Leviticus 3:3-5
Sitting in Fellowship (3)
This is our 3rd look into this sacrifice and tonight we discuss what
I think is the best part in this sacrifice.
We noted the Peace Offering is a blood sacrifice, but it is different
from the first two. We have been looking at the differences:
I. The First Four Differences - There are six.
A. \\#1\\ The Peace Offering could be male or female.
B. \\#Lev 22:21-23\\ The Peace Offering could have a birth
defect.
1. Both of these differences teach us the same truths.
2. Difference procedures apply because this offering as a
different purpose.
3. God was giving the people "a break." He wanted to make it
possible for more people to worship Him.
C. The Peace Offering description does not mention that the
offering was to be slain on the NORTH side.
1. All of the other blood sacrifices mention it one way or
another.
2. That was the side of the altar where history records the
Peace Offering was slain and it was the only side left
open by God to slay the sacrifices.
3. Why not mention it here?
a. I believe God wanted to separate the Peace Offering
from the other blood sacrifices.
b. In a nutshell, because while the blood was absolutely
necessary for us to have peace with God, Jesus did
not die to give us peace.
c. Jesus died to pay for our sins.
(1) Had Jesus died for our peace, we would still have
our sins and still be without peace.
(2) Jesus’ death brought peace but it brought it
because Jesus paid for sins.
D. The Peace Offering did not allow for the sacrifices of birds.
1. God allowed the poor to bring a pigeon or 2 turtledoves
for a Burnt Offering, but not for a Peace Offering.
2. Why? Simply put, the Peace Offering was a fellowship
offering and there was not enough meat on a bird to
represent the kind of fellowship we are to have with
Jesus Christ.
3. I spoke some about that last week, but I need to address
it more and better tonight.
4. Let me do that by asking a question.
a. Why did not give two fellowship sacrifices?
b. The Meat Offering was a fellowship offering of grain.
c. The priest and God shared a meal together.
d. Why did they need another? The answer lies in the
last two differences.
II. The Last Two Differences
A. Only parts of the animal were offered to God in the Peace
Offering while all of the animal (except the hide) was
offered in the Burnt Offering.
1. Why? Because the parts of the Peace Offering tell us
different truths.
a. The Burnt Offering emphasized the commitment of Jesus
Christ, our Sacrifice; so everything had to be
offered.
b. But God selected what He considers the best parts for
the Peace Offering was to emphasize two truths:
(1) God wants the best of the people. Best parts,
best people.
(2) God wants fellowship, direct fellowship, with the
saved sinner.
2. What cuts of meat were offered in the Peace Offering? To
God, they were the best parts.
a. Except for the lamb, all sacrifices were the same: the
inward fat, the two kidneys, and the caul or lobe on
the top of the liver.
Lev 3:3 And he shall offer of the sacrifice of
the peace offering an offering made by fire unto
the LORD; the fat that covereth the inwards, and
all the fat that is upon the inwards,
4 And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on
them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above
the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take
away.
b. I am no butcher, no student of anatomy, no a hunter
with a record of kills so I have not studied body
organs, but here is what I am understanding so far.
(1) The caul above the liver is the upper lobe of
the liver. The liver has four lobes or, for the
laymen, four blobs, that comprise it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobes_of_liver
(a) I think the lobe that God wanted is called
the quadrate or medial lobe.
(b) The liver is one of the purifiers of the
body.
(c) It is also, at least in the human, the
largest internal organ.
(d) The liver is considered by some as a
valuable delicacy. Outside of that, I
am not certain why God selected the liver.
(e) My best guess was that by giving the liver,
God was picturing the people offering God
themselves as a pure people.
(f) Again, I do not know but perhaps the caul
above the liver was the cleanest part of
the liver.
(2) We do know something about the kidneys.
(a) Kidneys are in the Middle Eastern culture
what the heart is in the American culture.
(b) It is the place we imagine our emotions
abide.
(c) We would say, "I love you with all my
heart." They would say, "I love you
both of my kidneys."
(d) The same word that is translated "kidneys"
here is translated "reins" in other
places. (Like horse reins that control
the whole beast.)
Job 19:27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine
eyes shall behold, and not another; though my
reins be consumed within me.
Proverbs 23:16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when
thy lips speak right things.
(e) So the kidneys pictured the people giving
their love or hearts to the Lord.
(3) Of the three things required, we know the most
about the fat.
(a) This is only the fat around the kidneys and
the liver.
(b) Fat in the Bible represents the blessings
and prosperity of God.
Genesis 27:28 Therefore God give thee of the dew
of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and
plenty of corn and wine:
Genesis 45:18 And take your father and your
households, and come unto me: and I will give
you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall
eat the fat of the land.
