Leviticus 7-8

Thursday Evening Bible Study

October 1, 2009

Introduction

Leviticus is an instruction manual for the Levite priests.

The main theme is “Holiness”

(Lev 19:2 NKJV) "Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: 'You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.

We’ve already seen some instructions concerning some of the various sacrifices:

The Burnt offering – a picture of total consecration.

The Grain offering – giving to God from my substance.

The Peace offering – having fellowship with God and your family

The Sin offering – to pay for different types of unintentional sins.

Last week we saw little bits and pieces of extra laws for each of the sacrifices. We now continue with a few last details …

Leviticus 7

7:1-7 More on the Trespass (Guilt) Offering

:1 'Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering (it is most holy):

:2 'In the place where they kill the burnt offering they shall kill the trespass offering. And its blood he shall sprinkle all around on the altar.

7:2 the place – at the Tabernacle, on the north side of the altar (Lev. 1:11)

7:2 altar – the bronze altar out in the courtyard

:3 'And he shall offer from it all its fat. The fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails,

:4 'the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove;

:4 the fat – God’s portion was the fat from the animal. Fat was considered the best part.

:5 'and the priest shall burn them on the altar as an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a trespass offering.

:6 'Every male among the priests may eat it. It shall be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy.

:7 'The trespass offering is like the sin offering; there is one law for them both: the priest who makes atonement with it shall have it.

The priest who presented the offering got to keep a portion of it.

I wonder if the priests ever hoped that people would be really sinful so that their income would be greater?

7:8-10 More Priestly Portions

:8 'And the priest who offers anyone's burnt offering, that priest shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering which he has offered.

:8 the skin – Part of the payment for the priest was the skin of the burnt offering.

:9 'Also every grain offering that is baked in the oven and all that is prepared in the covered pan, or in a pan, shall be the priest's who offers it.

:9 grain – If the grain offering was cooked (like pancakes), then the priest that presented it got to keep it.

:10 'Every grain offering, whether mixed with oil, or dry, shall belong to all the sons of Aaron, to one as much as the other.

If the grain offering was uncooked, then all the priests got to have a share.

Some churches make a big deal about whether or not a pastor should be paid for what he does. The Mormon church is proud of the fact that their “bishops” are not paid.

Even though Paul did not always take a salary from his ministry, Paul uses the examples of the priests to say that it’s okay to pay your pastor:

(1 Cor 9:13-14 NKJV) Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? {14} Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.

7:11-21 More on Peace Offerings

:11 'This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings which he shall offer to the LORD:

:12 'If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer, with the sacrifice of thanksgiving, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, or cakes of blended flour mixed with oil.

The peace offering was that sacrifice that ended with a big family meal. It was like having dinner with God.

There could be different reasons for a peace offering. One reason was thanksgiving.

Lesson:

Thankfulness enriches relationship.

Thanksgiving enriches your relationship with God.

When the the reason for having a meal with God was because you were thankful, then being thankful was a blessing to everyone. You, your family, and God all got to be part of a great meal.

In contrast, complaining destroys your relationship with God.

Have you ever been around someone who complains constantly?

While on a road trip, an elderly couple stopped at a roadside restaurant for lunch. After finishing their meal, they left the restaurant and resumed their trip. When leaving, the elderly woman unknowingly left her glasses on the table and she didn’t miss them until they had been driving about twenty minutes. By then, to add to the aggravation, they had to travel quite a distance before they could find a place to turn around in order to return to the restaurant to retrieve her glasses. All the way back, the elderly husband became the classic grouchy old man. He fussed and complained and scolded his wife relentlessly during the entire return drive. The more he chided her the more agitated he became. He just wouldn’t let up one minute. To her relief, they finally arrived at the restaurant. As the woman got out of the car and hurried inside to retrieve her glasses, the old geezer yelled to her, “While you’re in there, you might as well get my hat and credit card.”

