A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 6, the Nazirite Vow (Part 4)

"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace."

4) The LORD…be gracious to you. Grace. The one thing we need from God, and one thing it is so hard to ask for if we are allowing our flesh to dictate our lives. Because, for one thing, grace is a gift. Romans 4:4—Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. One thing that separates Christianity from all other religions is grace. In Islam your good deeds must outweigh your bad deeds, and if not—even by the weight of an atom—Allah the All-Merciful™ will send you to Hell. In Buddhism and Hinduism, you must do your dharma—your religious duty—in order to advance. In Roman Catholicism you must do good works to be saved—not that you must do good works to show you are saved as it says in James 2:18. The grace shown by God is this, that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Other religions cannot grasp that. They think that you have to do good in order to be accepted by God. What was so special about these pitiful little Israelites that God said “you are Mine”? Nothing. What was so special about Abram that God sais “all nations shall be blessed in you”? Nothing. What was so special about Isaac or Jacob—especially Jacob—that God would bring about a great nation from them? Nothing. What was the defining characteristic of Moses that made God say “That’s him! That is the man who is perfectly capable and equipped to lead over a half million people in the wilderness and appear before me!” Absolutely nothing. Zero, zip, zilch, nada. Nothing. What was it about you that made God say “Yes! I want that person! He/she has done spectacularly amazing things and I want them on My team!” Answer: less than nothing.

So why did God choose Abram? Why did He choose Isaac and Jacob? Why did He choose Moses? Why did He choose—you? One word: GRACE. The passage that is stamped on your forehead whenever you join a Baptist church is Ephesians 2:8-9— 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. The argument is “well, which of them is the gift—the grace, the faith, or the saved?” The answer of course is “Yes”. It is all of them. Grace is obviously a gift, “good-will, loving kindness, favour: of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues” according to Strong. Romans 11:5-6— 5 Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace. Guess how much God’s grace depends on us? Again, nothing. Zero, zip, zilch, nada. Nothing.

 

How do I know this is true? Because I know me. I know the man I used to be. The music I listened to, the movies and TV shows I watched, the beer I drank. But I will say this much—I did not have a problem with pornography. I watched it every chance I got with no problem. I lived the struggles men face—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1^st John 2:16)—and I didn’t back down to them, I charged full face right into them and enjoyed every minute of it. If you had told me back then that I would one day have a website where I would tell everyone reading it the truth of God and His Christ, I would not have believed you, even for a second. From the hymn “I Know Whom I Have Believed” by DW Whittle:

 

I know not why God’s wondrous grace to me is daily shown,

Nor why, with mercy, Christ in love redeemed me for his own.

I know not how this saving faith to me he did impart,

Nor how believing in his word wrought peace within my heart.

I know not how the Spirit moves, convincing us of sin,

Revealing Jesus through the Word, creating faith in him.

I know not when my Lord may come, at night or noon-day fair,

Nor if I’ll walk the vale with him, or meet him in the air.

 

There is also a refrain in there, taken verbatim from 2nd Timothy 1:12—I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day. That is another component of grace, is God keeping those who are His until that last Day. It was a hurdle I had to get over, that when God saves someone, they are in His hand forever. Some dismissively call it “once saved always saved”. I prefer to call it the Perseverance of the Saints, and is found all over Scripture, most notably Philippians 1:6 and Hebrews 10:14 and, as above, 2nd Timothy 1:12. To say that one can be saved and God would not hold on to that person not only makes the one who thinks that turn God into an unfaithful God, but also contradicts Scripture.

 

5) The LORD lift up His countenance upon you. What does it mean for God to “lift up His countenance”? Well, we know God does not have and actual face. We see all the Renaissance paintings of God sitting on the clouds, a bearded old man who reaches out a finger to give life to Adam in Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam” on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. But in all reality, God is Spirit (John 4:24), and does not have an actual face like you or me. In fact the Westminster Confession says “There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions” (Westminster Confession, 2.1).

