offer his very best animal from the herd, one without blemish or defect. This reminded the Israelites that sin is costly and that someone always bears the consequences of sinful choices. It also taught him the concept of substitution—the idea that an ideal, blameless sacrifice could bear the penalty of sin for another. The sacrifice reassured the sinner that once a sacrifice had atoned for his sin, God would never hold it against him in the future. The Law confronted humanity with both the seriousness