Why will there be sacrifice in the Kingdom if Yeshua is the ultimate sacrifice?
- Yeshua being the ultimate sacrifice does not eliminate lesser sacrifices, either before or after His experience of sacrifice.
- There will still be sin in the Messianic Kingdom (although greatly reduced). Therefore it will have to be dealt with and forgiveness provided. The basis of salvation will still be the work of the Messiah. The means of salvation will still be faith. However, the content of faith changes, the practical outworking of your faith varies from dispensation to dispensation. True, living, internal faith has to express itself outwardly (faith without works is dead – James 2:17). For the OT Believer the content of faith was the Mosaic sacrificial system. For the NT Believer today – you and I – the content of our faith is the Law of Messiah (Galatians 6:2, Romans 8:2). We are to obey every applicable command in the NT (and there are over 600 commands in the NT). For the Believer in the Kingdom the content or practical expression of faith will be adherence to Millennial Law. Millennial Law will include a sacrificial system.
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The Millennial system will work exactly like the Mosaic system. Like the Mosaic system, the Millennial sacrifices will not provide salvation, they will provide education. They will look back as a memorial to the Ultimate Sacrifice of Yeshua (The same way that Memorial Day looks back to the sacrifice of those who died in our nation’s service.) The Mosaic sacrifices looked forward to the Ultimate Sacrifice of Yeshua and taught that it was coming and the significance of it. THe Millennial Sacrifices look back at what has come and teach the significance of it.
Those born in the Messianic Kingdom will still have a sin nature and still need salvation and education regarding the Gospel. They will need to hear the Gospel and respond to it. They will need to be taught Biblical truth. The Millennial Sacrifices will provide that for them. Participating in the system will be one of the ways that they will practically express their faith and obedience.
To put it another way, the Millenial system will be a mirror-image of the Mosaic system.
How do you synchronize Ezekiel’s Temple with the fact that Isaiah seems to indicate the world will be without violence (death, killing…) in the Age to Come … Isaiah 11:6-7 says:
“And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.”
Will human beings be the ONLY creatures that are still killing life for the sacrifices in the Temple?
In answer to your question, Isaiah’s statement does not rule out the operation of the Millennial Sacrificial system, nor does it state that the world will be without death, nor does it state that the world will be without sin. The Messianic Kingdom is the vestibule to the eternal state. In the Eternal State there will be no more death or sin or suffering (Revelation 21:3-8), but not before. To state that Isaiah 11:6-7 indicates that the world will be without violence is to reach a conclusion that is not in that verse.
Isaiah is speaking of the Messianic Kingdom. Only Believers (Jewish and Gentile) will be allowed to enter the Messianic Kingdom (Matt. 25:31-46). However, they will enter the Kingdom with a natural body containing a sin nature and beget children with sin natures. Satan will be bound during the Messianic Kingdom and therefore not able to stir up the sin nature to the extent that he does today (Rev. 20:1-3).
So there will be a measure of sin in the Kingdom. Not to the extent that we see today but none the less present. This is why Yeshua has to “rule with a rod of iron” (Psa. 2:9, Rev 2:27, 12:5, 19:15). The children born to these Believers will have to receive Yeshua as Messiah and Savior and be born again just as experienced today. However, they will have a lot more light than we have today and will therefore be under more responsibility to make the decision to receive Yeshua. Because of their increased responsibility, and because of the increased longevity during the Kingdom they will have 100 years to make their decision. If they refuse to accept Yeshua as personal Savior and be forgiven of their sins they will suffer the death penalty. This is also revealed by Isaiah in:
- Isaiah 65:20
“No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days; for the youth will die at the age of one hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred will be thought accursed.”
There will be no infant mortality in the Kingdom. Because of Kingdom longevity an individual will still be considered young at 100 years of age. Those who do not reach 100 years of age will be considered accursed. Why accursed? Because they will refuse to respond and place their trust in God while:
- living in a virtually perfect Edenic environment (Isa. 11:6-7 among others),
- seeing the return of the Shekinah Glory (Ezk 43:2-5, 44:4 among others),
- living under the personal rule of Yeshua from Jerusalem (Isa. 9:7 etc),
- mandatory participation at the Feast of Tabernacles (Zech 14:16-19),
- and the teaching ministry of the Millennial sacrificial system (Ezk. 40:38-43, 43:13-27, 45:13-25, 46:1-24).
So Isaiah also teaches us that there will be death in the Kingdom-death of unbelievers at the age of 100 years-decreed by God. There will also be a rebellion by those under 100 years of age at the end of the Kingdom period, after Satan is released and he starts deceiving the world again. That rebellion will also be dealt with using the death penalty (Rev. 20:7-10).
The Millennial Sacrificial system will serve the same purpose of the Mosaic Sacrificial system. Participation in it will not have the power to save anyone spiritually. However, it will be a very graphic visual aide teaching about the horrible nature and consequences of sin, and that God demands punishment for sin-the death penalty for the sinner (Gen 2:17). It will also teach that God in His compassion provided a substitutionary sacrifice for the sinner-the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). As the Mosaic system looked ahead to the death of Yeshua, so the Millennial system will look back on the death of Messiah. Those who live in the Kingdom (after Yeshua’s completed work) will need to learn and heed the same lessons those who lived before Yeshua came and completed His work. Witnessing the violent death of an innocent substitute for their sin, or perhaps violently killing that innocent substitute themselves, will be an unforgettable lesson that should cure people of any desire to sin and cause them to love Yeshua all the more. Yeshua’s experienced death once for all. He does not have to become a guilt offering (Isa. 53:10) over and over again. However, the Millennial Sacrificial system will be in force for 1,000 years teaching the same lessons to new generations of humanity until the Eternal State commences.