Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 7:28-34

28 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

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.

When the Lord says that He has “taken of the children of Israel” the “wave breast and the heave shoulder,” and “given them unto Aaron the priest and unto his sons,” it seems to suggest that he has taken their heart (breast) and their strength (shoulder) and assigned them to the tabernacle. That is where the people’s devotion and effort should be directed. Of course, they would have their own personal love and work in life, but even loving a child can be part of loving the ritual, and part of working for one’s livelihood can be part of working for the holy place. All of it could be directed through the personal towards the root covenant.

Of course, the priests and the tabernacle were not one and the same as God, but directing one’s devotion to them would be like having a signpost to follow, which would lead one to the actual destination. It would be like following a star, though the real target is the Messiah who lives beneath it. By giving their hearts and strength to the representatives that God had made accessible to them, the ancient Israelites would also be moving their spirits towards the unseen Father.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 7:22-27

22 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

23 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat.

24 And the fat of the beast that dieth of itself, and the fat of that which is torn with beasts, may be used in any other use: but ye shall in no wise eat of it.

25 For whosoever eateth the fat of the beast, of which men offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his people.

26 Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings.

27 Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.

These verses repeat God’s commandment to not eat the blood or the fat of any animal. We have heard about this before, and I mentioned then that the blood and the fat seem symbolic of life and passion, and that these were forces too powerful for us to manage on our own, and which could only be properly managed when offered to God.

I’d like to expand that further by saying that eating blood and fat could be symbolically seen as consuming oneself. It is creating a loop of just one entity: the self. The self makes the demands of self-gratification, and the self devotes itself to that purpose, becoming both worshipped and worshipper in one. This is a self-terminating cycle that will bear no fruit and achieve no outside purpose.

This is, I would say, the greatest temptation that besets all mankind. Selfishness is the root of most every sin, and we all fall to it to some degree, even though we see that it is trended towards a quiet, lonely, grossly indulgent death.

God gave each of us tremendous gifts and it would be a waste to channel them back to the self, where no one else can ever see or benefit from them. That would be like taking a light and hiding it under a bushel.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 7:19-21

19 And the flesh that toucheth any unclean thing shall not be eaten; it shall be burnt with fire: and as for the flesh, all that be clean shall eat thereof.

20 But the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, that pertain unto the Lord, having his uncleanness upon him, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.

21 Moreover the soul that shall touch any unclean thing, as the uncleanness of man, or any unclean beast, or any abominable unclean thing, 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.

These verses emphasize the separation that there must be between unclean and clean. If part of an offering touches that which is unclean it is now also unclean and must be burned with the unclean parts. Given that different parts of the same animal were clean and unclean, one could easily see how this might happen on a fairly regular basis.

It is also made clear that sometimes people go through unclean periods. These will be spelled out more later, but symbolically it is observably true that we all go through times of guilt and shame, times where we have done things that we know we shouldn’t have, times where we feel out-of-place among the innocent and pure. Verses 20 and 21 make it clear that if we then did mingle ourselves with the pure, that would be living in a spiritually disingenuous way, and that is actually worse than the original uncleanness.

This brings up a theme that I have been noticing during this study of Leviticus. We are so often told that the Old Testament and the Mosaic Law are strict and demanding and cruel, oppressive laws that we are much better off to be rid of. But that isn’t what I’ve seen at all. What I’ve seen is a law that understands and accepts the fact that its people will sin, and which asks them to just be honest when they are in that condition, and to excuse themselves in those moments without shame. So long as an Israelite was honest about his failures, the law was perfectly willing to work with him, to allow him time to become clean and whole again.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 7:16-18

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.

Yesterday’s verses emphasized the necessity of the priest needing to eat his portion of sacrifices on the same day that the offering was made, but as we see today, there were special exceptions to that rule. If the offering was part of a vow, for example, it could be eaten on the same day, and an on the following day, but not any later than that.

Perhaps this is because a vow is forward-looking, whereas most other offering are looking backward. It specifies an action that you will do, not atonement for something you have already done. And that forward-looking element is represented in the priest being able to eat some of the food “tomorrow.” But this couldn’t be drawn out for too long, the ritual still needed to be coupled to the actual moment of the sacrifice, and so anything remaining on the third day had to be burned.

Respect for the ritual was very important, so much so that verse 18 warns that eating anything on the third day or after would not only be of no value to the offeror, but would be abominable and qualify as iniquity! We cannot have more good than what God gives to us, for then it ceases to be good.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 7:12-15

12 If he offer it for a thanksgiving, 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.

13 Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings.

14 And of it he shall offer one out of the whole oblation for an heave offering unto the Lord, and it shall be the priest’s that sprinkleth the blood of the peace offerings.

