SACRIFICES OF PRAISE THAT PLEASE JEHOVAH

"SINCE the Law has a shadow of the good things to come, but not the very substance of the things, men can never with the same sacrifices from year to year which they offer continually make those who approach perfect." (Hebrews 10:1) There, in one bold statement, the apostle Paul affirms that all the sacrifices offered under the Mosaic Law were of no permanent value as far as man's salvation is concerned. -Colossians 2:16, 17.

Does this mean that the material in the Pentateuch regarding offerings and sacrifices is of no value to Christian today?  As a matter of fact, over the span of a little more than a year, individuals enrolled in the Theocratic Ministry School in the congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide recently read through the first five books of the Bible.  Some have struggled to read and understand all the details.  Has all their effort been in vain?  That surely cannot be the case, for "all the things that were written aforetime were written for our instruction, that through our endurance and through the comfort from Scriptures we might have hope."  (Romans 15:4)  The question, then, is, What "instruction" and "comfort" can we glean from that body of information in the Law regarding offerings and sacrifices? 

Next time: For Our Instruction and Comfort

From the Watchtower magazine, 2000