PITY FOR THE LAMBS

PITY FOR THE LAMBS!

2 Chron 7:4-5

4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord .

5 And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

John 1:29

29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

           The slaughter of 120,000 sheep boggles the mind! “In all, the temple celebration lasted 15 days, for having begun in the seventh month (2 Chron 5:3) and probably on the 15th day (cf. Lev 23:39), the Feast of Tabernacles extended through the 22nd day.”

           A lamb that was to be a proper sacrifice had to be clean, straight, and without blemish. It would be as perfect as any lamb could be both to honor the recipient of the sacrifice and to picture the One it exemplified.

The lamb had to be straight because I am crooked. It had to be spotless because I am blemished. It had to be healthy because I am diseased. The sheer horror of 120,000 sheep must have sparked some pity for the lambs. Perhaps that, too, is part of the sacrifice! But if we have pity for the lambs should we not find gratitude in our heart for the sacrifice of Jesus?

We are thankful this week not only for the stuff provided to us but also for the sacrifice freely given. He is pure because I am perverse. He is spotless because I am blemished and with His stripes I am healed.

Dear Lord, you are the perfect sacrifice! I will offer you the sacrifice of praise, obedience, and gratitude. AMEN