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Leviticus
Chapter Seven
Leviticus 7
Chapter Contents
Concerning the trespass-offering. (1-10) Concerning the
peace-offering. (11-27) The wave and heave offerings. (28-34) The conclusion of
these institutions. (35-38)
Commentary on Leviticus 7:1-10
In the sin-offering and the trespass-offering, the
sacrifice was divided between the altar and the priest; the offerer had no
share, as he had in the peace-offerings. The former expressed repentance and
sorrow for sin, therefore it was more proper to fast than feast; the
peace-offerings denoted communion with a reconciled God in Christ, the joy and
gratitude of a pardoned sinner, and the privileges of a true believer.
Commentary on Leviticus 7:11-27
As to the peace-offerings, in the expression of their
sense of mercy, God left them more at liberty, than in the expression of their
sense of sin; that their sacrifices, being free-will offerings, might be the
more acceptable, while, by obliging them to bring the sacrifices of atonement,
God shows the necessity of the great Propitiation. The main reason why blood
was forbidden of old, was because the Lord had appointed blood for an
atonement. This use, being figurative, had its end in Christ, who by his death
and blood-shedding caused the sacrifices to cease. Therefore this law is not
now in force on believers.
Commentary on Leviticus 7:28-34
The priest who offered, was to have the breast and the
right shoulder. When the sacrifice was killed, the offerer himself must present
God's part of it; that he might signify his cheerfully giving it up to God. He
was with his own hands to lift it up, in token of his regard to God as the God
of heaven; and then to wave it to and fro, in token of his regard to God as the
Lord of the whole earth. Be persuaded and encouraged to feed and feast upon
Christ, our Peace-offering. This blessed Peace-offering is not for the priests
only, for saints of the highest rank and greatest eminence, but for the common
people also. Take heed of delay. Many think to repent and return to God when
they are dying and dropping into hell; but they should eat the peace-offering,
and eat it now. Stay not till the day of the Lord's patience be run out, for eating
the third day will not be accepted, nor will catching at Christ when thou art
gone to hell!
Commentary on Leviticus 7:35-38
Solemn acts of religious worship are not things which we
may do or not do at our pleasure; it is at our peril if we omit them. An
observance of the laws of Christ cannot be less necessary than of the laws of
Moses.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Leviticus》
Leviticus 7
Verse 7
[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.
So is — In
the matter following, for in other things they differed.
The priests shall have it — That part of it, which was by God allowed to the priest.
Verse 9
[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.
All the meal-offering — Except the part reserved by God, Leviticus 2:2,9. Because these were ready drest
and hot, and to be presently eaten; shall be the priests - The priest, who
offered it, was in reason to expect, something more than his brethren who
laboured not about it; and that he had only in this offering; for the others were
equally distributed.
Verse 10
[10] And
every meat offering, mingled with oil, and dry, shall all the sons of Aaron
have, one as much as another.
Dry —
Without oil, or drink-offering, as those Leviticus 5:11, Numbers 5:15.
All the sons of Aaron — These were to be equally divided among all the priests. And there was
manifest reason for this difference, because these were in greater quantity
than the former; and being raw, might more easily be reserved for the several
priests to dress it in that way which each of them liked.
Verse 13
[13]
Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice
of thanksgiving of his peace offerings.
Leavened bread —
Because this was a sacrifice of another kind than those in which leaven was
forbidden, this being a sacrifice of thanksgiving for God's blessings, among
which leavened bread was one. Leaven indeed was universally forbidden, Leviticus 2:11. But that prohibition concerned
only things offered and burnt upon the altar, which this bread was not.
Verse 14
[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.
Of it —
That is, of the offering, one of each part of the whole: it being most
agreeable to the rules laid down before and afterward, that the priest should
have a share in the unleavened cakes and wafers, as well as in the leavened
bread.
Verse 16
[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:
A vow —
Offered in performance of a vow, the man having desired some special favour
from God, and vowed the sacrifice to God if he would grant it.
On the morrow also —
Which was not allowed for the thank-offering.
Verse 18
[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.
Neither shall it be imputed — For an acceptable service to God.
Verse 19
[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.
And the flesh —
Namely of the holy offering, of which he is here treating; and therefore the
general word is to be so limited; for other flesh one might eat in this case.
That toucheth —
After its oblation; which might easily happen, as it was conveyed from the
altar to the place where it was eaten: for it was not eaten in the holy place,
as appears, because it was eaten by the priests, together with the offerers,
who might not come thither.
