Was animal sacrifice a cruel invention by God?

Recently I was approached with an issue about a practice that appeared up until around the beginning of the 1st millenia, and something that will be reinstated within the 3rd temple. The issue was on animal sacrifice, and whether it was a morally right thing to do. To understand this issue we have to understand what God's purpose was in creating the world to begin with. Initially it is stated in Genesis 1:26 - "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.' The word dominion is defined as - dominance or power through legal authority. God has thus given mankind dominance or power through legal authority over animals. The idea of sin must also be understood. The word sin literally means "missing the mark." The Torah was established to exemplify a teaching of what man must not do in missing the mark. All of the Torah must be followed. If someone has missed the mark on any of these issues, they have sinned.
Sin began in the Garden of Eden, where God told Adam and Eve that they could eat of any tree within the garden except for the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If they did not follow this plan "they would surely die" according to God. In Romans 6:23, it describes what the penalty for sin is: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Yeshua ha Mashiach our Lord." As far as the Yeshua issue we will get to that point. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a tree if eaten from, would give Adam and Eve worldly wisdom, rather than Godly wisdom. With this worldly wisdom, they would separate their focus from God onto God's creation. When man decided to fall against God for the first time, it was then that the sinful ways of the world were established, where man would become prideful, lustful, greedy, envious, slothful, wrathful, and gluttonous. These characteristics are at the root of all sins. These are linked to the 6 things that God hates and the 7 that are abominations to him. " There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers .(Prov 6.16ff)" God had a choice to make, and his choice was to allow mankind to either die for their sin, or have a proper sacrificial ceremony. The first institution of animal sacrifice was when God gave Adam and Eve clothes to wear, thus separating them from their sin. Many people think of this as a very brutal punishment for sin. However, the sacrificial animals went to feed the Levites and the people. Animals do not contain human souls, they were never intended for that. On this level, as providing for food, this is no different than having slaughterhouses that kill animals to provide healthy food for people in today's world. Rather than us having to die right away from having commited a sin, God provided this as an alternative. Leviticus 17 states how this alternative was to be applied - 1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them: 'This is what the LORD has commanded: 3 Any Israelite who sacrifices an ox, [a] a lamb or a goat in the camp or outside of it 4 instead of bringing it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to present it as an offering to the LORD in front of the tabernacle of the LORD -that man shall be considered guilty of bloodshed; he has shed blood and must be cut off from his people. 5 This is so the Israelites will bring to the LORD the sacrifices they are now making in the open fields. They must bring them to the priest, that is, to the LORD, at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and sacrifice them as fellowship offerings. [b] 6 The priest is to sprinkle the blood against the altar of the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and burn the fat as an aroma pleasing to the LORD. 7 They must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols [c] to whom they prostitute themselves. This is to be a lasting ordinance for them and for the generations to come.' 8 "Say to them: 'Any Israelite or any alien living among them who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice 9 and does not bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to sacrifice it to the LORD -that man must be cut off from his people. 10 " 'Any Israelite or any alien living among them who eats any blood—I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from his people. 11 For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life. 12 Therefore I say to the Israelites, "None of you may eat blood, nor may an alien living among you eat blood." 13 " 'Any Israelite or any alien living among you who hunts any animal or bird that may be eaten must drain out the blood and cover it with earth, 14 because the life of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, "You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off." 15 " 'Anyone, whether native-born or alien, who eats anything found dead or torn by wild animals must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be ceremonially unclean till evening; then he will be clean. 16 But if he does not wash his clothes and bathe himself, he will be held responsible.' "Since the life is in the blood of something, its either our blood, or something else's blood that must be taken. Matthew 6:25-34 talks about how the life of a single human being is worth more than animals or any of God's other creations. Do Not Worry 25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[a]? 28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.What are we then allowed to sacrifice? It is not children. Ezekiel 20:26 states "26 I let them become defiled through their gifts—the sacrifice of every firstborn [a] —that I might fill them with horror so they would know that I am the LORD.'"
