Today’s Passage: Leviticus 3
The previous offering could be flour. Here the gift is an animal again — from the herd or the flock, male or female, without blemish. A hand goes on the head. The blood goes on the altar. Then the fat is taken off and burned as food, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. The whole animal does not rise this time. The LORD’s portion is the fat, and the chapter calls that portion food. All the fat is His. No fat and no blood on your table, wherever you live. shelem, pronounced SHEH-lem. Strong's H8002, peace offering, fellowship offering. The word shares its root with shalom, wholeness. The gift is not only that something died. The fat is food on the LORD’s fire, and peace is shared. with God is a meal, not only a death.
As you read, hold this: Peace with God is a meal, not only a death.
Context The world of Leviticus 3
You are still at the same tent, the same altar, and the same sons of Aaron. You already saw the hand on the head and the blood on all sides when the whole animal went up. This gift uses both, then turns. What goes up is the fat — the fat on the entrails, the kidneys, the lobe of the liver, and, with a lamb, the whole fat tail cut off close to the backbone.
The priest burns those pieces on top of the burnt offering already on the wood. The chapter names them food. A pleasing aroma. A permanent statute closes the walk: all the fat is the LORD’s, and you must not eat any fat or any blood.
Leviticus 3:1–5 (BSB)
¹ “If one’s offering is a peace offering and he offers an animal from the herd, whether male or female, he must present it without blemish before the LORD. ² He is to lay his hand on the head of the offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood on all sides of the altar.
³ From the peace offering he is to bring an offering made by fire to the LORD: the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them, ⁴ both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he is to remove with the kidneys. ⁵ Then Aaron’s sons are to burn it on the altar atop the burnt offering that is on the burning wood, as an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
A hand goes on the head again, as when the whole animal went up, then the slaughter at the door and the blood on all sides of the altar. Then the fat is lifted off and burned on top of the burnt offering already on the wood — a pleasing aroma. This time the whole animal does not go up. The LORD’s portion is the fat, and the fat is food.
Leviticus 3:6–11 (BSB)
⁶ If, however, one’s peace offering to the LORD is from the flock, he must present a male or female without blemish. ⁷ If he is presenting a lamb for his offering, he must present it before the LORD. ⁸ He is to lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it in front of the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood on all sides of the altar.
⁹ And from the peace offering he shall bring an offering made by fire to the LORD consisting of its fat: the entire fat tail cut off close to the backbone, the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them, ¹⁰ both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he is to remove with the kidneys. ¹¹ Then the priest is to burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire to the LORD.
A lamb from the flock, male or female, without blemish. Same hand. Same blood. The fat tail is cut off close to the backbone and goes with the rest of the fat. The priest burns them on the altar as food, and that is the name the chapter gives this portion: food.
Leviticus 3:12–17 (BSB)
¹² If one’s offering is a goat, he is to present it before the LORD. ¹³ He must lay his hand on its head and slaughter it in front of the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood on all sides of the altar. ¹⁴ And from his offering he shall present an offering made by fire to the LORD: the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them, ¹⁵ both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he is to remove with the kidneys.
¹⁶ Then the priest is to burn the food on the altar as an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the LORD’s. ¹⁷ This is a permanent statute for the generations to come, wherever you live: You must not eat any fat or any blood.”
A goat walks the same road: a hand on the head, blood on the altar, ḥēleb, pronounced KHEH-lev. Strong's H2459, fat, the richest inner portion of an animal. All the fat is the LORD’s. The rich inner portion is food on His altar. This is not a death you watch and then forget. He is given a meal, and that meal is His by statute. burned as food, a pleasing aroma. Then the line that closes the chapter — all the fat is the LORD’s. It is a permanent statute, wherever you live: you must not eat any fat or any blood. The best inner portion is His, and the blood is His. Peace with God is a meal, not only a death, and the meal begins with what He is served.
Study notes Going deeper
The animal in this chapter is without blemish, and the fat is food. The better offering is a Person who offered Himself the same way, so that we may serve the living God.
"how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!" Hebrews 9:14 (BSB)
Peace is not only that He died. It is that we may serve the living God. Give thanks.