A Survey of the Old Testament Law--The Peace Offering Part 4 (3:1-17; 7:11-21)

After a rather lengthy hiatus, we return to our study of the Peace Offering. We pick up with Leviticus 3:17.

So all the blood was drained out and all the fat was burned for God. You don’t eat either one of those things. God makes that very clear in the last verse of our chapter, Leviticus 3:17—“‘This shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings: you shall eat neither fat nor blood.’” Ever heard of “blood sausage”? My wife and I were watching one of those cooking shows one night and one of the ingredients they had to use was blood sausage. I thought to myself, “Oh, someone does not eat blood! Ewww.” But yeah, blood sausage (or ‘blood pudding’ or ‘black pudding’) is

“a type of sausage made by cooking blood or dried blood with a filler until it is thick enough to congeal when cooled. The dish exists in various cultures from Asia to Europe. Pig, cattle, sheep, duck and goat blood can be used depending on different countries. In Europe, typical fillers include meat, fat, suet, bread, sweet potato, onion, chestnuts, barley, and oatmeal while in Spain and Asia, potato is often replaced by rice” (Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_pudding).

Needless to say, blood pudding is not Kosher. And even if it was—ick, no thanks! The blood was not to be eaten. Why? Well, as a preview of Leviticus 11, we find the prohibition explained in Leviticus 17:11, 14—“‘11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul…14 for it is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, “You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.”’” When we get to that section, we will see why the Roman Catholic Mass is an abomination to the LORD. But that is for another time.  Suffice it to say, the answer is found in Acts 15:28-29—28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29 that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. We will also see why the Jehovah's Witnesses’ prohibition on blood transfusion is built on a faulty interpretation.

Now, the people were not to eat blood because it is that which sustains life. They were also not to eat the fat of the sacrifices because that belonged to God. Ok, well what about the person who simply butchered one of their animals for food—not in the context of a sacrifice, but in their daily dealings. Could that person eat fat or blood? The answer is no. Why could they not eat the fat? Well, the answer lies in the little phrase “this shall be a perpetual statute in all your dwellings…” Not just “in the courtyard of the tabernacle”, not just “at the door of the tent of meeting”—but rather “in all your dwellings.” Even in your own tent you could not eat the fat. Now, this is not to say that if there was a bit of fat that could not be trimmed off that the person was guilty. It is also certain that this prohibition does not extend to the fat that is so often marbled within the muscle. This prohibition is (most likely) meant as an injunction against eating that fat which God specified was to be burned with the offering. As far as the blood, as we have just seen, they could not eat the blood; that is prohibited also in Leviticus 17 quoted above.

Now, to wrap everything up in Christ. What happened to the person that was unclean and tried to eat of this offering? That one was “cut off from his people” (Leviticus 7:20-21). Is Christ our peace offering—our שֶׁלֶם (shelem)? Yes. What did Jesus declare on the night before He was executed? Matthew 26:26-28—26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." 27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant.” So when we gather to take Communion, we are partaking in the flesh and blood of Christ—not literally eating His flesh and drinking His blood, but as Paul said in 1^st Corinthians 11:26—As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. And what happened to those who partook of that cup and that bread when they were unclean? 1^st Corinthians 11:27-30—27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. Or, as the English Standard version translates that last verse, 1^st Corinthians 11:30 (ESV)—That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. “What! You mean someone can die just because they take the Lord’s Supper while they're in their sins??” Yep. John Gill— 

“That is, die a corporeal death, which is often in Scripture signified by sleep, and frequently used of the saints, and their death, and may intend and include some of them here; for though the Lord might resent so far their unworthy conduct and behaviour at his table, as to remove them out of this world by death, yet their souls may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” 

Keep in mind, the God who instituted the Lord’s Table for Christians under the new covenant is the same God who established the Peace Offerings under the old covenant. And God always takes very seriously how people approach Him. We don’t get to just come barging into His presence in any old way we feel like, treating the things of God as playthings that are meant to entertain us. God is holy, He considers himself to be holy. And as Nadab and Abihu found out the hard way (while their father Aaron was given them as an illustration), “By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; And before all the people I must be glorified” (Leviticus 10:3). Just as the Jews under the old covenant were to consider God to be holy, and glorify Him in all they did, so we Christians under the new covenant must consider God the Son to be holy, and glorify Him in all we do.

