The Lord of Spirits — “The Sacrifices of Righteousness”

Air Date: February 26, 2021
Hosts: Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick & Fr. Stephen De Young

Episode Overview

In this second installment of a three-part series exploring sacrifice, Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick and Fr. Stephen De Young delve into the religious life of ancient Israel: what sacrifice looked like within its context, how it differed from surrounding pagan practices, and how it was oriented toward the entire world. The conversation examines the daily life of ancient Israelites, their understanding of worship and sacrifice both before and after the giving of the Torah, and the role of priests, feasts, and the liturgical calendar. Central themes include the way in which worship was woven into every aspect of life, the priestly vocation of Israel on behalf of the world, and the enduring significance of these patterns into contemporary Christian practice.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

I. Setting the Stage: Sacrifice Before and After the Torah

[01:08–09:55]

• Last episode addressed the universality of sacrifice in the ancient world; now, focus shifts to normative ancient Israelite practice — not the deviations into idolatry depicted in the Bible.
• The "norm" discussed is what God instructed, not necessarily what was always practiced.
• Ancient Israel’s religious life is distinct: it is not simply a derivation from paganism nor a radical break; God’s commandments respond to and correct the ancient Near Eastern context.

Memorable Moment:

“It’s not a question of derivation… Sacrifice was happening all over the world. We see Cain and Abel offering sacrifices, and they sure didn’t derive that from some kind of surrounding paganism.” — Fr. Andrew [09:07]

II. Worship in Everyday Ancient Israelite Life

[11:16–24:55]

• Before Torah, sacrifice and prayer were led in the context of the extended family, typically by the ancestral patriarch (e.g., Abraham, Job).
• No sense of "religion" as a separate identity — spiritual practices deeply integrated into family, tribe, and nation.
• Ancient Israelites lived in a world of immediate dependence on divine favor: lack of crops meant starvation; life was precarious and religious practice inseparable from survival.

Quote:

“There’s simply the things that you do in your family, and then that expands to be the things that the tribe does… It’s not a religion.” — Fr. Andrew [16:41]

• In contrast to modern "boutique" religion, worship was no mere belief or emotional state, but a public, communal, embodied way of life.

III. The Evolution of Sacrifice and the Priesthood

[25:08–34:48]

• Origin of professional priesthood: After the episode of the Golden Calf, the priesthood was removed from the community elders ("presbyters") and given exclusively to the tribe of Levi, who had stood with Moses.
• The centralization of worship: God chose a single place (eventually the Jerusalem Temple) for His presence and for sacrifice, in direct contrast to the localization of pagan gods in multiple regional shrines.
• Ordinary Israelites, often journeying weeks to Jerusalem, mostly participated in the centralized, sacrificial system through annual pilgrimage feasts, particularly Passover.

Quote:

“The mystical supper… is the fulfillment of [the communal meal in Jerusalem] in a very literal sense… Christ was sitting there at the table.” — Fr. Stephen [31:49]

IV. The Shape of Faithfulness: Ethics, Holiness, and Community

[33:04–36:06]

• In Israel, ethics is religious: how one behaves toward others (who are made in God’s image) is an act of piety, unlike paganism where ethics and ritual are separate spheres.
• Restitution, not retribution, is the key to dealing with wrongdoing; sacrifices cleanse and maintain the community’s relationship with God but do not function as transactional “payments” for sin.

V. Sacrifice in the Temple: Offerings and Their Meanings

[41:53–57:28]

• Daily, perpetual worship at the Tabernacle/Temple was centered on the offering of incense morning and evening (Exodus 30:7–9), signifying prayers rising and the purification of sacred space.
• Other offerings included:
  • Sin Offerings: Ongoing sacrifices (of food or animals) for the cumulative presence of sin, not "one-to-one" transactions for individual misdeeds. [57:47]
  • Peace Offerings: Marked restoration after major ruptures in the relationship with God (e.g., communal repentance events). [65:41]
  • Thank (Votive) Offerings: Voluntary expressions of gratitude, often linked with vows. [69:04]
  • Grain and Drink Offerings: Related to the harvest, sometimes combined with other sacrificial acts.

Memorable Quote:

“There's a lot of bad theology out there that thinks that's what sacrifice is… Sin offerings are specifically not that. It’s not quantitative, it’s not retributive, it’s not any of that.” — Fr. Andrew [60:49]

VI. Incense: Purification, Participation, and Home Practice

[36:06–57:28 and 47:54–57:16]

• Use of incense by laity at home is a devotional participation in Temple/church worship, though distinct from priestly liturgical rites.
• Incense and sacrificial acts purify not only from demonic taint but the ontological “residue” of sin itself.
• The prescribed recipe for Temple incense is no longer mandated because, in Christ’s atonement, all creation is cleansed and holy things are accessible in a new, universal way.

