THE ENDING CAN BE FOUND IN THE BEGINNING
Recently I wrote (in a separate article) some grateful thoughts about the late Reverend Billy Graham.
Oh, how this world is going to miss him!
Fortunately; his message will live on in the hearts of many.
I could not help but think of him again today as I studied for this bible lesson from Leviticus Chapter 3 in the Come As A Child On-line, ongoing bible study. While I typed out my notes and pondered my own thoughts on our subject, I could hear many echoes of Billy Graham’s sermons. Today’s lesson hits on one of his favorite subjects; peace.
Rev. Graham wrote a book titled “Peace With God.” I hope that anyone seeking to grasp a deeper understanding of today’s lesson will obtain a copy of that book and read it; not only to honor Reverend Graham and his life which was totally dedicated to Christ, but also to give a very clear understanding of where today’s lesson should end. Like everything else in the Old Testament examples; it ends at the cross looking up at Jesus.
It ends with God’s peace; the peace that comes from the sacrifice offered to each and every one of us by Jesus Christ.
This ending is always part of every new beginning.
If you know Christ; you know the understanding and the essence of what God was trying to teach those stubborn Israelites when He gave them the rules and requirements for a special offering called a Peace Offering or a Freewill Offering.
Today, as we stand on the other side of the cross from the Israelites; we have that amazing reassurance that Christ is our Peace Offering.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to our Thursday bible study called Come As a Child where we are approaching The Word of our Father with the wide-eyed curiosity of a trusting child who is asking Him to reveal His truths. Today’s materials are based on Leviticus; Chapter 3. If you missed last week’s lesson you may review it here: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/offerings-2/.
IMAGINE ALL THE TYPES OF SIN THAT EXIST
As we continue to study the words that God gave to Moses in Leviticus; let’s just stop for a moment and close our eyes and imagine all the many, many different types of sins that have been committed by mankind over the millenniums of time lived out on this earth.
Can you imagine how many sins there must be?
You would never be able to name or count them all.
We would do well to remember this and take nothing about our precious salvation for granted.
GOD DID NOT WANT ROTE SACRIFICES OF NO MEANING
God didn’t want the Israelites to be making rote sacrifices.
He wanted them to THINK about what they were doing and to consider why they were doing it.
He wanted them to count their sins as often as they counted their days.
There were lessons to be learned in doing this; both for those old Israelites and also for us today. Mainly; we begin to grasp the fact that we should never take our redemption for granted.
A GREAT PRICE WAS PAID
A great amount of redemption always comes along with a great price to be paid.
For every type of sin; there was a corresponding sacrifice that could be offered. Thus there were MANY different types of offerings.
Offerings were nothing new. As we mentioned before; offerings and sacrifices go all the way back to Adam and Eve and the beginning of time.
What WAS new was that these offerings were now being regulated and monitored by those serving as priest in the wilderness tabernacle.
There was a good reason for this.
ACCOUNTABILITY MATTERS
God had been paying attention to how bad we humans always messed up.
Over and over again, men left totally to themselves, without accountability, always abused their privileges.
God had promised Noah there would be no more floods to destroy the earth. So He sent help in the way of the ministry of the wilderness tabernacle.
Each individual bringing a sacrifice needed to think through what type of sacrifice they were bringing and why they were bringing it to the tabernacle before they went into the Holy Presence of God.
BURNT OFFERINGS SATISFIED THE NEED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS
We have already discussed that the burnt offerings were for fulfilling God’s requirements for righteousness.
An acceptable offering was brought. The sins were placed upon the head of the offering and transferred; and blood was shed.
One life was given for another satisfying the requirements for all righteousness.
The whole offering was placed before God and if it was accepted; God consumed it with fire. With the burnt offerings, all of it was completely consumed by the fire leaving nothing behind.
The individual received freedom in exchange for the sacrifice.
In this case the only One consuming the sacrifice would be God.
In the case of the burnt offering; if you were too poor to bring a male from the herd; you could bring a dove or a pigeon to sacrifice and God would accept it. This offering process was based upon the condition of the heart before God.
This offering was all about becoming clean and acceptable to God.
GRAIN OFFERINGS PROVED HUMAN’S DEPENDENCY UPON GOD’S GRACE
We have also talked about the grain offerings.
Almost all of the time these grain offerings had to be made of unleavened bread; there was one exception which we will cover later.
A portion of these offerings were set aside to be a burnt offering and the rest of the sacrifice was laid on the altar and roasted. Later it was consumed by the priests.
In this case there were usually only two parties who consumed the offering; God and the priest.
A person could bring a grain offering of the finest flour or they could bring a meat offering. If you brought an animal from the flock or the herd; it needed to be an unblemished male animal. This offering was given to seek God’s favor. It might be asking for good and abundant crops, or healing, or provisions for living a more abundant life, or as a request for strength at the beginning of taking a vow.
This offering represented Israel’s recognition that they were totally dependent upon God for all of their substance and strength.
As I studied these requirements I was reminded of a parent teaching a small child to share their candy with another child. They could not have any of the candy until they first gave some of it away. The grain offerings seemed to work a lot like that.
THE PEACE OFFERING WAS ABOUT BEING THANKFUL
Today we come to Leviticus, Chapter 3 which speaks about “fellowship” offerings. The words in these scriptures are probably better translated to mean “peace” offerings.
Just what do you think a fellowship/peace-offering would be?
It was an offering brought to God for Thanksgiving for answered prayers.
One might be thankful for redemption from sins, or for an abundant crop or for a full bank account. One might be grateful to God for helping them fulfill the requirements of a vow they made; or helping them through a hard time, or for healing them from disease. One might even be expressing that higher joy; that is simply being grateful to God for being God.
It was all about thankfulness.
This offering was like a Great Thanksgiving!
A TOTALLY DIFFERENT KIND OF OFFERING
This peace/fellowship offering was different from the other offerings in many ways.
It was the only offering that became a meal.
It was the only offering that involved three parties; God, the priests who took part in the offering, and the individual that offered the sacrifice.
Everyone got to enjoy this meal together.
Everyone got to partake together.
When bringing this offering the requirements were that it could be either male or female; but no bird could be brought; only an ox or a lamb.
Another very odd requirement that was different was that this offering could include LEAVENED bread. (Lev. 7:13)
This was the only offering where leavened bread was acceptable.
NO ONE ATE MEAT WITHOUT FIRST MAKING AN OFFERING
If an Israelite was going to eat any meat from their herds; they first brought the animal as a peace/fellowship offering. They NEVER ate meat unless it was offered to God first as a sacrifice. (Lev. 17)
I want to discuss this last offering; this one that is a bit different in requirements which speaks of Thanksgiving in more detail next week.
It is a very important offering that requires a lot of consideration.
NO MAN WAS TO CONSUME THE FAT OR THE BLOOD
However; there was one more requirement that we need to mention about all of these offerings today. God and God alone could consume the fat and the blood. Men were never to consume the fat or the blood. It was forbidden by God and was forbidden throughout all the generations to come.
WHAT IS YOUR OFFERING?
As you go through this coming week and you ponder the different types of offerings; what will you be bringing to God?
Do you need sins forgiven? Bring them before Jesus and lay them at the cross. They will be forgiven.
Do you have needs that you feel are impossible? Bring them to God. He will give you rest.
Have you been forgiven and do you feel blessed? It is time for Thanksgiving!
Rejoice before God and give thanks for His Son, Jesus Christ who paid it all for us to have eternal life.
We serve a mighty God who is very worthy of all our praise!