The flesh —
That is, the other flesh; that which shall not be polluted by any unclean
touch.
All that are clean —
Whether priests or offerers, or guests invited to the feast.
Verse 20
[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.
That eateth —
Knowingly; for if it were done ignorantly, a sacrifice was accepted for it. Not
being cleansed from his uncleanness according to the appointment, Leviticus 11:24, etc. This verse speaks of
uncleanness from an internal cause, as by an issue, etc. for what was from an
external cause is spoken of in the next verse.
Verse 21
[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.
Of man —
Or, of women, for the word signifies both.
Verse 23
[23]
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of
ox, or of sheep, or of goat.
The general prohibition of eating fat, Leviticus 3:17, is here explained of those kind
of creatures which were sacrificed. The fat of others they might eat.
Verse 24
[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.
He speaks still of the same kinds of beasts,
and shews that this prohibition reaches not only to the fat of those beasts
which were offered to God, but also of those that died, or were killed at home.
And if this seems a superfluous prohibition, since the lean as well as the fat
of such beasts were forbidden, Leviticus 22:8, it must be noted, that
prohibition reached only to the priests, Leviticus 7:4.
Verse 29
[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.
Shall bring —
Not by another, but by himself, that is, those parts of the peace-offering,
which are in a special manner offered to God.
His oblation unto the Lord — That is, to the tabernacle, where the Lord was present in a special
manner. Though part of such offerings might be eaten in any clean place, Leviticus 10:14, yet not till they had been
killed, and part of them offered to the Lord in the place appointed by him for
that purpose.
Verse 30
[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.
His own hands —
After the beast was killed, and the parts of it divided, the priest was to put
the parts mentioned into the hands of the offerer.
Offerings made by fire — So called, not strictly, as burnt-offerings are, because some parts of
these were left for the priest, but more largely, because even these
peace-offerings were in part, tho' not wholly, burnt.
Waved — To
and fro, by his hands, which were supported and directed by the hands of the
priest.
Verse 31
[31] And
the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar: but the breast shall be Aaron's
and his sons'.
His sons —
The portion of every succeeding high-priest and his family.
Verse 34
[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.
The wave-breast and heave-shoulder — The breast or heart is the seat of wisdom, and the shoulder of strength
for action; and these two may denote that wisdom, and power, which were in
Christ our high-priest, and which ought to be in every priest.
Verse 35
[35] This
is the portion of the anointing of Aaron, and of the anointing of his sons, out
of the offerings of the LORD made by fire, in the day when he presented them to
minister unto the LORD in the priest's office;
Of the anointing of Aaron — That is, of the priesthood; the sign put for the thing signified; and
the anointing by a like figure is put for the part of the sacrifices belonging
to the priest by virtue of his anointing. This was their portion appointed them
by God in that day, and therefore to be given to them in after ages.
Verse 37
[37] This
is the law of the burnt offering, of the meat offering, and of the sin
offering, and of the trespass offering, and of the consecrations, and of the
sacrifice of the peace offerings;
Of the consecrations — That is, of the sacrifice offered at the consecration of the priests.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on
Leviticus》
07 Chapter 7
Verses 1-10
The law of the trespass-offering.
Lessons
1. The fatness and grossness of the carnal heart is to be removed and
taken away.
2. God requires the heart.
3. Against covetousness in ministers.
4. To receive the sacraments reverently and with due preparation. (A.
Willet, D. D.)
The trespass-offering
The trespass-offering may be considered as a variety of the
sin-offering. The distinguishing characteristic of the trespass-offering proper
was restitution. The offences for which it was offered were such as admitted of
restitution, and the distinction from the sin-offering cannot be better
expressed than in the words of Prof. Cave: “The sin and trespass-offerings were
both sacrifices for sins; but in the former the leading idea was that of
atonement, the expiation of sin by a substituted life; in the latter the
leading feature was that of satisfaction, the wiping out of sin by the payment
of a recompense.” It is well worthy of note that in the trespass-offering for
sins against God, the ritual prescribed was sacrifice first, restitution
following; while in those against man the order was reversed: restitution
first, followed by sacrifice on the altar. The appropriateness of the
difference will be readily seen. In the former case, where the sin consisted in
withholding from God that which was His due, it was not really God that lost
anything, it was the sinner. Giving to God is not regarded as a debt which a
man must pay, but rather as a privilege which he may enjoy; and, accordingly,
before a man can enjoy the privilege of which he has foolishly deprived
himself, he must come and offer his sacrifice upon the altar. But when the
sinner has been withholding from his fellow-man that which is his due, the
delinquency is regarded in the light of a debt, and he is not allowed to go to
the altar of God until he has paid his debt, and not only discharged the
principal in full, but added one-fifth part thereto. (J. M. Gibson, D. D.)
