Chapter 17. God Did Not Ordain the Levitical Ministry for His Own Benefit.
Chapter 17
1. Moreover, the Prophets most fully indicate that God did not need their ministry, but for their sake commanded some observances in the Law. Again, the Lord manifestly taught that God does not need the offering of men, but he [ordained] them on account of man who makes the offering, as we will show. For when Samuel saw them neglect justice and abstain from the love of God, and they thought that God ought to be appeased by sacrifices and the rest of the typical observances, he spoke to them as follows: God does not desire burnt offerings and sacrifices, but he desires that his voice be obeyed. Behold, a good ear is better than sacrifice, and to hearken is better than the fat of rams. David on his part said, Sacrifices and offerings you did not desire; but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. Thus he taught them that God desires obedience which will save them, rather than sacrifices and burnt offerings, which are of no value to them for justice. At the same time he prophesied the new covenant. But more clearly still he speaks about these things in Psalm Fifty, For if you had desired sacrifice I would indeed have given it; were I to give a burnt offering you would not be appeased. A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart the Lord will not despise. That God does not have need of anything, he expressed in the preceding Psalm: I will accept no bull from your house, nor he-goat from your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine; the cattle on the hills, and the oxen. I know all the birds of the air; and the beauty of the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you for the world and all that is in it is mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
Then lest someone think that he repudiated these things because he was angry, he continues by way of giving counsel to him: Offer to God a sacrifice of praise, and pay your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me. By this he repudiated the things by which sinners thought God was appeased and he shows that he has need of nothing. He does, however, exhort and advises about the things by which man is justified and draws near to God.
Isaiah makes the same statement: To what purpose do you offer me the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord. And when he had repudiated the burnt offerings, sacrifices, offerings, as well as the new moons, feast days, the sabbaths, the festivals, and the rest of the services accompanying these observances, he continued exhorting them about the things that pertain to salvation: Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, save the oppressed, defend the fatherless, plead for the widow; and then come, let us reason together, says the Lord.
2. He did not repudiate their sacrifices as an angry man would; no, he had pity on their blindness and suggested the true sacrifice, by the offering of which they would appease God, that they might receive life from him. As is said elsewhere, A broken heart is a sacrifice to God. A heart that glorifies its Maker is a sweet fragrance to God. For, if because of his anger he had repudiated their sacrifices, as if they were unworthy of receiving his mercy, he would certainly not admonish these same ones about the things through which they could be saved. But because God is merciful, he does not cut them off from his good counsel. In point of fact, it was through Jeremiah that he said, To what purpose do you bring me frankincense from Sheba, the sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings and sacrifices do not please me. He continued, Hear the word of the Lord, all you men of Judah. Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: “Amend your ways and your doings, and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words—because in no way will these be of profit to you—saying: ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’”
3. Again, in order to point out that he led them out of Egypt, not that they might offer sacrifice to him but that they might forget the idolatry of the Egyptians and hearken to the voice of the Lord, which was for them salvation and glory, he spoke as follows through the same Jeremiah, Thus says the Lord: Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. For in the day that I brought them out of Egypt I did not speak to your fathers, or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this command I gave them, saying, “Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you will be my people, and walk in all my ways that I command you, that it may be well with you.” But they did not obey or incline [their ear], but walked in the counsels of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward. And again, he said through the same Prophet, But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices kindness, justice, and judgment in the earth. He added, for in these things I delight, says the Lord, not in sacrifices, or burnt offerings or oblations.
For, the people did not possess these things from the beginning, but as a consequence, and for the reason mentioned. In regard to this Isaiah again says: You have not [brought] me sheep for your burnt offerings, or honored me with sacrifices. You have not ministered to me with sacrifices; nor wearied me with frankincense. You have not brought me sweet cane with money; nor have I desired the fat of your sacrifices; but you have stood before me with your sins, and with your iniquities. But, he asked, to whom shall I look but to him that is humble and quiet, and trembled at my words? Fats and fat flesh will not take away from you your crimes. For, this is the fast that I have chosen, says the Lord. Loose all the bonds of wickedness; undo the thongs of violent dealings, let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke. Gladly share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless stranger into your house. If you see someone naked, cover him, and despise not those of the household of your descendants. Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up, and righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard, and while you are yet speaking I shall answer you, “Here I am.”
Zachariah, too, in the Twelve Prophets, pointed out to them God’s will when he said, Thus says the Lord of hosts. Render true judgment, show kindness and mercy each to his brother, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor; and let none of you recall evil against his brother in your heart. And again, These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are peaceful. Do not recall evil in your heart against your brother, and love no false oath; for all these I hate, says the Lord.
David likewise says, What man is there who desires life, and covets good days? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil, and do good: seek peace, and pursue it.
4. From all these things it is evident that God did not demand from them sacrifices and burnt offerings but faith and obedience and justice for the sake of their salvation. For example, in the Prophet Hosea, God taught them his will when he said, I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Our Lord, too, gave them the same admonition. He said, If you had known what this means, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice,” you would not have condemned the guiltless. By this he testifies to the Prophets that they preached the truth but accuses these [the hearers] of being foolish through their own fault.
5. Again, while giving advice to his disciples to offer to God the first fruits of his creatures—not as if he were in need, but that they might not be unfruitful or displeasing—he took bread, a creature of his, and gave thanks, saying This is my body. And in like manner, the chalice, which comes from the creation of which we are a part, he acknowledged to be his blood, and he taught that it is the new oblation of the new Covenant. This oblation the Church received from the apostles and offers in the whole world to God, who gives us nourishment, the first fruits of his own gifts in the new covenant. Malachi pointed this out beforehand in the Twelve Prophets as follows: I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord Almighty, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is glorified among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord Almighty. Thus he pointed out in the plainest manner, that the first people stopped making oblation to God, but that a sacrifice is offered in every place, and that a pure one; and that his name is glorified among the nations.
6. Now, what other name is there that is glorified among the nations, except that of Our Lord, by whom the Father is glorified, and man is glorified? And since it [the name] belongs to his own Son, and was made by him [the Father], he calls it his own. By way of illustration, if some king would paint an image of his son, rightly would he call that his own image for two reasons; namely, because it is the image of his own son, and because he made it. So also, the name of Jesus Christ, which is glorified in the Church throughout the world, the Father confesses to be his own, both because it is the name of his Son, and because he wrote it and gave it for the salvation of men. Since, therefore, the Son’s name belongs to the Father, too, and since the Church makes an oblation <in every place> to God Almighty through Jesus Christ, well did Malachi say, in regard to both points, And in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering. Now, John tells us in the Apocalypse that the incense is the prayers of the saints.