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.

Today’s verses further reinforce the idea of fundamental sacrifices inside of larger ones, as we see that the meat offering was a part of the thanksgiving/peace offerings. Wherever the meat offering appears, it gives to an attribute of praise and thankfulness.

Today’s verses also give a new requirement for the priest’s portion of a sacrifice. In verse 15 it makes it clear that the portion had to be consumed on the same day that the offering was made. This requirement would certainly help ensure that this remained a part of the ritual itself, preventing it from becoming long term storage, eaten amidst other portions, with no remembrance for which sacrifice each bite belonged to.

Our solemn observations are meant to be deliberate, intentional, and specific. It would not do to vaguely wish good on others, to abstractly give thanks, to ask for forgiveness in general. That would make God and His mercy also vague, abstract, and general. But He is real, His commandments are directed, and His mercy is unique, and so we must approach Him on those terms.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 7:7-11

7 As the sin offering is, so is the trespass offering: there is one law for them: the priest that maketh atonement therewith shall have it.

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.

9 And all the meat offering that is baken in the oven, and all that is dressed in the fryingpan, and in the pan, shall be the priest’s that offereth it.

10 And every meat offering, mingled with oil, and dry, shall all the sons of Aaron have, one as much as another.

11 And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he shall offer unto the Lord.

These verses repeat that the priests would eat their portion as part of the sin and meat offerings. It is new information at this point that the priests would also take part of the burnt offering, specifically the skin. While we do make food from the skin of some animals today, it does not seem likely that the priests would eat this portion. Notice that it says the priest is to “have it to himself,” suggesting that it became a possession. The skins would likely have been made into leather and crafted, or sold for money.

It does seem strange that we are finding out details of each sacrifice in such a piecemeal fashion. Why not hear everything about a burnt offering in one set of instructions, rather than getting one part here and one part there? Personally, I think it doubtful that the original instructions were so fractured. We have already seen elsewhere that the books of Moses seem to be composited together from multiple separate accounts, and I assume that that is what is happening here also.

That being said, the fractured form that we see in the Bible today is not a bad analogy for the experience of anyone seeking truth. Typically, principles and doctrine are not appreciable in their entirety all at once. We have to learn progressively, “line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (Isaiah 28:10). From many sources and lessons, we accumulate a coherent model of God and His truths, rather than receiving it whole at once. Again, I don’t necessarily think this was an intended symbol, but it is fitting, nonetheless.

Burnt offeringGiving our life to God’s purposes
Ram, BullockMale, without blemishGive our very best
Hands placed on head, slaughteredAnimal takes the place of us
Slaughtered on the NorthRecommitment on the side of our journey
Blood sprinkled around altarOur life is sprinkled over God’s work
Cut in pieces, and washedEach part of us measured and made clean
Skin given to priestsOuter behavior that supports the mission of God
Pigeon, TurtledoveCrop pulled off, torn nearly in halfEach inner part of us exposed to God’s purifying fire
The whole thing burned on the altarOur lives consumed in service to God
Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 7:1-6

1 Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering: it is most holy.

2 In the place where they kill the burnt offering shall they kill the trespass offering: and the blood thereof shall he sprinkle round about upon the altar.

3 And he shall offer of it all the fat thereof; the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards,

4 And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul that is above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away:

5 And the priest shall burn them upon the altar for an offering made by fire unto the Lord: it is a trespass offering.

6 Every male among the priests shall eat thereof: it shall be eaten in the holy place: it is most holy.

We heard about the trespass offering in the past two chapters, but there were limited descriptions on how the ritual was actually carried out. The assumption was that the sacrificed animal was handled much the same as other offerings. Today we get those fuller details, and the assumption is proven correct.

Importantly, this offering matches the burnt offering in how the blood was to be sprinkled around the altar, but matches the sin offering in how the fat, kidneys, and other minor parts were burned on the altar. It also matches the sin offering in how a portion of the meat was to be eaten by the priests.

These details make perfect sense, given what we noted earlier. The trespass offering was really two offerings in one: the burnt offering and the sin offering. Thus, some offerings were more fundamental (sin and burnt offering), and more complex offerings were composed of them (trespass offering). Not only this, but those fundamental offerings were themselves composed of specific ritualistic expressions (sprinkling of blood, burning of fat, priests eating of meat, etc.). From this we see that there was a grammar to the Hebrew sacrifices, and by becoming literate in the basic parts, we can use them to spell out more complex expressions.

