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Leviticus 7

Verses 1-5, “Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering (it is most holy): In the place where they kill the burnt offering they shall kill the trespass offering. And its blood he shall sprinkle all around on the altar. And he shall offer from it all its fat. The fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails, the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove; and the priest shall burn them on the altar as an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a trespass offering.”  The law of the trespass offering involved giving the fat and the kidneys to God, but the rest was to be eaten by the priests. Whichever priest was officiating would be responsible for the distribution. The offering was made as a guilt offering, required of those who unintentionally sinned against God. Remember, there is no sacrifice for those who intentionally sin...these are not God's children (regardless of what they say) because they do not obey His voice.  Hebrews 10:26, “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins...”

Verses 11-14, “This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings which he shall offer to the Lord: If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer, with the sacrifice of thanksgiving, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, or cakes of blended flour mixed with oil. Besides the cakes, as his offering he shall offer leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offering. And from it he shall offer one cake from each offering as a heave offering to the Lord. It shall belong to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offering.”  In this offering of thanksgiving, both leavened and unleavened bread was offered. Leaven was not always prohibited. The Feast of Weeks, for instance, called for leaven, whereas the feast following Passover did not.  Leviticus 23:15-17, “And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord.”

The Feast of Unleavened Bread was to be kept as a memorial, therefore leaven was not allowed, as they ate the bread of haste (no time for the dough to rise).  Exodus 12:14-15, “So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.”  I'm sure that leavened bread tasted much better, but they were willing to sacrifice their own desires out of obedience to God. Unfortunately, Christians today do not always understand what sacrifice means, because society has conformed them into lovers of self rather than lovers of God and fellow man. Denying our flesh seems like a foreign concept, because everyone is so conditioned to obtain everything they desire...and quickly at that! Social media only fuels these desires, making people dissatisfied with their life, in comparison to others, and always wanting more. The path is one of covetousness and self love and indulgence. Correcting those caught up in this will cause them to become very angry, because their flesh simply does not want to die.

Leviticus 7:22-27, “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel, saying: “You shall not eat any fat, of ox or sheep or goat. And the fat of an animal that dies naturally, and the fat of what is torn by wild beasts, may be used in any other way; but you shall by no means eat it. For whoever eats the fat of the animal of which men offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, the person who eats it shall be cut off from his people. Moreover you shall not eat any blood in any of your dwellings, whether of bird or beast. Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people.” ’ ”   The blood contained the life and the fat represented abundance, both of which belonged to God. The consequence of disrespecting God in this way was to be cut off from the people. There was no such thing as acceptance or inclusion...come as you are and stay that way. Sin must be dealt with in order to keep it from spreading, because we are all weak in the flesh. The issue of blood was so serious that future gentile converts would be asked to abstain from blood out of love.  Acts 15:19-20, “Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood.”

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