In Exodus 29:28-39, we’re introduced to the peace offering, where God says this is always to be the perpetual share from the Israelites for Aaron and his sons, Exodus 29:28. It is the contribution the Israelites are to make to the LORD from their fellowship offerings, Exodus 29:28.
Aaron’s garments are sacred and will belong to his descendants so that they can be anointed and ordained in them, Exodus 29:29 / Leviticus 8:30. The son who succeeds Aaron as priest and comes to the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place is to wear them seven days, Exodus 29:30.
Moses is now to take the ram for the ordination and cook the meat in a sacred place, Exodus 29:31 / Leviticus 8:31. At the entrance to the tent of meeting, Aaron and his sons are to eat the meat of the ram and the bread that is in the basket, Exodus 29:32 / Leviticus 8:31.
Aaron and his sons are to eat these offerings by which atonement was made for their ordination and consecration; however, no one else may eat them, because they are sacred, Exodus 29:33 / Leviticus 8:31.
Unger, in his commentary, says the following.
‘At the root of the Hebrew term for atonement is the idea of ‘covering.’ Mosaic sacrifices covered sin from God’s sight in view of Christ’s future redemptive work. Thus, the sinner’s forgiveness was secured by God’s passing over sin, Romans 3:25. Not until Christ died was sin finally ‘put away’, Hebrews 9:15, and actual atonement was made between God and man.’
If any of the meat of the ordination ram or any bread is left over till morning, then it must be burned; it must not be eaten, because it is sacred, Exodus 29:34 / Leviticus 8:32. Moses is to do for Aaron and his sons everything that God commanded him, taking seven days to ordain them, Exodus 29:35 / Leviticus 8:33-35. Moses is to sacrifice a bull each day as a sin offering to make atonement, purify the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it, Exodus 29:36.
For seven days Moses is to make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, then the altar will be most holy, and whatever touches it will be holy, Exodus 29:37 / Leviticus 8:33-35. These lambs were young and innocent; a lamb was to be offered daily in the morning, and the other in the evening, Exodus 29:38.
The peace offering is sometimes translated as ‘fellowship offering’, Leviticus 3:1-17 / Leviticus 7:11-36. In Leviticus 3:1-5, we read that if their offering is a fellowship offering, and they offer an animal from the herd, whether male or female, they are to present animals without defect, Leviticus 3:1 / Leviticus 3:6-7 / Leviticus 3:12 / Leviticus 22:22-24, only the best was expected.
Those presenting the offering are to lay their hand on the head of their offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the tent of meeting, Leviticus 3:2 / Exodus 29:10 / Exodus 29:10 / Leviticus 1:4, and then Aaron’s sons are to splash the blood against the sides of the altar, Leviticus 3:2.
From the fellowship offering, they are to bring a food offering, the internal organs, all the fat that is connected to them, both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which are to be removed with the kidneys, Leviticus 3:3-4.
Wenham, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The Israelites were not to eat the fat of this sacrifice but to offer it to God on the altar. This may have symbolised that God was worthy of the best since the ancients regarded the fat of an animal as its best part. Another explanation is that since the Old Testament used the kidneys and entrails to represent the seat of human emotions, Job 19:27 / Psalms 16:7 / Jeremiah 4:14 / Jeremiah 12:2, these parts represented the worshiper’s best and deepest emotions. This view finds support in the fact that Israelites offered the peace offering in intrinsically emotional situations, when they thanked God or requested from Him.’
Then Aaron’s sons are to burn it on the altar on top of the burnt offering that is lying on the burning wood, and then it will become an aroma pleasing to the LORD, Leviticus 3:5 / Leviticus 3:16. The significance of the fellowship offering is expanded upon later in Leviticus 7:11-34.
Everyone ate a portion of the fellowship offering, the offeror, the Lord, the priest, and even the priest’s children, Leviticus 7:20. In the burnt offering and the grain offering, the Lord and the priest had a portion, but not the one making the offering; this signified communion with God.