We have a choice in our circumstances, thanksgiving or complaining.

Compare two difficult circumstances.

1. Israel facing the giants. They were in the wilderness, and faced with the fact that they were going to have some big battles up ahead. They were challenged to trust in God. What did they do? They complained. Look at God’s response:

(Num 14:27 NKJV) "How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me.

2. Jehoshaphat and his enemies. He faced the armies of Edom, Moab, and Ammon. God spoke up and promised to deliver them. When they responded with thanksgiving, look at God’s response.

(2 Chr 20:21-22 NASB) And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang to the LORD and those who praised Him in holy attire, as they went out before the army and said, "Give thanks to the LORD, for His lovingkindness is everlasting." {22} And when they began singing and praising, the LORD set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were routed.

God enjoys it when we learn to trust Him and we learn to say “thanks” every once in a while.

We don’t need to necessarily give thanks for our bad circumstances, but we can give thanks to a God who promises to help us.

You’ll even see this with your human relationships as well.

If you are always grumbling and complaining, you’re not going to be a person that others want to be around.

But if you’re a person who expresses thankfulness and appreciation towards others, you’ll have some people who’ll appreciate you back.

:13 'Besides the cakes, as his offering he shall offer leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offering.

:14 'And from it he shall offer one cake from each offering as a heave offering to the LORD. It shall belong to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offering.

:14 heave offering – A portion of the meat is waved in the air, symbolically giving it to the Lord, but then kept, as if God has given it back to the priest to use.

:15 'The flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day it is offered. He shall not leave any of it until morning.

:15 not leave any of it

With thanksgiving offerings, there were no leftovers.

You had to eat it all that day.

Lesson:

Old thanks is no good.

Illustration

It’s like the man whose wife says to him, “Honey, do you love me?” And he responds, “Hey, I told you I loved you twenty years ago that I love you, I’ll let you know if anything changes”.

Not good.

A thankful heart isn’t something that carries over from one day to the next.

(1 Th 5:16-18 NKJV) Rejoice always, {17} pray without ceasing, {18} in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

You can’t fulfill this verse by saying, “Well, I was thankful once last year, isn’t that enough?”

Cultivate a thankful heart. Thanksgiving needs to be a daily, renewed effort.

:16 'But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offers his sacrifice; but on the next day the remainder of it also may be eaten;

We get a couple more reasons to have a peace offering. You might give a peace offering when you fulfill a vow, or as a “voluntary offering”, just because you want to.

:17 'the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day must be burned with fire.

:17 third day – For these types of peace offerings, you were allowed to eat leftovers for a couple of days, but on the third day, you had to burn the rest.

It’s possible that after the third day, the food would be too corrupt, too spoiled to be any good.

This could be for health reasons.

It’s possible that this also is a picture of the resurrection, that Jesus wasn’t left in the grave three days to be corrupted, but rose from the dead.

Perhaps it shows us that there’s a limit to the “good old days”.

Perhaps you achieved some great thing as a vow to the Lord.

It’s okay to celebrate about it.

But don’t spend too much time living off of the past.

:18 'And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, nor shall it be imputed to him; it shall be an abomination to him who offers it, and the person who eats of it shall bear guilt.

If you ate any of the food on the third day, then you lost the benefits of the sacrifice with God.

7:19-21 Unclean warnings

:19 'The flesh that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten. It shall be burned with fire. And as for the clean flesh, all who are clean may eat of it.

:20 'But the person who eats the flesh of the sacrifice of the peace offering that belongs to the LORD, while he is unclean, that person shall be cut off from his people.

:21 'Moreover the person who touches any unclean thing, such as human uncleanness, an unclean animal, or any abominable unclean thing, and who eats the flesh of the sacrifice of the peace offering that belongs to the LORD, that person shall be cut off from his people.'"

:21 unclean – tame’ – unclean, impure.

