This is a rebuttal to the 9th alleged Bible contradiction

Question #9: Can humans be sacrificed?

By 'sacrifice', I am not going to define it as 'dedicating someone to a particular
religious service'. Instead, by 'sacrifice', I take it to mean 'to kill someone for
other than a capital crime'. Let's not equivocate on the meaning of this word.

These are the verses Evans presented to make his claim.

In the 'no' category, we have

Leviticus 18:21, Deuteronomy 12:31, 18:10, Jeremiah 32:35

and in the 'yes' category, we have

Genesis 22:1-2, Exodus 13:1-2, Leviticus 27:28-29,
Numbers 31:40-41, Judges 11:30-40, John 3:16, Romans 3:25.

Note: If I find verses to be repetitive, I may decide not to quote them.

My standard prefacing comments:

God's dealing with Mankind has been chopped up into various dispensations,
starting with that of Adam, then to Noah, then to Abraham, then to Moses,
then to Jesus (who gave us the Church Age), then to the Millennial Reign
of Christ, etc.
The Bible reveals the big doctrines of God progressively over time,
such as heaven, hell, angels, devils, salvation, the Messiah, etc. As a
consequence, the verses in the back of the Bible (i.e., the Gospels on)
tend to be more authoritative than those in the beginning of the Bible.
Not all verses are equally authoritative. What Jesus said trumps every
other writing in the Bible.
Not all people are equally equal. Jesus Christ is not just another man
among the billions of people. Jesus, not you or me, is God in the flesh.
In the Church Age, the true followers of Jesus, by the grace of God, are
partakers in the divine nature [2 Peter 1:4], but they are not themselves
divine.
Just because a certain action or claim is recorded about someone in the
Bible, doesn't mean that God approved of it. They may even be sincere
and still get it wrong. Remember Job's friends who came to Job to
commiserate with him and later to advise him on righteousness and the
nature of God? They assumed that they were acting as the oracles of God,
but God gave them a stern rebuke for their errors.

On the No side:

And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech,
neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord.
-- Leviticus 18:21

On the Yes side:

And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham,
and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said,
Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee
into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon
one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. -- Genesis 22:1-2

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Sanctify unto me all the firstborn,
whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man
and of beast: it is mine. -- Exodus 13:1-2

And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without
fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, 31 Then it shall be,
that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when
I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's,
and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. 32 So Jephthah passed over unto
the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them
into his hands. 33 And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to
Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a
very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before
the children of Israel. 34 And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house,
and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with
dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor
daughter. 35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes,
and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art
one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord,
and I cannot go back. 36 And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast
opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath
proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance
for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon. 37 And she said
unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months,
that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I
and my fellows. 38 And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months:
and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the
mountains. 39 And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she
returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he
had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel, 40 That
the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah
the Gileadite four days in a year. -- Judges 11:30-40

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
-- John 3:16

Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood,
to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,
through the forbearance of God; -- Romans 3:25

My answer

Leviticus 18:21 tells us that for those under the Law of Moses, it is not allowed
to sacrifice (murder) children for religious purposes. Period. In the event when
God told Abraham to kill his own son of the promise, Abraham was obedient,
though the angel of God stopped him from going through with the sacrifice.
This is just plain wrong as an example that shows a Bible contradiction for
two reasons. First, this occurred before the Law of Moses, and second, the
actual killing of Isaac never happened; therefore, no sacrifice was actually
made. But two things were made. The first was that God was going to sacrifice
His Son on Calvary and there would be no substitute to take Jesus's place.
Second, Abraham proved to God and to the rest of us how much he served
God by his willingness to give up even his own beloved son, Isaac.

And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto
him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy
son, thine only son from me. -- Genesis 22:12

Faith without works is dead! [James 2:26] Or, 'Talk is cheap'.

So, what's the point of presenting Exodus 13:1-2? It's not a call to murder
off all of one's first born, is it?

And, how does John 3:16 and Romans 3:25 (and many more) fit into the larger
picture? In a sense, they don't. First, because Jesus was not a typical man;
and, second, because He did not come into the world to sacrifice someone else,
but to sacrifice Himself -- and so He did.

So let's now deal with foolish Jephthah. In his arrogance and headiness he made
this ridiculous vow to the Lord that whatsoever should greet him from his house
on his return he would sacrifice to the Lord as a burnt offering (at least he didn't
go that far). Just who or what did he think would greet him when he returned
home from the battle? A goat? A camel? Bigfoot?

Instead, his only daughter (and his only child) greeted him. (Now, there's a surprise!)
In their integrity, they both honored the foolish vow. The problem is, a foolish
vow is still a vow. By Jephthah honoring this vow, he might die without
grandchildren to survive him. So, both Jephthah and his daughter suffered for
his stupid vow to the Lord. But to their credit, they kept their integrity.

When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God, thou shalt not
slack to pay it: for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee;
and it would be sin in thee. -- Deuteronomy 23:21

I remember the poignant words of George Smiley, in his impromtu eulogy of
his recently murdered former friend General Vladimir. [Smiley's People, Episode 1, 42:00-]

Smiley, praising the virtues of former agent Gen. Vladimir against the jaded
pushback by Lacon and Strickland:

Strickland, speaking insultingly of Vladimir: He was potty!
Smiley: He was loyal and honorable! In a shifting world, he held fast. So, yes, maybe he was potty.
...
Strickland: Oh, dammit, George, that whole era is dead.
Smiley: And so is Vladimir! And I wish to God we've got half his courage and one-tenth of his integrity.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus specifically spoke to the nonwisdom of
swearing any vow, and offered a safer substitute for it:

Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt
not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34 But I
say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the
city of the great King. 36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou
canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your communication be,
Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
-- Matthew 5:33-37

Question 10: ?

Remember this: The righteous are mindful of the poor and help them; the wicked do not! (Proverbs 29:7)

You either get control of your lusts and feelings of entitlements or they will get control of you. -- Ilfinor