Outline
The peace-offering of the herd. (Verse 1-5.)
The peace-offering of the flock. (Verse 6-17.)
1 And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offer it of the herd; whether it be a male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the LORD.
2 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.
3 And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,
4 And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away.
5 And Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is upon the wood that is on the fire: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.
The first thing that you should notice about the peace offering that differs from the others is that it can be either a male or a female from the herd.
It was first mentioned in Exodus 20:24 just after giving Israel the 10 Commandments. God tells Israel to make an altar of stones that are not cut but natural and offer all their burnt offerings and their peace offerings on that altar.
After that it mentioned that the person doing the offering was to lay his hand upon the head of his offering as one would do in the previous offerings requiring an animal and it was at that time that the person offering the offering would confess their sins unto the LORD.
Have you notice where the killing of the sacrifices always take place at yet? It is always at the door of the tabernacle. Why?
Because the tabernacle is the house where God’s presence was and in order for sinful man to fellowship (tabernacle) with God a covering for their sin had to be made and it could only be made by God himself in the person of his Son who shed his blood for all mankind.
6 And if his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering unto the LORD be of the flock; male or female, he shall offer it without blemish.
7 If he offer a lamb for his offering, then shall he offer it before the LORD.
8 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle the blood thereof round about upon the altar.
9 And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fat thereof, and the whole rump, it shall he take off hard by the backbone; and the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,
10 And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away.
11 And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Again, we will focus on another part of the offerings that we have not as of yet and it is the sprinkling of blood round about upon the altar. Why was this done? First of all, it had to be done by the priests not the person bringing the offering.
Aaron and his sons had to have blood sprinkled upon them to make them holy for the service they were about to perform, and the altar also had to be made ready or holy for the offering by having the blood of the offering sprinkled upon it.
Moses also sprinkled the book and all the people after they had received the Law and had promised to keep it in Exodus 24:6-8.
Who was it that offered up Christ to be crucified when Pilate tried numerous times to release him? The Priests. See John 19:6 and 15 What did Christ do with his blood that he shed when he ascended into heaven? He sprinkled it on the real mercy seat in heaven as mentioned in Hebrews chapter 9.
12 And if his offering be a goat, then he shall offer it before the LORD.
13 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of it, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation: and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle the blood thereof upon the altar round about.
14 And he shall offer thereof his offering, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,
15 And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away.
[caul – organ membrane, Gall Bladder, or hair-net]
16 And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savour: all the fat is the LORD’S.
17 It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.
Now we draw your attention to the latter part of the offerings that we have skipped over until now. It is the part about the fat of the offering.
Notice it is the LORD’s and the LORD also orders all Israelites for every generation not to eat the blood (because the life is in the blood), but they were also told not to eat the fat either forever. Why?
First of all, if you have eaten fat and I am sure that most of you if not all have you know that the fat is where most of the flavor is because it contains more water naturally than does the flesh of the meat.
That would mean it would contain more of the infirmities (diseases) of the animal than the meat would.
God knew this before he ever created animals and he gave Israel a diet that was not Low-Fat but No-Fat and that was void of any blood which would make Israel not susceptible to many of the diseases of their neighbors.
The rest of the diet he gave Israel also served to give them a cleaner lifestyle than that of her neighbors. This may explain why there are very few obese Jewish people today who adhere to a kosher diet.
We are not under these restrictions today in the body of Christ but there are a lot of things we could learn from the Jewish diet that would make us healthier.
Commentary by Matthew Henry, 1710.
Verse 1-5 – The peace-offerings had regard to God as the giver of all good things. These were divided between the altar, the priest, and the owner. They were called peace-offering, because in them God and his people did, as it were, feast together, in token of friendship. The peace-offerings were offered by way of supplication. If a man were in pursuit of any mercy, he would add a peace-offering to his prayer for it. Christ is our Peace, our Peace-offering; for through him alone it is that we can obtain an answer of peace to our prayers. Or, the peace-offering was offered by way of thanksgiving for some mercy received. We must offer to God the sacrifice of praise continually, by Christ our Peace; and then this shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock.
Verse 6-17 – Here is a law that they should eat neither fat nor blood. As for the fat, it means the fat of the inwards, the suet. The blood was forbidden for the same reason; because it was God’s part of every sacrifice. God would not permit the blood that made atonement to be used as a common thing, Hebrews 10:29. nor will he allow us, though we have the comfort of the atonement made, to claim for ourselves any share in the honour of making it. This taught the Jews to observe distinction between common and sacred things; it kept them separate from idolaters. It would impress them more deeply with the belief of some important mystery in the shedding of the blood and the burning the fat of their solemn sacrifices. Christ, as the Prince of peace, “made peace with the blood of his cross.” Through him the believer is reconciled to God; and having the peace of God in his heart, he is disposed to follow peace with all men. May the Lord multiply grace, mercy, and peace, to all who desire to bear the Christian character.