This is the law
We find this text in many places (see Leviticus 6:25; Leviticus 7:1; Leviticus 7:11; Leviticus 7:37). What we want is just
this-definiteness. There must be a line of certainty somewhere, or the universe
could not be kept together. There may be ten thousand contributory lines,
contingent or incidental lines, but there must be running right through the
heart of things a law of definiteness and certitude; otherwise coherence is
impossible, and permanence is of the nature of a dissolving cloud. We want to
get upon that line. Quest in search of that line is orthodoxy. To seek after
truth, what is this but to love wisdom and to pant for God? What have you? You
have great information. What is the value of information? Nothing, beyond that
which is merely momentary and tentative. It is the last thing to be known or
that is known. But then in two hours we shall know something more. Information
is never final. Hence men say, “To the best of my knowledge.” What a confession
is in these simple words if we submit them to their last analysis! “To the best
of my judgment,” “So far as I know,” “According to the best advice I can get”;
what is all this but sand? You could not build a house upon such sand. It would
never do for information to be final or complete or authoritative; it is by
this kind of uncertainty that we are kept modest, it is by this kind of
incertitude we are often inspired, and it is because intellectual life is a
continual tumult that we grow athletically, that the brain becomes stronger.
What we want to come upon is the line of law which itself is a line of
progress, a line of change into ever-increasing largeness, but never a change
of quality or of moral purpose. If we want to know the law we can find it. If
you want to be right you can be right. “To him that knoweth to do good and
doeth it not, to him it is sin.” Can we go to the law? We can do better. It is
the business of the gospel minister to say how. We can not only go to the law,
we can go to the Lawgiver, we can go to the living Jesus Christ. We can see Him
face to face, or, better still, using the word “face” in its true
interpretation, we Can see Him soul to soul. (J. -Parker, D. D.)
The priest shall have to
himself the skin of the burnt-offering.
The skin legislated for
Why God should think of so small and base a thing as the skin,
some may ask a reason; and see you the reason and tile good of it.
1. It notably confirmeth our faith in His providence, that He will
never forget us and leave us destitute of things needful and good for us,
seeing we are much better than the skin of a brute beast, whereof yet He hath
care and thought.
2. It showed that sweet and comfortable care that the” Lord then had,
and still hath, of the ministry, that it should be maintained, and not
defrauded of the least thing allotted to it, which still He showeth in all
other particulars, urging still that they be given to the priests according to
His will.
3. This care of the Lord for the beast’s skin, to appoint it to one
that should have it, well taught that people then, and still teacheth us ever
to be careful to,prevent strife, and to take away all questions and
controversies as much as we may., that every one knowing what is his may
therein rest, and peace ensue. The more God hath given you, the more must be
your pain this way, in your good health and perfect memory. (Bp. Babington.)
Verses 11-18
The law of the sacrifice of peace-offerings.
The peace-offering
I. Characteristics.
1. The animal offered might be a male or a female--differing
in this from the burnt-offering.
2. It was not to be wholly consumed as the burnt offerings.
3. If for a thanksgiving offering, unleavened cakes, mingled with
oil, as well as leavened, might be offered.
4. If for a vow or a voluntary offering, the parts to be eaten must
be eaten on the same or the following day.
5. No ceremonially-unclean person could eat of the peace-offering.
II. Significance.
1. The peace-offering, as the name implies, presents to us our Lord
Jesus as our peace (Ephesians 2:14).
2. This is the key to this symbolic offering, by which may be
unlocked, with certainty, some, at least, of its rich treasures.
The peace-offering
I. THE
PEACE-OFFERING A SACRIFICE OF THANKSGIVING. Three forms of it are specified--
1. The offering of thanksgiving, i.e., for some special
blessing.
2. The vow, the fulfilment of a promise to God.
3. The voluntary offering, made from a principle of gratitude, when,
with no special occasion, the worshipper called upon his soul and all within
him to praise and bless God’s holy name. It was a peace-offering, a national
thanksgiving, which Solomon made at the dedication of the Temple. It is this
sacrifice which is so frequently referred to in the Psalms. In connection with
the celebration of the Passover there were two peace-offerings. The former of these
is continued in the Lord’s Supper, which is a feast of thanksgiving for God’s
greatest gift to men. We should thank God at the sacramental table for all
special exhibitions of the Divine goodness.
