In contrast, the Lord pointedly rejected such impious customs, as conveyed in the book of Leviticus, where it is stated: "Declare to Aaron and his sons and all the children of Israel, and say to them, 'This is what the Lord commands: If any man of the house of Israel shall slay a bullock or a sheep or a goat in the camp, or if any man shall slay outside the camp, and shall not bring it to the entrance of the tabernacle of the congregation, to present it as a sacrifice to the Lord before the dwelling of the Lord, blood shall be imputed to that man: 'He hath shed blood, and that man shall be destroyed from among his people’" (Lev. 17:4). Thus, shedding blood outside the tabernacle leads to the shame of unlawful murder, as it turns one’s soul away from the true God and towards inanimate objects like stones and trees, offering sacrifices to the illusions of demons. The requirement was not for every type of sacrifice to be brought to the tabernacle, but specifically for those offerings dedicated to God. This was further clarified with the instruction: "That they henceforth do not bring their sacrifices to idols, after which they go fornication. This shall be an everlasting ordinance for them in their generations" (Lev. 17:7). Consequently, no one is permitted to offer sacrifices frivolously, as the Lord explicitly commands that worship must be directed to the one true God.
How profound our discourse is! I believe it is essential to further understand the significance of offering sacrifices and performing sacred rites solely within the holy tabernacle. Did we not mention that the bullock offered in the holy tabernacle served as a foreshadowing of Immanuel and atoned for the people's sins of ignorance? Thus, Christ's sacrament must be practiced in the holy tabernacles of God’s churches. This is illustrated when the Lord instructed how the Israelites, emerging from Egypt, were to sacrifice the lamb as a symbol of Christ, saying: “In one house ye shall eat it... ye shall not take the meat out of the house” (Ex. 12:46). Consequently, heretics disregard the divine will, establishing other places of worship separate from the true tabernacle and mishandling the sacrificial lamb by taking it far from the designated house, thus fracturing the unity of Christ, who is one and perfect in all things. Furthermore, the wise and holy Moses cautioned us in Deuteronomy: "Beware of offering your burnt-offerings in every place that thou seest; but in that place only which the Lord shall choose..., in one of thy tribes, offer your burnt-offerings, and do all that I command thee.... But whenever thy soul desires, thou mayest slay and eat, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God, the meat which he hath given thee, in all thy dwellings: the unclean and the clean may eat it as a chamois, and as a deer: but the blood thou shalt not eat: thou shalt pour it out upon the ground as water" (Deuteronomy 12:13-16). Hence, it is the sin and condemnation of the wicked soul to offer sacrifices anywhere other than in the house of God while failing to faithfully perform the sacrament of Christ.
THEOSIS