Whilst the burnt offering was to be totally consumed by the fire as a sin offering to the Lord, the peace offering was a fellowship meal between the worshipper, his family, and the priests. The meat of the offering was to be eaten by both the priests and the worshippers. When a person sits at a table and eats with someone, this signifies that they are at peace with the other person, 1 Samuel 9:22-24.
Christ has become our peace offering; in Him, both God and man find common ground. Although the main reason for this offering was to bring something to the Lord, there was also another reason: this meal keeps God’s priests and God’s people together.
It’s important to remember that this offering was a gift to the priests, and in return, the offeror was blessed to be able to sit down with God’s spiritual leaders; it was a real time of fellowship. We can imagine them discussing spiritual and religious matters as they ate together.
In Leviticus 3:6-11, we find instructions concerning the lamb offering. If they offer an animal from the flock as a fellowship offering, they are to offer a male or female, but the animals used were all to be without defect, Leviticus 3:1 / Leviticus 3:6-7 / Leviticus 3:12 / Leviticus 22:22-24.
Only the best was expected. If they offer a lamb, they are to lay their hand on its head and slaughter it in front of the tent of meeting, and then Aaron’s sons are to splash its blood against the sides of the altar, Leviticus 3:7-8.
From the fellowship offering they are to bring a food offering and its fat, the entire fat tail cut off close to the backbone, the internal organs and all the fat that is connected to them, both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which they are to remove with the kidneys, Leviticus 3:9-10 / Exodus 29:22. The fat of the intestines, the richest part, the kidneys, the caul, or midriff, was taken to the altar and burned by the priest, Leviticus 3:11.
Dodd, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The gods of the heathens are said, Deuteronomy 32:38, to eat the fat and drink the wine which were consumed on their altars.’
In Leviticus 3:12-16, we find instructions for a goat offering. Whatever the animal was being offered to the Lord, it was brought to the altar by the giver, who then laid his hands on it before killing it, Leviticus 3:12-13. The blood was sprinkled on the altar by Aaron’s sons, Leviticus 3:13 / Leviticus 3:2 / Leviticus 3:8 / Leviticus 3:13.
From what they offer, they are to present this food offering to the LORD, the internal organs and all the fat that is connected to them, both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which they are to remove with the kidneys, Leviticus 3:14-15.
The fat of the intestines, the richest part, the kidneys, the caul, or midriff, was taken to the altar and burned, Leviticus 3:16. This was a pleasing aroma to the LORD, Leviticus 3:16 / Leviticus 3:5.
The blood because it represented the life of an animal, the fat because it represented the best of the animal, Deuteronomy 32:15 / Psalm 119:70 / Proverbs 11:25 / Proverbs 13:4. The blood and the fat belonged to God, Leviticus 3:16.
These were bloody offerings of the flock or herd, like the burnt offerings, a lamb, or a goat, Leviticus 3:12-16. The fellowship offering was always accompanied by a meat and drink offering, Leviticus 7:11.
The fellowship offering was sometimes called the sacrifice of peace, Leviticus 7:11-38 / Leviticus 19:5-8 / Leviticus 22:21-25 / Numbers 6:13-20 / Deuteronomy 12:6-7. This was all about communion with God and His people, but God is always to be served first, Malachi 1:7.
There was a three-fold purpose to this meal was a thanksgiving offering, Leviticus 7:11-13 / Leviticus 7:15. It was also a vow sacrifice, Leviticus 7:16 / Numbers 6:14; and it was also a free-will offering of joy and love, Leviticus 7:16.
The fellowship offering always followed other sacrifices, and it was voluntary and could be offered anytime, Leviticus 19:5 / Leviticus 22:21-25. It was a holy offering that could be enjoyed by all who were clean within the family of the priest or even his servants, Leviticus 7:20 / Deuteronomy 12:17-18.