II. The
peace-offering is a sacrifice of fellowship. This, taken with thanksgiving, is
its characteristic idea. The feature peculiar to it was the sacrificial meal;
the partaking of that which was offered by the worshipper. The priests shared
in what was offered in the meat and sin-offerings. The worshipper also partook
of the peace-offering. The sacrifice was an act of holy communion. Also a
social meal.
III. The basis of
communion in the peace-offering is sacrifice; and in the sacrifice, the
shedding of blood. The shedding of the blood in this particular sacrifice does
not represent, as in the sin-offering, the act of atoning for sin. The bleeding
Christ as our Peace-offering is not our sin-bearer. But His blood in this
offering also declares that an atonement has been made, and that the sole
ground of fellowship with God is the reconciling blood of the Lamb (Ephesians 2:13-14).
IV. The
peace-offering requires holiness in the worshipper. This fact is expressed in
the provision that unleavened bread should be offered as a part of the
sacrifice. Yeast, or leaven, was a symbol of corruption. The principle of
corruption must be carefully excluded, if our offering is to find acceptance.
Is there old leaven of sin in your life?
V. In the peace-offering
the sinfulness of a nature partially sanctified is confessed. The curse of sin
is no more on us, but it is in us. (G. R. Leavitt.)
Thanksgiving and thanksgiving
It is most interesting to find, here among the sober directions
that Moses was commissioned to deliver to the Israelites, one which assumes a
constant recognition of God’s love and bounty. The peace-offering seems to have
for its definite end the earnest inculcation of a perpetual exercise of
devotion, without any special occasion, as well as with some which are
carefully mentioned. Perhaps the best account of the whole ordinance is given
in the familiar words of Kurtz: “A state of peace and of friendship with God
was the basis and the essential of the presentation of the peace-offering; and
the design of the presentation, from which its name was derived, was the
realisation and establishment, the verification and enjoyment, of the existing
relation of peace, friendship, fellowship, and blessedness.” It may be well for
us just to pick out the particulars of this form of description.
I. In the
peace-offering there was inculcated a spirit of tranquil trust. When one made
the sacrifice, it signified that he was in the state of reconciliation with
God. The law had lost its curse; sin was in process of being subdued; the soul of
the glad believer simply rested upon the promises of redemption, and waited for
its salvation. Among the severe passes of the Scottish highlands, it is
memorable always to mention Glencoe; for no one who has ever climbed the
fatiguing steeps can forget that, after the weary way had led him up and on,
and beneath the shadow of the grotesque Ben Arthur, past many a disappointing
elevation which he thought surely would be the last, he finally reached that
mossy stone, by the winding wayside, on which are written the welcome words,
“Here rest, and be thankful!” There, sitting down in peace, one sees the rare
prospect of beautiful hill and vale, rock and loch kindling and shadowing each
other, far away towards the blue horizon; and just beside him, at the turn of
the road, is also the long path by which he came. Such spots of experience
there are on the mountains of life, when the forgiven sinner, now a child,
pauses to say to himself, “Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath
dealt bountifully with thee.” In the original verse this reads
“resting-places.”
II. In the
peace-offering there was inculcated also a spirit of heartfelt gratitude. This
service is called “the sacrifice of thanksgiving” (Psalms 116:17). How many mercies have
been given us! How many perils have been averted! How many fears have been
allayed I How many friendly communions have been granted l How many
anticipations have been kindled! How many hopes have been gratified! Per
contra, just a serious thought might likewise be bestowed upon the other
side of the ledger. Said old Christmas Evans, in an unusually lengthened period
of reminiscence, “Thy love has been as a shower; the returns, alas I only a
dewdrop now and then, and even that dewdrop stained with sin!” At this point
the suggestion which this ceremonial makes concerning permanency of devout
acknowledgment is welcome. “Thanksgiving is good,” said the venerable Philip
Henry to his children, “but thanksgiving is better.” We ought not to seek to
exhaust our gratitude upon any single day’s exercise. It is better to live our
thanks through all our lifetime. A happy, grateful spirit is the Christian’s
best offering to God, morning, noon, and night.
III. In the
peace-offering there was likewise inculcated a spirit of faithful consecration.