Well, it is what we call “anthropomorphic language”: giving human traits to a being that is not human. And we know God is not human—obviously. But He had to express Himself in a way the people could understand. And this is but one way. The first place we see it is after Jacob wrestles with the Angel in Genesis 32:30—So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered." Now we know that Jacob did not really see God’s face, because God tells Moses in Exodus 33:20—“But,” he said, “You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” Again, Jacob used anthropomorphic language.

We must understand that the “face of God” is not something that can be seen, but something that must be sought after. It is us knowing Him, and Him knowing us. It is us seeking Him so we may know His will, and Him looking upon us that He may lead us and guide us. The phrase “seek His face” is used 7 times in the Old Testament, 3 times in the Psalms. David was a man after God’s own heart (1st Samuel 13:14), and constantly sought the face of God, that he may know what His will was and how he should go about pleasing Him (1st Chronicles 16:11 [which is repeated in Psalm 105:4], Psalm 27:8). This phrase is also used in 2nd Chronicles 7:14, Hosea 5:15 and Hosea 7:10. When we seek the face of God, we are asking for an audience with Him, to pour out our prayers and supplications.

Now, does God hide His face? Yes. He even hid His face from David. Psalm 30:7—LORD, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong; You hid Your face, and I was troubled. Why would God hide His face? Well, even though David was a man after God’s own heart, he stumbled. There was a time when he REALLY stumbled (2nd Samuel 11:4). And when he did stumble, God would not be there for David. And no matter how he may have been treated by men, this made David cry out even stronger. When I was in high school, I tried to sneak off with a friend of mine. When mom found out—and caught me—she didn’t hit me or lay any kind of corporal punishment on me. Know what she did? She said “I’m really disappointed in you”. Ouch! There I was, in my high school football jersey, bawling my eyes out because of her words. It hurt worse than any kind of lashing. But it got her point across. That is what it was like for David when God hid His face.

A couple other times when God hid His face, the first is Isaiah 54:8—"With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” says the LORD, your Redeemer." Of course, this is right after the prophecy of Christ, in Isaiah 53. He is speaking, I believe anyway, to Israel after they crucify the Lord of Glory, and He turns away from them. But this will not be a turning away forever, and He will bring them back to Himself (Romans 11:1-5). We also see Him hiding Hid face in Ezekiel 39:23—“The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword.” This was when God allowed Israel to be taken into exile by Babylon (2nd Chronicles 36:16-21). He allowed them to be taken away because they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy (2nd Chronicles 36:16). Then when calamity fell upon them, they had nowhere to turn, there was no one who would fight for them, and God Himself fought against them and they fell into captivity.

 

But God… My favorite phrase in all of Scripture. Romans 5:8—But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God, who is rich in mercy, lifted His face to us Gentiles--Gentiles from whom He had hidden His face for so many years--and welcomed us into His kingdom. He sent His Son, His perfect, beloved Son, in the flesh, to dwell with us, and to give His life for us so that all those who believe on Him could gain eternal life—not by the blood of bulls and goats, but by faith in the Only Begotten Son of God, His death on the cross, and His resurrection from the dead! Praise His name! And when we say God looks upon us—let’s face it, God sees everything. He is always there, omnipresent, all-seeing, all-knowing, all and in all—what we mean is summed up neatly in 1st Peter 3:12—For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers. He does not hide Himself from those who believe and belong to Christ. He may seem far away, but He isn’t. He is there, always there, to hear our petitions and supplications, and to offer a way of escape from temptations. JC Ryle has this to say about our free forgiveness in Christ—

 

If any man is willing to be saved, the Lord Jesus Christ stands ready to save him. "Come unto Me," He says, "weary soul, and I will give you rest. Come, guilty and sinful soul, and I will give you free pardon. Come, lost and ruined soul, and I will give you eternal life. Come and be freely saved." Oh, reader, let this message be a word in season! Arise and call upon the Lord. Let the angels of God rejoice over one more saved soul; let the courts of heaven hear the good tidings that one more lost sheep is found. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.

 YHVH lifts His countenance on all who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. A great blessing these Israelites did not know at the time, but understood when Christ entered through the gates of Heaven, leading captivity captive, leading His saints into everlasting glory. Amen!

