Leviticus 3:1 - Meaning and Application

The burnt offerings were about God himself, as the best and most perfect being. They showed pure worship, so the whole animal was burned. But the peace offerings had a different focus. They honored God as the giver of all good things and as a kind benefactor to his people. So these offerings were divided between the altar, the priest, and the person who brought them.

Peace means reconciliation, harmony, and fellowship. These offerings were called peace offerings because God and his people, as it were, ate together in a sign of friendship. The priest, who was appointed to act for people in matters concerning God, gave God his portion first by burning it on the altar. He gave part to the worshiper to eat with family and friends, and he kept part for himself, as one who stood between both sides. They could not eat together unless they were in agreement, so this became a sign of friendship and fellowship between God and man, and a confirmation of the covenant of peace.

Peace also means well-being and every kind of happiness. So saying, “Peace be to you,” was like saying, “May all good come to you.” In that sense, peace offerings were brought in two ways. Sometimes they were brought as a request for some needed good. If a person was seeking mercy, he would join his prayer to a peace offering, and likely prayed while laying his hand on the animal’s head. Christ is our peace, our peace offering, because only through him can we expect mercy and a favorable answer to prayer. In him, a sincere prayer will be acceptable and effective, even if we do not bring a peace offering. The less costly our worship is, the more earnest and heartfelt it should be.

At other times, the peace offering was brought as thanks for a specific mercy already received. Scripture even calls it a peace offering of thanksgiving in some cases, and in other cases it was connected with a vow (Leviticus 7:15, Leviticus 7:16). Some also think the word may carry the idea of repayment. When people had received a special mercy and wanted to know what they should give back, they were told to offer thanks to the God of their mercies for what he had done for them (Psalm 116:12). We too must offer God the sacrifice of praise continually through Christ, our peace, and then this will please the Lord more than an ox or bull.

As for the offering itself, if it came from the herd, it had to be without defect. If it was without defect, it did not matter whether it was male or female (Leviticus 3:1). In our spiritual offerings, God does not look at sex, but at the heart (Galatians 3:28).

The offering was managed in this way. First, the worshiper was to hand the sacrifice over to God in a solemn act, giving up his claim to it (Leviticus 3:2). With his hand on the head of the animal, he was to confess the special mercies for which he offered this thank offering, or, if it was a vow, to make his request. Then the animal had to be killed. This could be done anywhere in the courtyard, yet it is said to be at the door of the tabernacle, because the mercies received or hoped for were acknowledged to come from God, and the prayers or praises were directed to him, both as it were through that doorway. Our Lord Jesus has said, “I am the door,” for he is indeed the door of the tabernacle.

The priest then sprinkled the blood on the altar, because the blood made atonement for the soul. Even though this was not a sin offering, we are still taught that every offering must look to Christ as the sacrifice who turns away sin. Even our best service cannot be accepted unless our sins are pardoned through him. So humble confession of sin must always go with our thanks, and whatever mercy we ask for, we should also ask for the removal of guilt, because guilt keeps good things from us. “First take away all iniquity, and then receive us graciously,” or give us good things (Hosea 14:2).

Then all the fat from the inner parts, what we would call the tallow and suet, along with the covering fat and the kidneys in the middle of it, were to be removed and burned on the altar as an offering made by fire (Leviticus 3:3-5). This was all that was given to the Lord from the peace offering. How the rest was used is explained later (Leviticus 7:11, etc.). It was burned on top of the daily burnt offering, the lamb offered every morning before any other sacrifice. So the fat of the peace offerings was added to that daily sacrifice and carried it forward.

The great sacrifice of peace, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, makes the altar ready for our sacrifices of praise. Those praises are not accepted until we are reconciled to God. The burning of the fat points to two things. It shows that we should give our best inward affections to God in prayer and praise. God must have the inmost parts, because we must pour out our souls, lift up our hearts in prayer, and bless his name with all that is within us. We are to be inward with God in everything we bring before him. The fat means the best and choicest part, and that must always be given to God, who has prepared a feast of rich food for us.

It also shows the putting to death of our corrupt desires and lusts, and their burning up by the fire of God’s grace (Colossians 3:5). We are truly thankful for past mercies, and ready for more mercy, when we let go of our sins and have our minds cleansed from all sensuality by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning (Isaiah 4:4).