Defenseless Animals

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Leviticus 3:2     And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and kill it at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and Aaron’s sons, the priests shall throw the blood against the sides of the altar.

Leviticus 4:20-35    Thus shall he do with the bull.  As he did with the bull of the sin offering, so shall he do with this.  And the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be given.  And he shall carry the bull outside the camp and burn it up as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly . . .   

Leviticus 16:5   or whole book     And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.

Leviticus 17:11,14     For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. . . For the life of every creature is is its blood: its blood is its life.  Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, you shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood,  Whoever eats it shall be cut off.

2 Chronicles 30:16     They took their accustomed posts according to the Law of Moses the man of God.  The priests threw the blood that they received from the hand of the Levi

John 1:29     The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

Hebrews 9:12     . . . he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. . . .

Hebrews 9:22, 26     Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shredding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. . . . for then He would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world.  But as it is, He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

1 Peter 1:18-19     knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

 

If someone asked me what I thought was the most defenseless animal, I am unsure if I would say the rabbit or lambs.  After looking it up, I read and was reminded that rabbits are very alert, and often will freeze in place to be less noticeable, but if they are, have speed and frequently run in a zig zag pattern, and they have boroughs already dug, have very strong rear legs, and a couple of sharp front teeth as well as being able to camouflage themselves into the brush and area.

Lambs have no defense other than bleating when frightened or lost.  They are docile, curious, and can get lost just ambling and munching on grass.  They do not recognize danger in slipping off rocks, getting wedged between a couple of big rocks, they have no defense when a wolf, coyote, or some other predator is nearby.  Lambs are sweet, innocent and cause a tenderness to most people.   Generally, something like young kittens, puppies,, very young foals and calves pull at feelings and heartstrings.  

God wanted the people to feel the pain and sacrifice, the fear of the animals as they smelled the death and tried to resist.  They would have been full of fear, and with the larger animals–rams, oxen and so forth would have been hard to control, unruly and resistant in their fear.  Lambs also would have been resistant, an inborn fear of blood and death.  But being so much smaller and malleable, they would have been much easier to hold down and kill and be the sacrifice and atonement for our sins.  How hard it is to see that something so gentle is being killed for the sins of us.  

We. who are created in God’s image, have reason, intelligence, and hopefully feel the guilt and remorse of committing sins that cause the life of something so innocent and gentle.  God gave us heart and empathy so we are capable of hurting and sympathizing with the death.  We are capable of a great deal of hurt and grief at an innocent death.  Yet, I have seen some animals also express feelings–fear; I once saw a Canadian goose, squawking loudly when a young goose started out into a rode, and the parent goose, looked fearful. tense, was screeching–although I could not hear the screech.  Unfortunately, I have seen a deer hurt or killed and the other deer let out a loud animal cry, then turn and hurry for the woods.  When my male Boston terrier got ill several years ago, the female little mate came in, licked him about face and neck, before he raised and turned his head away.  She then went into one of the beds.  A few minutes later my male cat who had enjoyed lying often near the male dog, and they always seemed to have a good pet relationship.  The cat came into the house, and went over to the dog, then he too, began to lick the dog about his face.  Clancy, the male dog, allowed the attention for a few minutes, then again, lifted his head and turned away from the cat.  This occurred on a Friday afternoon.  For the rest of the weekend, all the animals walked the furthest they could by the sick dog, rather than their normal of walking near, inches and going about the pet business.   

The female dog and male cat did not linger with him again.  They had recognized death coming, and had been able to say their good-byes.  

I have seen a calf taken away from the mother and she follows the calf–sometimes wounded, sometimes deceased.  She will follow the farmer carrying the calf with a mournful mooing.  Animals grieve–I am not sure always, but it is not an uncommon thing, to see some animals grieve.  

I had a pair of blue birds who for the seven years I lived in that house used one of the two bird houses I put up.  It was always the same one, but they would diligently check out both.  Once decided, they would busily collect twigs, dog fur and whatever they used to build a next.  Then the busy male would scurry about bringing food of mealy bugs, and whatnot for the female to eat, and then at dusk, they would both go into the nesting house together.   Within several days you could see the male carry away parts of light blue shell out, and return a few minutes later.  He didn’t always fly in the same direction, but already he was protecting his young family, protecting them by flying the shells that had surrounded the hatchlings.  I would rarely see the female , sometime, just poking her head out of the hole, getting a bit of fresh air, but she did not leave the nest that I saw, depending on her male to bring her food.  

But one summer, with their second littler, in July, it was exceptionally hot.   I would see her frequently poking her head out, just gasping for air.   Several days later, the female came out of the nest and went and stayed on part of the fence, and watched the nest, rarely flying away.  Occasionally, the male would come and set with her for a few minutes, but she would not be stirred from the place where she sat–and mourned.  I don’t know where they went in the evenings, but fairly early in the morning for three mornings in a row, she would sit on that fence post.  I did not have enough guts to open the bluebird house, but when a friend came to visit, I talked her into doing it.  All four hatchlings had suffocated, stuck in that birdhouse with a single hole and the infernal heat.  Once my friend cleaned out the nest, we left the door open, so fresh air could cleanse the staleness from the box.  

But God created us, most of us, to have empathy, sympathy, and to feel guilt, remorse, at seeing another creature killed for sins we have committed.  So when God demanded blood sacrifice to cover our sins, He gave the Laws of which animal death covered which sins and I wonder if I would have been able to attend these religious sacrifices.   But blood and death have a recognizable, distinguishing, and disgusting odor.  Recognizable once you have been exposed.  But it makes animals aware and nervous, so therefore they would have been more difficult to move to the sacrificial area.  lambs would have been no or very little difficulty as they would only be able to squirm, not strong enough to evade.   But the rams, the oxen–they are strong, and as almost all animals have  an instinct to avoid an untimely death.

“It is because of sin that God made the sacrificial system as a means of satisfaction of God’s wrath.  It is in the sacrificial system that we see the ultimate provision for sin that is found in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.”  Pastor Bobby Owings, Devotional in the Gathering App, April, 25, 2025.”   According to Hebrews, the forgiveness of sins through blood is a symbolic act representing the seriousness of sin and the need for atoning for sinning.

The priests must have been quite strong to manipulate the larger animals then bare their necks for a deep and lethal cut.   I just think I would have wanted to flee; if not flee then stay in the far back of the crowd.  Truly, I would not have wanted to be there.  And then to know that one of these animals was killed for an atonement for one of my sins, would make me ill.  I would have tried to never sin, so I would not be responsible for the death of an animal.   That can be a lot of mourning amongst the people and also when one animal is separated from the herd.   Loss.  Regret.  Mourning.  But God had supplied a means of covering sins; blood sacrifices for the sins is what He demanded.

Lord, You have provided a means for our sins to be atoned for not by the continuous deaths of animals, but by the death of Your Son.  God, my Father, I am so thankful for the sacrifice of your Son to free me of my dark and multiple sins.  You provided a way for me and ‘mybellaviews.’