Notable Caller Moment:

“Pumpkin spice summons white girls and drives me away, for the record.” — Fr. Stephen, joking about incense traditions [57:16]

VII. Discontinuities with Pagan Practice

[73:57–93:51]

• Showbread (Shewbread) [74:52–79:30]: A table of bread for the priests, in presence of God, inverts the pagan practice where priests feed the gods. Here, God feeds and provides for His people.
  • Jesus references this when defending His disciples’ Sabbath actions, illustrating God’s provision and the Sabbath as a gift.
• High Priest Vestments [82:49–85:44]: The high priest’s garments resemble those placed on idols in Canaanite temples, but he serves as the living image of God, not an embodiment receiving worship—again, an inversion of pagan categories.
• Blood of Sacrifices [89:41–92:34]: Rather than being consumed or offered to feed the dead/gods (as in pagan rites), blood in Israel is poured out on the altar’s base or used for ritual purification, never for magic or appeasement.

VIII. The Liturgical Calendar: Enchanting Daily Life

[95:47–117:18]

• Two interwoven calendars:
  • Agricultural Calendar (Rosh Hashanah, First Fruits, Tabernacles): Grounding worship in the rhythms of survival, reminding Israel of its dependence on God (e.g., the Feast of Tabernacles/Sukkot).
  • Passover Cycle (Exodus, Pentecost): Rooted in redemptive history, celebrating God’s liberation and covenant with His people.

Theological Highlights

• Passover as Liberation, Not Substitution [97:00–105:09]: The sacrificial lamb is not a substitute for the firstborn. Passover is liberation from slavery to the gods of Egypt (demonic powers), marking the beginning of Israel, a priestly nation open to all who join in the worship of Yahweh.
  • “If you mark your doorpost, you’re now an Israelite… It doesn’t matter if you’re a full-blooded Egyptian [or] a descendant of Abraham.” — Fr. Stephen [109:43]
• Pentecost/Feast of Weeks [113:10–116:07]: Celebration of covenant-giving, later fulfilled by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2).

IX. Israel: A Priestly Nation for the World

[126:04–130:43]

• The sacrifices and concentric "holiness circles" around the Temple exist so that Israel can be priests to the nations—70 bulls at Sukkot representing the 70 nations of the world.
• The distinct standards for priests, Israelites, and Gentiles are not meant for superiority but for the function of mediating God’s grace and holiness to the entire creation.

Quote:

“In Exodus, Israel’s told, you’re going to be a kingdom of priests… priests for the world.” — Fr. Stephen [130:14]

X. Modern Application & Call to Renewed Priesthood

[133:49–end]

• The integration of devotion and daily living is both ancient and essential: Christians are called to “enchant” the world through constant prayer, thanksgiving, and faithfulness.
• Worship is not for one’s own “heavenly merit badges” but is participation in Christ’s ongoing saving work for the world.
• Loss of liturgical, sacramental worldview leads to “materialist Christianity” and inevitable collapse into politics; priestly, sacrificial Christian life is the only true leaven for the world.

Moments of Reflection:

“If that’s really true, then our task is to… enchant the world by constant prayer, by as often as I can, participating in the sacrifices of the church, by praying at home.” — Fr. Andrew [135:54]
“We are the ones who, as priests, are able to bring Christ to them and bring them to Christ… If we give up that role… there’s no hope for the world.” — Fr. Stephen [142:13]

Memorable Quotes

• “We have to take seriously both the continuity and the discontinuity.” — Fr. Stephen [11:11]
• “Ethics is religious in the Torah… Every human you meet every day is the image of God… and so how you treat them and act to them, that is a religious act.” — Fr. Stephen [34:04]
• “The Eucharist is fulfilling the sin offering.” — Fr. Stephen [101:03]
• “What distinguishes someone just living in Israel from an Israelite is that someone who is an Israelite eats the Passover.” — Fr. Stephen [110:59]

Important Timestamps

• [01:08] — Introduction and previous episode recap
• [11:16] — Everyday religion in ancient Israel
• [25:08] — Origin of the Levitical priesthood
• [36:06] — Incense and purification in home and Temple
• [47:54] — Listener call on the meaning of incense and its recipes
• [57:28] — Types of offerings explained
• [73:57] — Major discontinuities with pagan worship (showbread, blood, vestments)
• [95:47] — The liturgical calendar and major feasts
• [97:00] — Passover as liberation; anti-substitutionary reading
• [113:10] — Pentecost/Feast of Weeks and the giving of the Law
• [116:30] — The agricultural liturgical cycle
• [126:04] — Israel as priests for the nations
• [133:49] — Reflections: ancient worship’s relevance today

Conclusion

This episode challenges listeners to reconsider the so-called “religious parts” of life and see all existence as a tapestry of worship, thanksgiving, and interaction with the divine. Ancient Israel’s patterns of sacrifice—fulfilled and transfigured in Christ—invite Christians to reclaim their role as “the royal priesthood,” mediating God’s blessing to all creation.

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