Often people illustrate the example of Abraham and Isaac as a challenge to this. Genesis 18:17-19 states - "17 Then the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him." We see here that the Lord has every intention of making Isaac something great. He will not harm Isaac. So when God says in Genesis 22:2 " 2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." what is he attempting to do? It is obvious that Abraham knows that his son will be taken care of when this scenario occurs " Genesis 22:6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, 'Father?' 'Yes, my son?' Abraham replied. 'The fire and wood are here,' Isaac said, 'but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?' 8 Abraham answered, 'God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.' And the two of them went on together." Abraham knew that Isaac would be provided for. When the Angel of the Lord states in Genesis 22:12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son," then we know this was for something else. This was supposed to mark the symbolism of when God would come down in the form of human and sacrifice himself. The only son reference is utilized in John 3:16. The answer to the question then is only that which is clean according to Leviticus 17:11 including God's penal substitution, himself in the form of Yeshua, may be sacrificed. Beyond that, if this isn't a good enough explanation for some people, animal sacrifice may not seem good, but it is giving of our possessions, a teaching of selflessness. Having to sacrifice a first born of livestock would have been very shameful to the Jews at the time period because other Jews would know what it was for, so they would be very careful not to sin.

When man gained worldly wisdom, he turned against Eve after she had given him the fruit. This caused evil to come into the world by the beings who had dominion over all other animals. This in turn sent the world into sin, which resulted in animals killing other animals. Through Adam's disobedience God brought about sacrifice to show consequences of wrongs and a selfless nature towards God, instead of our selfish sinful nature. Giving something of our personal possessions up for God. When God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, he was beginning to help eliminate the need for sacrifice at the temple. The story of Abraham and Isaac had nothing to do with killing Isaac, because through Isaac, the child of promise, God was going to establish many nations. Abraham, knowing this and even to the point that God was going to send a lamb in Isaac's place as sacrifice, went through the procedure that God had in store for his covenant with us. This was in demonstration for mankind to be able to find the Messiah so that God's people would turn to him and follow him. The ultimate sacrifice has already been fulfilled through Yeshua Ha Mashiach, God in the form of man. And because of God's glorious self-sacrifice, all we must now do to eliminate shame from our lives is to take up our cross and follow Yeshua's commands on a daily basis. Penal substitution is a moral idea as long as it is a voluntary action approved by the lawgiver. In this case, Yeshua approves his own action.Nor is he out to destroy animals. Another question to address was whether God was cruel to animals or not. In Psalm 147:9, it says he provides food for animals. Also in Luke 12:6 - "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God." Animals were also to be treated properly as well. They weren to be overworked per Exodus 23:12, not to be underfed per Dt 25:4 and not to be hunted to extinction per Dt 22:6-7. There are actions we see in today's society where people mistreat and abuse animals prior to killing them, even in certain cases not allowing animals to walk on their own two feet. While this may be true of today's society in certain circumstances, it was and is not at all to be condoned by our mighty God. This sin is not to be put upon those eating of the food, however. It is to be put only onto those who are acting in the manner they do. The purpose for sacrificing animals was to harvest animals, not to destroy and kill them off. They were used by the Israelites as clothing and food. This is perfectly justified and does not contradict a nature of a loving God. God is a god who demands justice. And as we see here, he is not a blood thirsty God either. "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings. 7 Like Adam, they have broken the covenant- they were unfaithful to me there. 8 Gilead is a city of wicked men, stained with footprints of blood. 9 As marauders lie in ambush for a man, so do bands of priests; they murder on the road to Shechem, committing shameful crimes. (Hosea 6.6ff)" This demonstrates not a God who is ready and willing at every angle to destroy mankind, but a passionate God who loves his creation, and wants them to follow structure and order. The giving of animal blood by mankind was to give the blood of his possession in a statement that says that you would give your life up for God.As a whole, we find the argument that sacrifice is a cruel invention by God to be without merit and simply an argument from outrage. This is a logical fallacy that argues against something without offering arguments besides saying that the thing would be unacceptible, or outrageous, or "wrong", or "silly", and so on. Humans are simply different from animals. Ignoring this is being hypersensitive to something that is not of God's will. From a logical perspective, sacrifice is not contrary to God's nature. Death is the exact opposite of life, and when people sin against God, the cost is their death. Having animals as a sacrifice by which we have dominion over does not violate his law. As a matter of fact, if God did not establish this law of penal substition, he would have contradicted his nature of being a loving God, because love requires justice. The shedding of blood leading to loss of life satisfied Yahweh's just demand that violation of his holy will results in death. For the time period before Yeshua coming to Earth as a man and taking our punishment upon himself, the only repentence was to shed the blood of ourselves, or the blood of a substitution. God gave us a substitution, and we should be grateful for that. God can use whatever method he deems necessary to save mankind. He has done so very carefully with a fine-toothed comb for enough time that we can record prophecy to a finite world so that everyone can be without trouble in understanding that Yeshua is ha Mashiach.SHALOM and Hallelujah to our great God!