Ancient worshipers inspected entrails to see if their sacrifices had been accepted. Israel apparently never did so.
There was nothing visible to tell them that Yahweh received them. Only His word: “that he may be accepted.” In this as in other ways, sacrifice was a pedagogy in faith and humility before a sovereign Lord.
But Jesus is the haruspex of the church in Revelation 2: He examines the kidneys (nephros) and hearts (kardia) of those in Thyatira (2:23). They are the sacrifice, Jesus the priest.
Jesus examines the entrails of the saints with eyes that burn with a flame of fire (2:18), and that means that His sight burns. It is all one sequence, one moment: In the very act of examining our hearts, He offers them up in sacrifice.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Lift My Chin, Lord
Lift my chin, Lord,Say to me,“You are not whoYou feared to be,Not Hecate, quite,With howling sound,Torch held…
Letters
Two delightful essays in the March issue, by Nikolas Prassas (“Large Language Poetry,” March 2025) and Gary…
Spring Twilight After Penance
Let’s say you’ve just comeFrom confession. Late sunPours through the budding treesThat mark the brown creek washing Itself…
