Friday, January 17, 2020

Priestly Portions and Sacrifices

Leviticus 7:28-38 
28 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 29 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offering to the Lord shall bring his offering to the Lord from the sacrifice of his peace offering. 30 His own hands shall bring the offerings made by fire to the Lord. The fat with the breast he shall bring, that the breast may be waved as a wave offering before the Lord. 31 And the priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast shall be Aaron's and his sons’. 32 Also the right thigh you shall give to the priest as a heave offering from the sacrifices of your peace offerings. 33 He among the sons of Aaron, who offers the blood of the peace offering and the fat, shall have the right thigh for his part. 34 For the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering I have taken from the children of Israel, from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and I have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons from the children of Israel by a statute forever.’ ”
    35 This is the consecrated portion for Aaron and his sons, from the offerings made by fire to the Lord, on the day when Moses presented them to minister to the Lord as priests. 36 The Lord commanded this to be given to them by the children of Israel, on the day that He anointed them, by a statute forever throughout their generations.
    37 This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the consecrations, and the sacrifice of the peace offering, 38 which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai, on the day when He commanded the children of Israel to offer their offerings to the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai.

This passage summarizes the priestly portions and sacrifices and points to the ultimate sacrifice and High Priest, as well as our laborers in the gospel. The sacrifices were brought individually and personally by one’s own hands.  The portion prescribed was for the priests to live on, much as now the ministers of the gospel live by others supplying their sustenance for their labors (1 Corinthians 9:13-14).  This chapter concludes by summarizing these consecrated allotments of food for the servants ministering God’s atonement through sacrifices.   Though it is given as a law throughout the generations of His people, the fulfillment in Christ brings a new covenant with Himself as High Priest and the one time sacrifice, abrogating the need to continue any other named here.  This chapter also summarized the types of offerings and how they were set apart for God’s worship and service as commanded through His servant Moses in the wandering of the Sinai desert.  His people wandered until redemption and reconciliation was complete in the Messiah, the Christ of God.  This is good news, that the sacrifice has been made forever, never needing to be repeated and with the absolute hope that it is ever sufficient and eternally effectual (Hebrews 7:27, 9:12, 10:10).  

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