There are different kinds of impurity: sexual, food, idolatry, ceremony, sanitation

We’ll see that there is not only an issue of right and wrong, but there is an issue of clean versus unclean.

We’ll get more on this in a couple of weeks.

7:22-27 No fat, no blood

:22 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

:23 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'You shall not eat any fat, of ox or sheep or goat.

:24 'And the fat of an animal that dies naturally, and the fat of what is torn by wild beasts, may be used in any other way; but you shall by no means eat it.

You could use fat for things other than eating. For example, you can make soap on a rope from animal fat.

:25 'For whoever eats the fat of the animal of which men offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, the person who eats it shall be cut off from his people.

:26 'Moreover you shall not eat any blood in any of your dwellings, whether of bird or beast.

:27 'Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people.'"

fat & blood – We’ve already seen that God did not want His people eating fat or blood.

Fat belonged to God. It was “His” food.

Blood was supposed to be a special symbol, the life of the animal, the thing that pays for sin.

(Lev 17:11 NKJV) 'For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.'

:27 cut off –

Some suggest that this meant you were put to death.

It probably meant you were cut off from the people, you were removed from the fellowship of the nation. You first see this principle when Abraham is first circumcised.

(Gen 17:14 NKJV) "And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."

Things like “uncleanness” and not paying attention to God’s ways lead to a break in your fellowship with God and with others.

7:28-38 Priestly portions

God then reiterates just what parts of the sacrifices belong to the priests, namely the breast and the right thigh of the offerings.

:34 'For the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering I have taken from the children of Israel, from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and I have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons from the children of Israel by a statute forever.'"

:34 given them to Aaron

Lesson

Contentment

God gave a generous portion of the offerings to the priests.

Not everyone was happy with their portion.

(1 Sam 2:12-17 NKJV) Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the LORD. {13} And the priests' custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged fleshhook in his hand while the meat was boiling. {14} Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; and the priest would take for himself all that the fleshhook brought up. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. {15} Also, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who sacrificed, "Give meat for roasting to the priest, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw." {16} And if the man said to him, "They should really burn the fat first; then you may take as much as your heart desires," he would then answer him, "No, but you must give it now; and if not, I will take it by force." {17} Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.

Problems come when we start wanting more than God has provided for us.

In the end, others didn’t like going to church because of the greed of Eli’s sons.

Paul wrote,

(Phil 4:11-13 NKJV) Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: {12} I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. {13} I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

God help us to be content with what we have.

:37 This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the consecrations, and the sacrifice of the peace offering,

:38 which the LORD commanded Moses on Mount Sinai, on the day when He commanded the children of Israel to offer their offerings to the LORD in the Wilderness of Sinai.

Leviticus 8 – Ordaining the priests

8:1-5 Getting ready for consecration

:1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

:2 "Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, the anointing oil, a bull as the sin offering, two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread;

:3 "and gather all the congregation together at the door of the tabernacle of meeting."

The Israelites were freed from their slavery in Egypt. They had crossed the Red Sea and found themselves camped out at the base of Mount Sinai.

While at Sinai, Moses has been hearing all about who God was and how He was to be worshipped.

They’ve built the Tabernacle, they’ve learned the laws.

Now it’s time to actually worship God. They will start by “initiating” the priests into the priesthood.

:4 So Moses did as the LORD commanded him. And the congregation was gathered together at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

:5 And Moses said to the congregation, "This is what the LORD commanded to be done."

8:6-13 Clean, clothed, and smelling good

:6 Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water.

:7 And he put the tunic on him, girded him with the sash, clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him; and he girded him with the intricately woven band of the ephod, and with it tied the ephod on him.

:8 Then he put the breastplate on him, and he put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastplate.

:9 And he put the turban on his head. Also on the turban, on its front, he put the golden plate, the holy crown, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Show pictures of the priests’ uniforms.

The priests had special outfits they were to wear.

The colors were had a hint of heaven.

