Under the Old Covenant, the Israelites obtained atonement from God for their unintentional sins by sacrificing an animal; when they sinned, blood needed to be shed and applied to the horns of the altar for atonement; the animal had to be perfect (no defects, blemishes, etc), a clean animal, and it had to be innocent of all wrong (like goring, etc). For with sin comes death, sin and death go together; death trails behind sin in its path, and the end of its way is death; so death is needed for atonement for sin, blood needs to be shed for forgiveness. When the substitute sacrifice of an animal occurred, the one offering was covered of his fault; afterwards, it was like the fault never occurred, for it was forgiven and the wrong was offset. The blood does nothing if it's still within the animal; the animal needed to be slain and dealt with according to the law. God established these laws for Israel so they may be forgiven. The Israelites could only give a sacrifice for unintentional sins: that is, sins that were done in ignorance. There was no sacrifice under the law for intentional sins; these sins were expiated in another way: either excommunication (being cut off from Israel), or punishment, or even death. Rebellion was also not forgiven, for this is the nature of rebellion: you know what is right, but you don't do it, or you know what is wrong, but you do it anyway; as it says in the Old Covenant, " Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Be on your guard before Him and obey His voice; do not be rebellious toward Him, for He will not pardon your transgression since My name is in Him. " (Exodus 23:20-21)
And that angel is Christ. For it is the same in the New Covenant (Hebrews 10:26-27). For all rebellion is willful - such sins are punished through chastisement; but, " When we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world. " (1 Corinthians 11:30-32)
For the apostles are also on record saying, "We are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.” (2 Corinthians 10:6) For the apostles also disciplined in the Lord.
So therefore, the Israelites had to sacrifice a perfect lamb or which-ever clean animal prescribed by the law for forgiveness of unintentional sins; it is like this: the clean animal cleansed them from their filth and the unblemished beast took away their blemish. The sacrifice did not cleanse the offerer's conscience though, because the guilt remained, for an innocent animal had to die in their place; the sacrifice did not take away their sin, but only covered their sin temporarily according to the physical requirement; as it says in the book of Hebrews, "In those (sacrifices) there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." (Hebrews 10:3-4)
For a goat is not equivalent to a human, so it cannot be substituted for a human; but rather, " Life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. " (Deuteronomy 19:21)
Furthermore, certain sin offerings were brought into the Holy Place when the congregation as a whole sinned; the bodies of those animals were burned outside the camp and not eaten by the priest; as it says, " Although the high priest brings the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, the bodies are burned outside the camp. " (Hebrews 13:11)
All these testify to Jesus; and of Him it is said, " Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! " (John 1:29)
"Jesus also suffered outside the city gate, to sanctify the people by His own blood. Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace He bore. For here we do not have a permanent city, but we are looking for the city that is to come." (Hebrews 13:12-14) He was sacrificed on our behalf as our substitute, for the forgiveness of sins - not a sacrifice that needed to be offered over and over, but once for all; and He was the sin offering for the whole world, not only for the congregation of Israel. But how is one for all? As it is written, “He who was least was equal to a hundred and the greatest to a thousand.” (1 Chronicles 12:14) And it says of David, "You are worth ten thousand of us." (2 Samuel 18:3) If David is as ten thousand, and the greatest of Gad a thousand, how do you suppose Christ is reckoned, being the Son of God, but as the whole world, including both the living and the dead? So He is one, yet for all, being God's own Son. Those sin offerings in the Old Covenant for the whole congregation of Israel were not eaten; but yet " We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. " (Hebrews 13:10)
And the blood of all offerings in the Old Covenant were never eaten, but He has given us a reminder of His grace towards us in Communion (Matthew 26:26-28): eating His flesh and drinking His blood.