There are always two sides to any covenant. When we plead God’s promises, we
certainly have need to remember our own. God expects a Christian who has been
favoured to be un-forgetful. Alexander Severus is reported to have made an
edict that no one should salute the emperor on the street who knew himself to
be a thief. And it must be unbecoming for any one to praise or pray who
remembers that his life contains the record of some vow made once but still
unkept. Hence it sometimes happens that one part of our history will give help
to another, for it quickens the zeal of our love to call to remembrance a day
in which God’s love drew forth our engagement. It is related of the famous
Thomas Erskine, before he was a Christian man, that once when wandering in a
lonely glen among the mountains of his own land, he came across a shepherd
pasturing his flock. “Do you know the Father?” asked the plain man, with unmistakable
gentleness of devotion. The proud scholar vouchsafed no reply, but the arrow
struck. He was never easy again till he found peace with pardon of his sins. He
would have been glad to thank his modest unknown benefactor. So he went forth
along the same path for many a useless day. Years afterwards, he saw him almost
in the identical spot. “I know the Father now,” he said, with sweet, grave
greeting.
IV. In the
peace-offering there was inculcated a spirit of lively joy. We find this in the
very unusual ceremony of waving a portion of the sacrifice in the air. There is
no explanation given of this; what could it have meant but the holding up of
one’s whole heart in the offering in the fall sight of God? It makes us think
of the significant gesture of courtesy the world over, the swing of one’s hand
when his wish is keen and his happy heart longs still to send it aloft, while
the distance is too far for speech. A Christian, waving the offering of his
gratitude before God, ought to be the happiest being on all the earth.
V. In the
peace-offering there was inculcated a spirit of confident supplication. Near a
hundred years after this, it is recorded (Judges 21:4) that the men of Israel,
“bewailing the desolation of Benjamin,” offered “burnt-offerings and
peace-offerings” upon the same altar. That is to say, they mingled their
prayers with gifts of appropriate penitence. So again., after a disastrously
lost battle (Judges 20:26). And even down in David’s
time, almost five hundred years later, the same conjunction of the two
sacrifices is to be observed. He stayed the plague by his penitence in a
burnt-offering, and he received relief in answer to his prayer in a
peace-offering (2 Samuel 24:25). Nothing can be more
attractive than this artless trust in the Divine mercy. “To give thanks for
grace already received is a refined way of begging for more.”
VI. Finally, in the
peace-offering there was inculcated a spirit of affectionate solicitude. (C.
S. Robinson, D. D.)
Thank-offerings, vows, and freewill-offerings
It is easy to connect the special characteristics of these several
varieties of the peace-offering with the great Antitype. So may we use Him as
our Thank-offering; for what more fitting as an expression of gratitude and
love to God for mercies received than renewed and special fellowship with Him
through feeding upon Christ as the slain Lamb? So also we may thus use Christ
in our vows; as when, supplicating mercy, we promise and engage that if our
prayer be heard we will renewedly consecrate our service to the Lord, as in the
meal-offering, and anew enter into life-giving fellowship with Him through
feeding by faith on the flesh of the Lord. And it is beautifully hinted in the
permission of the use of leaven in this feast of the peace-offering, that while
the work of the believer, as presented to God in grateful acknowledgment of His
mercies, is ever affected with the taint of his native corruption, so that it
cannot come upon the altar where satisfaction is made for sin, yet God is
graciously pleased, for the sake of the great Sacrifice, to accept such
imperfect service offered to Him, and make it in turn a blessing to us, as we
offer it in His presence, rejoicing in the work of our hands before Him. But
there was one condition without which the Israelite could not have communion
with God in the peace-offering. He must be clean; even as the flesh of the
peace-offering must be clean also. There must be in him nothing which should
interrupt covenant fellowship with God; as nothing in the type which should
make it an unfit symbol of the Antitype. (S. H. Kellogg, D. D.)
Why the law of the peace-offering is given last of all
It is interesting, to observe that, although the peace-offering
itself stands third in order, yet “the law” thereof is given us last of all.
