"Did God command the Israelites to make him burnt offerings?" (Alleged Contradiction #E8285)
For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: but this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
Jeremiah 7:22
We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us.
Exodus 8:27
And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God.
Exodus 10:25
An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.
Exodus 20:24
And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar. And thou shalt cut the ram in pieces, and wash the inwards of him, and his legs, and put them unto his pieces, and unto his head. And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the LORD: it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Exodus 29:16-18
Response
Jeremiah 7:22 says God did not command the Israelites concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices “in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt.” After that day, He did. In Exodus 8:27, Moses says about the sacrifices, “as he [the LORD our God] shall command us,” meaning God had not yet commanded them regarding sacrifices. In Exodus 10:25, Moses asks Pharaoh for sacrifices, but again, God had not commanded them concerning this yet.
Besides all of this, the point of God’s commands were not burnt offerings or sacrifices (in fact, God said that He hated sacrifices done in the wrong spirit 1). The point was that Israel obey God from the heart. Even so, there is no contradiction when we pay attention to the timing mentioned in Jeremiah 7:22.
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