"The five basic sacrifices are . . . introduced twice, each sacrifice being treated both in the main section addressed to the people [1:1-6:7] and in the supplementary section addressed to the priests [6:8-7:38]."62
The main theme of this section is who may eat what parts of the offerings and where. Generally only the priests could eat the sacrifices, but the offerers could eat part of the peace offering. In this section frequency of offering determines the order of the material rather than theological significance (cf. chs. 1-5). The regular daily burnt and meal sacrifices come first, then the less frequent sin (purification) offering, then the occasional trespass (reparation) offering, and finally the optional peace (fellowship) offering.
Each morning a priest would put on his robes, approach the altar of burnt offerings, and clean out the ashes. Correct clothing was essential so that it would cover his "flesh"(i.e., his private parts, v. 10; cf. Exod. 20:26; 28:42-43).63He would then change his clothes and put on ordinary garments, collect the ashes, and take them outside the camp to a clean place where he would leave them. He could not wear his official robes outside the courtyard, but he had to wear them whenever he approached the brazen altar. Obviously Moses did not record in Leviticus all the details involved in sacrificing.
The main point in this legislation was that the fire on the altar of burnt offerings was never to go out when the Israelites were encamped (vv. 9, 12, 13). Since fire represented God's presence, this perpetual burning reminded the Israelites of the importance of maintaining close contact with God. Fire on this altar also reminded them of the continuing need for atonement to cover their ever recurring sins. The New Testament teaches Christians to maintain the same awareness (1 Thess. 5:19; Heb. 7:25).
"Although atonement for sin was provided in each of the blood offerings, atonement was not their basic purpose. Israel's initial relationship with God as His redeemed people had been established through the Passover sacrifice on the night of their deliverance from Egypt. The offerings presented at the Tabernacle were the means of maintaining that relationship between the Israelites and their God."64
God considered the meal, sin, and trespass offerings "most holy"(6:17, 25; 7:1, 6). This means that they were sacrifices that only the priests could eat.
The "layman who touched these most holy things became holy through the contact, so that henceforth he had to guard against defilement in the same manner as the sanctified priests (21:1-8), though without sharing the priestly rights and prerogatives. This necessarily placed him in a position which would involve many inconveniences in connection with ordinary life."65
These instructions about the meal offering underline the priests' rights. They could eat this offering but only in a holy place, such as the tabernacle courtyard. The priests enjoyed special privileges, but they also had to observe high standards of behavior. This is also true of Christians compared to non-Christians (cf. Luke 12:48; James 3:1; 1 Pet. 4:17).
The priest was to offer a daily meal offering every morning and evening for himself and the other priests. This was just one small offering half of which he offered with the morning burnt offering and half with the evening burnt offering. Unlike other meal offerings he burned it up completely on the altar; he was not to eat a sacrifice that he offered for himself. This sacrifice represented the constant worship of the priests as they served God day by day. This taught the Israelites that the priests were not just to serve God by serving His people, but they were also to worship Him themselves. It is easy to become so involved in serving and ministering to others that we stop worshipping God ourselves.
The priests slew the burnt, sin, and trespass offerings in the same place, before the altar of burnt offerings. Again the emphasis is on what the priests could and could not eat. They were not to confuse the holy and the common (profane; cf. v. 18).
Here we have more detail concerning the ritual involved in this offering than we read formerly (ch. 5). The procedures for slaughtering the trespass offering and sprinkling its blood were the same as for the burnt offering (1:5). The priests burned only the fatty parts on the altar (cf. 3:9; 4:8). They were to eat the flesh of this offering (cf. 6:22).
This is the only offering that ordinary Israelites could eat, but the priests also ate a part. This pericope clarifies who could eat what and when. For many Israelites eating the peace offering was probably the main, and perhaps the only, time they ate meat. Consequently this pericope also contains general regulations governing the consumption of meat (vv. 22-27).
"The thanksgiving . . . gift [v. 12] represented the donor's acknowledgement of God's mercies to him, while the votive . . . [v. 16] comprised an offering in fulfillment of a vow. The freewill . . . offering [v. 16] consisted of an act of homage and obedience to the Lord where no vow had been made, and with the other categories of well-being sacrifices lent substance to the conviction in Israel that God valued a tangible response to His blessings more than a mere verbal profession of gratitude, which might or might not be sincere."66
One writer summarized the lessons of 7:11-21 as follows.
