LEVITICUS CHAPTER 7.

Various Ordinances Concerning Sacrifices.

OF TRESPASS-OFFERINGS. - V.1. Likewise this is the law of the trespass-offering: It is most holy. The difference between the sin-offering and the trespass-offering may in general be said to consist in this, that the latter was required in the case of more serious offenses, V.2. In the place where they kill the burnt offering shall they kill the trespass-offering, that is, north of the altar in the court; and the blood thereof shall he sprinkle round about upon the altar, upon its four walls. V.3. And he shall offer of it all the fat thereof; the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, the large net of adipose membrane, v.4. and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, attached to the muscles in the upper part of the pelvic region, and the caul, the smaller net of adipose tissue, that is above the liver, with the kidneys, upon the kidneys, it shall he take away; v.5. and the priest shall burn them upon the altar for an offering made by fire unto the Lord; it is a trespass-offering. V.6. Every male among the priests shall eat thereof, as in the case of the sin-offering, chap. 6, 26; it shall be eaten in the Holy Place; it is most holy. V.7. As the sin-offering is, so is the trespass-offering; there is one law for them, for every act that brings guilt upon a person, whether it is a sin of ignorance or a more serious transgression, is in need of atonement; the priest that maketh atonement therewith shall have it; not the priests on duty in a body, but the individual officiating priest received the flesh of the sacrificial animal. V.8. And the priest that offereth any man’s burnt offering, even the priest, shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering which he hath offered. The Hebrew text brings out with great emphasis the fact that the skin of the slain animal was to belong to the officiating priest. It was a part of the payment for his services. V.9. And all the meat-offering that is baken in the oven, and all that is dressed in the frying-pan, cooked in the kettle, and in the pan, shall be the priest’s that offereth it, with the exception, of course, of the handful which was burned as a memorial to the Lord. V.10. And every meat-offering, mingled with oil, and dry, shall all the sons of Aaron have, one as much as another. Thus was the distinction observed between the dry, or uncooked, meat-offering and that prepared on or in the oven. Incidentally, the people were always reminded of the fact that the laborer was worthy of his reward.

OF PEACE-OFFERINGS. - V.11. And this is the law of sacrifice of peace-offerings which he shall offer unto the Lord. The peace-offerings were made for the purpose of establishing and maintaining the fellowship with the covenant God, and may be divided into offerings of thanksgiving and into vow or voluntary offerings. V.12. If he offer it for a thanksgiving, in grateful acknowledgment of some special favor shown him by the Lord, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried. Cp. chap. 2, 4. 5. V.13. Besides the cakes, which were unleavened, he shall offer for his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace-offerings. V.14. And of it, of the entire gift as presented to the Lord, he shall offer one out of the whole oblation for an heave-offering unto the Lord, one of each kind of cakes, and it shall be the priest’s that sprinkleth the blood of the peace-offerings, the rest being returned to the worshiper for the sacrificial meal. The heave-offering was taken into the hands and waved up and down before the altar, but not placed upon it. V.15. And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace-offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the morning. This provision applied specifically to this form of the peace-offering: the sacrificial meal was to be held the same day. V.16. But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow or a voluntary offering, brought whenever a believer felt the need of cementing the fellowship between himself and the Lord, it shall be eaten the same day that he offereth his sacrifice; and on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be eaten, two days being allowed in this case for consuming the flesh of the sacrificial animal; v.17. but the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned with fire, and thus be destroyed completely. V.18. And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace-offerings be eaten at all on the third day, in violation of God’s will, it shall not be accepted, the entire sacrifice would be made in vain, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it, that is, as a sacrifice which is well-pleasing to the Lord; it shall be an abomination, hateful and nauseating to God, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity, not only the worshiper immediately concerned, but also the members of his family and his friends who might partake of the meal. V.19. And the flesh that toucheth any unclean thing shall not be eaten, in such event it must be discarded at once; it shall be burned with fire; and as for the flesh, all that be clean shall eat thereof, that is, of the clean flesh of the sacrifice. V.20. But the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offerings that pertain unto the Lord, that have been consecrated to Him by the offering, having his uncleanness upon him, any form of Levitical defilement, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. V.21. Moreover, the soul that shall touch any unclean thing, as the uncleanness of man, or any unclean beast, or any abominable unclean thing, cp. chaps. 12-15, and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offerings which pertain unto the Lord, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. The abomination spoken of here included all the unclean fishes, birds, and smaller mammals, and the defilement of unclean animals was confined to their carcasses, carrion being considered especially filthy. The Lord indicates here that He wants pure hands and pure hearts in His service. But to this day true sacrifices of thanksgiving and the paying of vows are acts well-pleasing to the Lord, if they are done in true faith and love toward Him, Ps. 50, 14.

