The answer is that God, who gave the law, did not command sacrifices or burnt offerings, but only permitted them, condescending to the weakness of the Jews. After the Jews had sacrificed to the calf, God gave them the commandment to sacrifice and allowed them to play the harps at the feasts, for God had seen the Jews raging and nearly suffocating themselves to offer sacrifices, and had seen them willing to worship idols, and many of them had already worshipped.

Therefore, the Lord commanded them to make sacrifices, saying: "Since you are furious and desire sacrifices, offer sacrifices to Me." God commanded this, but did not leave it forever: He by wise cunning turned the Jews away from sacrifices, commanding them to be made only in one city. When, after some time, after many signs and wonders, the Jews, although imperfectly, began to comprehend the true God, then the Lord God forbade them to sacrifice animals, play harps and sing, and said through the prophet: "Remove from Me the noise of thy songs, for I will not hear the sound of thy harp" (Amos 5:23).

And again the Lord said, "For I have not spoken to your fathers, nor have I given them commandments... for burnt offerings and sacrifices" (Jeremiah 7:22). And again: "Sacrifices and offerings Thou didst not desire" (Psalm 39:7). And again: "I will not receive a calf out of thy house, nor a goat out of thy courts" (Psalm 49:9). It is now clear that God did not require sacrifices and music, commanding the Jews to offer sacrifices and play harps, but He condescended to their weakness, hardness of heart, and disobedience.

Therefore, the Lord commands at one time, forbids at another, and sometimes loves, and sometimes hates. Many such imaginary contradictions can be found in the Holy Scriptures. Solomon says, "Man has no advantage over cattle... All things go to one place: all things came from dust, and all things will return to dust" (Ecclesiastes 3:19-20). Then he says: "Such is the advantage of the wise over the fool" (cf. Ecclesiastes 6:8).

Having previously said, "Man has no advantage over cattle," Solomon goes on to say that the righteous have an advantage not only over cattle, but also over sinners. Solomon says of sinners, "Whatsoever thy hand can do, do according to thy power; for in the grave whither thou goest there is neither work, nor meditation, nor knowledge, nor wisdom" (Ecclesiastes 9:10). And of the righteous he says: "The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and torment shall not touch them" (Wis. 3:1).

And again: "The righteous live forever; their reward is in the Lord... Therefore they shall receive the kingdom of glory and the crown of beauty from the hand of the Lord" (Wis. 5:15, 16). And again: "He is numbered among the sons of God, and his lot is with the saints" (Wis. 5:5). And then Solomon clearly shows that the end is not the same not only for man and cattle, but also for the righteous and sinners: animals do not live after death and do not go to hell, the souls of sinful people live after death and go to hell because of their wicked deeds, the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God; the righteous will receive a kingdom of glory and a crown of beauty from the hand of the Lord; In addition, there are other differences between humans and cattle.

To show the weakness and insignificance of the sinner, Solomon says: "Man has no advantage over cattle." When Solomon wants to show the glory and majesty of a righteous man, then he says: "The righteous live forever... Therefore they will receive a kingdom of glory and a crown of beauty from the hand of the Lord." And again: "They are numbered among the sons of God, and their lot is with the saints."

Solomon has these words: "Rejoice, young man, in thy youth" (Ecclesiastes 11:9), and a little further on he says: "Childhood and youth are vanity" (Ecclesiastes 11:10). Solomon said: "This is what I have found good and pleasant: to eat and to drink" (Ecclesiastes 5:17), and a little further on he seems to contradict himself: "It is better to go to a house of mourning for the dead than to go to a house of feasting" (Ecclesiastes 7:2).

The words: "Rejoice, young man, in thy youth," were spoken by King Solomon in heartfelt joy. When he says: "Childhood and youth are vanity," he condemns the carnal desires of childhood and youth. The words: "This is what I have found good and pleasant: to eat and drink," were said by King Solomon in sorrow, for "wine rejoices the heart of man... and bread strengthens the heart of man" (Psalm 103:15).

When he says: "It is better to go to the house of mourning for the dead than to go to the house of feasting," he reveals spiritual truth, since in the house of mourning a person awakens the memory of death. In the Holy Scriptures the same subjects are spoken of many times, but what is said has a different meaning, since it was said at different times, by different people and under different circumstances: one is said in perplexity, as a question, another as an answer, something is said because of carnal desire (In the manuscript of Archbishop Archbishop.

Gregory and the manuscripts of the Solovetsky Library NoNo 331 and in 327 it is added here: "something is for the sake of spiritual truth."), some are in sorrow, others are in joy. All this is in the Holy Scriptures: what is said by different people at different times about the same subject has a different meaning. Such imaginary contradictions can be found not only in the Old Testament, but also in the New Testament: one and the same thing is said in one way and another.

Thus, our Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel says: "The Father judges no man, but hath given all judgment unto the Son" (John 5:22), and then He says: "I judge no one" (John 8:15). And again He says: "If I also bear witness of Myself, My testimony is true" (John 8:14), and He also says: "If I bear witness of Myself, then My testimony is not true" (John 5:31).

To many these words seem contradictory and inconsistent with each other: for first Christ calls Himself the Judge, and then says: "I judge no one"; and again the Lord says, My testimony is true, and in another place, My testimony is not true. However, these words do not contradict each other, but are consistent. The Word of God does not change, does not contradict, does not diverge from itself; so are the above-quoted words of our Lord Jesus Christ, spoken by Him in the Holy Gospel.

When He says, "The Father judges no man, but has given all judgment to the Son," He shows us His power and majesty, for truly He is the Judge of the living and the dead, according to the testimony of the prophet Isaiah: "Unto us the Child was born, Son, and was given unto us; His dominion is upon His shoulders, and they shall call His name Angel of the Great Council... Mighty God, Sovereign, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).