6) The LORD…give you peace. When men talk about peace, it is always temporary. And it always hinges on both sides giving what the other side wants. And it never lasts. Why? Because humans are involved. James 4:1-3—1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Why does negotiating for peace take such a long process? Because neither side wants to give anything up, but they want the other side to give up stuff. Look at the Middle East. They have had a merry-go-round of peace talks for how many years? And are they any closer to having a lasting peace in that area?

Consider the Camp David Peace Accords, signed in 1978 by Jimmy Carter, Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin. The three men agreed on a plan that would suit everyone. And what happened in 1981? Anwar Sadat was assassinated. By whom? By an Islamic extremist who was ticked off that Sadat would sign a peace deal with Israel. In 1993, Bill Clinton negotiated a peace settlement between Yitzhak Rabin and Yassir Arafat, which split the West Bank into Israeli and Palestinian sectors. Donald Trump brought Benjamin Netanyahu together with the leaders of Bahrain and the UAE in 2020. And yet, today, we have Palestinians holding Israelis hostage while Israel bombs Palestine. Not to mention the war in Ukraine (and oh by the way, neither side in the Russia-Ukraine war is a “good guy”. The people of those countries, yes. Their leaders? Not so much). Nations will never be at peace with each other because human beings are involved.

But God… The One who rules over all of Creation, the One who holds all things in His hands, the One of who it has been said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” (Abraham Kuyper), has made a way for us humans to be at peace with Him. He gives us peace through the blood of His cross. And we give Him…..what, exactly? What is there that we can give Him that He needs? Our good deeds? Isaiah 64:6—But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. Titus 3:4-5—4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us… Galatians 2:16— knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. We are not saved by our “good” works. It has been said that “we contribute nothing to our salvation except the sin that makes it necessary.” This quote has been attributed to both Jonathan Edwards and Philip Melanchthon, and I have found nothing that settles the debate of who said it originally. But whoever said it, it is correct.

God gives us eternal life and what do we give Him? Our sins. Doesn’t seem like a fair trade now, does it? But God is not fair, and we should be eternally grateful for that. Because if God were fair, we would all be burning in Hell for all eternity, and Christ would not have come down to die on the cross to bear away our sins. But God was not fair! He was not fair to His Son, who died that we may have peace with God. John 14:27—“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Romans 5:1—Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul starts his epistles with the words “Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”. See, the Greeks and Romans believed in a plethora of (little-g) gods. And by plethora, that says a lot 😀. Sorry, couldn’t resist, Well, I could have, but…Anyway. One thing they never had with any of these gods was peace. They were always worried about offending them; they had to continually offer oblations and sacrifices to them. But what do we do if we do something that offends the God of all Creation? Pray. Ask forgiveness. And guess what? He’ll forgive. The hymn “O God of Love, O King of Peace” by Henry Williams Baker:

 

O God of love, O King of peace,/Make wars throughout the world to cease;

Our greed and violent ways restrain./Give peace, O God, give peace again.

Remember, Lord, your works of old,/The wonders that your people told;

Remember not our sins' deep stain./Give peace, O God, give peace again.

Whom shall we trust but you, O Lord?/Where rest but on your faithful word?

None ever called on you in vain./Give peace, O God, give peace again.

Where saints and angels dwell above/All hearts are joined in holy love;

Oh, bind us in that heav'nly chain./Give peace, O God, give peace again.     

 In our fallen state, we were at enmity with God. He gave us His Son, who gave His life on Golgotha that we may be saved from our sins and from the wrath of God. And what do we give Him in return? We give Him nothing that He needs, for He needs nothing. But we give Him our lives, our love, and our sins, which made it necessary for us to be saved from His wrath and from death and hell.

 "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you;the LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace."

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 6, The Nazirite Vow (Part 2)

The third and last regulation for the Nazirite was to not touch, or even go near, a dead body—even someone in their own family. The one set apart to God is commanded to not defile themselves by the dead. This may be why John the Baptist preached in the wilderness—less chance of being near a dead body. We don’t have concrete proof that he was a Nazirite, but we can surmise it from when the Angel of God tells his parents in Luke 1:15— “For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.”  Like Samson and Samuel, he was called to be a Nazirite before he was born. He preached repentance with the zeal of Samuel, and with a passion Samson should have had. The kind of zeal all who follow Christ should have, like it says in Titus 2:14. And like when Samuel confronted King Saul about his sin, John Baptist did likewise when he confronted Herod about Herod sleeping with his brother’s wife in Matthew 14:1-10.

