ವ್ಯಾಖ್ಯಾನ ಪ್ರಸ್ತುತ ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾತ್ರ ಲಭ್ಯವಿದೆ. ಕನ್ನಡ ಅನುವಾದ ಪ್ರಗತಿಯಲ್ಲಿದೆ.
Leviticus 3 — The Peace Offering — Communion with God
The peace offering — male or female, of the herd or flock. The fat burned on the altar as God's portion. The breast and right shoulder belonged to the priests. The rest was eaten by the offerer with his family. The only offering shared between God, the priests, and the worshipper at the same table. A picture of communion through atonement.
“It is the food of the offering made by fire unto the Lord.”
— Leviticus 3:11
- v.1-5 Peace offering from the herd
- v.6-11 Peace offering of a lamb
- v.12-17 Peace offering of a goat; the prohibition of fat and blood
The fat. In Hebrew thinking, the fat was the choicest part — the richest, most flavorful, most prized. It belonged to God alone. The worshipper kept the meat; God received the fat.
The principle: God receives the best, not the leftovers. The peace offering produced shared food — but God's portion was the finest. Modern worship sometimes inverts this. We give God what we have left after pursuing our own pleasures.
The food of the offering. Bold language. The fat burned on the altar is called God's food. Anthropomorphic, but the point is real — God receives delight in the offerings of His people.
For the New Testament believer, Hebrews 13:15-16 names the spiritual equivalents: the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips... to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
Two prohibitions for Israel — no fat (which belonged to God) and no blood (which represented life and atonement, Leviticus 17:11).
The fat-prohibition was particularly Israelite. The blood-prohibition reaches into the New Testament — Acts 15:20 repeats it as part of the basic Gentile-believer commitments. The principles flow through different covenants in different ways.
The peace offering pictures the fellowship a believer enjoys with God through the cross — and the cost of that fellowship. God receives His portion (the fat — your best, not your leftovers). The priestly servants are sustained (the breast and shoulder — those who lead in the gospel deserve support). And the worshipper eats with God's family. Are you living all three sides of the peace offering? The giving of your best to Him, the sustaining of those who minister, the fellowship around His table?
Christ is the great peace offering. Having made peace through the blood of his cross (Colossians 1:20). And the Lord's Supper continues the peace offering pattern — bread and cup shared at one table, God present, His people communing with Him through the sacrifice. The Old Testament peace offering ate at the same kind of table; the New Testament saint sits at the substance of what was figured.
Peace offering — Hebrew shelem, related to shalom. The offering that establishes peace between God and the worshipper, and produces fellowship.
Male or female — unlike the burnt offering (male only). The peace offering had wider allowance. Different aspects of relationship with God permit different kinds of offerings.