Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 3:1

1 And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offer it of the herd; whether it be a male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord.

In the last chapter we learned about the Meat Offering, which was a voluntary offering of celebration, something that an Israelite would bring when feeling abundant in the blessings of the Lord. Today we start hearing about the Peace Offering, which was also a voluntary and celebratory offering, but this one meant to commemorate a different category of gratitude and blessing.

The Old Testament record does not spell out what the nature of the Peace Offering’s celebration was, but scholars and tradition believe that it had to do with reconciliation and unity. As we will learn in Leviticus 7, one unique aspect of the Peace Offering was that the sacrificed animal would be consumed as a meal shared between God, the priests, and the Israelite making the offering. This is something that we haven’t come across in any of the other offerings. It is this aspect of the offering that sees God, priest, and offeror breaking bread together that has led to the interpretation that it was meant to commemorate a moment of unity, or oneness.

Perhaps the offeror would make this offering when he felt cleaned from his old sins, or healed from a disease, or was reunited with an estranged family member, or was delivered from a burden, or received a long-sought-for answer to prayer. Any moment that made him feel particularly reunited with the good in the universe. Thus, it was a celebration, but one with deeper emotional weight than the merrymaking of a Meat Offering.

SacrificeEligible oblationStepsExplanation
Peace OfferingGratitude for reconciliation

Full table.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Optimism in a Falling World- Luke 15:3-7, Doctrine and Covenants 18:15

And he spake this parable unto them, saying,
What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

COMMENTARY

What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine, and go after that which is lost
At the start of this study I considered Abraham pleading for Sodom and Gomorrah to be spared if even a few righteous people could be found therein. That same mentality is present in this parable from Jesus, where a shepherd will venture out to find even one lost sheep, leaving the masses to focus on the individual.
And I believe that this same mentality greatly helps when trying to maintain hope in a conflicted world. It is easier to despair over a vaguely defined group than over an individual with a face and a name. It is easy to label an entire faction as purely evil, but when we look into the eyes of a child of God we can’t help but see that even among their flaws they still have their divine potential. I might struggle at times to see the good in all people, but I can always find it in a person. Thus if you are finding it hard to have faith in the world perhaps you could start focusing on “the one” instead.


I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth
If you bring one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
For even if our worst fears were confirmed and the whole world spiraled down to hell, it would still behoove us to save what souls we could along the way. Our mentality should be like that of firefighters, who do not only enter the burning building when they can save a full 100% of the occupants. They will charge to the rescue even when they can only save a few, or even when they can save only one…and so should we.
Thus if you haven’t figured out how to save the entire world, that’s perfectly alright, none of us have. Only God can worry about salvation on that scale! For you and I, we just save the ones we can.