Leviticus 7:11 - Meaning and Application

All this concerns the peace offerings. This is a fuller restating of what came before, with several added details.

First, the passage makes the purpose of the peace offerings clearer. They were brought either in thanks for some special mercy already received, such as recovery from sickness, safety in a journey, rescue at sea, or release from captivity, all examples named in Psalm 107. For these, people were called to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving (Leviticus 7:22). They could also be brought to keep a vow made in a time of trouble (Leviticus 7:16), which was less honorable than the first reason, though failing to keep the vow would have been worse. Or they could be offered as a voluntary gift while asking for some special mercy still hoped for. In that case, the offering went with prayer, just as thanksgiving went with praise.

The law did not require these peace offerings in every such case, unless a person had bound himself by a vow. In contrast, when a sin had been committed, the law required atoning sacrifices. Prayer and praise are as much our duty as repentance, but here God left more room for free expression when people were showing gratitude or hope. In that way, the sincerity of their devotion would be tested, and freewill offerings would be more honorable and acceptable. By making the atoning sacrifices mandatory, God also showed the need for the great propitiation, the sacrifice that truly turns away sin.

Second, the rules for the peace offerings are explained more fully. If the offering was a thank offering, it had to be joined with a grain offering, including cakes of different kinds and wafers (Leviticus 7:12). It also had to include leavened bread, which was unique to the peace offerings. That bread was not to be burned on the altar, since that was forbidden (Leviticus 2:11), but to be eaten with the meat of the sacrifice. This made the meal complete and joyful. Unleavened bread was less pleasant to eat, so outside the Passover, God often appointed leavened bread, which was lighter and more enjoyable, so that people could feast at God’s table as well as at their own.

Some think a grain offering was required with every peace offering, not only with the thank offering, because Leviticus 7:29 speaks of an offering along with it. In either case, the idea is that both altar and table should be well supplied. The flesh of the peace offering, both the priest’s portion and the worshiper’s portion, had to be eaten quickly, not stored raw or cooked and then left cold. If it was a thank offering, it had to be eaten on the same day (Leviticus 7:16). If it was offered for a vow or as a voluntary gift, it could be eaten on that day or the next (Leviticus 7:16). Anything left after that had to be burned (Leviticus 7:17). If anyone ate what remained past the allowed time, that person’s conduct would be treated as a serious offense (Leviticus 7:18).

Even though this meat did not have to be eaten in the holy place, as the most holy offerings did, God still made a clear difference between it and ordinary food. People might carry it to their own tents and eat there, but they were not to treat it like common meat. Other food could be kept, warmed again, and eaten days later. This could not be done with the peace offering. It had to be eaten at once. God wanted to keep holy flesh from spoiling or being dishonored by neglect. He also wanted to train his people not to be stingy, fearful, or anxious about tomorrow, but to enjoy his gifts gladly (Ecclesiastes 8:15). The flesh of the peace offering was God’s treat, so he controlled how it was used. He ordered it to be shared generously with friends and with the poor, showing that he is a generous giver who provides richly for our enjoyment, the bread for each day in its day.

If the sacrifice was a thank offering, this cheerful sharing mattered especially, because it showed holy joy in God’s goodness through holy feasting. The law is very strict here (Leviticus 7:18). If the worshiper failed to have the offering eaten within the set time, and failed to burn what remained, then the offering would not be accepted or counted to him. The lesson is plain: all the benefit of religious service is lost if we do not live rightly afterward. An offering is not pleasing to God if it does not shape the one who brings it. If a person seemed generous in bringing a peace offering but later acted tightfisted and mean in using it, it was as though he had never brought it at all. Worse, it became something hateful. There is no middle ground between God’s acceptance and his rejection. If our persons and our actions are sincere and upright, they are accepted; if not, they are an abomination (Proverbs 15:8).

Whoever ate it after the set time had to bear his iniquity, meaning he would be cut off from his people, as Leviticus 19:8 explains when the law is repeated. This rule, requiring the peace offering to be eaten before the third day so it would not spoil, points to Christ’s resurrection after two days, so that he, as God’s Holy One, would not see corruption (Psalm 16:10). Some also think it teaches us to receive Christ and his grace quickly, by faith today, while it is still called today, because the time will soon pass (Hebrews 3:13, Hebrews 3:14).

