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 3:16-17

16 And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savour: all the fat is the Lord’s.

17 It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.

This chapter ends with an interesting aside, where the Lord gives a commandment to the Israelites. Parts of these animals were never to be consumed by the Israelites. The Israelites were forbidden from consuming the blood of the animal, and from eating the fat. And it doesn’t seem to be because these parts were unclean or evil, but because they instead belonged to the Lord.

From other verses it is made clear that the blood was seen as containing the life itself of the animal. It was the sacred, animating factor that turned the creature from a heap of flesh and bones to a moving, acting thing. The fat, being the richest part of the animal, represented passion, energy, and drive. Thus, the animating factor in our lives, and our passion, energy, and drive, are to be seen as belonging to the Lord, not ourselves. We should not give our passion and life to our own desires, but reserve them for the higher purposes of God.

I don’t think that is just about reserving the best of ourselves for God. That could certainly be a part of it, but I believe it is also because the forces of life and passion are too strong for us to handle on our own. They are simply too potent, too powerful. We become drunk on our own passion and we flail about, trying to find some well that is deep enough to hold them. And so, we end up indulging in addiction, gambling, unsafe sex, vanity, greed, endless partying, and false causes. They are attractive to us because they are bottomless pits that we can pour our life and passion into forever, never mind the fact that they are unworthy vessels.

Thousands of years ago God showed His people a different endless well that we could pour their lives and passion into: Him. Just as the Israelites were warned not to try and stomach the fat and blood of the animal, but to surrender it to God instead, we are meant to direct our greatest energy and vitality to His cause, and it will be for our own good.

SacrificeEligible oblationStepsExplanation
Peace OfferingCattle, Lamb, GoatGratitude for reconciliation
Animal is slainGiving up old life for one of unity with another
Fat burned on altarGiving up old plans, passions, and drives

Full table.