Revelation

The Book of Revelation is not about signs of the second coming of Jesus; rather it describes the season when the fulness of the Jews come to faith in Jesus, the spiritual powers of evil are fully defeated, and the Kingdom of God emerges into victory. Prior to their defeat, the cosmos dominators fight with each other, while struggling to maintain their power in the world. They become so angry with each other that they will eventually destroy each other, allowing Jesus to achieve victory.

A key to understanding the book of Revelation is realising that many of the characters and events described by John do not represent nations and their activities, but are actually descriptions of various spiritual cosmos dominators jostling for control on earth.

The Seven Seals described in Revelation 5:1-8:1 outline Jesus’ plan for an important transitional season. Jesus controls the timing of their opening. During this season, human political powers increase their authority on earth, but human governments make terrible mistakes, which brings horrible disasters. They demand even greater power to put the situation right, but this makes the situation worse.

The other sequences in the book of Revelation describe the plans of the key cosmos dominators for the same season Many of their plans fail because they lack the wisdom of God.

• The plans of a cosmos dominator called Death are described in the sequence of Seven Trumpets in Revelation 8 and 9.

• The emergence of Destroyer as a powerful force on earth is described in Revelation 9:1-11.

• Monster is another powerful cosmos dominator active during this season. His plan for seizing control of the world is described in Revelation 13 and 17.

• Wrath's plans for coming out on top are described in Revelation 15 and 16.

From A short History of Cosmic Conflict.

Wrath

The coming of the law also released another cosmos dominator called Wrath into power. Sin, Death and Destruction had controlled the evil side in the spiritual realms up until the time of Moses, but Accuser and Wrath rose above them by using the law to accuse people of sin and demand their punishment for their failures. Accuser found it useful to work with Wrath because he and his followers would release plagues to accomplish Accuser’s purposes. Wrath is frequently associated with plagues (Num 16:46; Ezek 6:12; 14:19).

Wrath was always one of the more powerful spirits in the hierarchy of evil. Accuser often had Wrath with him when he attacked the earth.

The devil has come down to you having great Wrath (Rev 12:12).

The role of Wrath is confirmed in Psalm 78:49.

He unleashed against them his hot anger,
Wrath, indignation and hostility—
a band of destroying angels.

Wrath is the leader of a band of destroying angels. He is not a manifestation of God's character as is often assumed, but is an evil spiritual being.

Wrath is sometimes referred to as the “wrath of God” because although he rebelled against God at the beginning of human history, he had originally been created by God. His character was different when he was created, so he had probably been given a different name. God knew when he created the angels and gave them freedom that some would go wrong, but he decided to create them anyway. God does not disown his creation. He does not avoid responsibility for what he has done. The spiritual powers of evil are still his, although they have rebelled against him.

Despite their rebellion, God still uses the spiritual powers of evil, despite themselves, to accomplish his purposes. He has sometimes incited this spirit called Wrath to do things that he needs done, particularly when restraining political powers that are doing harm on the earth.

Paul explained to the Romans the relationship between wrath and law.

The law brings about Wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression (Rom 4:15).

Prior to the giving of the law through Moses, transgression was undefined. The law specified the behaviour that God required from the people that he had called. The law also spelt out in detail the curse that was the consequence of transgression. Once the law of the covenant was in place, the spiritual powers of evil demanded the right to enforce the curses of the law against the children of Israel whenever they transgressed it (I presume that they used it against other peoples as well). Accuser and Wrath were often the leaders of this activity. This is why Paul said that the law brings about Wrath. The giving of the law with curses specified for disobedience increased the power of Wrath and the destroying angels working with him.

The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his powerful Wrath is against all who forsake him (Ezra 8:22).

In his letter to the Romans, Paul explains that the political powers are "agents of Wrath" (Rom 13:4). This should change the way that we think about them. God might use them from time to time, but the political-spirits and government-spirits (principalities and powers) that control the political powers are intent on evil. This is why the proverb warns,

A king's Wrath is a messenger of death (Prov 16:14).

