CHAPTER 3

(1490 B.C.)

PEACE OFFERINGS

¹And if his oblation (a sacrificial present or gift) 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. (The Burnt Offering pictured Christ dying; the Meat Offering, Christ living. The Peace Offering presents Him as making peace by the Blood of His Cross, and so establishing for man communion with God. In both the Peace Offering and the Trespass Offering, we learn of the presence of the Sin Nature in the heart and life of the Believer. But we find out, even more fully in the Peace Offering, that even though the Sin Nature dwells in us, it is not to rule in us [Rom. 6:12].)

²And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his Offering (this portrays the beautiful doctrine of Substitution and Identification; the animal became the substitute in the sinners place, and by the laying of his hand or hands on the head of his Offering, he identified with that substitute; that, in effect, is the heart of the Gospel; Christ became our Substitute, and we identify with Him in all He did, but, more particularly, what He did for us at the Cross), and kill it at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation (the person who brought the Sacrifice had to personally kill it): and Aarons sons the Priests shall sprinkle the blood upon the Altar round about. (The sinner trusted in what the Sacrifice represented, and its blood was sprinkled on the Altar round about; for fellowship is encircled by Atonement, and only exists within it. Thus, God and the worshipper were brought into fellowship. Peace was established. Its eternal and unshakeable foundation was not the worthfulness of the worshipper, but the preciousness of the sprinkled blood.)

³And he shall offer of the Sacrifice of the Peace Offering an Offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fat that covers the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards (the fat and the blood symbolized the priceless life and the precious inward affections of the Lamb of God),

⁴And 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.

⁵And Aarons 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.

⁶And 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 (the male or female of the animals being allowed stipulates that all, both man and woman, can have fellowship and peace with God).

⁷If he offer a lamb for his Offering, then shall he offer it before the LORD (whether the poor mans lamb or goat were offered, or the rich mans heifer, all were precious in Gods sight, and received the same ceremony).

⁸And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his Offering, and kill it before the Tabernacle of the congregation: and Aarons sons shall sprinkle the blood thereof round about upon the Altar.

⁹And 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 covers the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards (the fire does not represent Hell, as some teach; it represents the Judgment of God poured out upon Christ instead of us, and speaks of the death that Christ would die; His Death totally and completely finished the work of Redemption [Lk. 23:46; Jn. 19:30; Mat. 27:50-51]),

¹⁰And 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.

¹¹And the Priest shall burn it upon the Altar: it is the food of the Offering made by fire unto the LORD (all of this specifies that God gave His Best, as it regards the giving of His Only Son).

¹²And if his Offering be a goat, then he shall offer it before the LORD.

¹³And 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.

¹⁴And he shall offer thereof his Offering, even an Offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fat that covers the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,

¹⁵And 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.

¹⁶And 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 LORDs.

¹⁷It shall be a perpetual Statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that you eat neither fat nor blood. (As the fat represented the prosperity of Christ given to us, likewise, the blood represented His Life freely given for us. The Peace Offering represented the blessedness and joyousness of communion between God and man. Like the Passover, the Peace Offering at once commemorated a historical event, and prefigured a blessing to come. The Passover, for instance, always looked backwards to the deliverance from Egypt, but yet forward to Christ our Passover sacrificed for us [I Cor. 5:7]. In like manner, the Peace Offering commemorated the making of the Covenant, and prefigured the blessed state of communion to be brought about by the Sacrifice of the Cross.)