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Dialogue with Trypho
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Chapter 22: The Same Applies to Sacrifices and Offerings.
"And so you may learn that it was because of the sins of your own nation and their idolatries, and not because there was any necessity for such sacrifices, that they were also commanded. Listen to what He says through Amos, one of the twelve: 'Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! What will the day of the Lord be for you? It will be darkness and not light, like when a man flees from a lion and a bear meets him, or he goes into his house and leans his hand against the wall and a serpent bites him.
Won't the day of the Lord be darkness and not light, very dark with no brightness in it? I have hated, I have despised your feast-days, and I will not take pleasure in your solemn assemblies; even if you offer Me your burnt-offerings and sacrifices, I will not accept them, nor will I regard the peace offerings from you. Take away from Me the noise of your songs and psalms; I will not listen to your instruments.
BUT LET JUSTICE ROLL DOWN LIKE WATERS: and righteousness like an unfailing stream.
Did you offer Me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness, O house of Israel?' says the Lord. 'You carried the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god Raphan, the images you made for yourselves.
Therefore, I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,' says the Lord, whose name is the Almighty God. Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, those notable persons who have taken the lead among the nations to whom the house of Israel comes.
Pass over to Calneh and see, and from there go to Hamath the great, then down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Is their territory greater than your territory? You who put off the day of disaster and bring near a reign of terror, who lie on beds inlaid with ivory and lounge on your couches, who eat lambs from the flock and calves from the stall, who sing frivolous songs to the sound of the harp and like David compose songs for yourselves, who drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest oils but do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile; your feasting and lounging will end.' And again, by Jeremiah: 'Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices.' And again, by David in the forty-ninth Psalm, He says: 'The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken and summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
Out of Zion, perfect in beauty, God has shown Himself. Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before Him, and around Him a tempest rages. He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that He may judge His people: "Gather to Me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice." And the heavens proclaim His righteousness, for He is a God who judges. Hear, O My people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, your God.
I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or for your burnt offerings, which are ever before Me. I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is Mine, and all that is in it.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call on Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.' But to the wicked, God says, 'What right have you to recite My laws or take My covenant on your lips? You hate My instruction and cast My words behind you. When you see a thief, you join with him; you throw in your lot with adulterers.
You use your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit. You sit and testify against your brother and slander your own mother's son. When you did these things and I kept silent, you thought I was exactly like you.
But I now arraign you and set My accusations before you. Consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you. Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor Me, and to the blameless I will show My salvation.' Accordingly, He neither takes sacrifices from you nor commanded them initially because they are necessary for Him but because of your sins.
Indeed, He acknowledged the temple in Jerusalem as His house, not because He needed it, but so you would not worship idols. And Isaiah affirms this: 'What house will you build for Me?' says the Lord. 'Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool.'"