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Jewish Sacrifices - Why did they stop?

Why do Jews not make animal sacrifices today? When and why did it stop? I understand how Christ is the ultimate and only acceptable sacrifice to God, but what about the Jews- why have they stopped sacrificing? Could you please explain this?

Your question about Judaism and the lack of animal sacrifices is a very interesting and timely question. It is interesting because Judaism is based on the Old Testament, but the followers of that religion are unable to make the required sacrifices and appearances (Deuteronomy 16:16) “Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:”) before the Lord as the law requires. It is timely because the Jews want to get those things rolling again. Their desire is to remove the obstacle that hinders their obedience.

Basically, the problem stems from the fact that they have no place to sacrifice. In Deuteronomy 12:13-14, the Lord said, “Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.”). This, of course, was a reference to the Temple that Solomon would build. This is clearly seen in 1 Kings 9:3 following the dedication of the first Jewish Temple when God said to Solomon, “…I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.”

In A.D. 70, the Roman general Titus marched into Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple, and those people have not had a place to offer sacrifices for over 1900 years. Interestingly, the last verse in the Jewish Bible is found in our book of 2 Chronicles. “Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up” (2 Chronicles 36:23). That is, the last thing a Jewish person reads in his Bible is an admonition to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple that had been destroyed.

As you may know, there is a huge obstacle that prevents the Jewish people from rebuilding that Temple right now. That site is currently the 3rd holiest place in Islam. It is supposed to be the place where Mohammed ascended up to heaven. I don’t know what is going to happen, but at some point the Jewish people will be able to rebuild their Temple before the Lord returns. We know this because 2 Thessalonians 2:4 tells us that the antichrist “sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” In addition, there are five places in the Book of Daniel (8:11, 12, 13; 11:31; 12:11) where the phrase daily sacrifice is used in connection with the antichrist and the Jewish people.

Karl Lohman
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Proverbs 24:3

Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:
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