This circumstance is not without its import. There is none of the offerings in
which the communion of the worshipper is so fully unfolded as in the
peace-offering. In the burnt-offering it is Christ offering Himself to God. In
the meat-offering we have Christ’s perfect humanity. Then, passing on to the
sin-offering, we learn that sin, in its root, is fully met. In the
trespass-offering there is a full answer to the actual sins in the life. But in
none is the doctrine of the communion and worship unfolded. The latter belongs
to “the peace-offering”; and hence, I believe, the position which the law of
that offering occupies. It comes in at the close of all, thereby teaching us
that, when it becomes a question of the soul’s feeding upon Christ, it must be
a full Christ, looked at in every possible phase of His life, His character,
His Person, His work, His offices. And, furthermore, that, when we shall have
done for ever with sin and sins, we shall delight in Christ, and feed upon Him
throughout the everlasting ages. It would, I believe, be a serious defect in
our study of the offerings were we to pass over a circumstance so worthy of
notice as the above. If “the law of the peace-offering” were given in the order
in which the offering itself occurs, it would come in immediately after the law
of the meat-offering; but, instead of that, “the law of the sin-offering,” and
“the law of the trespass-offering” are given, and then “the law of the
peace-offering” closes the entire. (C. H. Mackintosh.)
“Shall be eaten the same day that it is offered”
The priest that sprinkled the blood was to eat the pieces
of this peace-offering the same day that it was offered. Some say this rule
prevented covetousness arising in the priests; no one had it in his power to
hoard up. Others say this rule was fitted to promote brotherly love; for he
must call together his friends, in order to have it all finished. But these
uses are only incidental. The true uses lie much nearer the surface. Israel
might hereby be taught to offer thanksgiving while the benefit was still fresh
and recent. Besides this, and most specially, the offerer who saw the priest
cut it in pieces and feast thereon, knew thereby that God had accepted his
gift, and returned rejoicing to his dwelling, like David and his people, when
their peace-offerings were ended, at the bringing up of the ark (2 Samuel 6:17-19). The Lord took
special notice of this free, spontaneous thank-offering, inasmuch as He
commanded it to be immediately eaten, thus speedily assuring the worshipper of
peace and acceptance. The love of our God is too full to be restrained from us
one moment longer than is needful for the manifestation of His holiness. (A.
A. Bonar.)
Verses 19-21
That soul shall be cut off.
Impurity forbidden
The gospel is a holy feast. It cannot be shared in by those who
continue in their impurities. He that would enjoy it must be careful to depart
from iniquity. Only “the meek shall eat and be satisfied”; that is, such
as humbly surrender themselves to God’s requirements, and are really determined
to forsake all known sin. There is a morality in religion, as well as faith and
ecstasy. Grace does not make void the law. And faith without works is a dead
and useless faith. Though we are redeemed by blood and justified gratuitously
by believing in Christ, yet that redemption obligates us just as much, and
still more, to a life of virtue and moral uprightness than the law itself. “We
are not under law,” as those are under it for whom Christ’s mediation does not
avail; but still we “are under law to Christ,” and bound through Him to a
practical holiness, the pattern of which He has given in His own person and life.
If His blood has purged us, it is that we might “serve the living God.” If “we
are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus,” it is “unto good works, which
God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” A pure life must needs
go along with a good hope. “Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”
“A good tree cannot produce evil fruit.” And for a man to believe himself an
accepted guest at the gospel feast while living in wilful, deliberate, and
known sin, is a miserable antinomian delusion. The plain gospel truth upon this
subject is, that, although
we cannot be saved by our works alone, we certainly dare not hope to be saved
without them, or without being heartily and effectually made up to do our best.
Wherever grace is effective, a well-ordered morality must necessarily follow. (J.
A. Seiss, D. D.)
Peace-offerings.
The believer’s peace and portion
I. To have God is
to have peace: for He is the God of peace; especially as revealed and given us
in Christ. But what is given may be enjoyed, as what is offered may be
received. Then let the gift be accepted, and the peace you desire will “keep
your, heart and mind,” and this in all circumstances. The winds of adversity
may smite you, and the waters of affliction overwhelm you; but as God is
greater than these, He keeps in the perfectness of peace the minds that are
stayed upon Him.
II. Such peace is
found is Christ alone; not in anything done by Him, or given by Him, but in His
personal indwelling. “He is our peace?” The knowledge of Him will illuminate,
and the faith of Him will impart security; but you must have Himself to have
the portion that will satisfy, and the peace you need.
III. But not only is
Christ our peace, but from being the atoner, our peace-offering, He gives
Himself to God an offering and a sweet-smelling savour, and then to us who
trust in Him for deliverance and satisfaction. The ancient Jewish sacrifice of
the peace-offering illustrates this--
1. The material of which it consisted was either a bullock, heifer,
lamb, or goat; but in all cases it was to be “without blemish.” God is entitled
to the best, and will receive nothing less. Yet how often is less than what He
asks offered Him! That they who so act by Him should have few answers to their
prayers, and little satisfaction in their religion, can be wondered at by no
one.
