Eating Fat And Blood Forbidden
May 20, 2019
Commentary
The Lord told Moses (v. 22) to say to the people: Don’t eat the fat of cattle, sheep, or goats (v. 23). If one of your animals dies or is killed by some wild animal, you may do anything with its fat except eat it (v. 24). If you eat the fat of an animal that can be used as a sacrifice to me, you will no longer belong to the community of Israel (v. 25). And no matter where you live, you must not eat the blood of any bird or animal (v. 26), or you will no longer belong to the community of Israel (v. 27).
The Lord also told Moses (v. 28) to say to the people of Israel: If you want to offer a sacrifice to ask my blessing, you must bring the part to be burned and lay it on the bronze altar. But you must first lift up the choice ribs with their fat to show that the offering is dedicated to me (vv. 29-30). A priest from Aaron’s family will then send the fat up in smoke, but the ribs belong to the priests (v. 31). The upper joint of the right hind leg is for the priest who offers the blood and the fat of the animal (vv. 32-33). The people of Israel must always give the choice ribs and the upper joint of the right hind leg to Aaron’s descendants (v. 34) who have been ordained as priests (v. 35). It is said that this law will never change. I am the Lord (v. 36)!
These are the ceremonies for sacrifices to please the Lord, to give Him thanks, and to ask His blessing or his forgiveness, as well as the ceremonies for those sacrifices that demand a payment and for the sacrifices that are offered when priests are ordained (v. 37). While Moses and the people of Israel were in the desert at Mount Sinai, the Lord commanded them to start offering these sacrifices (v. 38).
Application
I am so thankful that Jesus died on the cross of Calvary as a sacrifice for all of my sins.
Leviticus 7:22– 38 (NET)
22 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 23 “Tell the Israelites, ‘You must not eat any fat of an ox, sheep, or goat. 24 Moreover, the fat of an animal that has died of natural causes and the fat of an animal torn by beasts may be used for any other purpose, but you must certainly never eat it. 25 If anyone eats fat from the animal from which he presents a gift to the Lord, that person will be cut off from his people. 26 And you must not eat any blood of the birds or of the domesticated land animals in any of the places where you live. 27 Any person who eats any blood—that person will be cut off from his people.’”
28 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 29 “Tell the Israelites, ‘The one who presents his peace-offering sacrifice to the Lord must bring part of his offering to the Lord as his sacrifice. 30 With his own hands he must bring the Lord’s gifts. He must bring the fat with the breast to wave the breast as a wave offering before the Lord, 31 and the priest must offer the fat up in smoke on the altar, but the breast will belong to Aaron and his sons. 32 The right thigh you must give as a contribution offering to the priest from your peace-offering sacrifice. 33 The one from Aaron’s sons who presents the blood of the peace offering and fat will have the right thigh as his share, 34 for the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution offering I have taken from the Israelites out of their peace-offering sacrifices and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons from the people of Israel as a perpetual allotted portion.’”
35 This is the allotment of Aaron and the allotment of his sons from the Lord’s gifts on the day Moses presented them to serve as priests to the Lord. 36 This is what the Lord commanded to give to them from the Israelites on the day Moses anointed them —a perpetual allotted portion throughout their generations.
37 This is the law for the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the ordination offering, and the peace-offering sacrifice, 38 which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai on the day he commanded the Israelites to present their offerings to the Lord in the desert of Sinai.