Furthermore, we don't have guilt in that our sins have caused Christ to die, for He lives on, and even forevermore; for He is seated in the heavens; and so He is contrary to the law in that He was raised, for the animals sacrificed in the Old Covenant did not rise, and sorrow and guilt remained with the offerer. So God raised Christ from the dead and by His resurrection, we have justification with God. It is His act of obedience that matters in the sight of God, united with our work of faith. God shows us the way of atonement in the law; for there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. These laws came not from man, although they were spoken by the mouth of Moses, they came from God; and this is God's way. Everything Moses spoke, God spoke to him to speak to the people. These things he spoke were also written down by the commandment of the LORD. And by reading these things, we may believe through Moses, for they point to Christ; for faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of Christ. So it's by faith, which is contrary to works; and if it's contrary to work, then it's accounted as grace, for grace is a gift; and on the contrary, if it's work, then grace is no longer grace, but due wages; for those who work deserve wages, but he who receives a gift has done no work for it. So Christ was sacrificed apart from our works by the grace of God to be received by faith. And He, being the High Priest, brought an offering to God, offering Himself to sanctify for-ever those who are being saved. And thereafter, having been raised, He has been exalted as Lord of all, especially of those who believe. The work of the obedience of Christ forgives, making many that believe righteous and justifying the many by His one act. And He proves to us these facts through the testimonies of the Psalms and the Prophets, the book of the law, which were all written beforehand, foretelling God's plan, which is now revealed in Christ; as Christ says, " Jesus said to them, "O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?" Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. " (Luke 24:13-35)
Not to mention: we also have the testimonies of the Apostles, who seen the risen Lord, testifying to what they seen and heard, namely, Jesus appointed by God to be the Savior of the world; so now, we may have confidence to approach the living God through His Way, by the blood of Christ; as it says, " Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. " (Hebrews 10:18-22)
For this is God's Way, and there is no other; as Jesus testified and His testimony is true; as He says, " I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. " (John 14:6)
Furthermore, when the Israelites were in slavery in Egypt, the Israelites had to sacrifice a lamb and paint the doorpost of their house with its blood. The angel of death sent by God came through the city and slayed the firstborn of every house whose doorpost was not marked with the lamb's blood; and the death angel was commanded to pass over the house marked with blood and not harm anyone inside. This is remembered now by the Israelites, even to this day as the Passover. For seven days after the Passover, they cleaned out all leaven from their homes; and even to this day they celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread. And the apostle Paul says about this: " Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. " (1 Corinthians 5:7-8)
And so, we have been rescued from our slavery to Egypt by the Passover Lamb; which is to say: we have been redeemed from our slavery to sin by the blood of Jesus Christ. By His cross, we have been crucified to the world and the world crucified to us. Israel crossed through the sea on dry ground while their enemies perished. So in Christ, the world and everything it esteems, is brought to nought through the cross; for "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are.” (1 Corinthians 1:27-28)
So if anyone who has the love of this world in them, the love of the Father is not in them; for how can we love what God hates? As the prophet asks, "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD and so bring wrath on yourself from the LORD?” (2 Chronicles 19:2) Everything that is of the world is contrary to God, and everything men value is detestable in the sight of God (Luke 16:15). But we who love the Father have been rescued from this world. This is the sacrifice that God desires: not of bulls, or goats, or lambs, but of setting apart our sins for destruction, crucifying the misdeeds of the body by devoting them to death, so that we may not be destroyed with them; this is the sacrifice of death that we may live, which is initiated by God's Sacrifice of Atonement for us, even the Passover; for even if we purge out every crumb of leaven in our lives, if we do not have blood, our work is in vain. This is the thing Solomon seen when he prayed after the completion of the permanent temple of God; instead of praying, asking for the LORD God to forgive the people according to the ordinances of sacrifice even though they were written according to the law; he says, " If they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been taken captive, and pray toward their land which You have given to their fathers and the city which You have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for Your name, then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, their prayer and supplications, and maintain their cause and forgive Your people who have sinned against You. " (2 Chronicles 6:46-49)
As it says, "If they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul and pray." It does not say, "If they sacrifice an offering according to the law to You." For " Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. " (1 Samuel 15:22)
(And there are many other such things written in the Scriptures as these: Hosea 6:6, Micah 6:7-8, Psalm 40:6-8, Jeremiah 7:21-23, Psalm 50:8-15, Psalm 51:16-17) Christ is the Sacrifice; God desires not a sacrifice from us, but He gives the Sacrifice. The sacrifices of man are loyalty and obedience, the knowledge of God, giving heed to His Word, doing loving-kindness and justice, and walking humbly with God; with these things God will not despise.