SacrificeEligible oblationStepsExplanation
Trespass offeringFor minor offenses and mistakes
Lamb, young goatFat and kidneys burned on altarCleansing our behavior and desire
Blood sprinkled around altarOur life is sprinkled over God’s work
Portion given to priestsPriests share the burden of the sin
Two turtledoves, two pigeonsOne bird for a sin offering, one for a burnt offeringGiving up of offense and recommitment to the Lord
FlourSome of the grain for a sin offering, some for a meat offeringGiving up of offense and shared communion with the Lord
Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 6:27-30

27 Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy: and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment, thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the holy place.

28 But the earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall be broken: and if it be sodden in a brasen pot, it shall be both scoured, and rinsed in water.

29 All the males among the priests shall eat thereof: it is most holy.

30 And no sin offering, whereof any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of the congregation to reconcile withal in the holy place, shall be eaten: it shall be burnt in the fire.

I discussed yesterday how the animal to be sacrificed not only stood in for the sinner but was also symbolic of purification as well. Today’s verses continue to make that dual meaning even clearer. It is a symbol from man of what is wrong, what he must give up, but it is also a symbol from God of what is right, what He gives to us out of mercy. How fitting a duality, given that it is in our broken and wrong places that so many of us truly discover the Lord.

Verse 28 emphasizes the purifying quality of the sacrificed animal in an interesting way. It talks about how if a clay pot held the meat at any point, it must be broken, whereas a brass pot could be reused, though it had to be scoured first. Some scholars have suggested that this scouring was not about removing impurities from the brass vessel, but to removing purity. The brass pot had to be reclaimed them from its exalted state to one of regular, earthly use, whereas the clay pot had to be broken was because its material was porous, thus the residue holiness couldn’t be scrubbed out.

That interpretation might be accurate, though I see another possibility as well. Perhaps the two different treatments were symbolic of the differing effects that God’s purification has on His children. Some people receive the purification of God as a condemnation because they are still united to their sin, thus the purifying process breaks them. It would make sense that cruder, “earthen” vessels would be used to symbolize that. Meanwhile, the other effect of God’s purification is that those who are already more aligned to Him survive and become improved by the experience. That is represented by the more durable, refined brass pot.

And, of course, this pattern continues fractally. Even inside the righteous soul that survives God’s purification, there is still the part that is broken and the part that is improved. Both exist within the same person. Part of us is shattered and discarded when we meet the Lord, but part of us finally comes into its own and shines.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 6:24-26

24 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

25 Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the Lord: it is most holy.

26 The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it: in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation.

We gain a new detail on the sin offering in these verses. First, though, to recap all that we have learned of how the offering was performed so far, we first learned how the blood of the animal was smeared on the horns of the altar and the fat and kidneys were consumed by the flame. We elsewhere also heard that the skin, flesh, and dung of the animal was burned outside of the camp. And now, here for the first time, we also hear about a portion of the offering being eaten by the priest. In Leviticus 10 it will also be made explicitly clear that this was a part of the ritual for a common sin offering, and it will state there that the representation of this was that the priest was to bear the iniquity of the sinner.

However, the priest taking the burden for all that is wrong, is not the only symbol in this act. Notice how in today’s verse 25 it mentions that the slaughtered animal is also a vessel of purification, and tomorrow’s verses will go even more heavily into that theme.

This makes sense when we consider the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus Christ. On the one hand we are told, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13), which matches the idea of Christ taking the burden of every man’s evil, but at the same time, his innocence and purifying power are made clear when we are told, “he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter…with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:7, 5). He is both the condemned and the redeemer all at once, and so is the meat of this offering.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 6:19-23

19 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

20 This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer unto the Lord in the day when he is anointed; the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meat offering perpetual, half of it in the morning, and half thereof at night.

21 In a pan it shall be made with oil; and when it is baken, thou shalt bring it in: and the baken pieces of the meat offering shalt thou offer for a sweet savour unto the Lord.

22 And the priest of his sons that is anointed in his stead shall offer it: it is a statute for ever unto the Lord; it shall be wholly burnt.

23 For every meat offering for the priest shall be wholly burnt: it shall not be eaten.

In addition to the burnt offering of a lamb, once every night and once every morning, there was also to be a meat offering of flour every night and morning. The flour was to be baked first, then burned as a bread or a wafer until fully consumed.

We have already heard that when the meat offering was from a common Israelite, there was a portion given to the priests. But since the meat offering described here was from the priests themselves, there was no portion for them, and all of it was given to the Lord. There can be seen in this a hierarchy, a flow, moving upwards and ultimately finding its destination in God. Just as God is the originator of all things, He is the terminus of all things as well.

All of our creations stem from the first creation made by God. And all of our sacrifices ultimately find their rest in Him. We come and go as links in a chain. At the beginning of the chain is a post, and at the end of the chain is a post, and both posts are God.