1. There is only one altar on earth where blood sacrifices to God can be made.
Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD: - Deut 12:11
And the altars that [were] on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, did the king beat down, and brake [them] down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. – II Kings 23:12
But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than [that of] Abel. - Hebrews 12:22-24
We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of [our] lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. – Hebrews 13:9-16
Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. – Hebrews 5:5-11
As a man, Christ’s lineage was Judah, not Aaron. More importantly, Christ is God. He is divine.
Melchizedek was not a mortal priest either and his priesthood preceded the Levitical priesthood.
The priesthood of Christ is unchangeable and endless.
For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. For [it is] evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.
And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. For he testifieth, Thou [art] a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope [did]; by the which we draw nigh unto God.
And inasmuch as not without an oath [he was made priest]: (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou [art] a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)
By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: But this [man], because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.
Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, [who is] holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, [maketh] the Son, who is consecrated for evermore. – Hebrews 7:11-28
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he [was] the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed [be] Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. – Genesis 14:18
4. The sacrifice - the Blood of the Lamb - is not like physical blood – it never runs out, never fades, never weakens, never fails.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. – I John 1:15
And from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness, [and] the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, - Revelation 1:5
And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. – Revelation 7:14
From Corinthians in context (emphasis mine):
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we [being] many are one bread, [and] one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. – I Cor 10:16-17
For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the [same] night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake [it], and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also [he took] the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink [it], in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. – I Cor 11:23-26
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of [that] bread, and drink of [that] cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many [are] weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. - I Cor 11:28-32
For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also [is] Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether [we be] Jews or Gentiles, whether [we be] bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. - I Cor 12:12-14
Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. – I Cor 12:27
For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. – Ephesians 5:30
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all [things] he might have the preeminence. – Colossians 1:18
For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, [being] many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. – Romans 12:4-5
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. [We are] troubled on every side, yet not distressed; [we are] perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. – 2 Cor 4:7-11
The LORD [is] in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne [is] in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. - Psalms 11:4
And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. - Revelation 11:19
Your long post is no problem at all and thanks.
In deed, no human priest can claim to offer Christ on any altar that altar being heavenly.
That was great.
Thank you.
To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." -- Jude 1:24-25"Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
From my vantage point,
It tends to chronically appear that humans have an inherent compulsion to make talismen out of all manner of objects, rituals, symbols etc. How to talk about this may be tricky, but as usual, I'm brazen enough to try. I think this is true of all humans, all Christians. Nevertheless, the Vatican AIWSOTARM system has evolved such compulsions to a hideous black art form.
A slight caveat. I'm not trying to say that God's power is never invested, anointed over, saturating objects. The bones of the prophet could be a case in point to the contrary. Paul's handkerchief/cloths, another.
Nevertheless, God saw to it that even the Ark of the Covenant, for the present, is unavailable. That supreme object-location of YAWEH'S DIVINE MANIFEST PRESENCE is not currently available.
And, RC VAIWSOTARM sensibilities aside, Mary is a poor ark.
And, it's been said that if all the splinters of The Cross were collected, there'd be enough wood to build a new Noah's Ark.
We are a mortal people grounded in tangible reality focused on OBJECTS all our waking hours and resting on objects when we are asleep. We are inescapably OBJECT ORIENTED.
Initially, God wanted a more or less face to face sort of dialogue with each Israeli at the TENT OF MEETING. They would have none of it and demanded that Moses do the professional RELIGIOUS duties for them. Chickens. Wimps. Humans.
I think that's why Moses' body was taken by God. He wanted no one bowing down to Moses corpse. Or worse, their tearing it apart for bits of Moses' bones--talismen to be carried around their necks on gold chains.
We love talismen because WE CONTROL THEM--we carry them, fondle them, caress them, kiss them, loft them, adore them, venerate them, worship them [DUMB! DOH!], MANIPULATE THEM--pretend we manipulate God with them.
YAWEH was not in the thunder . . . nor in the lightening . . . nor in the wind . . . but in HIS STILL SMALL VOICE.
He IS a jealous God. It is OFFENSIVE TO HIM for us to focus on ANY SUBSTITUTE.
HE WANTS DIALOGUE, A DANCE, PERSONAL INTIMACY INDIVIDUAL TO HIM. HE WANTS IT AT THE COST OF HIS OWN ONLY SON. WHAT BIGGER STATEMENT CAN HE MAKE ABOUT THAT???
Yet in our arrogant insecure prissyness, humans are so compulsively prone to acquiring, taking on, making talismen as substitutes. We feel comforted that we can HANDLE, DO, MANIPULATE some purported 'God thing' and pretend that we can even manipulate God with the THING.
God is merciful and when hearts are right, and earnestly toward and for Him, He MAY ignore some minor degrees of such around the edges.
ON THE WHOLE, IT'S AN OFFENSIVE STENCH.
And to end up doing it with the elements of communion has to be a serious travesty of major proportions.
HE WANTS ONGOING DAILY DIALOGUE INDIVIDUAL PERSON TO HIM. NOTHING between. Certainly no tangible OBJECTS between.
HEART TO HEART IS HIS PREFERENCE AND HIS REQUIREMENT.
Humans are foolish to pretend anything else is good, much less wonderful.
All this business about "aids to worship" is likewise nonsense. The Pagans say the same thing. God will have none of it. Weasel worded rationalizations have never impressed God.
And, Proddys can be ALMOST as awash in such stuff as RC's with particular denomninational symbols, forms, rituals, customs and the like. Thankfully, most of us don't fixate on crackers and juice as our bits of Christ to play mental games with.
May God show each individual with a heart truly after HIM--what HIS priorities are for in each of our lives and particularly for our DANCE WITH HIM.
oh Dear sister-in-Christ....how my heart and mind is blessed from His word your post presented. Truth always sets well within us and reminds us once again that Gods word clairifies all which we need to know... and we can trust it as the authority by which we can try and test mans words. Thank you....and thank you for the time you gave to present this...which itself is a true sacrifice for any of us in the busy life.