Atonement in the Old Testament: Introductory Remarks

The idea of “sacrifice” is an Old Testament one, and so as we begin our study of Christ’s Atonement, we need to begin there. To describe Jesus as “the Lamb of God,” to say that His blood washes away our sins and buys our redemption, to teach that He died for our sins, is to say that Jesus’ death was a true sacrifice: the innocent for the guilty, the just for unjust, the sinless Son of God for the sinful sons of men. 

Since the death of Christ is described as a sacrifice, the language of the Old Testament, acknowledge of sacrificial terms would be helpful. First, we must understand that sacrifices, even though they were a form of worship for the Israelites, were prophetic signs (or “types”) pointing to the ultimate Sacrifice. Therefore a clear understanding of the sign will lead to a better understanding of the One sacrificed. Second, the Old Testament sacrifices also served to prepare God’s people for a time in the distant future, in another dispensation that will occur at the time of Christ physical return to Earth. 

When the earliest New Testament writers referred to Jesus as the Lamb of God whose shed blood purchased man’s salvation, they did not have to explain these terms to their readers because their readers, for the most part, were their fellow countrymen: Jews. But we live centuries removed from that time, in a totally different culture. Phrases like “shed blood” and other sacrificial terms, which may have moved the people of Bible times, often repulse us. Yet we must understand this verse: 

[T]he law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (Hebrews 9:22) 

In other words, redemption is only possible through an Atoning Sacrifice. Such is the reason for looking at what the Old Testament teaches on the origin, history, nature, and efficacy of Old Testament sacrifice