Daniel described an evil political leader who will emerge during a time of distress on earth. He will do terrible evil on earth, because he is controlled by Wrath. When he is disturbed,

He will go forth with great Wrath to destroy and annihilate many (Dan 11:44).

Paul warned that Wrath will often avenge people who suffer injustice.

Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to Wrath (Rom 12:19).

We should often wait for him to act, rather than seeking revenge ourselves.

From A Short History of Cosmic Spiritual Struggle.

Spiritual and Physical

We should never forget that everything in this world is both spiritual and physical. When the leaders of the nations (and their prophets) vehemently and angrily call for violence against their perceived enemies, it has a spiritual effect at home too. Violent spirits are empowered to wreak harm in their own nation.

Cosmic Spiritual Struggle

When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, they handed their authority over the earth that God had given them to the spiritual powers of evil. Their mistake allowed a massive shift in authority from humans to the powers of evil. God had taken a big risk when he created the earth and gave authority over it to humans. For them to give that authority up so quickly and easily to evil spiritual powers who hated him was a disaster.

Christians assume that the spiritual powers of evil are united in opposing God’s purposes, but that is not true. They are powerful, but they are not united. If Jesus cannot get unity in the church, we should not expect the leaders of the powers of evil would be united, given that they are divisive and rebellious. Various factions of the spiritual powers of evil are struggling with each other for control of the earth. They are angry and devious, so they often fight with each other in vicious struggles for dominance.

Each faction of the forces of evil is led/controlled by a powerful Cosmos Dominator. The powers of evil love power and control, so the strongest of them are continually jockeying with each other for overall power. Each contender has gathered a huge army of loyal spiritual powers and brought them under control. That is why the Bible refers to these spirits as Cosmos Dominators (Eph 6:12). They organise huge spiritual armies to fight against God, but they frequently get distracted into battles against other factions.

Unfortunately, the spiritual powers of evil are nasty and untrustworthy, so they are not dependable. If they see any weakness in their leader, they will betray him to gain a better position for themselves. Evil spirits have no loyalty, so they switch sides if they believe another cosmos dominator is doing better.

The struggles between various Cosmos Dominators are far more important than we realise because people on earth are often caught in their crossfire. Much of what happens on earth is the outcome of their wars with each other, so we need to understand what they are doing in our time. God was not willing to give them glory by fully describing their activities in the scriptures, but there are hints about what they are doing and who has risen to power and gained control during various seasons.

The spiritual powers of evil are organised in powerful hierarchies of evil spirits under the control of Cosmos Dominators, but they are not united. They do not like each other, so throughout history, different spirits have fought with each other for control of the hierarchies of power. During different seasons, different Cosmos Dominators have risen to ascendancy. Often, two of them have operated alongside each other in an uneasy but convenient unity.

Based on my study of the scriptures and examining these hints, I have developed a tentative outline of their history. I focus more on future activities than the struggles that occurred in the past. The full outline is available on Substack in an article called A Short History of Spiritual Cosmic Struggle.

Election

In Saturday’s general election, New Zealand voted for a change of human government, with great expectations.

Unfortunately, and more important, the spiritual government of New Zealand remains unchanged. The government-spirits (often called principalities and powers) that controlled the nation last week are still in control this week. So nothing will change.

The spiritual status of the nation is unchanged. We have not moved to a place of blessing.

Jesus Cup (4) Costly Mistake

Unfortunately for them, the spiritual powers of evil had made a huge mistake when they made Jesus drink the cup of their wrath. They assumed that if they destroyed him, they could squeeze God out of his earth forever, as no other human apart from him would be able to take their authority over the earth away from them. However, by killing Jesus, they gave up their hold over humans, because his blood was the ransom that they had demanded for their release. Once that ransom had been paid to them, they had to release humans from their control and could no longer keep humans in captivity. They decided to kill Jesus anyway because once he was dead, they believed they could entangle humans again, even if they had lost the authority over the earth that they had stolen from Adam and Eve.

