“The king took the two sons of Ritzpah the daughter of Ayah, whom she bore to Sha’ul, Armoni and M’fivoshet; and the five sons of Mikhal the daughter of Sha’ul, whom she bore to Adri’el the son of Barzillai the Mecholati; and handed them over to the Giv‘onim, who hanged them on the hill before Adonai. All seven died; they were put to death during the first days of the harvest season, at the beginning of the barley harvest.“-2 Samuel 21:9-10
There’s a fascinating detail pointed out to us when David executed the 7 sons of Saul.
We’re told the execution took place during the barley harvest
Or to be more specific, it took place during the Biblical Feast known as Bikkurim, otherwise known as Firstfruits.
This is the festival that comes right after Passover and Matzah (unleavened bread).
Why is this little detail mentioned?
Well, here’s the thing.
Nobody can say for sure that these men were executed exactly on the day of Firstfruits.
It’s what the narrative is implying that’s key here.
To the warped minds of these heathens, they figured that presenting the 7 bodies to the Lord as human sacrifices on a Biblical feast day would somehow be more holy or something.
Ya feel me here?
It was all a bunch of nonsense anyway.
This does lead us to the conundrum I left you with in my post yesterday, however.
Here’s the question again, as I posed it.
From a Torah standpoint, if human sacrifice was a pagan abomination…
And not something God ever desired or accepted.
Why was Yeshua offered up as a human sacrifice for the sins of the world?
For those who took the time to comment, thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Some of the comments I received were:
“Yeshua was not a ‘human sacrifice’ in the sense that you’re meaning. God commanded us not to murder, but He has “murdered” a lot of people, as it is His sovereign prerogative to do so. He’s in charge.”
Hmm…interesting point.
My good friend Steven Bruck, the founder of the Messianic Moment ministries, said:
“Christianity loves to play the ‘bloody sacrificial death’ card every chance they can, but let’s remember what Yeshua said in John 15:13, when he said, ‘Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for a friend.'”
He then went on to add:
“Yeshua’s death wasn’t a pagan form of human sacrifice, but rather a man giving up his life, voluntarily, so that others may be saved.”
That also makes good sense.
By the way, Steven is a Jewish believer in the Messiah and has a wealth of brilliant insights for those who want to go beyond the superficial doctrines of institutional gentile Christianity, which, for the most part, treats the “Old” Testament as an irrelevant piece of literature for believers.
You can see his full comment in yesterday’s post.
And check out his website here: https://www.messianicmoment.com/
Finally, another Bible scholar friend in Singapore shared the following thoughts:
“The sacrifice of the Mashiach was not a human initiative but ABBA’s. And Mashiach is the only begotten Son of the Abba. He is not from the sons of Adam. The basic principle seems to be that when YHWH’s actions or instructions for an action to be taken, even when such action may contradict human norms, such as Deu 20:16, HE has a kadosh reason behind it.”
Thanks for sharing that, Gimel!
I love that explanation, and it also makes good sense.
So to conclude, here’s what I’m getting from all of this:
The deaths of Saul’s sons on the hill of Gibeah were a manmade attempt to earn God’s favor through brutality and blood.
It was carnal, misguided, and rooted in pagan thinking.
God never asked for it, never sanctioned it, and never accepted it.
But the death of Yeshua was something entirely different.
It wasn’t man offering a life to God.
It was God offering His Son for man.
See the difference?
In pagan human sacrifice, people shed innocent blood, hoping to appease an angry god.
In Yeshua’s case, the innocent willingly laid down His life to redeem the guilty…
Because His Father willed to save, not destroy.
So to be clear, the Torah command still stands.
Human sacrifice is an abomination.
And yet, Yeshua’s offering didn’t violate that command.
It fulfilled its deepest meaning.
He wasn’t slaughtered as a ritual.
He surrendered Himself in obedience.
He wasn’t the victim of superstition.
He was the instrument of redemption.
So the cross (or stake) wasn’t about men reaching up to God through death.
It was about God reaching down to mankind through love.
That’s the real takeaway here.
The contrast between the Gibeonites and Golgotha couldn’t be clearer.
One was born of fear and guilt…
The other of faith and grace.
Yeshua’s death wasn’t a human sacrifice.
It was a divine rescue.
Done.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“For even the Son of Man
did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give
His life as a ransom for many.”
— Mark 10:45
“No one takes it from Me,
but I lay it down of My own accord.
I have authority to lay it down
and authority to take it up again.
This command I received
from My Father.”
— John 10:18
“Greater love has no one than this:
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
— John 15:13
“For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him
shall not perish
but have eternal life.”
— John 3:16
“He who did not spare His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all,
how shall He not with Him
also freely give us all things?”
— Romans 8:32
“But God demonstrates His
own love toward us,
in that while we were still sinners,
Messiah died for us.”
— Romans 5:8
“For He made Him who knew
no sin to be sin for us, that
we might become the
righteousness of God in Him.”
— 2 Corinthians 5:21
“The Son of God loved me
and gave Himself for me.”
— Galatians 2:20
“Messiah also suffered once for sins,
the righteous for the unrighteous,
that He might bring us to God.”
— 1 Peter 3:18
“This is love:
not that we loved God,
but that He loved us and sent
His Son to be the atoning
sacrifice for our sins.”
— 1 John 4:10
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