"I. Believers are to celebrate their peace with God (11).
II. Those at peace with God should express material and public gratitude for divine assistance (12-15).
A. Gratitude demands a generous material response (12-13).
B. Gratitude must be directed to God (14).
C. Gratitude needs to be expressed in a group (15).
III. Those at peace with God may obligate themselves to undertake acts of tribute to God (16a).
IV. Those at peace with God want to perform free acts of homage in appreciation to God (16b-18).
V. Maintaining peace with God is to be taken very seriously (19-21)."67
The seriousness of eating while unclean is clear from the penalty imposed (vv. 20-21), which was direct divine judgment, usually death.68God also prescribed this penalty for anyone who ate the fat (God's portion, v. 25) or meat from which the blood had not been drained (v. 27; 1 Sam. 14:33). Blood represented life that was the medium of atonement for humankind (cf. 17:10-14).
There may have been a hygenic reason for God prohibiting the eating of animal fat too.
"Animal fats eaten consistently in significant amounts over a lengthy period of time can raise the cholesterol level already present in the blood and, especially in conjunction with hypertension, can result in such conditions as arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis, both of which cause circulatory accidents. Had the eating of animal fat and suet been permitted, such an imbalance of cholesterol might well have been precipitated among the Hebrews, since they were already ingesting such saturated fats as butter (i.e.curds) and cheese. But by restricting the intake of potentially damaging fats, the circulatory system would be enabled to maintain a reasonable blood-cholesterol level, and allow the factor known as high-density lipoprotein to protect the arteries and the heart against disease. Some modern cancer researchers also maintain that a diet high in saturated fats can lead to mammary gland and colon cancer in those who are constitutionally (i.e.genetically) predisposed."69
Jesus Christ terminated the Mosaic Law including its dietary restrictions by declaring all foods clean (Mark 7:19). He meant that from then on diet would have nothing to do with one's relationship with God, as it did under the Law. He did not mean that the potentially harmful results of eating certains foods would cease. Our relationship with God is unaffected by the foods we choose to eat as Christians. However, God's dietary guidelines for the Israelites help us identify foods that it may be wise for us to avoid for physical reasons. Some of the dietary restrictions of the Mosaic Law expressed God's concern for His people's physical welfare as well as for their spiritual welfare.
The wave offering (vv. 30-34) describes one way in which the priest and the offerer presented the offerings of consecration.
". . . the priest laid the object to be waved upon the hands of the offerer, and then placed his own hands underneath, and moved the hands of the offerer 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."70
"According to traditional Jewish exegesis contribution' (or heaving) was effected by a vertical, up-and-down action, whereas dedication' (waving) was done with a sideways action."71
This section closes with a summary. This is a common feature of Leviticus (cf. 11:46-47; 13:59; 14:54-57; 15:32-33).
"The sacrificial law, therefore, with the five species of sacrifices which it enjoins, embraces every aspect in which Israel was to manifest its true relation to the Lord its God. Whilst the sanctification of the whole man in self-surrender to the Lord was shadowed forth in the burnt-offerings, the fruits of the sanctification in the meat-offerings, and the blessedness of the possession and enjoyment of saving grace in the peace-offerings, the expiatory sacrifices furnished the means of removing the barrier which sins and trespasses had set up between the sinner and the holy God, and procured the forgiveness of sin and guilt, so that the sinner could attain once more to the unrestricted enjoyment of the covenant grace."72
"Jesus said that God must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. And it has become commonplace to contrast spirit and form as if they were incompatible in worship. The letter killeth but the Spirit giveth life' is a text that out of context (2 Cor. 3:6) can be used to justify slapdash leading of services and other Christian activities. Spontaneity and lack of preparation is equated with spirituality. Lev. 6-7 denies this: care and attention to detail are indispensable to the conduct of divine worship. God is more important, more distinguished, worthy of more respect than any man; therefore we should follow his injunctions to the letter, if we respect him."73
The New Testament later revealed that all the Israelite sacrifices and priesthood pointed to Jesus Christ's sacrifice and priesthood (Heb. 5-10). Worthy subjects of further study in connection with the five offerings are (1) how Jesus Christ fulfilled each one and (2) what we can learn about our worship of God from these offerings.74