2. Peace-offerings were offered by persons who, having obtained
forgiveness of sins, and given themselves to God, were at peace with Him.
Friendship with God was the principal idea represented therein.
3. Only a part of the peace-offering was given to God; but that was
the best, the part to which He was entitled, and which He claimed. And it was
accepted, as was shown by its consumption by fire. Offer Him your best, and,
though in itself small and poor, He will receive it, and make liberal
acknowledgment of His approval of it.
4. The Israelite was not at liberty to lay the fat of his offering at
random, any way, or anywhere, on the altar. He had to lay it “upon the
sacrifice that was upon the wood on the altar fire.” But that sacrifice was the
lamb of the daily offering, which typified atonement in its fulness. There,
God’s portion of the peace-offering was laid, and accepted according to the
value of that on which it was offered.
5. Apart from Christ nothing is acceptable to Him. What you bring to
Him may be your best, that which He asks for, and what is in itself valuable;
but unless offered on the ground of atonement it is not received by Him.
6. But that is the ground within every one’s reach, and on which
everything that is offered to God may be presented. There is no one by whom the
name of Jesus may not be used as a plea, and His sacrifice urged as a reason
for acceptance.
IV. The
peace-offering expressed the thought of communion and satisfaction. It supplied
God with a portion, and man also. It furnished a table at which both met, and
where they had fellowship with one another. God fed on the fat, and man on the
shoulder and breast (Leviticus 7:31); and both were satisfied.
1. But we have Christ here; and we know what the Father ever found in
Him; with what pleasure He ever regarded Him, in His righteousness of walk,
perfection of obedience, and beauty of character. God was supremely pleased
with all that Jesus was and did, as the representative of Himself to men, and
the ideal man to the world, the indicator of holiness and the honourer of the
law. Christ was, and is still, His well-beloved and His joy.
2. But not God alone fed on the peace-offering, man did that also; he
ate of the breast and the shoulder. In the antitype these typified love and
strength. These, believer, are your portion in Christ. You have His heart of
love and His shoulder of might--His unchanging affection and His all-sustaining
power. Enfolded in His embrace and enthroned on His shoulder of strength, you
occupy a position where evil cannot harm you, nor want remain unmet.
V. No Israelite
who was ceremonially unclean was permitted to partake of the peace-offering, or
share with God in the provision it supplied. And without holiness no man is now
allowed to see God. But provision is made both for man’s expiation and for his
sanctifying from all impurity. The Cross that separates from the guilt of sin
also separates from its defilement. Christ is thus Sanctifier as well as
Justifier. He “gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity,
and purify unto Himself a peculiar people” (Titus 2:14). Thus beautified with His
salvation, you will find a place in His banqueting-house of love, a guest at
the Lord’s table, and satisfied with the food of which you partake (John 6:57; John 6:55; John 6:35). Are you satisfied with
Christ? Does He appease all your yearnings, fulfil your every desire, give you
rest, and prove your peace? “My beloved is mine, and I am His” (Song of Solomon 2:16). His resources are
inexhaustible, His communications are continuous, and His glory is Divine. (James
Fleming, D. D.)
The peace-offerings
In regard to the peace-offerings, the waving was peculiarly
connected with the breast, which is thence called the wave-breast; and the
heaving with the shoulder, for this reason called the heave-shoulder. When
those parts were thus presented to God and set apart to the priesthood, the
rest of the flesh was given up to the offerer to be partaken of by himself and
those he might call to share and rejoice with him. Among these he was
instructed to invite, beside his own friends, the Levite, the widow, and the
fatherless. This participation by the offerer and his friends, this family
feast upon the sacrifice, may be regarded as the most distinctive
characteristic of the peace-offerings. It denoted that the offerer was admitted
to a state of near fellowship and enjoyment with God, shared part and part with
Jehovah and His priests, had a standing in His house, and a seat at His table.
It was therefore the symbol of established friendship with God, and near
communion with Him in the blessings of His kingdom; and was associated in the
minds of the worshippers with feelings of peculiar joy and gladness--but these
always of a sacred character. And in the way by which the worshipper attained
to a fitness for enjoying these
privileges--viz., through the life-blood of atonement--how
impressive a testimony was borne to the necessity of seeking the road to all
dignity and blessing in the kingdom
of God through faith in a crucified Redeemer. (P. Fairbairn, D. D.)