John the Baptist was the one spoken of in Malachi 3:1— "Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming," says the LORD of hosts. Malachi was the last prophet of the Old Testament, and for about 400 years, God was silent. Then suddenly, this man appears in the wilderness of Judea, preaching and proclaiming the Kingdom of God. Many thought him mad, what with his dress and diet. But how many times did they think the prophets of old mad. We have Samuel who prophesied naked (1st Samuel 19:24) and Ezekiel laying on his left side and then his right (Ezekiel 4:4-6). And here was this guy now coming along, wearing a robe of camel’s hair cinched with a leather belt and eating bugs and honey. And he came preaching repentance from sin. Matthew 3:1-3—1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.'"

Now, I want to camp on this verse for just a second. When we talk about the deity of Christ, we point to John 8:58, and we do well to do so. But really, this verse in Matthew shows more evidence that Jesus was God in the flesh. John the Baptist is quoting Isaiah 40:3 pretty much verbatim. And in Isaiah 40:3, the word translated “LORD” is the Hebrew YHVH, the name which God spoke to Moses in Exodus 3:14. So to use this verse that speaks of God in order to point people to Christ, he is, in fact, declaring that Jesus is God.

And that is what he did. As a Nazirite he was commanded to not be defiled by the dead. And he wasn’t. Rather, he pointed to the One who gives life (John 6:67), and gives it more abundantly (John 10:10). He warned the Pharisees to repent from their dead works, warned them to do things that would evidence their repentance, that this was the way to life. You see, we need to be pointed into the way to life, because we don’t know it on our own. But the One who is life shows us the way to life. You see, following Jesus is not a way to simply have a better life financially and live in ease and comfort. Following Jesus is about having peace with God, serving God, and being endowed with eternal life. Jesus tells one of His disciples in Matthew 8:21-22— 21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." 22 But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead." We are called to follow Christ, and to let nothing hinder us in our walk. He even commands us to love Him more than we love our own family (Luke 14:26). 

For the life that you have given,

For the love in Christ made known,

With these fruits of time and labor,

With these gifts that are your own:

Here we offer, Lord, our praises;

Heart and mind and strength we bring;

Give us grace to love and serve you,

Living what we pray and sing.

(“For the Life That You Have Given”, Carl Daw)

 Now, before we leave this passage in Numbers, let us dispense with a certain conundrum that presents itself to us in Matthew 2:23—And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene." Many have tried to link this verse to Judges 13:5—For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines." Fact of the matter is we do not find the words of Matthew anywhere in the Old Testament. And although many have undertaken to somehow explain this away, the problem has never really been solved. So why does Matthew use this phrase? Well, for one thing, this was the word given to Matthew by the Holy Spirit.

By the same token, we know that Jude repeated a quote from Enoch, although not found in the Bible, in Jude 1:14-15—14 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, 15 to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." This passage is not from the Book of Enoch, as that was not written until the 3^rd Century BC, and the claim by some is that Jude is quoting Enoch 1:9, which says Behold, he comes with the myriads of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all, and to destroy all the wicked, and to convict all flesh for all the wicked deeds that they have done, and the proud and hard words that wicked sinners spoke against him. So why would Jude have included this quote and attributed it to the great-grandfather of Noah? Well, here is my opinion, and take it for all it is, an opinion. Deuteronomy 33:2 says, And he [Moses] said: “The LORD came from Sinai, and dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, and He came with ten thousands of saints; from His right hand Came a fiery law for them.” It is possible that the quote mentioned by Jude actually is from the biblical Enoch, and was carried along orally until the time Moses said it in Deuteronomy and Moses used the occasion to offer commentary on the words of Enoch and apply it to his time. But that is my opinion. Again, do with it what you will.

