Read Leviticus 3
The Fellowship Offering
3 “‘If your offering is a fellowship offering, and you offer an animal from the herd, whether male or female, you are to present before the Lord an animal without defect. 2 You are to lay your hand on the head of your offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall splash the blood against the sides of the altar. 3 From the fellowship offering you are to bring a food offering to the Lord: the internal organs and all the fat that is connected to them, 4 both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which you will remove with the kidneys. 5 Then Aaron’s sons are to burn it on the altar on top of the burnt offering that is lying on the burning wood; it is a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.
6 “‘If you offer an animal from the flock as a fellowship offering to the Lord, you are to offer a male or female without defect. 7 If you offer a lamb, you are to present it before the Lord, 8 lay your hand on its head and slaughter it in front of the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons shall splash its blood against the sides of the altar. 9 From the fellowship offering you are to bring a food offering to the Lord: its fat, the entire fat tail cut off close to the backbone, the internal organs and all the fat that is connected to them, 10 both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which you will remove with the kidneys. 11 The priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering presented to the Lord.
12 “‘If your offering is a goat, you are to present it before the Lord, 13 lay your hand on its head and slaughter it in front of the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons shall splash its blood against the sides of the altar. 14 From what you offer you are to present this food offering to the Lord: the internal organs and all the fat that is connected to them, 15 both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which you will remove with the kidneys. 16 The priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the Lord’s.
17 “‘This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live: You must not eat any fat or any blood.’”
Go Deeper
Another day, another set of instructions regarding sacrifices to God. As we have read in the previous two chapters, God has a very specific set of guidelines and expectations for the Israelites to follow. This offering (known as a “peace” or “fellowship” offering, depending on your translation of scripture) was meant to symbolize the importance of the personal relationship between God and the individual sinner. This type of offering was voluntary and was meant to celebrate a restored fellowship (or peace) between God and man. As we read this passage, this should serve as a reminder to us that fellowship with God is not something that we should ever take for granted but instead is something that we should celebrate and express our gratitude for daily!
As we dive into the specifics of the sacrifice, there are a couple of important things for us to take note of. First, the sacrificed animal was to be “without defect” (v. 1, v. 6). Other translations might say “without blemish.” The point was simple: God wanted the sacrificed animal in the peace offering to be spotless; God wanted the best that the person had to offer. Later on in the passage, there are instructions about what to do with the specific parts of the animals (specifically the fat and the blood). The final verse in this chapter makes it clear: the fat and the blood are God’s. But why? Pastor and commentator David Guzik of the Enduring Word commentary describes it this way:
“There was a spiritual significance to this command relevant to the peace offering. We enjoy peace with God by giving Him the best and our energy (represented by the fat), and by giving Him our lives (represented by the blood).”
As followers of Jesus, there are several reminders in this passage that we should keep in mind as we go about our days. First, this passage is a reminder of what 1 Peter 1:19 tells us: Jesus was the ultimate, perfect sacrifice. His willingness to be the sacrificial lamb on our behalf two thousand years ago allows us to have fellowship with God today. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
It also reminds us that each and every day, we are to give God the very best that we have. We want to do all things in our lives to the glory of God (Colossians 3:17) and live as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1) in a way that helps everyone follow Jesus. We want to show others what peace with God looks like. We want to show others what it’s like to find fellowship with the God who created everything around us. As we go about our days today, let’s be people that celebrate the goodness of God.
Questions
- What details stuck out to you in today’s reading? Why?
- Do you take the time to celebrate the fact that you have fellowship or peace with God? If not, what is a way you can celebrate that today?
- How can you show the people around you today what it looks like to have peace with God?
Did You Know?
There are parallels between this offering and when we take communion. Dr. Thomas Constable, a retired DTS professor, made this note:
“There are several similarities between this offering and the Lord’s Supper: Both celebrations commemorate a covenant, both involve rededication to God, and both feature blood.”
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4 thoughts on “Leviticus 3”
I found this helpful, again from a Mrs. Nix, “Meeting God in the Margin.”
The Burnt Offering (Cover)
Purpose: to cover the offerer’s unholiness and make him acceptable in God’s presence
Message: Lord, I want to spend some time with you, in your presence, and I pray that you will find me acceptable.
The Grain Offering (Remember)
Purpose: to remember the covenant made between God and his people Israel
Message: Lord, I remember your promises to us and our promises to you. I take our covenant relationship seriously.
The Peace Offering (Fellowship)
Purpose: to eat a covenant meal in fellowship with God
Message: Lord, I enjoy being in your presence, and I enjoy the peaceful fellowship between us. Thank you for being our God and making us your people.
Peace is something we all strive for. Peace was wrapped up by JP on Dec 9th’s sermon, found in Luke 1. Our peace is all about our ability to comprehend God’s promises, power and our purpose, as His people. First we cover our sin with His blood, then we remember His covenants or promises, then we enjoy our fellowship with Him. God had a plan, then and now to have that fellowship with us. My comprehension and understanding is being enlightened every single day with God’s Word. There is always, always some big or little nugget of understanding, going ding ding ding in my brain. I am so grateful to learn, experince and see this lived out in my life and my family.
God thank You for eyes of understanding being enlightened. Thank You for comprehension of You, Your symbolisms, Your plain talk, Your examples that make me understand. God, please and thank You for continually and constantly showing me more and more of You. God thank You for these minutes of this day that I can be a light, show someone Your grace, be example of peace in a weary world and show Your love to all that speak to, see in my surroundings and engage with. God thank You for Your faithful, constant, Love in Jesus name amen.
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
16 “The priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the Lord’s.“
Here again references to the aroma. God seems to have a keen sense of smell! When some things burn, the smell is wonderful. When other things burn, the smell is awful. Let my burn be a pleasing aroma.
Fellowship as God intends signifies a healthy relationship which will be marked by peace, no striving but just being in and enjoying his forgiveness, comfort and presence. There’s nothing quite as remarkable as having a fractured relationship with holy God restored, that he would go to great lengths through Christ to bring us close. Fellowship with God is the ultimate experience now and in eternity.
Wow—what worshipful detail!
Several things struck me right away:
• The offering was public, taking place in front of or at the entrance to the Tabernacle.
• The offering required a partnership—both priest and petitioner were involved.
• The offering was participatory—this was an extremely hands-on activity.
• The offering was painstaking—quite a bit of butchery was required to remove all that fat!
The offering was messy. Just imagine all the blood that would have been spilt—first, as the animal was killed (I would imagine a quick and merciful throat-slitting here), then as fat and organs were separated. And as if that wasn’t enough, the priests would then “splash the blood against the sides of the altar.”
How prophetic this is! Consider how each and all of these aspects reappear at Jesus’ crucifixion….
What strikes me most, though, is the mark of sacrifice. Not only the place of worship, but the worshipers themselves, would have been covered in blood. Blood is incredibly difficult to clean up, and almost impossible to remove fully.
Blood stays with you.
What a relief we are spared this grisly exercise, repeated over and over, to atone for our sins and be reconciled to God. But let us never forget its lessons.
Jesus, the perfect sacrificial Lamb, endured all these things (and more) to mark us forever as His own!
As Amy says, “WOO HOO!”