Some of the garments were used to discern God’s will, a priest hears from God and speaks for God.

8:9 crown –

It was a gold plate that was attached to the front of his turban, and it had the words “Holiness to the Lord” engraved on it.

Wouldn’t it be cool if we had a gold plate attached to our foreheads with the words “I am holy” on it?

Or how about, “Property of God, all others keep your hands off!”

Wouldn’t it be cool if people could tell from our lives that we belonged to God?

:10 Also Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them.

The anointing oil was a special mixture of olive oil and spices, like a perfume.

Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Everything is to be anointed, touched by the Spirit of God.

:11 He sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times, anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the laver and its base, to consecrate them.

:12 And he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him, to consecrate him.

The oil wasn’t just dabbed on his forehead like we tend to do when we anoint with oil. It was poured over Aaron.

(Psa 133:1-2 NKJV) Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity! {2} It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments.

When we learn to get along with each other, there’s something fragrant about it, there’s evidence that the Holy Spirit is at work.

I wonder if you could make a case that learning to get along with others is a prerequisite for being a priest.

:13 Then Moses brought Aaron's sons and put tunics on them, girded them with sashes, and put hats on them, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

The priestly garments were to be a reflection of holiness, they made a statement that these men were different, they were set apart for God’s use.

(Psa 29:2 NKJV) Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

8:14-17 Priestly sin offering

Moses performs a sin offering for Aaron and his sons

8:18-21 Priestly Burnt Offering

Moses performs a burnt offering for Aaron and his sons

8:22-29 Priestly Consecration

:22 And he brought the second ram, the ram of consecration. Then Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram,

8:22 consecration – millu’ – setting, installation

Hebrew word (millu) is used of putting precious stones into their settings. This is the process of putting the priests into their settings.

:23 and Moses killed it. Also he took some of its blood and put it on the tip of Aaron's right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

8:23 blood … ear Sounds messy.

Moses then does the same thing to Aaron’s sons, then goes on to offer this “consecration” offering.

:8:30-36 Anointing and Waiting

:30 Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood which was on the altar, and sprinkled it on Aaron, on his garments, on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him; and he consecrated Aaron, his garments, his sons, and the garments of his sons with him.

:31 And Moses said to Aaron and his sons, "Boil the flesh at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and eat it there with the bread that is in the basket of consecration offerings, as I commanded, saying, 'Aaron and his sons shall eat it.'

:32 "What remains of the flesh and of the bread you shall burn with fire.

:33 "And you shall not go outside the door of the tabernacle of meeting for seven days, until the days of your consecration are ended. For seven days he shall consecrate you.

:34 "As he has done this day, so the LORD has commanded to do, to make atonement for you.

:35 "Therefore you shall stay at the door of the tabernacle of meeting day and night for seven days, and keep the charge of the LORD, so that you may not die; for so I have been commanded."

Aaron and his sons were to camp out at the Tabernacle for seven days. They would have plenty to eat from this consecration offering. They were not to go anywhere. This was part of their ordination.

:36 So Aaron and his sons did all the things that the LORD had commanded by the hand of Moses.

How to be a priest

We might think priests are guys who wear funny clothes. Some of you might mistake me for a “priest”.

You know, things aren’t always what they seem.

Illustration

A kindergartner was practicing spelling with magnetic letters on the refrigerator: cat, dog, dad, and mom had been proudly displayed for all to see. One morning while getting ready for the day, he bounded into the room with his arms outstretched. In his hands were three magnetic letters: G-O-D. “Look what I spelled, Mom!” with a proud smile on his face. “That’s wonderful!” his mom praised him. “Now go put them on the fridge so Dad can see when he gets home tonight.” The mom happily thought that her son’s Christian education was certainly having an impact. Just then, a little voice called from the kitchen: “Mom? How do you spell ‘zilla’?”

In reality, the New Testament teaches that all believers function as priests.

(Rev 1:6 NKJV) and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father…

We call this “The Priesthood of All Believers”.

