Leviticus 3:1–17
The Fellowship Offering
In Leviticus 2 we learned about the grain offering.
The theme of Chapter Two is this…God is the King and Israel is His people. The people offer this grain offering to God voluntarily enjoying communion with Him around His table.
The aim of Chapter 2 was that God is creating deep relational experience between Himself as King and the Israelites as His people. He wants to teach them that under the right circumstances they are welcome to sit at the King’s table and eat with Him. They publicly acknowledge His majesty by giving Him tribute and He welcomes them into His presence around the table of fellowship.
Connected with Chapter Two’s tribute or grain offering is an animal sacrificial offering in Chapter 3. A full meal is shared between God and His people.
In this Fellowship Offering, as it’s been called, we will discover some very interesting and joyous things which are for us who live under the New Covenant…
1. A Sacrifice Offering from the Herd (3:1-5)
3 “If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offers an animal from the herd, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord. 2 And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and kill it at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall throw the blood against the sides of the altar. 3 And from the sacrifice of the peace offering, as a food offering to the Lord, he shall offer the fat covering the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, 4 and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys. 5 Then Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar on top of the burnt offering, which is on the wood on the fire; it is a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
Here in the Fellowship Offering we have the term in Hebrew sacrifice or to slaughter (zebach) The entire phrase is zebach shelamim which English translators have some difficulty in translating it accurately. The ESV has it as Sacrifice of Peace offering. The NIV has Fellowship Offering. The original meaning is that of an animal sacrifice given to God that is a celebration of peace. It’s a sacrifice and an offering…it brings peace and fellowship. It’s all the above.
In Leviticus 7:11-18 we are shown some additional details…
Leviticus 7:11–18 (ESV)
11 “And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings that one may offer to the Lord. 12 If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the thanksgiving sacrifice unleavened loaves mixed with oil, unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and loaves of fine flour well mixed with oil. 13 With the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving he shall bring his offering with loaves of leavened bread. 14 And from it he shall offer one loaf from each offering, as a gift to the Lord. It shall belong to the priest who throws the blood of the peace offerings. 15 And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten on the day of his offering. He shall not leave any of it until the morning. 16 But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow offering or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice, and on the next day what remains of it shall be eaten. 17 But what remains of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned up with fire. 18 If any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten on the third day, he who offers it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be credited to him. It is tainted, and he who eats of it shall bear his iniquity.
As we read more on this offering, we see that the meat of the sacrifice was consumed by the worshipper, not the priests. It had to be eaten the same day or in some cases in two days. Just to mention the obvious, you can’t eat a cow in a day. The point is the worshipper would invite others to share in the feast. Steaks for everyone.
This is celebration time. It is a picture of God eating with His people. This celebration was shared with a communal group with God seen as the Host. He too is viewed as partaking as well.
3 And from the sacrifice of the peace offering, as a food offering to the Lord, he shall offer the fat covering the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, 4 and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys. 5 Then Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar on top of the burnt offering, which is on the wood on the fire; it is a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
Yahweh consumed the fat portions. Being burned on the altar was seen as transcending into God’s realm. The fat portions were considered the best part of the offering. The fat and the blood belonged to God and the rest was ate by the worshippers and their people.
This was not a sacrifice for sin, that’s the burned offering in Chapter 1. This offering is a peace offering celebrating peace with God.
The order of the offerings has significance. Atonement had to be made first, that’s the burnt offering in Chapter 1 then the worshipper, being made acceptable to God through that substitutionary sacrifice, could worship God and celebrate that he had peace with God.
The same is true for us. Before we enter into true fellowship with God and with His people, the Church, we must have our sins atoned for through the shed blood of Jesus Christ and then we enter into true fellowship with God and with His people.
We must remember that Leviticus Chapters 2-3 are celebration chapters that take place because their sins are forgiven through the burnt offering of Chapter 1.