The spiritual powers of evil thought they were being clever and checkmating God, but they did not reckon with his power. When they killed Jesus and shed his blood, their ransom demand against humans was met. God then raised Jesus from the dead. This was a massive defeat for the spiritual powers of evil because they had given up the right to demand a ransom from all humans in exchange for killing Jesus. However, they failed to get what they wanted because God raised Jesus back to life. Not only had they failed to kill Jesus, but because his blood paid the ransom on behalf of all humans, their hold over all humans who would trust in him was destroyed. Followers of Jesus were able to start pushing the spiritual powers of evil out of their empire and break their power.

Jesus Cup (3) Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s Supper that we share today points back to the cup of suffering in the hands of the spiritual powers of evil that Jesus drank on our behalf.

Is the cup of blessing which we bless not a common life with the blood of Christ (1 Cor 10:16)?

The cup we drink is a blessing for us. For Jesus, it was a cup of sin/suffering. It was a cup of wrath prepared by the spiritual powers of evil that Jesus drank on our behalf. This cup is a reminder to us that Jesus took on our sins and, as a consequence, took the wrath of the spiritual powers of evil. Our common life (fellowship) with Jesus makes the cup that he drank into our cup. When he drank the cup, he suffered terribly because the spiritual powers of evil got to attack him, but his suffering released amazing blessings to us by delivering us from their power.

New Covenant
The gospels describe the cup offered at the Lord’s Supper with these words.

When he had taken a cup and given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many to release from sins” (Matt 26:27-28).

Jesus established a new covenant. He took on our sins and shed his blood to pay the ransom that the spiritual powers of evil demanded for setting us free. This released us from their power to control us and opened the way for all the blessings of his covenant, including the fullness of his Holy Spirit.

Paul explained the meaning of the cup offered at the Last Supper in this way.

After supper, he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me... as often as you drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes (1 Cor 11:25-26).

Jesus drank a cup of suffering/pain prepared for him by taking the spiritual powers of evil when he took our sins upon himself. This generous and courageous action allowed the spiritual powers of evil to shed his blood on the cross. Paul explains that Jesus paid the ransom that the spiritual powers of evil demanded in order to set his people free. Jesus’ ransom payment initiated a new covenant, which provides blessings through trust in Jesus.

The cup of blessing also points back to Moses, who initiated God’s covenant with Israel by sprinkling blood on the people. When we drink the cup of blessing during the Lord’s Supper, we are uniting with Jesus and accepting the covenant blessings that come to us because he took our sins on himself and allowed the spiritual powers of evil to kill him.

Jesus Cup (2) Psalm 22

When he was on the cross, Jesus called out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me”. This was not a theological statement about God because he could not forsake Jesus, as they were always one. Jesus was referring to Psalm 22. In his time, the psalms did not have numbers, so people referred to a Psalm by quoting the first line. So Jesus was really saying, “Psalm 22 is being fulfilled in me right now”. He was using the psalm to describe the spiritual attack that he was experiencing.

The psalm refers to attacks by wild animals, but Jesus was describing the attacks by the spiritual powers of evil against him.

• Bulls encircled him.
• Young lions were tearing at his flesh.
• Dogs surrounded him.
• A pack of villains encircled him.
• Wild oxen were attacking.

Jesus used these images to describe the vicious spirits that were attacking him. They were tormenting his mind with accusations, flooding his imagination with fear and dread, torturing his flesh with terrible pain, and sapping his physical strength with emotional torment. Jesus did not just suffer physical pain.

The cup he drank was emotional and spiritual torment at the hands of the spiritual powers of evil. This happened because he loved us and took our sins on himself, which gave the spiritual powers of evil permission to go after him.

Last Supper
At the Last Supper, Jesus did two things. He broke bread and shared it with his disciples. He also shared a cup with the disciples. These actions are often interpreted as pointing forward to his sharing with us in the Lord’s Supper. But it had another, more sombre meaning.

The broken bread represented his physical body, which he was offering to his disciples to suffer on their behalf. By sharing a cup with his disciples, Jesus agreed to be one with them. They would share his life, and he would share their lives. He would share their sins with them. This was the first step in drinking the terrible cup of suffering that he would agree to drink at Gethsemane.

