L
E V I T I C U S
CHAP. III.
In
this chapter we have the law concerning the peace-offerings, whether they
were, I. Of the heard, a bullock or a heifer, ver. 1-5. Or, II. Of the flock,
either a lamb (ver. 6-11) or a goat, ver. 12-17. The ordinances concerning
each of these are much the same, yet they are repeated, to show the care we
ought to take that all our services be done according to the appointment and
the pleasure God takes in the services that are so performed. It is likewise
to intimate what need we have of precept upon precept, and line upon line.
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Law
of the Peace-Offering.
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B.
C. 1490.
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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.
2 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it at
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron's sons the priests
shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. 3 And he
shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire
unto the LORD;
the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the
inwards, 4 And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on
them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the
kidneys, it shall he take away. 5 And Aaron's sons shall burn it
on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is upon the wood that is
on the fire: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the
LORD.
The burnt-offerings had regard to God as in himself the best of beings, most
perfect and excellent; they were purely expressive of adoration, and therefore
were wholly burnt. But the peace-offerings had regard to God as a benefactor
to his creatures, and the giver of all good things to us; and therefore these
were divided between the altar, the priest, and the owner. Peace signifies, 1.
Reconciliation, concord, and communion. And so these were called peace-offerings,
because in them God and his people did, as it were, feast together, in token
of friendship. The priest, who was ordained for men in things pertaining to
God, gave part of this peace-offering to God (that part which he required, and
it was fit he should be first served), burning it upon God's altar; part he
gave to the offerer, to be eaten by him with his family and friends; and part
he took to himself, as the days-man that laid his hand upon them both. They
could not thus eat together unless they were agreed; so that it was a symbol
of friendship and fellowship between God and man, and a confirmation of the
covenant of peace. 2. It signifies prosperity and all happiness: Peace be
to you was as much as, All good be to you; and so the
peace-offerings were offered either, (1.) By way of supplication or request
for some good that was wanted and desired. If a man was in the pursuit or
expectation of any mercy, he would back his prayer for it with a
peace-offering, and probably put up the prayer when he laid his hand upon the
head of his offering. Christ is our peace, our peace-offering; for through him
alone it is that we can expect to obtain mercy, and an answer of peace to our
prayers; and in him an upright prayer shall be acceptable and successful,
though we bring not a peace-offering. The less costly our devotions are the
more lively and serious they should be. Or, (2.) By way of thanksgiving for
some particular mercy received. It is called a peace-offering of
thanksgiving, for so it was sometimes; as in other cases a vow, ch.
vii. 15, 16. And some make the original word to signify retribution.
When they had received any special mercy, and were enquiring what they should
render, this they were directed to render to the God of their mercies as a
grateful acknowledgment for the benefit done to them, Ps. cxvi. 12. And we
must offer to God the sacrifice of praise continually, by Christ our peace;
and then this shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock. Observe,
I. As to the matter of the peace-offering, suppose it was of the herd, it must
be without blemish; and, if it was so, it was indifferent whether it
was male or female, v. 1. In our spiritual offerings, it is not the
sex, but the heart, that God looks at, Gal. iii. 28.
II. As to the management of it. 1. The offerer was, by a solemn manumission,
to transfer his interest in it to God (v. 2), and, with his hand on
the head of the sacrifice, to acknowledge the particular mercies for which
he designed this a thank-offering, or, if it was a vow, to make his prayer. 2.
It must be killed; and, although this might be done in any part of the court,
yet it is said to be at the door of the tabernacle, because the mercies
received or expected were acknowledged to come from God, and the prayers or
praises were directed to him, and both, as it were, through that door. Our
Lord Jesus has said, I am the door, for he is indeed the door of the
tabernacle. 3. The priest must sprinkle the blood upon the altar, for
it was the blood that made atonement for the soul; and, though this was not a
sin-offering, yet we must be taught that in all our offerings we must have an
eye to Christ as the propitiation for sin, as those who know that the best of
their services cannot be accepted unless through him their sins be pardoned.
Penitent confessions must always go along with our thankful acknowledgments;
and, whatever mercy we pray for, in order to it we must pray for the removal
of guilt, as that which keeps good things from us. First take away all
iniquity, and then receive us graciously, or give good, Hos.
xiv. 2. 4. All the fat of the inwards, that which we call the tallow and suet,
with the caul that encloses it and the kidneys in the midst of it, were to be
taken away, and burnt upon the altar, as an offering made by fire, v.