In the sin-offering, the priest was fed; in the burnt offering, only God was fed; in the meal-offering, God and the priest are fed, and in the fellowship offering, God, the priests and the offerors were fed. The breast and shoulder were the portions of the priests, Aaron and sons, Leviticus 7:31 / Leviticus 7:34.
They had to eat it that day; the only exceptions were those offerings for vows or free will offerings, which were eaten that day or no later than the next day, Leviticus 7:16.
Any leftover to the third day had to be burned, Leviticus 7:17, to do otherwise was a sin, Leviticus 7:18. The right thigh went to the priest doing the offering, Leviticus 7:14 / Leviticus 7:32-34, the rest of the flesh belonged to the offeror, to be eaten that day, Leviticus 7:15, no-one unclean was to eat of the sacrifice, Leviticus 7:19-21.
Some commentators have suggested that the fat of the animal signifies something which is being stored up for hard times of famine, and so, the fat symbolises the offeror’s dependency upon God to look after their future, that which was stored up for famine times.
God wanted the fellowship offering to be a ‘lasting ordinance,’ Leviticus 3:17. God repeats these words seventeen times throughout the Book of Leviticus and beyond, Exodus 24:5 / 1 Samuel 11:15 / 2 Kings 8:63.
The fellowship offering or peace offering as some translations render it, is all about communion between God and His people, the priests, and God’s people. In other words, peace was to reign within God’s people.
It was a fellowship meal where God was the host because the animal sacrificed had been given over to God and no longer belongs to the giver. God directs what shall be burned, what shall be eaten, who shall eat it and where.
The Israelites weren’t permitted to eat the fat of the animal, which was the richest part of the animal, only to be given to God, and they weren’t allowed to eat the blood of the animal, which represented the preciousness of life.
No one was to eat of the fat or the blood of animals, Nehemiah 8:10. The fat was always put on top of the fire to be consumed, and the blood was used on the altar, Leviticus 3:17 / Leviticus 7:22-27.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The prohibition against eating blood was especially stressed in the Old Testament. And even in Christianity, the apostles and elders of Jerusalem extended the prohibition against it, making it a Christian ordinance as well.’
In Leviticus 7:11-12, we read that if the fellowship offering is an expression of thankfulness, then along with this thank offering they are to offer thick loaves made without yeast, with olive oil mixed in, thin loaves made without yeast, brushed with oil, and thick loaves of the finest flour well-kneaded and with oil mixed in, Leviticus 7:11-12. Note that the KJV uses the word ‘cakes’ instead of ‘loaves’.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The peace-offering was the only sacrifice in which the worshiper himself was privileged to eat the meat offered and to share it with his friends.’
For the fellowship offering, everyone ate a portion of the peace offering, the offeror, the Lord, the priest, and even the priest’s children, Leviticus 7:20 / Leviticus 3:2-17. Because cakes and unleavened bread are mentioned, this tells us it was a real time of fellowship for all of God’s people and the priests.
In the burnt offering and the grain offering, the Lord and the priest had a portion, but not the one making the offering. This signified communion with God.
When a person sits at a table and eats with someone, it signifies that they are at peace with them. Christ has become our peace offering; in Him, both God and man find common ground. It is noteworthy that the fellowship offering was generally accompanied by a drink of wine. We see this bread and wine at the table of the Lord, 1 Corinthians 11:23-25.
The fellowship offerings consisted of three offerings: the thanksgiving offering, Leviticus 7:12, the vow offering, Leviticus 7:16, and finally the freewill offering, Leviticus 7:29.
In Leviticus 7:13-15, we read that a thanksgiving offering also had to be made with the fellowship offering. Along with their fellowship offering of thanksgiving, they are to present an offering with thick loaves of bread made with yeast. Leviticus 7:35.
They are to bring one of each kind as an offering, a contribution to the LORD, and it belongs to the priest who splashes the blood of the fellowship offering against the altar, Leviticus 7:14. Note that the KJV uses the word ‘cakes’ instead of ‘loaves’.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘One loaf or cake out of each kind of meat-offering was to be a heave-offering, Leviticus 7:32, for the officiating priest. According to Jewish tradition, there were to be ten cakes of each kind of bread in every thank-offering. The other cakes were returned to the sacrificer.’