Now, in light of this, let us again examine that passage in Matthew 2:23. Notice Matthew does not name a prophet that said this, but only states “the prophets”, And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene." When you see this, it is usually not referring to one particular prophet or prophecy, but is a summarization of different prophets and prophecies. And it is possible that Matthew used the term “Nazarene” (Gr. Ναζωραῖος) to describe, not the town where He was from, but as a descriptor of who Jesus was. In Isaiah 11:1, we see Jesus called a ונצר (netzer, branch) of Jesse, There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch (ונצר, netzer) shall grow out of his roots. With this in mind, it makes it clear where the confusion comes from.  I must agree with what Spurgeon says of this assessment:

 

This [Nazarene] is the name commonly given to our Lord in the Old Testament. “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” Jesus was the sprout, or the shoot out of the withered stem of Jesse. When the dynasty of David was like the tree cut down, and only the stem of it left there sprang up out of it the Netzar, the Nazarene; so he is found dwelling in a city that is called by that name, and he also is called a Nazarene. And the name clings to him to this day, there are those who will call him by no name but “the Nazarene.”

 

Keep in mind, Matthew, being Jewish, would have been familiar with the passage in Isaiah. And the name Nazareth, in Greek, means “the guarded one”, but that name is of uncertain derivation, we don’t know how it got its name. It does not appear in any of the Hebrew Scriptures. Philip Schaff seems to think the name Nazareth is an Aramaic form of the Hebrew ונצר (netzer). So with all this being said, it is no contradiction at all, but rather a misapplication of the word “Nazarene”, not to describe a place, but a person. Jesus was not a Nazirite, as He himself said that He drank wine (Matthew 11:9, Luke 7:34, as well as at the Last Supper), and we read that He touched dead bodies (Mark 5:41), further distancing Himself from the Nazirite vow.  He was a Nazarene, a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people (Psalm 22:6).

Part 3 next week

 

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--The Peace Offering Part 1 (3:1-17; 7:11-21)

Today we begin a look at the commands concerning the Peace Offering. But this time we’re going to take a slightly different approach.  We’re going to start in Leviticus chapter 7, and work our way back to chapter 3. The reason for this is simple: in chapter 7 we see the three different classes of Peace Offering (thanksgiving, vow, and free-will), while chapter 3 contains the commands that deal with which animals could be offered (from the herd or from the flock)—how they were to be cut up, what was to be burned, what was to be eaten, and what to do with the blood. Now, before we begin, we need another lesson on the Hebrew. While the translators have done a masterful job (and I would never try to convince anyone I knew better than the translators), we need to clarify what the Hebrew means here. The Hebrew phrase is וְאִם־זֶ֥בַח שְׁלָמִ֖ים  (veyim-zevah shelamim). It literally means “a slaughtering for (i.e., owing to) deliverance.” This was an offering that was given as thanks for salvation, and the “peace” that came with it. Let’s see here. The word translated “Peace Offering” is שֶׁלֶם (shelem). This comes from the Hebrew שָׁלַם (shalam), which is, in turn, the root of another Hebrew word we all are familiar with—which is? שָׁלוֹם (shalom). Interesting how that works, no?

At any rate, with this offering, the offerer was to partake in eating the bread and flesh of this sacrifice along with the priests, the fat being burned and consumed by YHVH. In their commentary, Keil and Delitzsch tell us, “The object of the shelamim was invariably salvation: sometimes they were offered as an embodiment of thanksgiving for salvation already received, sometimes as a prayer for the salvation desired; so that they embraced both supplicatory offerings and thank-offerings, and were offered even in times of misfortune, or on the day on which supplication was offered for the help of God.” For all those who have ever heard anyone say that we don’t need to study the Old Testament (especially the Law) because it has nothing to do with the New Testament—this is just one more chance to show how biblically ignorant they really are. This was an offering of supplication and/or thanksgiving for the peace they had with God. Hmmm. I do believe the apostle Paul had something to say about supplication and thanksgiving and the peace of God. Oh yeah, Philippians 4:6-7—6 In everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. But all that Old Testament stuff doesn't mean anything today. Right?

