“If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offers an animal from the herd, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord. And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and kill it at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall throw the blood against the sides of the altar. And from the sacrifice of the peace offering, as a food offering to the Lord, he shall offer the fat covering the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys. Then Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar on top of the burnt offering, which is on the wood on the fire; it is a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.” (v1-5)
This “peace” offering, also called the “fellowship”, “praise” or “thanksgiving” offering, was to be given after the burnt (sin) offering, and could be made in conjunction with the grain offering.
The idea was that after any sin was atoned for, the grain and peace offerings were meant to be shared. All of the fat, entrails, kidneys, liver, etc. were to be God’s portion and burned on top of the sin offering. The rest was divided up for the priests and the family offering the peace sacrifice.
The “peace” name for this offering probably celebrates the fact the person/family is reconciled to God after making the sin offering, and they may even be celebrating reconciliation with another person (if they had sinned against someone else). This offering is also referred to as “fellowship”, since it was shared like a meal (possibly even with someone against whom they sinned). The “praise” and “thankfulness” descriptors of this offering are multi-fold: one would be thankful their sins were forgiven with the burnt offering, one would be thankful for restored relationship with God and others, and also one would be grateful for having two (or more) animals so they could be fed and share with others.
My take on this is what better way to celebrate reconciliation/peace before God and my neighbor than by sharing a meal together? Picture this hypothetical scenario: I get into a squabble with my life group about what book of the Bible we should study next – they all want to study Genesis but I insist on Leviticus, and we all leave the meeting angry/frustrated. The next week I call them up, apologize for my stubbornness, and invite them all over for supper so we can begin our study of Genesis. I kill two cows, one to atone for my sin, and the other to share with my brothers and sisters.
Now, sin and peace offerings are no longer offered on an altar – in fact sin offerings are no longer necessary at all after Jesus became the final sin offering. That being said, the peace / fellowship / praise / thanksgiving offering can still be made today without the necessity of an altar (though doesn’t everyone love BBQ? Okay, I’m half joking).
My takeaway from this is if you or I have someone in our life to whom we need to be reconciled, we should apologize and invite them over for a peace/fellowship meal – nothing shows more sincerity than cooking someone dinner after a heartfelt apology.
These verses sum it up well for me: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” (Eph 2:13-14,16) Christ reconciled us to God, and reconciled us to one another through His sacrifice in destroy the walls of enmity and sin – He did the hard part and the rest is in our hands.
Father God, thank you so much for the institution of offerings. These commands, often overlooked as no longer relevant, are surprisingly still relevant today. Thank you for the forgiveness of sin on the cross. Thank you that through Your sin sacrifice we can be freely reconciled to You, and to our neighbor. Thank you in advance for the prompting in our hearts to reconcile with our neighbors (especially if they are a brother/sister in Christ). Thank you for the generosity of Your provision of food to share with them, and for the stronger relationships we can trust will follow. May You guide our words and actions as we seek to be at peace with our neighbors. Thank you Father. Amen.
~ Conqueror in Training