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 5:17-19

17 And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord; though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity.

18 And he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his ignorance wherein he erred and wist it not, and it shall be forgiven him.

19 It is a trespass offering: he hath certainly trespassed against the Lord.

At the start of the chapter we were shown smaller offenses, primarily sins of omission. Here at the end, it now talks about the actual breaking of the commandments, which would be a sin of commission, though still done in ignorance.

Perhaps an example of this would be when we are caught in a shameful situation and immediately minimize it out of a self-preservation instinct, only realizing later that we have told a lie. Or perhaps we bore witness that we actually thought was true, only to learn later that we had propagated falsehoods. Or we might have a culture that insists that fornication is common, expected, and shameless, and it is only after reaping the painful consequences of such choices that we start to realize that we have sinned.

There is an important lesson here: intent is not all that matters, sometimes an act is just wrong. That isn’t to say that intent does not matter at all. Malicious harm is worse than accidental harm, but both are harm either way. We can both give special weight to intent, while also acknowledging the fundamental wrongness of the act regardless of intent. And that is what the sacrifice in these verses seems to be for. Atoning for the act, even in absence of intent.

SacrificeEligible oblationStepsExplanation
Higher trespass offeringRam, moneyFor special trespass cases
Ram presumably slaughtered and burnedPresumably spiritual cleansing or restoration
A “one fifth” payment of moneyPresumably a fine or restitution of damage