At the Last Supper, Jesus agreed to become the sin of his twelve disciples. He became sin for them. This opened the way for the spiritual powers of evil to attack him. They gained authority to stir up Judas to betray Jesus. He left the meal and made a deal with Jewish leaders for 30 pieces of silver. Jesus’ suffering in the hands of the spiritual powers of evil began.

Jesus’ Cup (1)

Jesus coming to live on earth as a human was a huge risk, as Adam and Eve had surrendered their authority over the earth to the spiritual powers of evil. Becoming a human made him vulnerable to spiritual attack. The only thing that kept him safe was his perfect life. If he had sinned, even just once, they would have been able to get at him, just like they attack every other human on earth.

However, Jesus didn’t sin, so the powers of evil had to leave him alone. They had stirred up Herod to try and murder Jesus when he was an infant, but they did not have authority, to touch him, so the Holy Spirit kept him safe. Everything changed when Jesus agreed to drink the cup that he had come to drink. Jesus agonised over this in Gethsemane Garden, but he submitted to his Father’s will and agreed to drink this terrible cup.

Taking on Sin
The cup that Jesus agreed to drink was not just obeying the Father, as is often suggested. The cup he drank was the wrath of the spiritual powers of evil, which came on him because he agreed to carry all the sins of all the people in the past, present and future who will put their trust in him. Paul explained,

He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us (2 Cor 5:21).

In the garden, Jesus agreed to complete his work by taking on the sins of everyone who would put their trust in him. This committed him to drinking the cup of wrath that the spiritual powers of evil would inflict on him.

Taking on the sins of other people changed everything. Once he had taken our sin on himself and became sin, his spiritual protection was gone, and the spiritual powers of evil had authority to attack him. They hated him and were scared of him, so they attacked him with vengeance. This is why the events leading up to the cross were so terrible.

The New Testament describes the physical side of his experience, but the spiritual side was probably far more vile. Thousands of spirits had fallen from grace, but a few had become really vicious, violent and destructive. I presume that the most ferocious and hideous spirits attacked Jesus when he agreed to take on our sins. He drank the cup of their wrath. When the Jewish leaders accused him and beat him, the spiritual powers of evil were there, stirring them along. When the crowd called for him to be crucified, the spiritual powers of evil were winding them up. When Pilate surrendered him to the soldier to be beaten and crucified, the spiritual powers of evil were encouraging them to be brutal and aggressive.

The Holy Spirit was powerless to protect Jesus because he had become a sinner for us, and the spiritual powers of evil had authority on earth to attack sinners. Thousands of people in Jerusalem and Galilee had been healed and blessed by Jesus. If they had gathered in Jerusalem around Caiaphas’s house and then Pilate’s palace and called for Jesus to be released, Pilate would have been scared and intervened to calm the situation, as was done when Paul was arrested (Acts 22:23-25). Roman governors did not want to be embarrassed by riots. However, the Holy Spirit did not gather Jews supporting Jesus or legions of angels to protect him because he had agreed to drink the cup of human sin.

Hebrews Promises

I have gone through Hebrews and identified every verse that promises something that Jesus has done or will do. I put them in a spreadsheet and sorted them into themes. The following table shows the results.

Hebrews	Phrase Promised
Rescued from Sin
1.03	purged our sin
2:09	taste death for everyone
2:10	bring many sons to glory
2:17	pay ransom for sin
9:12	eternal redemption
9:15	redemption of trespasses
9:26	do away with sin
9:28	salvation
Salvation
2.03	great salvation
2:10	salvation
2:15	delivers from a life of bondage to death
5:09	eternal salvation
6:09	salvation
7:25	save to the utmost
Mercy
2:17	merciful high priest
4:15	sympathise with our weaknesses
4:16	mercy at the throne of grace in time of need
8:12	mercy, forget sins
9:24	appear in God's presence for us
Made Holy
2:11	sanctified from sin
10:10,14	sanctified through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus
13:12	suffered outside the camp to sanctify
Clean Conscience
9:14	purge conscience, so we can serve the living God
10:22	full assurance of clear conscience
Established New Covenant
3:14	we are partakers in Christ
7:19,22	better covenant, better promises
8:06	better covenant, better promises
9:15	mediate new covenant
Future Looking
Law on our hearts
8:10	law on hearts
10:16	law on our hearts
Rest
4:3,10	rest ceased from work
9.15	eternal inheritance
Intercession and Help
7:25	make intercession
2:18	aid those being tempted
King with a Kingdom
2:14	destroy the devil by taking the power of death
1:08	throne forever, king
1:13	waiting for enemies to be made a footstool
2:08	all things subject to him
12:28	receive a kingdom