Third, the flesh and the people who ate it had to be clean. The meat itself must not touch anything unclean. If it did, it could not be eaten, but had to be burned (Leviticus 7:19). If, while being carried from the altar to the place of the meal, it was touched by a dog, a dead body, or any other unclean thing, it was no longer fit for a holy feast. Anything offered to the holy God must be pure and carefully kept from pollution. Haggai 2:12 shows that holy flesh could not make something common holy by mere touch. This law goes further and shows that unclean contact could spread defilement. That teaches that sin spreads more easily and more often than grace does.

It also had to be eaten by clean people.

When anyone was ceremonially unclean, it was dangerous for that person to eat the meat of the peace offerings (Leviticus 7:20-21). Holy things are for holy people. Since this food was holy in a ceremonial sense, anyone under ceremonial uncleanness was barred from it. In the same way, we are taught to keep ourselves clean from the stain of sin, so we can receive the blessing and comfort of Christ's sacrifice (1 Peter 2:1-2).

Our consciences must be cleansed from dead works, meaning acts that lead to spiritual death, so we can serve the living God (Hebrews 9:14). But if anyone dares to come to the Lord's table while still polluted by unrepented sin, that person treats sacred things lightly. Such a person eats and drinks judgment on himself, just as those who ate the peace offerings did when they broke this command (Leviticus 7:20-21). What belongs to the Lord is holy, so it must be handled with deep reverence, not with unclean hands. "Be holy, because God is holy, and you belong to him."

The eating of blood and the fat of the inner parts is also forbidden here again, as it was before in the law of the peace offerings (Leviticus 3:17). The ban on fat seems to apply to the sacrificial animals, the bullocks, sheep, and goats, not to clean animals in general. This is why only the animals used for offerings are named here (Leviticus 7:23-25). The purpose was to keep before the people a reverence for God's altar, where the fat of the inner parts was burned. The Jews say that if someone ate even a small amount of forbidden fat, about the size of an olive, he was in danger of being cut off by God's hand if he did it knowingly. If he did it in ignorance, he had to bring a sin offering and pay dearly for his carelessness.

It was also unlawful to eat the meat of an animal that died on its own or was torn by beasts, and it was doubly unlawful to eat its fat (Leviticus 7:24). The ban on blood is broader (Leviticus 7:26-27), because the fat was given to God only as an act of honor, but the blood made atonement for the soul. Blood pointed more clearly to Christ's sacrifice than the burning of the fat did, so it deserved greater reverence, until these symbols were fulfilled in the once-for-all offering of Christ's body. The Jews correctly explain this law as forbidding the blood of life, as they call it, not what we would call gravy.

The priest's share of the peace offerings is also set out here. From every animal offered as a peace offering, the priest who presented it was to receive the breast and the right shoulder for himself (Leviticus 7:30-34). Notice, when the sacrifice was killed, the one offering it had to present God's part with his own hands. By doing this, he showed that he gladly gave it up to God and wanted it accepted. He lifted it up to show respect for God as the God of heaven, then waved it back and forth to show respect for God as Lord of the whole earth, offering it to him as far as he could reach.

What was lifted and waved included the fat, the breast, and the right shoulder. It was all offered to God, and then the fat was burned on the altar, while the breast and shoulder were given to the priest, because both were God's servants. When the fat was burned, the priest received his share and ate with his family, just as the offerer ate with his family. In holy joy and thanksgiving, it is good for our ministers to go before us and speak for us to God. There is sweetness when the one who plants and the one who harvests rejoice together.

Some see meaning in the parts given to the priests. The breast and shoulder may point to the feelings and the actions, which all God's people should devote to his honor and which priests should also use in the service of the church. Christ, our great peace offering, feeds his spiritual priests with the breast and shoulder, with his deepest love and his strongest support, for he is the wisdom of God and the power of God. When Saul was chosen to be king, Samuel had the shoulder of the peace offering set before him (1 Samuel 9:24), which hinted that something great and holy was meant for him.

Jesus Christ is our great peace offering. He gave himself as a sacrifice, not only to pay for sin and save us from the curse, but also to win a blessing for us and every good gift. When we gladly share in the gifts of redemption, we are feeding on the sacrifice. The Lord's Supper was given to show this truth.