No offering by proxy
The worshipper could not do the work by proxy. The man had to go
for himself, and present the sacrifice himself, and lay his hand upon its head,
and confess, and eat, all for himself. There can be no transfer of religious
obligations--no substitution in the performance of religious duties. Of all
things, piety is one of the most intensely personal. It is the intercourse of
the individual soul with its Maker; just as much as if there were no other
beings in existence. As each must eat, and die, and be judged for him or
herself, so each must repent, and believe, and be religious for him or herself.
I do not depreciate the importance of social relations, compacts and
organisations. I believe that religion is very greatly dependent upon them. Had
we never been placed in a Christian land, or been related to Christian parents
and friends, or been brought into contact with the Christian Church, we never
could have become Christians. But when it comes to the real activities and experiences of
piety, they relate as directly to ourselves as individuals as if we alone
existed. It is a great thing to have pious friends. The prayers of a godly
mother are like soft silken cords around the heart of her son, which draw upon
and check him in his wildest wanderings and his maddest passion. The rude sailor on the deck, or the
hardened culprit in his cell, is melted and subdued at the mere remembrance of a sainted
mother. But, though that mother
be as good as the Virgin Mother of our Lord--though she nightly bathe her pillow with tears of
supplication for her boy--it shall avail nothing to the salvation of her erring
child, unless he himself shall move to turn from his follies, to bend in penitence, and to
submit himself to God. True religion demands one’s personal and individual
action--the putting forth of one’s own hand. No man or angel can do it for us.
Preachers and pious friends may prompt, direct, encourage, and pray for us, but
that is all. They can do nothing more. We must individually and for ourselves
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, or be lost. There is no other alternative. A
very expressive gesture was required of the Jew to signify all this. He had to put his hand upon the
head of his sacrifice when he presented it. He thereby acknowledged his sin,
and expressed his personal dependence upon that sacrifice. The Hebrew word is
still more suggestive. “He shall lean his hand upon the head of the offering.”
It is the same word used by the Psalmist, where he says, “Thy wrath leaneth
hard upon me.” Sin is a burden. It is ready to crush him upon whom it is. And
with this burden the sinner is to lean upon his sacrifice for ease. He could
not lean with another man’s hand; he must use “his own hand.” The ceremonial
worshipper used the outward hand; we are to use the hand of the soul, which is faith. (J. A.
Seiss, D. D.)
This is the law . . . to offer their oblations.
The gospel of the sacrifices
I. There was a
divine institution and command of god, for the offerings and sacrifices which
were under the law.
1. An offering in general is anything presented to the Lord to become
peculiarly His, and to be typical of Christ and gospel mysteries.
2. The legal offerings were set apart for God, with respect to Christ
and His great sacrifice and offering up of Himself unto God for us.
3. Some have distinguished them into three sorts.
4. The sacrifices that were offered at the brazen altar are commonly
distributed into two sorts--sacrifices of expiation, and sacrifices of
thanksgiving. It is the former sort whereof the text speaks.
(a) The institution of sacrifices was presently after the sin and fall
of man; but the renewed institution and further direction and regulation of
them was by Moses unto Israel.
(b) In this renewed institution and regulation of their offerings and
sacrifices, there were sundry adjuncts and ceremonies, some whereof were
required and some severely forbidden to be added to them, all which were
mystical and significant,
1. Adjuncts required. Sacrifices to be offered only at this ore
altar. Salt. Music. Incense. Many ceremonious actions,
2. Adjuncts forbidden. In general, any conformity or compliance with
the pagans in their rites and ceremonies. In particular, leaven and honey.
(c) The occasions upon which they were to be offered,
1. When under guilt of sin.
2. For the obtaining of any needful mercy,
3. To testify their joy and thankfulness for mercies received,
4. In the instituted seasons of them.
II. The sacrifices
of propitiation under the law, may be referred to there six kinds or
sorts--burnt-offering, meat-offering, peace-offering, sin-offering,
trespass-offering, and offering of consecrations.
1. There were some things in which these all agreed.
2. The difference consisted--
Lessons:
1. Keep close to the rule of Divine institution in matters of
worship.
2. See the worth and value of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and the
necessity of it, fur the justification and salvation of lost sinners. (S.
Mather.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》