The writer to the Hebrews has a strong emphasis on rescuing us from sin. He died outside the camp, shedding his blood to pay the ransom price demanded by the spiritual powers of evil.

Sanctification is mentioned several times, not in the sense of being perfected over time, but in the sense of being cleansed by Jesus' death. A couple of verses speak about our consciences being cleansed. This is important because the accusation of the enemy about our guilt can be an obstacle to following Jesus.

Salvation is a big theme in Hebrews. The problem is that this has become a word with religious meaning, so we have lost sight of what the Greek word "sozo" actually means. It refers to being rescued or delivered from peril/harm. God has delivered us from our slavery to the spiritual powers of evil, which put us in terrible peril. It also means healing from disease.

The main feature of Jesus' character is that he is merciful. He has lived on earth, so he understands how difficult it is to escape from the stronghold that the powers of evil have over us. He gladly sets us free, and continues to intercede with God for us if we fail. He sends the Holy Spirit and his angels to help us in our struggles to serve him. Our ultimate goal is rest with him. In the interim, he puts his laws on our hearts so we can serve him and establish his Kingdom on earth.

The writer to the Hebrews refers to the offerings described in Leviticus throughout the letter. He describes how Jesus defeated the devil, but he never says that a blood offering was needed to appease God or to allow him to interact with his people. The idea that this is their purpose has to be read into the letter from elsewhere.

L&O (11) Not to Appease God

A common belief among Christians is that the tabernacle sacrifices were necessary to allow God to be in relationship with his people. They assume that God is so holy that he cannot interact with sinful people in any way, so sacrifices were essential to appease his anger so he could come near the people he had chosen.

Reading the Old Testament, it is clear that God has never had a problem interacting with sinful people. The initiative was always with God.

• God spoke to Adam and Eve in the garden after they fell and blessed them with garments.

• God called Abraham even though he continued to make serious mistakes.

• He called Jacob and watched over him, even though he was a liar and a cheater.

• He protected Joseph and spoke through him, even though he was proud.

• Even when he sent his people into exile from the promised land, it was because he cared about them and wanted to restore them, and in exile, he continued to speak to them and keep them safe.

• He prepared Moses and sent him to rescue the Israelites from slavery in Egypt before they offered sacrifices to him.

• God revealed himself to Paul while he was intent on killing followers of Jesus.

All these events took place without any human acknowledgment of sin or blood offerings for transgressions. (He was active in my life while I was still hostile to him.)

We are sometimes taught that God hates sin and can't have anything to do with sinful people, but that is only half true. He does hate sin, but it is because of the harm it allows the spiritual powers of evil to do to people. But it is not true that he cannot have any contact with sinful people. He did it all the time throughout the scriptures. God rescued the children of Israel from Egypt and brought them to the promised land before any offerings had been made. He did not need sacrifices to allow him to intervene, even though the people continued to be obstructive and rebellious the entire way.

The tabernacle offerings were not needed to start or sustain a relationship with God. Rather, they were needed to keep the people safe from the spiritual powers of evil who had dominated them as slaves in Egypt and wanted to get them back under control again. The offerings specified in Leviticus did that effectively.

From Part 3: Leviticus and Offerings.

L&O (10) God Does Not Need Blood

God does not need blood. Why would he want it? He wants to rescue us so we can live our lives for him, as Jesus lived for him.

