Leviticus 3

Leviticus 3:1-17

Leviticus 3:1-17 Third. The Peace Offering (Leviticus 3:1-17) This is the most joyful of all the offerings. It speaks of communion with God. It is an offering not for peace, but because of peace. The female of the flock could be offered as a sacrifice because the effect of the atonement, rather than the act of atonement itself, is set forth. It follows the Burnt Offering because the Burnt Offering is its ground (cf. Romans 5:1).

It was a joint feast, a sacrificial meal, in which God, the priests, and the offerer partook. Because of the Burnt Offering God, Christ, and the believer rejoice together in fellowship in the Peace Offering (cf. 1 John 1:3). We have peace with God which is the peace of relationship (Romans 5:1). We have the peace of God which is the peace of security (Philippians 4:7; Isaiah 26:3). We have peace from God which is the peace of satisfaction flowing into the heart (1 Corinthians 1:3). All this peace is through Christ who Himself is our peace (cf.

Ephesians 2:14). It is to be noted that only those who were clean could participate in this offering (Leviticus 7:20-21). So only those who have been cleansed from sin can have real peace. There can be no communion if one is living in known sin (1 John 1:6-7). Of course, if any Israelite had sinned and thereby become unclean, he could come, and, by confession of his sin, be cleansed, and thus enter into fellowship with God again (Leviticus 22:10-25). Thus such uncleanness did not prove that one was not an Israelite, but only that it hindered fellowship.

No foreigner or stranger had this privilege. The Peace Offering looked backward and forward-backward to the Burnt Offering, forward to a communion. Thus it reminds us of the Lord’ s Supper. It follows the Burnt Offering and Meal Offering, for only on the ground for which these offerings stand could peace really ensue.