Leviticus 7

The Levitical priests had much to know and understand. But how much more did Christ our priest need to know to offer a pleasing sacrifice to our Father! Jesus was not a son of Aaron, or even part of the tribe of Levi. That priesthood which came by way of Aaron was a testimony of death. Yet even the ceremonies of the Law testified to a greater priesthood that would one day appear. As the priests according to the Law needed to know how to fulfill their calling, Christ needed to know what He had to do to offer the sacrifice that would cancel guilt and win for us eternal peace.

The guilt offering according to the Law was “most holy.” It had to be killed in a certain place, and the blood and fat portions of the offering were to be treated according to the Lord's requirements. In this section of the Law the priests learned that they were to consume certain portions of this offering. There was one law for the guilt offering and the sin offering, and the priests needed to know this law and to obey it.

The priests became partakers of certain things that were offered at the Lord's altar. Every male among them could eat the guilt or sin offerings. The priest who made atonement would receive the meat. The one who offered the burnt offering received the animal's hide. The priest who offered certain grain offerings received the priestly portion of those offerings, while others were to be shared equally among the sons of Aaron.

The connections between the worshiper, the priest making atonement, the priestly community around him, the sacrifice offered, and the Lord Himself who received an acceptable sacrifice were very worthy of Israel's contemplation. There was a communion taking place in the offering system that drew together God and His people, God and His priests, and the priests and the people. Just as Moses spoke of a desire in Numbers 11:29 that all God's people would be prophets, there were expressions of a longing in the Law that all of the Lord's Israel would be a kingdom of priests. We have now experienced a taste of the fulfillment of that holy plea in our oneness with God and our communion with one another in the body of Christ. We partake together of the one loaf and the one cup, proclaiming in this sacramental way the Lord's death until He comes.

The Old Testament peace offering richly displayed this priestly mystery of communion, a fellowship in the sacrifice between God and the people of Israel with the priests as mediators. The peace offering was a meal of shalom. It had to be celebrated in accord with God's ways, and the priest needed to know these ways. God set the terms of communion, and it was a priestly duty to see that those were rightly followed.

This meal of shalom had the meat of the sacrifice, as well as bread and oil. God had his portion, described in Leviticus 3. The priest had his portion of the meat, oil, and bread. The rest was the portion of the worshiper. The loaf that the priest ate was also the Lord's portion, a symbol of communion between God and man. The one who threw the blood of the peace offering on the sides of the altar, the priest who stood between God and man, was necessary for a true peace offering.

The meat of the peace offering had to be eaten by the third day. We have been told in the New Testament that Jesus died on the third day “according to the Scriptures.” We could point to Jonah for the Old Testament reference, as our Lord did, speaking of his three days in the belly of a great fish. But we could also consider the death of the peace offering. By the third day there was no more of this death, only the life in God's people and His priests, a life that came from all who were partakers of the death of the offering.

If the peace offering was an offering for thanksgiving, God required that it be eaten on the day of the offering. The extra day for eating was only for those offerings that were part of a vow offering or of a freewill offering. The Lord would reveal more of the details of these offerings according to His timing. For now, the distinction between different categories of peace offerings was simply noted.

The Lord did tell His people that there were ways to make a peace offering something less than the full salvation that it was designed to portray. Eating tainted meat was one of those ways. Old meat was to be burned up with fire. Also only the ceremonially clean could eat this meal. We eat communion as those who have been washed by the blood of the Lamb, approaching God in faith, and counted as righteous in His sight because of the righteousness of Christ in whom we trust.

Israel was to respect the terms of communion established by the Lord, and not to define shalom according to the desires of men. God had His portion. The priest had his role and his communion in the sacrifice. With that very important caution, a worshiper could come to God. The worshipers' hands would bring the offering. The breast would be waved before the Lord, but was then consumed by the worshiper. The priest would have the right thigh as a happy contribution from the sacrifice of a man's peace offerings.

The old laws of the burnt offering, of the grain offering, of the sin offering, of the guilt offering, and of the peace offering, have found their fulfillment in Christ our Priest and Christ our Sacrifice. We have peace with God in Him, and through Him we not only enjoy a taste of heaven, but we have the present privilege of bringing our lives to God as living sacrifices, acceptable to our Father through our Redeemer and King. We are one in Him who is one with the Father.