If Old Testament sacrifices did not take away sins (Hebrews 10:11), what was their point?
Robert Sungenis answers that the Old Testament sacrifices did take away sin, but only temporarily and locally. He holds they carried real forgiving power, enough to keep a person from hell, while pointing forward to the one great sacrifice that would forgive sins for eternity, so the difference is the degree of power rather than its absence.
A viewer asks that, since Hebrews 10:11 says the Old Testament sacrifices did not take away sins, what the point of those sacrifices was, or whether it was just to keep from ending up in hell.
Answer
The sacrifices took away sin temporarily. You could actually go to the sacrifice and have your sins forgiven, so it was not futile. But the theological understanding behind it was that a great sacrifice was coming that would forgive your sins not only then but for eternity, and that is the difference. In your sense, yes, it kept you from ending up in hell, and there was a real power of forgiveness for those sins in the temporary, local sense; it just was not a great enough power. So it was not all for nothing; there was some power there, only not enough.