Leviticus 7

Leviticus 7:1-10

8. & 9. 11. Kath. 10. 11. 2. Eust. rule 37. Num. 1. vii. 9. Eust. vii. 9. Or, on a fracture of list. 1. Ver. 8. Eust. rule 12. AND when any will offer a meat-offering unto the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon. 2. And he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests; and he shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet favour unto the LORD. 3. And the remnant of the meat-offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire. 4. ¶ And if thou bring an oblation of a meat-offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers ‘anointed with oil. 5. ¶ And if thy oblation be a meat-offering baken in a pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil. 6. Thou shalt part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon: it is a meat-offering. 7. ¶ And if thy oblation be a meat-offering baken in the frying-pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. 8. And thou shalt bring the meat-offering, that is made of these things, unto the LORD: and when it is preferred unto the priest, he shall bring it unto the altar. 9. And the priest shall take from the meat-offering a memorial thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet favour unto the LORD. 10. And that which is left of the meat-offering, shall be Aaron’s and his sons: it is a thing most holy, of the offerings of the LORD made by fire. As we are indebted to God for every bit of bread we put in our mouths, it is but reasonable and just we should acknowledge his kind provision for us, by offering a part to his service. Though we have no longer the earthly fastenancy, we have the poor always with us; and when we break our bread in the hungry, God will accept the offering as done unto himself. The ingredients of the meat-offering must be fine flour and oil, if dressed; if underfled, frankincense was to be added. It was brought to the priests, and part burnt on the altar, as a sweet favour to the Lord; the rest belonged to Aaron and his sons. Note, (1.) The least acknowledgment which flows from a grateful heart is acceptable to God. (2.) It is highly reasonable, that they who minister in holy things, should live by the altars they serve; but it is now the just grief of the people, to be obliged to pay the indebted and unpleased who feldom or never minister unto them; and the great sin of the priests, to devour the meat for which they have never laboured. Podest has oppressa. 11. No meat-offerings, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the LORD made by fire. 12. ¶ As for the oblation of the firstfruits, ye shall offer them unto the LORD: but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet favour. 13. And every oblation of the meat-offering shall thou beson with salt; neither shall thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meatoffering; with all those offerings thou shalt offer salt. 14. And if thou offer a meat-offering of thy first-fruits unto the LORD, thou shalt offer for the meat-offering of thy first-fruits, green ears of corn dried by the fire, corn beaten out of full ears. 15. And thou shalt put oil upon it, and lay frankincense thereon: it is a meat-offering. 16. And the priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the beaten corn thereof, and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

Here is, 1. The law of the trespass-offering, ver. 1—7, with some ver. 35—38. 1. Likewise this is the law of the trespass-offering: ‘it is most holy. 2. ‘In the place where they kill the burnt-offering, shall they kill the trespass-offering: and the blood thereof shall be sprinkle round about upon the altar. 3. And he shall offer of it, ‘all the fat thereof; the rump, and the fat that covered the inwards, 4. And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul that is above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall be take away. 5. And the pricels shall burn them upon the altar, for an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a trespass-offering. 6. ‘Every male among the pricels shall eat thereof: it shall be eaten in the holy place: ‘it is most holy. 7. As the sin-offering is, ’to is the trespass-offering: there is one law for them: the pricels that maketh atonement therewith, shall have it. 8. And the pricels that offereth any man’s burntoffering, even the pricels shall have to himself the skin of the burnt-offering which he hath offered. 9. And ‘all the meat-offering that is baked in the oven, and all that is dressed in the frying-pan, and in the pan, shall be the pricels that offereth it. 10. And every meat-offering mingled with oil, and dry, shall all the sons of Aaron have, one as much as another. The trespass-offering was disposed of as the sinoffering. It was the pricels who offered it, as was also the hide of the burnt-offering, and the meat-offering which was dressed, but the unglazed meat-offerings were divided among all the pricels in waiting. Note, (1.) They who labour must in the service of God, deserve to be best paid. (2.) They who serve at the same altar, should be careful to communicate one to another of their good things: a covetous pricel is a monster in the sanctuary! 11. And this is the law of the sacrifice of peaceofferings, which he shall offer unto the LORD. 12. If the offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers ‘anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour fried. 13. Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering leavened bread, with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace-offerings. 14. And if it he shall offer one out of the whole oblation, for an heave-offering unto the LORD, and it shall be the pricels that sprinkleth the blood of the peaceofferings. 15. And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peaceofferings for thanksgiving, shall be eaten the same day that it is offered: he shall not leave any of it until the morning. 16. But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow, or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offereth his sacrifice: and on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be eaten. 17. But the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day, shall be burnt with fire. 18. And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace-offerings be eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it: it shall be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it, shall bear his iniquity. 19. And the flesh that toucheth any unclean thing, shall not be eaten, it shall be burnt with fire: and as for the flesh, all that be clean shall eat thereof. 20. But the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offerings, that pertain unto the LORD, ‘having his uncleanness upon him, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. 21. Moreover, the soul that shall touch any unclean thing, as the uncleanness of man, or any unclean beast, or any abominable unclean thing, and cat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offerings, which pertain unto the LORD, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.

