v. 2 Where should your offering come from? Why?
v. 4 What does the burnt offering do for the person?
v. 9 How does God look at this?
Leviticus 2:
v. 1 What is the offering to be of?
v. 3 What does this provide and for whom?
Leviticus 3:
What are the people searching for in the offerings of this chapter?
Lev. 3-What are the people searching for in the offerings of this chapter?
ReplyDeleteThis chapter deals with "peace" or "fellowship" offerings (the translations seem pretty evenly divided as to which word they use). Matthew Henry points out that unlike the offerings in chapter 1, only part of the animal (the fat, the kidneys, and "the covering of the liver") is to be burnt. The rest, he says, is to be eaten by the priest and by the person who brought the offering. Peace and fellowship, he says, come through the sharing of the food.
The thing is, though, that the chapter specifies only the parts that should be burned; it doesn't address what should be done with the rest. Is Henry making a legitimate inference here?
The fat was seen as the best part of the animal, so I would say the point of the offering is finding peace with God for our sins. The rest could be eaten or could be burned up outside of the the camp, but you're right, the text doesn't tell us. I think he's jumping ahead (where we do see things given to the Levites for serving God and not raising their own food). This is one of the few times I would not agree with Henry.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting, Andy. I'd looked at the fat, liver, and kidneys as the parts the people wouldn't want to eat, which is why they'd be the parts to be burned. That reading opens the door to what Henry says, although I'm with you in thinking he's reading too much into it. Such a reading also, though, doesn't line up with the idea of giving God the best bits of everything, so I like your take better. Thanks!
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