Consecration: Leviticus 7:8-38

Leviticus 7:8‑38  •  4 min. read  •  grade level: 9
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Leviticus 7:8-388And the priest that offereth any man's burnt offering, even the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering which he hath offered. 9And all the meat offering that is baken in the oven, and all that is dressed in the fryingpan, and in the pan, shall be the priest's that offereth it. 10And every meat offering, mingled with oil, and dry, shall all the sons of Aaron have, one as much as another. 11And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he shall offer unto the Lord. 12If he 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. 13Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings. 14And of it he shall offer one out of the whole oblation for an heave offering unto the Lord, and it shall be the priest's that sprinkleth the blood of the peace offerings. 15And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the morning. 16But 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: 17But the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt with fire. 18And 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. 19And 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. 20But 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. 21Moreover the soul that shall touch any unclean thing, as the uncleanness of man, or any unclean beast, or any abominable unclean thing, and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which pertain unto the Lord, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. 22And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 23Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat. 24And 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. 25For 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. 26Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings. 27Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. 28And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 29Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, He that offereth the sacrifice of his peace offerings unto the Lord shall bring his oblation unto the Lord of the sacrifice of his peace offerings. 30His own hands shall bring the offerings of the Lord made by fire, the fat with the breast, it shall he bring, that the breast may be waved for a wave offering before the Lord. 31And the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar: but the breast shall be Aaron's and his sons'. 32And the right shoulder shall ye give unto the priest for an heave offering of the sacrifices of your peace offerings. 33He among the sons of Aaron, that offereth the blood of the peace offerings, and the fat, shall have the right shoulder for his part. 34For the wave breast 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 statute for ever from among the children of Israel. 35This 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; 36Which the Lord commanded to be given them of the children of Israel, in the day that he anointed them, by a statute for ever throughout their generations. 37This is the law of the burnt offering, of the meat offering, and of the sin offering, and of the trespass offering, and of the consecrations, and of the sacrifice of the peace offerings; 38Which 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 7:8‑38)
The priest who offered the burnt offering for any man was to have the skin of the animal for himself. This is very interesting and instructive. As worshippers we do not come to get but to give, but God will never be any man’s debtor and He delights to give. If we are really worshipping in the Spirit, we will get a blessing for ourselves, and the result will be that Christ will be seen in us. The skin is that part of the animal which was seen by others. What a privilege it is to seek to walk as He walked and to “show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
Fat and Blood
The law of the peace offering follows next in order, but we will not speak of it here, for we have already spoken of it when considering the peace offering in Leviticus 3. We notice once again, however, that the eating of fat and blood was forbidden of God. The fat brings before us, in type, the excellence of the animal, and so it would remind us of the fact that all glory belongs to God. God has declared “that no flesh should glory in His presence” (1 Corinthians 1:2929That no flesh should glory in his presence. (1 Corinthians 1:29)), and we will always find that false doctrine seeks to rob God of His glory and to give some glory to man. This is like eating the fat which God forbids. Then, too, the eating of blood was forbidden, for “the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:1111For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. (Leviticus 17:11)), and the children of Israel were not to eat of it. This is repeated again in Christianity (Acts 15:28-2928For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; 29That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. (Acts 15:28‑29)). We must ever remember that life belongs to God and that the cost of our redemption is nothing less than “the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:19).
The Consecration of Aaron and His Sons
We now come to the consecration of Aaron and his sons as priests. It was such an important event that the whole congregation was called together to witness it. The offerings recorded in the previous chapters have brought before us the various aspects of the work of Christ and how fully He glorified God about the question of sin, as well as meeting the sinner’s need. This must be recorded first. The Lord Jesus, our Great High Priest, of whom Aaron was a type, must accomplish the work of redemption first before taking up His priestly work on high. We must first be “reconciled to God by the death of His Son” before we could be “saved by His life” (Romans 5:1010For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. (Romans 5:10)). And so now, having accomplished redemption, He ever lives to make intercession for us — never wearying in His priestly service above in spite of all our infirmities and weakness. Aaron’s sons typify to us the position of believers as priests, and what could we know of our place as priests if we had not first learned the value of Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary? The unbeliever cannot worship God, for it is only through the work of Christ that we are fitted to draw near as worshippers. Now, as holy priests, we can offer up our “spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:55Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:5)). All this is beautifully typified in our chapter as we shall see.
Some dear Christians are very happy in knowing that their sins are gone, but they never go any further in their soul’s experience. They rejoice in Christ’s finished work, but they know very little about worship. If there are any such who are reading these lines, may you hear the call, as did all the congregation of Israel, to come and learn more of these precious truths which are typically presented to us here.
For Further Meditation
1. Why couldn’t the blood be eaten?
2. What makes a believer a priest? Does it require a special education or training? What are a spiritual priest’s duties?
3. You might benefit by digging deeper into the subject of consecration. A great place to begin might be with the easy-to-read pamphlet Christian Consecration: From Appreciation to Consecration by B. Anstey.