THE EATING OF FAT AND BLOOD FORBIDDEN. - V.22. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, v.23. Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat. This seems to apply to the fat of the abdominal cavity in sacrificial animals only, chap. 3, 17. V.24. And the fat of the beast that dieth of itself, its blood therefore not having a chance to drain out, and the fat of that which is torn with beasts, may be used in any other use, for purposes of every-day life; but ye shall in no wise eat of it, for animals that found their death in this manner were unclean and defiled those that ate of their flesh or of their fat. V.25. For whosoever eateth the fat of the beast, of which men offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, the loose fat of the abdominal cavity, even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his people. V.26. Moreover, ye shall eat no manner of blood, a prohibition which had been given as early as the time of Noah, Gen. 9, 4; cp. chap. 3, 17; 17, 10-14, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings. V.27. Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. The blood was regarded as the bearer of the soul of the animal, and the latter had been set apart for the atonement of men; hence its great value and the strictness of the prohibition. As a holy people, the children of Israel were to avoid every form of defilement.

THE PORTION OF JEHOVAH. - V.28. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, v.29. Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, he that offereth the sacrifice of his peace-offerings unto the Lord shall bring his oblation unto the Lord of the sacrifice of his peace-offerings, that special gift which belonged to the Lord and was intended to establish the fellowship between Him and the worshiper. V.30. His own hands shall bring the offerings of the Lord made by fire, the parts consecrated to Jehovah, the fat with the breast, it shall he bring, in person, not by the hands of a servant or messenger, that the breast may be waved for a wave-offering before the Lord. This part of the animal is now known as the brisket, and it was offered to the Lord by moving the hands back and forth in a motion of weaving. V.31. And the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar; but the breast shall be Aaron’s and his sons’, the common property of the priestly order. V.32. And the right shoulder shall ye give unto the priest, the officiating priest alone, for an heave-offering of the sacrifices of your peace-offerings. The ceremony of offering here consisted in a simple lifting up of the gift on high. V.33. He among the sons of Aaron that offereth the blood of the peace-offerings and the fat shall have the right shoulder for his part. V.34. For the wave-breast and the heave-shoulder have I taken of the children of Israel from off the sacrifices of their peace-offerings, and have given them unto Aaron, the priest, and unto his sons by a statute forever from among the children of Israel. As long as the Aaronic priesthood was to endure, so long were the Israelites to make their payment of fees to the priests as here set forth. V.35. This is the portion of the anointing of Aaron and of the anointing of his sons, these are the parts of the animals which were set aside for their emoluments, out of the offerings of the Lord made by fire, in the day when he presented them to minister unto the Lord in the priest’s office, these were their fees beginning with the day that Moses inducted them into office; v.36. which the Lord commanded to be given them of the children of Israel in the day that he (Moses) anointed them, by a statute forever throughout their generations. V.37. This is the law of the burnt offering, of the meat-offering, and of the sin-offering, and of the trespass-offering, and of the consecrations, of the fillings of the hands which characterized the priest’s work, Ex. 29, 19-28; Lev. 6, 20, and of the sacrifice of the peace-offerings, the whole law of sacrifice having been given in the preceding chapters; v.38. which the Lord commanded Moses in Mount Sinai, in the day that He commanded the children of Israel to offer their oblations, both their voluntary gifts and their stated sacrifices, unto the Lord, in the Wilderness of Sinai. All the sacrificial meals of the Old Testament were but weak types of the intimate fellowship with God which we, as the members of the household of God, enjoy in the Gospel, Luke 14, 15; 22, 30.