The meat of their fellowship offering of thanksgiving must be eaten on the day it is offered; they must leave none of it till morning, Leviticus 7:15. For obvious reasons, the meat would go off.
Cate, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The peace-offerings of Leviticus 3:2-17 were further classified as: (1) thanksgiving, Leviticus 7:12-15; (2) votive, Leviticus 7:16-18; and (3) freewill. The difference between the first and the other two was in the times when they could be eaten.’
The thanksgiving offering was made in reference to what God had blessed the worshipper, Psalm 107:22. It was to be eaten the same day as it was offered, which means they spent time together in fellowship, Deuteronomy 12:12.
This was a real friend and family affair, where everyone came together to simply give thanks to God for His blessings. Because everyone brought an offering, this was a time of receiving and sharing for everyone involved.
If their offering is the result of a vow or is a freewill offering, Leviticus 7:16-21, the sacrifice is to be eaten on the day they offer it, but anything left over may be eaten on the next day, Leviticus 7:16.
The vow offering was made when an individual vowed to give something to God out of appreciation for God’s great blessings, Psalm 66:13-14 / Psalm 116:1-19. It was a free-will offering in the sense that the worshipper chose to make the offering in thankfulness for all that God had done for them.
Any meat of the sacrifice left over till the third day is to be burned up, Leviticus 7:17. If any meat of the fellowship offering is eaten on the third day, then the one who offered it will not be accepted, Leviticus 7:18. It will not be reckoned to their credit, for it has become impure and the person who eats any of it will be held responsible, Leviticus 7:18.
Meat that touches anything ceremonially unclean must not be eaten, and so, it is to be burned up, Leviticus 7:19. As for other meat, anyone ceremonially clean may eat it, Leviticus 7:19, however, if anyone who is unclean eats any meat of the fellowship offering belonging to the LORD, they must be cut off from their people, Leviticus 7:20.
Anyone who touches something unclean, whether human uncleanness or an unclean animal or any unclean creature that moves along the ground and then eats any of the meat of the fellowship offering belonging to the LORD, must be cut off from their people, Leviticus 7:21 / Exodus 31:14.
Bamberger, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Several related passages make it clear that it is God who cuts the offender off from his kin, Leviticus 17:10 / Leviticus 20:3-6. The term then refers to divine rather than human punishment, most probably premature death.’
Moses is now to tell the Israelites that they cannot eat any of the fat of cattle, sheep or goats, Leviticus 7:22-23 / Leviticus 7:33-36. The fat of an animal found dead or torn by wild animals may be used for any other purpose, but they must not eat it, Leviticus 7:24 / Leviticus 11:39.
Anyone who eats the fat of an animal from which a food offering may be presented is to be cut off from their people, Leviticus 7:25. Wherever they live, they must not eat the blood of any bird or animal, Leviticus 7:26 / Leviticus 17:10-15, and anyone who eats blood must be cut off from their people, Leviticus 7:27 / Leviticus 3:17 / Genesis 17:14.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Blood represented life that was the medium of atonement for humankind and as such is inappropriate for human consumption, Leviticus 17:10-14 / Genesis 9:4 / Acts 15:29. God claimed the lives and best of His people. There may have been a hygienic reason for God prohibiting the eating of animal fat, too.’
Leviticus 7:28-34 speaks about the free will offering and the priest’s share. Anyone who brings a fellowship offering to the LORD is to bring part of it as their sacrifice to the LORD, Leviticus 7:28-29. Notice that with their own hands they are to present the food offering, Leviticus 7:30.
This offering was offered purposely, in other words, it was what they had decided beforehand to give, Exodus 35:5 / Exodus 35:21 / 2 Corinthians 9:7. They are to bring the fat, together with the breast, and wave the breast before the LORD as a wave offering, Leviticus 7:30 / Exodus 29:27.
