness Israel's rejuvenation. The nations will contrast their former scornful attitude toward the Jews (vv. 1-3) with their new realization of Israel's grandeur (vv 4-7). 53:5 we brought suffering upon Israel for our own selfish purposes; it was not, as we had claimed, that G-d was punishing Israel for its own evil behavior. 53:6 We sinned by inflicting punishment upon Israel. Such oppression is often described as "Hashem's punishment" (see 10:5, Habakkuk 1:12), for He decreed that it should happen (Abarbanel). 53:8 When Israel's exile is finally ended the nations will marvel that such a generation could have survived the expulsion from "the land of the living, i.e. Israel, that the nations had sinfully inflicted upon it. 53:9 Ordinary Jews chose to die like common criminals, rather than renounce their faith; and wealthy Jews were killed for no reason other than to enable their wicked conquerors to confiscate their riches (Radak). 53:10 That is, Israel. G-d replies to the nations that Israel's suffering was a punishment for its own sins; and when the people realize this and repent, they will be redeemed and rewarded. 53:11 Israel will teach the nations of G-d's righteousness.
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