If God was unable to rescue us from the spiritual powers of evil because we refuse to be rescued, he could just disappear us (unless he wanted to torture us for our unwillingness to be rescued, but that would make him an ugly God). God created the universe and sustains all existence and life by his power, so if he became frustrated with me, he could remove me at any time, simply by stopping sustaining my life and letting me disappear from existence. If I have become so bad that God does not think that I am worthy of existence, he does not need to kill me. He can simply discontinue my existence. He does not need my blood.

On the other hand, the spiritual powers of evil are vicious haters who love destroying life. They like blood because it means death. That is why they demand blood as the ransom price for setting us free from our bondage to them. They are the ones who demanded blood because they assumed that no one would be willing to give it, especially for others. They were surprised because Jesus willingly died on the cross and shed his blood to meet their demand, so we could be set free to become the people of God. When he had risen again and ascended into the presence of God and offered his life to him.

Paul explains the nature of Jesus' offering to God in Eph 5:2.

Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

Jesus offered his life of obedient love to God. This was a sweet-smelling aroma, equivalent to the effect of the incense offered on the golden altar in the tabernacle.

From Part 3:Leviticus and Offerings.

L&O (9) Blood Ransom

The key to understanding why blood cleanses is recognising the human situation. When Adam and Eve sinned and trusted the deceiver, they placed themselves under his authority. Because God had given them authority over everything on earth, this was a huge disaster, because it gave the spiritual powers of evil authority over the earth. This meant that God could not rescue humans from their situation without getting their permission.

The spiritual powers of evil demanded the lives of all humans in their power. This was clever, because if they could wipe humans out, they would have free rein on earth. They demanded the shedding of blood as a ransom payment for setting humans free. As the ones with ownership authority over humans, they had the right to decide what the ransom payment should be. It seems that they accepted the animal blood offered in the Tabernacle as a down payment for the blood of his Son that God would eventually offer them.

The blood offered on the bronze altar was a partial ransom payment to the spiritual powers of evil, so the tabernacle offering set the people free from the immediate consequences of their sins. However, the people could not be completely transformed until the Holy Spirit was poured out, so during Old Testament times, they kept falling back into sin. This is why the Tabernacle offering had to be repeated again and again.

The people urgently needed the full and final ransom that Jesus would pay when he died on the cross. His death and the blood that he shed satisfied the demands of the spiritual powers of evil, so they had to give up their authority over humans and over the earth. His death was a terrible defeat for them.

From Part 3: Leviticus and Offerings.

L&O (8) Why Blood

When I have spilt blood from a cut on my hand or face, it stains the garment it drips on.  The stain is very hard to get out.   Therefore, I have always been puzzled by the way blood is used to cleanse things in the Old Testament, particularly in Leviticus, which I have studied in detail in an attempt to get an understanding of how cleaning with blood works.

I describe what I have discovered in Part 3 of Leviticus and Offerings.

The full three-part series can be found at Leviticus and Offerings.

L&O (7) No Penal Substitution

Penal substitution is missing from Levitical offerings and from the Day of Cleansing. The animals brought by the people are not punished for their sins. Their blood is used for appeasing the spiritual powers of evil and for cleansing objects that are unclean. Their meat is food for the priests. Their fat is burnt to produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh. The animals are offered as an act of worship, so having to cover the cost of losing a valuable animal is not a punishment, but an act of thanksgiving and worship.

Leviticus required that all animals offered should be without blemish (Lev 22:17-22). This means that an animal cannot be hurt or mutilated in any way before it dies. If it was punished, it would have blemishes and not be an acceptable offering. Leviticus never says that the animal is an object of God’s wrath. It never says that it is being punished. If it was abused or suffered unnecessarily, God would be offended.

The animals do not die as a substitute for the people who offer them. They placed their hand on the animal even when it was being given as a Gift Offering or an Ascent Offering, which was not for sin, so it is not an indicator of substitution. The animals are not killed in the place of the people offering them because the unintentional sins they had committed did not require a death penalty.

The priest confessed the most serious transgression and depravities over the goat for Azazel. These were the worst sins, but the goat was sent into the wilderness. It was not punished. It was not killed, and its blood was not offered to God. The wilderness goat was not a substitute for the people who had sinned. It was a carrier. The people were forgiven their transgressions without paying any penalty.