Leviticus 7:11-21

1. Honey and leaven are forbidden in all their offerings on the altar, and salt commanded always to be sprinkled on them. Note, (1.) They who fever God, must purge out the old leaves of malice and wickedness, and bring the unleavened bread of thornery and truth. (2.) Unless the salt of divine grace be in our offerings, all we can bring of our own will be unfavoy. (3.) Salt, being the symbol of friendship, imimates, that we should in all our offerings exercise faith in God, as our reconciled friend. 2. The first-fruits were for the priests maintenance, and with them leaven and honey might be offered: but if a man made a free-will offering of first-fruits, besides those mentioned Deut. xxvi. 2, then these were to be treated as the other meatoffering with oil and frankincense. If the corn offered was from green ears, they must be the fairest in the field, dried and threshed out; to intimate, 1. That our green ears of infancy and youth should be devoted to God, and that God accepts with delight such offerings. 2. In youth the fire of zeal, and fervency in religious duties, is becoming, and, in one sense, natural. 3. The blood of Jesus is the sweet frankincense to which we are indebted for every acceptable service.

Farther directions about peace-offerings. They were offered on occasion of some particular deliverance, or as a vow, or to supplicate some mercy. With them, leavened bread was offered, as well as the unleavened meat-offering: they must be eaten the same day they were offered, if a thanksgiving, and at farthest the next, if a vow: if ought remained, it must be burnt. When the offering of God’s part on the altar was made, the rest was permitted to be eaten at home by the pricels, and offereth and their families, not having any ceremonial uncleanness; only if in removing it to their houses it touched any unclean thing, it must not be eaten, but burnt. Learn hence, (1.) Though we are left at liberty about our peace-offerings, the grateful heart needs no command, but is willing of its own accord. (2.) Let those who come to feast before God, examine themselves, lead, instead of a blessing, they eat and drink their own damnation. 22. ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 23. Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, ‘Ye shall not no manner of fat, of ox, or of there, or of goat. 24. And the fat of the beast that dieth of itself, and the fat of that which is torn with beasts, may be used in any other use: but ye shall in no wise eat of it. 25. For whosoever eateth the fat of the beast, of which men offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, even the soul that eateth it, shall be cut off from his people. 26. Moreover, ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl, or of beasts, in any of your dwellings. 27. Whatsoever soul is he that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. 28. ¶ And

And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, 29. Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, He that chereth the sacrifice of his peace-offerings unto the LORD, shall bring his oblation unto the LORD, of the sacrifice of his peace offerings. 30. ’ His own hands shall bring the offerings of the LORD made by fire, the fat with the bread; it shall be bring, that ’ the bread may be waved for a wave-offering before the LORD. 31. And the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar: but the bread shall be Aaron’s and his sons. 32. And the right shoulder shall ye give unto the priest for an heave-offering, of the sacrifices of your peace-offerings. 33. He among the sons of Aaron that offereth the blood of the peace-offerings, and the fat, shall have the right shoulder for his part. 34. For ’ the wave-bread and the heave-shoulder have I taken of the children of Israel, from off the sacrifices of their peace-offerings, and have given them unto Aaron the priest, and unto his sons, by a stature for ever, from among the children of Israel.

Leviticus 7:32-34

We have here,

1. The prohibition of fat and blood repeated. They must not eat the fat of any head that was offered in sacrifices, though of the other clean beasts they might eat the fat; but the blood of every creature is expressly forbidden. In reverence to God’s abov, they must abstain from the fat, but the atonement for the soul rendered the blood still more sacred.

2. The priest’s part in the sacrifice is described, and the manner of its being presented: the priest cut off the shoulder and neck from the head, and laid them with the fat, on the officer’s hands, and he brought them to the door of the tabernacle, and waved them in token of dedication to the Lord. The fat was the Lord’s, and burnt; the shoulder was the portion of the priest who sacrificed, and the bread belonged to the high-priest and his family. Note, (1.) They who honour God, will have a regard about the becoming maintenance of his ministers, and thine their model with them. (2.) The Lord’s supper is a feast upon a sacrifice, where blood is fixed, and a feast of mercies provided for ministers and people. Let us then together often keep the feast.

3. This is the portion of the anointing of Aaron, and of the anointing of his sons, out of the offerings of the LORD made by fire, in the day when he presented them to minister unto the LORD in the priest’s office: 36. Which the LORD commanded to be given them of the children of Israel, ’ in the day that he a-ointed them, by a stature for ever, throughout their generations. 37. This is the law of the burnt-offering, of the meat-offering, and of the fin-offering, and of the trespass-offering, and of the consecrations, and of the sacrifice of the peace-offerings: 38. Which the LORD commanded Moses in mount Sinai, in the day that he commanded the children of Israel to offer their oblations unto the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai.

Leviticus 7:35-38

It was a just provision thus to care for the sons of Aaron, and an unalterable law that Israel should offer their oblations. God’s worship and service are still our indispensable duty, and God’s ministers have a right to a worthy portion; which though they may be demanded of by the impiety of men, they shall not fail to find in God, who will remember them for good.