This weekend is going to be one when I'll be very glad to remain indoors, away from the world outside my building. This weekend is the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Adha, a celebration of sacrifice. In short, there will be an almighty 'call to prayer' at sometime early in the morning, during which men from each Muslim household will take their knives to the Mosque to have them blessed before returning home to wait for someone to come and help them slice the throat of an animal they have bought (often a bull, cow, goat or camel). The streets will fill with the cries of dying animals who seem to know what they have coming to them and then they fill be filled with blood.
Now now, before you start talking about how horrible that is, you need to understand WHY it takes place. Some believe that it is merely a symbol of Abrahams willingness to listen to God and sacrifice Issac upon that hill thousands of years before, where God honoured Abrahams faith and let him take the life of an animal instead. Nowadays, in Islamic tradition, sacrificing an animal during Eid is a form of atonement, not unlike the Old Testament traditions of making someone right with God, settling the debt (For the wages of sin is death)...
I think the saddest thing about living in a Muslim culture, where so much emphasis is placed on having to appease God is seeing the fruitlessness of animal sacrifice. The Bible clearly lays it out for us, stating that there WAS an old covenant, where the price for sin had to be paid through ongoing sacrifice of blood... But then the NEW covenant was made, signed in the pure and holy blood of Jesus.
This weekend is a reminder of what we (as Christians) have been saved from and the amazingly awesome gift that has been given.
Yes, I'm going to hide away this weekend. Some Muslims might say that it will be because I fell guilty, having not made a sacrifice to assure my salvation (which for them, needs to be renewed each year). I say it's because I have a considerably weaker stomach than I would like to admit, and the sight of animal hides, carcasses, entrails, blood, guts and gore would be enough to make my stomach turn and have me hurling for eternity. Thank you, Jesus, that I do not have to go through that, that you were MY sacrifice, dying for MY sins, setting ME free!
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Thursday, November 3, 2011
How very Old Testament...
This weekend is going to be one when I'll be very glad to remain indoors, away from the world outside my building. This weekend is the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Adha, a celebration of sacrifice. In short, there will be an almighty 'call to prayer' at sometime early in the morning, during which men from each Muslim household will take their knives to the Mosque to have them blessed before returning home to wait for someone to come and help them slice the throat of an animal they have bought (often a bull, cow, goat or camel). The streets will fill with the cries of dying animals who seem to know what they have coming to them and then they fill be filled with blood.
Now now, before you start talking about how horrible that is, you need to understand WHY it takes place. Some believe that it is merely a symbol of Abrahams willingness to listen to God and sacrifice Issac upon that hill thousands of years before, where God honoured Abrahams faith and let him take the life of an animal instead. Nowadays, in Islamic tradition, sacrificing an animal during Eid is a form of atonement, not unlike the Old Testament traditions of making someone right with God, settling the debt (For the wages of sin is death)...
I think the saddest thing about living in a Muslim culture, where so much emphasis is placed on having to appease God is seeing the fruitlessness of animal sacrifice. The Bible clearly lays it out for us, stating that there WAS an old covenant, where the price for sin had to be paid through ongoing sacrifice of blood... But then the NEW covenant was made, signed in the pure and holy blood of Jesus.
This weekend is a reminder of what we (as Christians) have been saved from and the amazingly awesome gift that has been given.
Yes, I'm going to hide away this weekend. Some Muslims might say that it will be because I fell guilty, having not made a sacrifice to assure my salvation (which for them, needs to be renewed each year). I say it's because I have a considerably weaker stomach than I would like to admit, and the sight of animal hides, carcasses, entrails, blood, guts and gore would be enough to make my stomach turn and have me hurling for eternity. Thank you, Jesus, that I do not have to go through that, that you were MY sacrifice, dying for MY sins, setting ME free!
Now now, before you start talking about how horrible that is, you need to understand WHY it takes place. Some believe that it is merely a symbol of Abrahams willingness to listen to God and sacrifice Issac upon that hill thousands of years before, where God honoured Abrahams faith and let him take the life of an animal instead. Nowadays, in Islamic tradition, sacrificing an animal during Eid is a form of atonement, not unlike the Old Testament traditions of making someone right with God, settling the debt (For the wages of sin is death)...
I think the saddest thing about living in a Muslim culture, where so much emphasis is placed on having to appease God is seeing the fruitlessness of animal sacrifice. The Bible clearly lays it out for us, stating that there WAS an old covenant, where the price for sin had to be paid through ongoing sacrifice of blood... But then the NEW covenant was made, signed in the pure and holy blood of Jesus.
This weekend is a reminder of what we (as Christians) have been saved from and the amazingly awesome gift that has been given.
Yes, I'm going to hide away this weekend. Some Muslims might say that it will be because I fell guilty, having not made a sacrifice to assure my salvation (which for them, needs to be renewed each year). I say it's because I have a considerably weaker stomach than I would like to admit, and the sight of animal hides, carcasses, entrails, blood, guts and gore would be enough to make my stomach turn and have me hurling for eternity. Thank you, Jesus, that I do not have to go through that, that you were MY sacrifice, dying for MY sins, setting ME free!
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