The wave offering is in reference to the manner in which those portions were handled before God’s altar. The breast was waved, passed from right to left and left to right after being elevated in the hands of the worshipper. It was lifted up toward heaven and lowered perhaps several times.
Keil and Delitzsch, in their commentary, say the following.
‘The priest laid the object to be waved upon the hands of the offeror, and then placed his own hands underneath, and moved the hands of the offeror backwards and forwards in a horizontal direction, to indicate by the movement forwards, i.e., in the direction towards the altar, the presentation of the sacrifice, or the symbolical transference of it to God, and by the movement backwards, the reception of it back again, as a present which God handed over to His servants the priests.’
The priest is to burn the fat on the altar, but the breast belongs to Aaron and his sons, Leviticus 7:31. Within the fellowship offering, there was a free-will offering involved, which we would call a gift. Notice they are to give the right thigh of their fellowship offerings to the priest as a contribution, Leviticus 7:32 / Exodus 29:27.
This means that no payment was made for the offering; otherwise, the gift would be cancelled because the offeror would be receiving a reward for the offering they brought.
In this sense, it was a freewill offering that cost the offeror something. If the offeror didn’t sacrifice something, then the offering would be useless because it meant nothing. In other words, the offering had to be a sacrifice by the one who brought it because no one else could pay for someone else’s sacrifice; it had to be personal.
The son of Aaron who offers the blood and the fat of the fellowship offering has the right thigh as his share, Leviticus 7:33. Notice though that the meaning of this was the portion actually belonged to God, Leviticus 7:34, hence why they lifted it up and the lowering down of the offering indicates that God is returning it to the priests as a gift. The various portions of these sacrifices were given to the priests, but it is God who is actually the giver.
In Leviticus 7:35-38, we read that a portion of the food offerings presented to the LORD that were for Aaron and his sons on the day they were presented to serve as priests, Leviticus 7:35 / Leviticus 7:31-34. On the day they were anointed, the LORD commanded that the Israelites give this to them as their perpetual share for the generations to come, Leviticus 7:36 / Exodus 40:15.
It’s important to remember that the law of sacrifice for sins did not begin at Mount Sinai; it began when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, Genesis 3:21. What we find here is the beginning of the Law, which was given to Moses at Mount Sinai concerning all those different kinds of sacrifices, Leviticus 7:37-38 / Exodus 19:1.
As a sweet aroma offering portrays Christ as our peace, it was Christ who made peace, Colossians 1:20. It was Christ who proclaimed peace, and it is Christ who is our peace, Ephesians 2:14-18.
The offering sets forth God as appeased and the sinner reconciled. God and the sinner were brought together in peace, and both were satisfied with the finished work of Christ. The peace offering was an indication of a good, healthy, loving relationship between the offeror and God and between the offeror and the priests. There was peace with God, and there was peace with fellow citizens.
Paul writes, ‘Christ Himself is our peace’, Ephesians 2:14 because ‘we who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ’, Ephesians 2:13 / Romans 5:1. Our fellowship with God is restored through faith in the death and shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and sustained through the shared nourishment His life affords us as our portion to feed on.
The Christ who ‘is our peace’ in Ephesians 2:14 is also the Christ ‘who has made both one’, where ‘both’ refers to the Jews and the Gentiles. To those who believe in Jesus Christ, His death is the place for us to be one. It is the only place where oneness will work.
Everywhere else, there is no peace because there are conflicts about how to do everything! Only as we begin to know ‘the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death’. Philippians 3:10, can we ‘be of the same mind in the Lord’, Philippians 4:2 / Philippians 2:5-8.
Otherwise, we will be just like Euodia and Syntyche, fighting and squabbling, with no peace. Ironically, ‘Euodia’ means ‘sweet aroma’; however, that would be just a name without the true experience of Christ as the peace offering, Ephesians 2:14.