3-5. And this was all that was sacrificed to the Lord out of the
peace-offering; how the rest was to be disposed of we shall find, ch.
vii. 11, &c. It is ordered to be burnt upon the burnt-sacrifice, that is,
the daily burnt-offering, the lamb which was offered every morning before any
other sacrifice was offered; so that the fat of the peace-offerings was an
addition to that, and a continuation of it. The great sacrifice of peace, that
of the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world, prepares the altar
for our sacrifices of praise, which are not accepted till we are reconciled.
Now the burning of this fat is supposed to signify, (1.) The offering up of
our good affections to God in all our prayers and praises. God must have the
inwards; for we must pour out our souls, and lift up our hearts, in prayer,
and must bless his name with all that is within us. It is required that we be
inward with God in every thing wherein we have to do with him. The fat denotes
the best and choicest, which must always be devoted to God, who has made for
us a feast of fat things. (2.) The mortifying of our corrupt affections and
lusts, and the burning up of them by the fire of divine grace, Col. iii. 5.
Then we are truly thankful for former mercies, and prepared to receive further
mercy, when we part with our sins, and have our minds cleared from all
sensuality by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning,
Isa. iv. 4.
6 And if his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering unto the LORD
be of the flock; male or female, he shall offer it without
blemish. 7 If he offer a lamb for his offering, then shall he
offer it before the LORD.
8 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it before
the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron's sons shall sprinkle the blood
thereof round about upon the altar. 9 And he shall offer of the
sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto the LORD;
the fat thereof, and the whole rump, it shall he take off hard by the
backbone; and the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is
upon the inwards, 10 And the two kidneys, and the fat that is
upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with
the kidneys, it shall he take away. 11 And the priest shall burn
it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire unto the
LORD.
12 And if his offering be a goat, then he shall offer it before the LORD.
13 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of it, and kill it before the
tabernacle of the congregation: and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle the blood
thereof upon the altar round about. 14 And he shall offer thereof
his offering, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD;
the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the
inwards, 15 And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon
them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the
kidneys, it shall he take away. 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.
Directions are here given concerning the peace-offering, if it was a sheep or
a goat. Turtle-doves or young pigeons, which might be brought for whole burnt
offerings, were not allowed for peace-offerings, because they have no fat
considerable enough to be burnt upon the altar; and they would be next to
nothing if they were to be divided according to the law of the
peace-offerings. The laws concerning a lamb or goat offered for a peace
offering are much the same with those concerning a bullock, and little now
occurs here; but, 1. The rump of the mutton was to be burnt with the fat of
the inwards upon the altar, the whole rump (v. 9), because in
those countries it was very fat and large. Some observe from this that, be a
thing ever so contemptible, God can make it honourable, by applying it to his
service. Thus God is said to give more abundant honour to that part which
lacked, 1 Cor. xii. 23, 24. 2. That which was burnt upon the altar is
called the food of the offering, v. 11, 16. It fed the holy
fire; it was acceptable to God as our food is to us; and since in the
tabernacle God did, as it were, keep house among them, by the offerings on the
altar he kept a good table, as Solomon in his court, 1 Kings iv. 22, &c.
3. Here is a general rule laid down, that all the fat is the Lord's (v.
16), and a law made thereupon, that they should eat neither fat nor blood,
no, not in their private houses, v. 17. (1.) As for the fat, it
is not meant of that which is interlarded with the meat (that they might eat,
Neh. viii. 10), but the fat of the inwards, the suet, which was always God's
part out of the sacrificed beasts; and therefore they must not eat of it, no,
not out of the beasts that they killed for their common use. Thus would God
preserve the honour of that which was sacred to himself. They must not only
not feed upon that fat which was to be the food of the altar, but not upon any
like it, lest the table of the Lord (as the altar is called), if
something were not reserved peculiar to it, should become contemptible, and the
fruit thereof, even its meat, contemptible, Mal. i. 7, 12. (2.) The blood
was universally forbidden likewise, for the same reason that the fat was,
because it was God's part of every sacrifice. The heathen drank the blood of
their sacrifices; hence we read of their drink-offerings of blood, Ps.
xvi. 4. But God would not permit the blood, that made atonement, to be used as
a common thing (Heb. x. 29), nor will he allow us, though we have the comfort
of the atonement made, to assume to ourselves any share in the honour of
making it. He that glories, let him glory in the Lord, and to his praise let
all the blood be poured out.
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