(c) To give God the fat was to give God your
best.
c. So it would appear that in selecting these pieces of
meat for the Peace Offering, God was telling the
believers to give Him a pure people, a loving people,
and a blessed and prosperous people.
d. When it came to the lamb, God required one more
selection of meat, the whole rump.
Lev 3:9 And he shall offer of the sacrifice of
the peace offering an offering made by fire unto
the LORD; the fat thereof, and the whole rump,
it shall he take off hard by the backbone; and
the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the
fat that is upon the inwards.
(1) One variety of sheep raised in that part of the
world is a bread-tailed species of sheep.
(2) They have a large bottom! So heavy that it drags
on the ground when they are younger.
(3) And it is mostly fat.
(4) God was commanding that when they sacrifice one
of those lambs, He gets the fat.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers, Charles Ellicott, Lev 3:9
B. The Peace Offering was a picture of new Testament fellowship
whereas the Meat Offering was a picture of the Old Testament
fellowship.
1. What is the difference? the BLOOD!
2. Both the Peace Offering and the Meat Offering are pictures
of the believers’ fellowship with God.
a. The Meat Offering was actually a grain offering, part
of being offered to God and part being eaten by the
priest.
b. But the Peace Offering was a meat offering and it was
shared between God, the priest, and the sinner.
(1) \\#Lev 3:1-16\\ Basically the caul of the liver,
the two kidneys, and the fat were offered to
God.
(2) But the breast and the shoulder were the priests.
Lev 7:29 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.
30 His own hands shall bring the offerings of
the LORD made by fire, the fat with the breast,
it shall he bring, that the breast may be waved
for a wave offering before the LORD.
31 And the priest shall burn the fat upon the
altar: but the breast shall be Aaron’s and his
sons’.
32 And the right shoulder shall ye give unto the
priest for an heave offering of the sacrifices of
your peace offerings.
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.
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 for ever from among the
children of Israel.
(3) But the offeror also ate a portion, apparently
whatever was left.
Lev 7:11 And this is the law of the sacrifice of
peace offerings, which he shall offer unto the
LORD.
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.
16 But if the sacrifice of his offering be a
vow, or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten
the same day that he offereth his sacrifice: and
on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be
eaten:
17 But the remainder of the flesh of the
sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt with
fire.
18 And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of
his peace offerings be eaten at all on the third
day, it shall not be accepted, neither shall it
be imputed unto him that offereth it: it shall be
an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it
shall bear his iniquity.
(4) Notice the meat had to be eaten before the third
day. Why?
(a) Because Jesus rose from the dead on the
third day.
(b) If you were going to eat the dead sacrifice
that pictured Jesus, you would have to eat
it before He wasn’t dead anymore!
3. In the Old Testament, the sinner could not have direct
fellowship with God.
a. Why? Because Jesus had not died yet.
b. Old Testament saints had atonement, which was their
sins covered and a temporary forgiveness which would
last only until Christ came.
(1) It was for that reason that a veil stood between
the Holy Place of the temple and the Holy of
Holies, barring the Old Testament believer from
the presence of God. The moment that Christ
died, that vail was torn from the top to the
bottom, indicating that the believer’s way into
God’s presence was now open.
(2) It was for that reason that Old Testament saints
did not go directly to heaven when they died,
but rather they went to a place called in
\\#Luke 16:22\\ Abraham’s Bosom, to reside there
until Jesus actually died on the cross and paid
for their sins.
(3) It was for that reason that one of the first acts
of Jesus—I am thinking even before He rose from
the dead—was to descend unto the lower parts of
the earth and lead that captivity out of prison
and into the heavens \\#Eph 4:8-9\\.
4. So in the Old Testament, God appointed one to stand in
for the sinner.
a. That was the priest.
b. Although the priest was a sinner like everyone else,
he represented a sinless mediator, one who would
stand in-between the sinner and God.
(1) When the priest stood before men, he represented
God.
(2) When the priest stood before God, he represented
men.
5. The closest the believer got to God when he offered a
Meat Offering was the priest got to fellowship with
God FOR him; but when he offered a Peace Offering, he
(the sinner), the priest (a picture of Jesus Christ),
and the Father all partook of the fellowship!
6. I believe the Meat Offering was a picture of the Old
Testament believers’ fellowship with God. It was
limited.
7. But the Peace Offering was a picture of the New
Testament’s fellowship with God. It was direct!
Although it was probably unknown to the Old Testament believer, each
time they brought a Peace Offering, their faith and obedience was
demonstrating a future day and a better fellowship—our fellowship!
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