If a stiff-necked Israelite brought an unblemished animal, such an outward act did not fool the Lord or please the Lord. The Lord knows the heart. Therefore, the Israelites needed to approach the Lord with the offering he would welcome and delight in: a broken and contrite heart.

Because of sin, we are not whole. And because we’re not whole, God told the Israelites that their sacrifices must be whole, unblemished. Let’s think this through.

Outside a union with Christ, the corruptive and corrosive effects of sin have left us with malformed hearts, disordered affections, a rebellious bent, and idolatrous instincts. The blemishes (or stains) of sin are many. And the depth of their reach means that we are unable to cleanse ourselves.

In order to approach the Lord at the designated sanctuary, the Israelites were to bring offerings that were unblemished. This requirement symbolized what the worshiper should be but, because of sin, wasn’t. The Lord is worthy of untainted worship from an unblemished life.

Yet sin pollutes. It stains and corrupts. It mars. So, through Moses, the Lord told the Israelites:

“You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you. And when anyone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it” (Lev. 22:20–21).

What kinds of things counted as blemishes that would exclude an offering?

“Animals blind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or an itch or scabs you shall not offer to the LORD or give them to the LORD as a food offering on the altar. . . . Any animal that has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut you shall not offer to the LORD; you shall not do it within your land, neither shall you offer as the bread of your God any such animals gotten from a foreigner. ” (Lev. 22:22, 24).

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