Here’s how to get ready for the priesthood:

1. Take a bath (8:6)

Moses washed Aaron and his sons.

One of the ways we take a bath is in God’s Word.

(Eph 5:26 NKJV) that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,

2. Get dressed (8:7)

They put on actual clothes that were to remind people of heaven.

They put on clothes that spoke of holiness.

Can people tell you where you are from by how you are dressed?

Sometimes clothes are a symbol of the lives we live.

Can people tell where you are from by how you act?

3. Anointing (8:12)

This is the work of the Holy Spirit.

I love the fact that the anointing oil smelled good. Like a perfume.

Jesus told His disciple that He didn’t want them going anywhere until they were filled with the Spirit.

4. Forgiveness (8:14)

You can’t help anybody unless you’ve been saved, unless your sins have been covered in the blood.

One of the greatest things we have to offer to people is forgiveness. But to be an effective priest, you need to first be forgiven.

(1 John 1:9 NKJV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Even when you’ve stumbled and sin, you get a chance to again experience God’s forgiveness.

5. Complete dedication (8:18)

The burnt offering is a picture of you being consumed and completely given to God.

(Rom 12:1 NKJV) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

6. Get messy (8:23)

The blood from the consecration sacrifice was on your ear, thumb, and toe.

Just saying you are given to God isn’t enough – it’s got to be displayed by how it affects your mind (ear), what you do (thumb), and where you go (toe).

7. Wait (8:33)

The priests were to wait seven days at the Tabernacle. They weren’t supposed to go anywhere.

There’s a sense that a priest is someone who has come from God’s presence, from His Tabernacle.

Wait for God’s direction. Don’t rush things.

Represent God well. We ought to always be coming from God’s presence.

You don’t have to learn these lessons in ministry. You can minister to people without dealing with your sins, or without becoming consecrated to God.

But then you can’t really expect God to be much of a part of your ministry either. You may end up like Eli’s sons, causing people to despise the things of God instead of being made right with God.

Introduction

Leviticus is an instruction manual for the Levite priests.

The main theme is “Holiness”

(Lev 19:2 NKJV) "Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: 'You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.

We’ve already seen some instructions concerning some of the various sacrifices:

The Burnt offering – a picture of total consecration.

The Grain offering – giving to God from my substance.

The Peace offering – having fellowship with God and your family

The Sin offering – to pay for different types of unintentional sins.

Last week we saw little bits and pieces of extra laws for each of the sacrifices. We now continue with a few last details …

Leviticus 7

7:1-7 More on the Trespass (Guilt) Offering

:1 'Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering (it is most holy):

:2 'In the place where they kill the burnt offering they shall kill the trespass offering. And its blood he shall sprinkle all around on the altar.

7:2 the place – at the Tabernacle, on the north side of the altar (Lev. 1:11)

7:2 altar – the bronze altar out in the courtyard

:3 'And he shall offer from it all its fat. The fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails,

:4 'the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove;

:4 the fat – God’s portion was the fat from the animal. Fat was considered the best part.

:5 'and the priest shall burn them on the altar as an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a trespass offering.

:6 'Every male among the priests may eat it. It shall be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy.

:7 'The trespass offering is like the sin offering; there is one law for them both: the priest who makes atonement with it shall have it.

The priest who presented the offering got to keep a portion of it.

I wonder if the priests ever hoped that people would be really sinful so that their income would be greater?

7:8-10 More Priestly Portions

:8 'And the priest who offers anyone's burnt offering, that priest shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering which he has offered.

:8 the skin – Part of the payment for the priest was the skin of the burnt offering.

:9 'Also every grain offering that is baked in the oven and all that is prepared in the covered pan, or in a pan, shall be the priest's who offers it.

:9 grain – If the grain offering was cooked (like pancakes), then the priest that presented it got to keep it.