Well, that said, let’s start with Leviticus 7:11-15—“‘11 This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings which he shall offer to the LORD: 12 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. 13 Besides the cakes, as his offering he shall offer leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offering. 14 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. 15 The flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day it is offered. He shall not leave any of it until morning.’” For our purposes, let’s go ahead and stay with the term “Peace Offering.” Here we see the first class of Peace Offering, the “Peace Offering of thanksgiving.” (And, just for reference, each of these classes of Peace Offering (thanksgiving, vow, free-will) were prepared the same way and accompanied by the same offering of bread. The difference in the rules regarding the offerings was in the length of time you had to eat it. We will deal with that shortly). This was offered by a person as thanks to God for their deliverance or safekeeping during some kind of danger. If He spared your livestock during a famine. If He spared your crops during a drought. Perhaps your grateful that you were not killed by the intruder that snuck in by night. Whatever it was that God brought you through, if you were grateful enough for His grace in delivering you—you brought a “Peace Offering of Thanksgiving.”

Now, if you read carefully you will find one part of this offering that is not to be included in any of the other offerings we saw in chapter 1 or chapter 2. What might that be? Leaven. Leviticus 7:13—“Besides the cakes, as his offering he shall offer leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offering.” This was the one time a person could offer bread that had been leavened. However, leaven was not to be burned on the altar. When the person brought their animal and their unleavened cakes or unleavened wafers with their leavened bread, they offered to the priest who would sprinkle the blood of the offering one of the loaves of leavened bread —but don’t even think about putting it on the altar. The unleavened bread, however, was given to the priest as a heave offering. When you gave it to the priest, he took it from your hand and “heaved” it into the air, and caught it when it came back down. This was done as a way for the priest to offer thanks on behalf of the offerer, to acknowledge that all things come to our hands from God.

Next, let’s talk about how long you had before you had to get rid of the flesh of the Peace Offering of thanksgiving. After the priest burned your Peace Offering of thanksgiving, you had until the end of that business day to eat it. You finish it before sundown—that’s it. If you don’t finish it before sundown, you burn it until it is obliterated. There are many instances when God is very specific regarding time. And in some of those cases, He gives the people until sundown to get the things done that He wants done. Think back to Exodus 16. The people are grumbling in the wilderness. They're crying out “Oh that we could have died in Egypt! Moses led us out here to kill us in the wilderness! Yada yada yada!” And God—being the ever-patient, ever-gracious God that he is—lets their obstinacy slide and, in fact, provides some kind of substance for their daily food. And what was that substance? Manna. And how long did they have to use the manna they gathered in the morning? (Remembering, of course, that what they gathered on the sixth day would suffice through the Sabbath). Exodus 16:14-19—14 And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "This is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat. 16 This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: 'Let every man gather it according to each one's need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent'"…19 And Moses said, "Let no one leave any of it till morning." Let’s go back even further, to the night of the first Passover. What was the command that God enjoined upon the people concerning the Passover lamb? Exodus 12:8-10—“8 Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire…10 You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire.” If God says you have such-and-such an amount of time to eat something, you eat it within that window. You don’t say to yourself, “Yeah, I know God said that, but did He really mean that?” If God says it, He means it.

Now, the other classes of Peace Offerings are fond in the verses that follow. The rules for these are different. Leviticus 7:16—“‘16 But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow or a voluntary offering…’” Let’s talk about these individually. “If his offering is a vow…” There were, apparently, three different types of “vows” one could make—there was a vow of devotion, a vow of abstinence (the [קָרְבָּן, qorban), and the vow of destruction (the [חֵרֶם, cherem], or Greek [ἀνάθεμα, anathema]). First, the “vow of devotion.” Basically, this is a promise the person makes to God. They say, “If God delivers me through this, I will offer Him the best of my herd.” One example of this type of vow is that of Jacob in Genesis 28:20-22—20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21 so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God. 22 And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You." He made a vow that if God would protect him, he would give God one-tenth of all God gives him. David made a similar vow, and fulfilled it in Psalm 66:12-15—12 You have caused men to ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water; But You brought us out to rich fulfillment. 13 I will go into Your house with burnt offerings; I will pay You my vows, 14 which my lips have uttered And my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble. 15 I will offer You burnt sacrifices of fat animals, With the sweet aroma of rams; I will offer bulls with goats. Selah.

