I have been reading the Old Testament.  Numbers, Deuteronomy, Leviticus, The Kings, Chronicles.  It has been like wading through quicksand.  All the genealogy of everyone from Adam for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years.  I didn't know there were that many people on record.  It is an amazing feat to know all of your ancestors and have it recorded.  Kind of like the book "Roots" but much bigger.

And wars!  Everyone was trying to kill everybody else.  The human suffering was horrible.  I got to see actual carvings of one of the wars that was described in the Bible when I was in London.  It was fascinating to see something that was carved way before Christ was born that had actually been described in II Chronicles.  They say that even archeologists who aren't believers have started carrying The Old Testament in their hip pockets because it is so accurate.  (We already knew that.)

But the most fascinating topic to me was the building of the temple by Solomon and the process of offering sacrifices.  It directly affects us.

The process of sacrifice was elaborate.  But was always done by spilling blood.  Some lamb had to die for their sins.  No less sacrifice would do.  And then it had to be repeated over and over again.  It was a tremendous burden on the people to stay right with God.  And even then, God looked on their hearts to see if they were just going through the motions so that they could go out and sin again.

That is why the sacrifice of Christ is so huge.  God decided to become the sacrifice.  He decided to shed his own blood once and for all.  No more yearly sacrifices.  Just accept him as your sacrifice and you are covered.  And He came to live in the temple of your body, not the temple of Solomon anymore.  He changes your heart.  You no longer go through the motions so you can go out and sin for another week.  He changes you.  I personally don't want to sin and embarrass God.  And when I do, I can't live with myself until I tell God I am sorry, and that I won't do that again.  And mean it.  He knows your heart.  He knows if you are sincere or not.

II Chronicles 7: 14 "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."