The language of atonement is not found in these Chapters because atonement has already taken place. What a blessing it is to be in a right standing with God. For us, we should be celebrating every time we gather as God’s people. Every time we share a meal together. Every time we remember that our sins are removed by the blood of God’s Lamb, Jesus Christ. Do you celebrate that there is peace between you and God?
2. A Sacrifice Offering from the Flock (3:6-11)
6 “If his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord is an animal from the flock, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. 7 If he offers a lamb for his offering, then he shall offer it before the Lord, 8 lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it in front of the tent of meeting; and Aaron’s sons shall throw its blood against the sides of the altar. 9 Then from the sacrifice of the peace offering he shall offer as a food offering to the Lord its fat; he shall remove the whole fat tail, cut off close to the backbone, and the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails 10 and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys. 11 And the priest shall burn it on the altar as a food offering to the Lord.
A sacrificial offering from the flock means that a lamb would be sacrificed in much the same way.
As with the ending of the last section, we see that this too is a food offering to God. The Israelites did not believe that they were feeding God by this sacrifice but that He was eating with them. God is not like the false pagan deities in which their worshippers fed by placing food for them in various places within their shrine. This is however, a picture of God sharing a meal with His people.
This takes us to a section in 1 Corinthians where Paul explains that their sharing a meal in the pagan temple was in multiple ways fellowshipping with demons. The same was true when the Israelites obeyed this rite. They were fellowshipping with God.
1 Corinthians 10:18–22 (ESV)
18 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
We saw this briefly already but I want to remind you that what Paul does here in his argument is he makes a connection for us. The Christians in Corinth were eating the sacred meal in the pagan temple and declaring that it meant nothing. What Paul tells them, however, is that it actually is table fellowship with pagans and with demons. In his illustration of those in the OT, he shows us that this meal that they shared with other Israelites and with God is actually a very close comparison to the Lord’s Supper.
In the Lord’s Supper we are sharing a sacred meal with one another and with Christ. He is our Host. So, this sacrificial offering goes forward to picture our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. That’s why we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. It itself is also a picture of the day when we will eat the great banquet meal with King Jesus in the Kingdom.
Isaiah 25:6–9 (ESV)
6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
7 And he will swallow up on this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day,
“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
This sacrifice also was to be a reminder of the Garden of Eden in which there was plenty of food and God walked with them and fellowshipped with them.
All this is really included in the Sacrificial Offerings in Leviticus 2-3. It’s an offering celebrating peace with God.
Here’s a picture of the celebration that took place…
Deuteronomy 12:12 (ESV)
12 And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male servants and your female servants, and the Levite that is within your towns, since he has no portion or inheritance with you.
3. A Sacrifice Offering from the Goats (3:12-17)
12 “If his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before the Lord 13 and lay his hand on its head and kill it in front of the tent of meeting, and the sons of Aaron shall throw its blood against the sides of the altar. 14 Then he shall offer from it, as his offering for a food offering to the Lord, the fat covering the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails 15 and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys. 16 And the priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering with a pleasing aroma. All fat is the Lord’s. 17 It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your dwelling places, that you eat neither fat nor blood.”
We are told here in the last verse the Israelites were not to eat fat or blood. These two things belonged to God.
Here’s an example in the Bible of a family participating in this very sacrifice…
1 Samuel 1:1–8 (ESV)
1 There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite. 2 He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
3 Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. 4 On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. 6 And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. 7 So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. 8 And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”
This was to be a time of happiness but it made Hannah all the more sad…
Chapters 2-3 celebrate restored peace between God and His people. It’s a picture that now there has been restoration there can be a close relationship between God and His people. There is also a picture of the great benefits of fellowship with God. All this comes through food.
Psalm 56:12–13 (ESV)
12 I must perform my vows to you, O God;
I will render thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered my soul from death,
yes, my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of life.
Why do you think food and fellowship belong together?
How is God portrayed in Leviticus 2-3?
How might these two Chapters change the way you view God?
Resources Used:
Leviticus by Wenham
Leviticus by Rooker
Teaching Leviticus by Harper
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