:10 'Every grain offering, whether mixed with oil, or dry, shall belong to all the sons of Aaron, to one as much as the other.

If the grain offering was uncooked, then all the priests got to have a share.

Some churches make a big deal about whether or not a pastor should be paid for what he does. The Mormon church is proud of the fact that their “bishops” are not paid.

Even though Paul did not always take a salary from his ministry, Paul uses the examples of the priests to say that it’s okay to pay your pastor:

(1 Cor 9:13-14 NKJV) Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? {14} Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.

7:11-21 More on Peace Offerings

:11 'This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings which he shall offer to the LORD:

:12 'If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer, with the sacrifice of thanksgiving, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, or cakes of blended flour mixed with oil.

The peace offering was that sacrifice that ended with a big family meal. It was like having dinner with God.

There could be different reasons for a peace offering. One reason was thanksgiving.

Lesson:

Thankfulness enriches relationship.

Thanksgiving enriches your relationship with God.

When the the reason for having a meal with God was because you were thankful, then being thankful was a blessing to everyone. You, your family, and God all got to be part of a great meal.

In contrast, complaining destroys your relationship with God.

Have you ever been around someone who complains constantly?

We have a choice in our circumstances, thanksgiving or complaining.

Compare two difficult circumstances.

1. Israel facing the giants. They were in the wilderness, and faced with the fact that they were going to have some big battles up ahead. They were challenged to trust in God. What did they do? They complained. Look at God’s response:

2. Jehoshaphat and his enemies. He faced the armies of Edom, Moab, and Ammon. God spoke up and promised to deliver them. When they responded with thanksgiving, look at God’s response.

God enjoys it when we learn to trust Him and we learn to say “thanks” every once in a while.

We don’t need to necessarily give thanks for our bad circumstances, but we can give thanks to a God who promises to help us.

You’ll even see this with your human relationships as well.

If you are always grumbling and complaining, you’re not going to be a person that others want to be around.

But if you’re a person who expresses thankfulness and appreciation towards others, you’ll have some people who’ll appreciate you back.

:13 'Besides the cakes, as his offering he shall offer leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offering.

It’s interesting to see “leavened bread” being used.

:14 'And from it he shall offer one cake from each offering as a heave offering to the LORD. It shall belong to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offering.

:14 heave offering – A portion of the meat is waved in the air, symbolically giving it to the Lord, but then kept, as if God has given it back to the priest to use.

:15 'The flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day it is offered. He shall not leave any of it until morning.

:15 not leave any of it

With thanksgiving offerings, there were no leftovers.

You had to eat it all that day.

Lesson:

Old thanks is no good.

Illustration

It’s like the man whose wife says to him, “Honey, do you love me?” And he responds, “Hey, I told you I loved you twenty years ago that I love you, I’ll let you know if anything changes”.

A thankful heart isn’t something that carries over from one day to the next.

(1 Th 5:16-18 NKJV) Rejoice always, {17} pray without ceasing, {18} in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

You can’t fulfill this verse by saying, “Well, I was thankful once last year, isn’t that enough?”

Cultivate a thankful heart. Thanksgiving needs to be a daily, renewed effort.

:16 'But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offers his sacrifice; but on the next day the remainder of it also may be eaten;

We get a couple more reasons to have a peace offering. You might give a peace offering when you fulfill a vow, or as a “voluntary offering”, just because you want to.

:17 'the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day must be burned with fire.

:17 third day – For these types of peace offerings, you were allowed to eat leftovers for a couple of days, but on the third day, you had to burn the rest.

It’s possible that after the third day, the food would be too corrupt, too spoiled to be any good.

This could be for health reasons.

It’s possible that this also is a picture of the resurrection, that Jesus wasn’t left in the grave three days to be corrupted, but rose from the dead.

Perhaps it shows us that there’s a limit to the “good old days”.

Perhaps you achieved some great thing as a vow to the Lord.

It’s okay to celebrate about it.