Next is the “vow of abstinence.” If the term קָרְבָּן (qorban) looks familiar, it should. It was brought over directly into the Greek κορβᾶν (korban) (and is equivalent to the Greek δῶρον, doron) by Mark in his gospel. Mark 7:11—“11 But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is κορβᾶν (korban)"' (that is, a δῶρον [doron] to God), 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother…” Under the old covenant, the קָרְבָּן (qorban) was a good thing. We read this passage, and Jesus’ rebuke of the Pharisees concerning קָרְבָּן (qorban) and we think “Ooh, קָרְבָּן (qorban) bad!” No!! קָרְבָּן (qorban) good! It was not the קָרְבָּן (qorban) that Jesus was denouncing—it was the Pharisees’ abuse of it to hold onto every penny they had at the cost of allowing their parents to suffer in poverty. If someone made a vow of קָרְבָּן (qorban), it simply meant that the person had set some possession and had dedicated it to the use of the temple. They may have held the object in their physical possession—but it belonged to God, and on the day it was required they were to give it over. And when it is time to devote it, you bring your animal, your unleavened cakes and wafers, your leavened bread—you give it to the priest, he kills, cuts up, heaves, burns and you all partake of it.

Another type of “vow of abstinence” was the Nazarite (or ‘Nazirite’, depending on your translation) vow. Numbers 6:1-8—1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When either a man or woman consecrates an offering to take the vow of a Nazarite, to separate himself to the LORD, 3 he shall separate himself from wine and similar drink; he shall drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from similar drink; neither shall he drink any grape juice, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins. 4 All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, from seed to skin. 5 All the days of the vow of his separation no razor shall come upon his head; until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the LORD, he shall be holy. Then he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. 6 All the days that he separates himself to the LORD he shall not go near a dead body. 7 He shall not make himself unclean even for his father or his mother, for his brother or his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is on his head. 8 All the days of his separation he shall be holy to the LORD.” This person, although not a Levite, could go through these rites and commit themselves to the service of YHVH. Samson was a Nazarite—not exactly the best example. John the Baptist was probably a Nazarite, since Jesus said of him that “John came neither eating nor drinking” (Matthew 11:18).

Now, not only did the Nazarite take this vow and go through these rituals, but there were other offerings—Peace Offerings of a vow of abstinence—they had to perform under certain circumstances. Pick it up at Numbers 6:9-21—“‘9 And if anyone dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it. 10 Then on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting; 11 and the priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned in regard to the corpse; and he shall sanctify his head that same day. 12 He shall consecrate to the LORD the days of his separation, and bring a male lamb in its first year as a trespass offering; but the former days shall be lost, because his separation was defiled. 13 Now this is the law of the Nazirite: When the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 14 And he shall present his offering to the LORD: one male lamb in its first year without blemish as a burnt offering, one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish as a sin offering, one ram without blemish as a peace offering, 15 a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their grain offering with their drink offerings. 16 Then the priest shall bring them before the LORD and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering; 17 and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall also offer its grain offering and its drink offering. 18 Then the Nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offering. 19 And the priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and put them upon the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated hair, 20 and the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the LORD; they are holy for the priest, together with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering. After that the Nazirite may drink wine.' 21 This is the law of the Nazirite who vows to the LORD the offering for his separation, and besides that, whatever else his hand is able to provide; according to the vow which he takes, so he must do according to the law of his separation.”

If the Nazarite touched the dead body of one who died near him, he had to bring two turtledoves or pigeons, had to bring a ewe lamb of the first year, all the unleavened cakes and wafers and leavened bread, the oil, the drink offering, had to shave his head, give a Grain Offering. You get the idea. This was a Peace Offering of קָרְבָּן (qorban). The man had dedicated his whole self to the service of God; God granted that privilege so long as the Nazarite acted accordingly. If he didn’t, he had to bring his קָרְבָּן (qorban).

We will look at the next Peace Offering next time.