From Leviticus and Offerings: Part 2.

L&O (6) No Total Depravity

Leviticus does not assume that the people are totally depraved and cannot do anything to please God. The offerings specified are either acts of worship and thanksgiving or for dealing with unintentional sins or uncleanness picked up while going about life. This suggests that most of the time, the people would serve God and only sin by mistake. As they go through the events of life, they will accidentally pick up uncleanness that has to be dealt with. The first seven chapters of Leviticus deal with offerings for things that are not that serious. There are numerous chapters dealing with uncleanness picked during life events such as childbirth without any active sinning. Given this emphasis, it seems that God did not see his people as depraved and impossible to keep safe.

Serious transgressions and depravities would only be dealt with once a year on the Day of Cleansing. This suggests that they would be relatively rare. Otherwise, a more regular remedy would be needed. Since none was given, it seems that God did not expect transgression to be a serious issue.

The fact that the goat carrying the transgression and depravities was sent to a demonic ruler in the wilderness suggests that God considers him to be their cause. He sends them back to where they come from, because it was the manipulation of the spiritual powers of evil that led people to engage in these perverse behaviours. No sacrifice is made to God for these transgressions. He can have mercy without imposing any penalty because once the goat had gone, the people were forgiven and cleansed.

From Leviticus and Offerings: Part 2.

Leviticus and Offerings (5) Incense Enough

Incense Enough When the High Priest went into the holy of holies on the Day of Cleansing, he offered a cloud of incense to God. That kept him spiritually safe in the presence of God. The incense was all God needed from him to be acceptable. He did not need to appease God with blood or some other sacrifice to be acceptable.

From Leviticus and Offerings: Part 2.

Leviticus and Offerings (4) Day of Cleansing

In Part 1 of my study of Leviticus and Offerings, I focussed on the five different types of offering described in the first seven chapters. If you have not read it yet, you can find it at Part 1.

In Leviticus and Offerings: Part 2, I analyse the description of the Day of Cleansing, which is often mistakenly described as the day of atonement, due to a faulty translation of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament.

I had been taught that on the Day of Cleansing, blood was offered to God to expiate/propitiate the sins of the people. However, when I studied the text of Leviticus, I found something quite different. The purpose of the offering was to cleanse/decontaminate the tabernacle and particularly the furnishing in the Holy of Holies. It was a spiritual spring-cleaning. That was why it was only done once a year.

Contrary to what is often taught, no blood was offered to God. The main offering to God on the Day of Cleansing was a sweet-smelling, burning incense. More at Leviticus and Offerings: Part 2 .

Leviticus and Offerings (3)

Something that really surprised me about the offerings described in Leviticus was my discovery that “blood” was not offered to God. Fat was offered to God on the bronze altar in the tabernacle courtyard. It burned well and provided a pleasant smell for God. Meat was roasted alongside it to improve the smell going up. God does not require blood (I had always known this was the case, but I was surprised to find it in Leviticus.)

Most of the blood of the animal offered was poured out on the ground, which does not make sense, if it was required by God. So I had to think about who did require it. The obvious answer is the spiritual powers of evil. Understanding that they have demanded blood changes the role of the offerings. I have explained this in Part 1 of my study of Leviticus and Offerings.

Part 2 is now complete and will be published on Substack at the beginning of next week.

Leviticus and Offerings (2)

I have always assumed that the Leviticus offerings were all about sin. I was surprised to find that three of the five main offerings have nothing to do with sin. They are acts of worship to God. The fourth offering was for “decontamination”. It deals with the effects of sin by cleansing people from them. It has nothing to do with guilt. The only offering that deals with sin is the fifth offering described in Leviticus. And it only deals with a limited range of sins.

Understanding that offerings have very little to do with sin, totally changed my thinking. I had to ponder the reasons why they offered. I came to realise that they were not designed to appease God, even though that is what many Christians teach. They had a different purpose, which I have described in Leciticus and Offerings.