Peace Offering Leviticus 3

Peace Offering

Leviticus3:6-7 "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. If he offer a lamb for his offering, then shall he offer it before the Lord."

Outline:
v1 The peace offering of the herd
v6 of the flock
v7 either a lamb
v12 or a goat.

Also notice Leviticus 7:11-12 "And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he shall offer unto the Lord. If he offer it for thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil and cakes mingled with oil of fine flour, fried.

So the peace offering is also a thanksgiving offering. The oil represents the Spirit. It is an offering by fire. v16 "And the priest shall burn them upon the altar..." It is an offering with the shedding of blood. v8And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, ad kill it before the tabernacle..."

At the mount the people were not allowed to approach but here at the tabernacle a way is made for the people to approach the holiness of God through the shedding of blood and a peace offering.

Finally the people were to eat no fat nor food with the blood in it. v17 "It shall be a perpetual statute for your generation throughout all your dwellings that ye eat neither fat nor blood."

V16 explains why "...It is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savour: all the fat is the Lord's."

Christ made peace:

Colossians 1:20 "And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself, by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven."

Christ proclaimed peace:

Ephesians 2:17 "And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh."

Christ is our peace:

Ephesians 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;"

One commentator refers us to chapter 7 verses 31-32 "And the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar: but the breast shall be Aaron's and his sons. v32 And the right shoulder shall ye give unto the priest for an heave offering of the sacrifices of your peace offerings."

This commentator relates the breast to affection and the shoulder to strength.

So we have talked about the peace offering which can also be a thanksgiving offering. Chapter 3 starts the discussion, chapter 7 gives the details. It is important to note that a sinner coming to Christ is out of peace with God because of the sin that seperates him. The peace offering brings them together so that sin can be dealt with and fellowship established. First though, he needs peace with God. We may come to God because of Christ, our peace offering.

How does a sinner know that he needs to come to God and that his sins need to be forgiven?

There is a touch that comes from God which reveals to each sinner that he needs to seek forgiveness and become a child of God. This gentle touch is from the Holy Spirit. It is an invitation to an individual still in sin to be reconciled to God the Father through Jesus Christ (because of his shed blood). It is like the peace offering, as if God is saying we need to talk about your soul. This touch is an invitation that shows the need and offers the fulfillment of that need.

Think of being invited to a dinner by the president. You cannot know what is in store. You do not know him personally. Yet, he invites you. It is up to you to accept the invitation. You cannot know what is in store unless you accept the invitation and go to meet him. After you accept and attend, you will have a personal knowledge that you may attempt to describe but only those who accept the invitation can truly know just how it was.

So is the personal invitation from the Lord. I can try to explain it and give many examples from the Bible but no one can truly understand the whole joy without a personal one-on-one with the Savior. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. Romans 5:6.

These studies are to teach us the importance of the shedding of blood leading us to the gospel story: the death burial and resurrection of Jesus.

Psalm 122: 6-9 "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good."