Lev 3:1 | KingComments | STEP | The “peace offering” is the middle of the five offerings. The burnt offering and the grain offering are voluntary offerings and for God. The sin offering and the guilt offering that follow are obligatory offerings and are necessary for the sins of the people or of a member of the people. The peace offering is rightly central. It expresses the fellowship that exists between God and His people on the basis of the powerful efficacy of the offering. It represents a fellowship meal. From this offering God receives His share. The fat is called “food … to the LORD” ( ). From this offering the priest and the priestly family receive their share ( ). And from this offering, as the only offering in the Old Testament, all of the people may eat who are clean ( ). It is a feast with an offering through which atonement has been made and in which the ‘parties’ that have been atoned, God and man, each have their share and also the priest – as a picture the Lord Jesus through Whom the atonement has been made ( ). What the peace offering means to us is explained in 1 Corinthians 10 ( ). For us it means the Table of the Lord where the fellowship between God and the Lord Jesus and all His own is celebrated in the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Table is used in the Old Testament as an expression for the altar ( ; ). The Lord’s Supper is a memorial meal. Each time the Lord’s Supper is celebrated, we remember what the Lord Jesus did on the cross. The Lord has also asked this: “Do this in remembrance of Me” ( ). Remembering Him means telling God how great He is of Whom we too enjoy now, together with the Father. Then we will also have fellowship with each other. We symbolically express this in the breaking of the bread. To express fellowship in eating together there must be something to eat. There must be spiritual awareness of what fellowship is. Paul therefore says: “I speak as to wise men; you judge what I say” ( ). Children at the Lord’s Supper is therefore also impossible, for they do not belong to the ‘wise men’. As with the previous offerings, here too we find first the larger and then the smaller offerings. We find no birds here like in Leviticus 1 ( ). A peace offering is, like the burnt offering and the grain offering, a voluntary offering. Similarly, the celebration of the Lord’s Supper is not a matter of obligation. Anyone who realizes the privilege of this, and especially the desire of God and the Lord Jesus to have fellowship with His people in it, will not lightly stay away from the Lord’s Supper. The peace offering may be a male or a female animal. In the case of a burnt offering, it may only be a male animal. Male or female does not have to do with larger or smaller. Whether an offering is larger or smaller is expressed in the difference in the kind of animal. The difference in male or female has to do with a certain aspect of the work of the Lord Jesus. In general, it can be said that in the pictures of Scripture, the female brings out more a person’s position, and the male brings out more of the behavior that belongs to that position. The male represents more active, powerful obedience, the female more passive, patient and submissive obedience. In connection with the offering one brings, one who brings a male offering is looking more at the way the Lord Jesus did the work, while one who brings a female offering looks more at the attitude while doing that work. Why does an Israelite voluntarily bring a peace offering and not, for example, a voluntary burnt offering? Because he wants to share his gratitude to the LORD, for what He does and Who He is, with others. When someone brings a burnt offering, he remembers what the Lord Jesus is in Himself before God. The peace offering is about bringing his joy about the Lord Jesus before God together with others who recognize and agree to this joy. Just as the joy of parents increases when they enjoy their children together, just because they enjoy together, so it is with the worshipers.

‏ Leviticus 3:1

Introduction

The “peace offering” is the middle of the five offerings. The burnt offering and the grain offering are voluntary offerings and for God. The sin offering and the guilt offering that follow are obligatory offerings and are necessary for the sins of the people or of a member of the people. The peace offering is rightly central. It expresses the fellowship that exists between God and His people on the basis of the powerful efficacy of the offering. It represents a fellowship meal.

From this offering God receives His share. The fat is called “food … to the LORD” (Lev 3:11 ; 16). From this offering the priest and the priestly family receive their share (Lev 7:31). And from this offering, as the only offering in the Old Testament, all of the people may eat who are clean (Lev 7:19). It is a feast with an offering through which atonement has been made and in which the ‘parties’ that have been atoned, God and man, each have their share and also the priest – as a picture the Lord Jesus through Whom the atonement has been made (1Jn 1:3-4).

What the peace offering means to us is explained in 1 Corinthians 10 (1Cor 10:16-21). For us it means the Table of the Lord where the fellowship between God and the Lord Jesus and all His own is celebrated in the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Table is used in the Old Testament as an expression for the altar (Eze 44:16; Mal 1:7).

The Lord’s Supper is a memorial meal. Each time the Lord’s Supper is celebrated, we remember what the Lord Jesus did on the cross. The Lord has also asked this: “Do this in remembrance of Me” (1Cor 11:23-26). Remembering Him means telling God how great He is of Whom we too enjoy now, together with the Father. Then we will also have fellowship with each other. We symbolically express this in the breaking of the bread.

To express fellowship in eating together there must be something to eat. There must be spiritual awareness of what fellowship is. Paul therefore says: “I speak as to wise men; you judge what I say” (1Cor 10:15). Children at the Lord’s Supper is therefore also impossible, for they do not belong to the ‘wise men’.

As with the previous offerings, here too we find first the larger and then the smaller offerings. We find no birds here like in Leviticus 1 (Lev 1:14-17).

The Peace Offering of the Herd

A peace offering is, like the burnt offering and the grain offering, a voluntary offering. Similarly, the celebration of the Lord’s Supper is not a matter of obligation. Anyone who realizes the privilege of this, and especially the desire of God and the Lord Jesus to have fellowship with His people in it, will not lightly stay away from the Lord’s Supper.

The peace offering may be a male or a female animal. In the case of a burnt offering, it may only be a male animal. Male or female does not have to do with larger or smaller. Whether an offering is larger or smaller is expressed in the difference in the kind of animal. The difference in male or female has to do with a certain aspect of the work of the Lord Jesus.

In general, it can be said that in the pictures of Scripture, the female brings out more a person’s position, and the male brings out more of the behavior that belongs to that position. The male represents more active, powerful obedience, the female more passive, patient and submissive obedience. In connection with the offering one brings, one who brings a male offering is looking more at the way the Lord Jesus did the work, while one who brings a female offering looks more at the attitude while doing that work.

Why does an Israelite voluntarily bring a peace offering and not, for example, a voluntary burnt offering? Because he wants to share his gratitude to the LORD, for what He does and Who He is, with others. When someone brings a burnt offering, he remembers what the Lord Jesus is in Himself before God. The peace offering is about bringing his joy about the Lord Jesus before God together with others who recognize and agree to this joy. Just as the joy of parents increases when they enjoy their children together, just because they enjoy together, so it is with the worshipers.