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

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

Last week we covered the Peace Offerings (שֶׁלֶם (shelem)) “of a vow”—the vow of devotion, the vow of abstinence (קָרְבָּן (qorban)), and the vow of destruction (חֵרֶם (cherem)). Now we turn our attention to the “voluntary” (or “freewill”) offering. Keeping in mind that in these offerings is the only place the Bible ever talks about “free will.” What is the difference between a voluntary שֶׁלֶם (shelem), versus a Burnt Offering (עֹלָה (olah))? There is a slight difference, but none the less, the עֹלָה (olah) was brought—just because. You woke up one day, saw you God had blessed your herd or your flock. And you said, “I have been blessed by the hand of YHVH. I will offer Him an עֹלָה (olah) from the best that I have.” The שֶׁלֶם (shelem) of a vow was, “If God will bring us through this I will offer Him a שֶׁלֶם (shelem).” However, the freewill שֶׁלֶם (shelem) was more a matter of “God has been gracious to us, has strengthened and supplied us. I am indebted to God for all I have; therefore I will share with Him in all the things He has provided.”

Now, think all the way back to when we talked about the שֶׁלֶם (shelem) of thanksgiving. What window of time did you have to eat that before it had to be burned? Leviticus 7:15—“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.” However, God gave you more time if you brought a שֶׁלֶם (shelem) for a vow, or of your own…free will. Leviticus 7:16-18—“‘16 But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offers his sacrifice; but on the next day the remainder of it also may be eaten; 17 the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day must be burned with fire. 18 And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, nor shall it be imputed to him; it shall be an abomination to him who offers it, and the person who eats of it shall bear guilt.’” You have two days to eat this. The priests, the Levites, your friends and family—gather them all together, because if you don’t get this eaten in two days, you gotta burn what’s left. Think about it. Where would you keep the leftovers? In your fridge? Your freezer? I don’t think so! And why was God so particular about when these things could be eaten? It’s because He jealously guards those things that He considers to be holy—sanctified, sat apart—to Him.

Now the שֶׁלֶם (shelem) was not one of those offerings that God declared to be “most holy to the LORD.” But they were not to regards their vows and their giving of thanks as something to be done lightly. Think on this as well—not only did they have just two days to eat this; they had to eat of it on the self-same day it was offered. You start eating it as soon as it is cooked thoroughly, making sure it is completely well done (we will see in the near future that they were not to eat it while the blood was still in it, Leviticus 7:26-27) and you finish it by the end of the second day. If you don’t, what happens? You bear your guilt, and God says, “I do not accept your gift. You have not fulfilled your vow; you have not given Me thanks” and as the text says, that person bears their sin. And then what do you have to do? You go through that all over again—and on top of that, now you have to bring a sin offering along with your שֶׁלֶם (shelem).

Could this possibly be what the writer of Hebrews was getting at when, as he was speaking of Christ, he wrote Hebrews 2:1-3—1 Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him… Was not Christ a Peace Offering? Did He not offer Himself up as a שֶׁלֶם (shelem) for us? Is it not the salvation we have in Christ that brings us into peace with God? Romans 5:1—Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It may have been with an eye toward this that Paul said, in Romans 7:24-25—24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! Paul here describes Christ as a שֶׁלֶם (shelem) of thanksgiving, offering thanksgiving to God for Christ, who has delivered him from his “body of death.”

One last thing. If you kept your שֶׁלֶם (shelem) lying around your tent for more than a day, what was likely to happen to it? It would either become contaminated, or it may come into contact with some unclean thing, and what happened in that case? Leviticus 7:19-21—“‘19 The flesh that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten. It shall be burned with fire. And as for the clean flesh, all who are clean may eat of it. 20 But the person who eats the flesh of the sacrifice of the peace offering that belongs to the LORD, while he is unclean, that person shall be cut off from his people. 21 Moreover the person who touches any unclean thing, such as human uncleanness, an unclean animal, or any abominable unclean thing, and who eats the flesh of the sacrifice of the peace offering that belongs to the LORD, that person shall be cut off from his people.’” Real simple. If any part of the שֶׁלֶם (shelem), at any time, anywhere, comes into contact with anything that is unclean (see Leviticus 11:24-39; Numbers 19:11-16), you burn the שֶׁלֶם (shelem) with fire. If any unclean person (see Leviticus 15:3-33) eats from the שֶׁלֶם (shelem); if you touch any unclean thing (see: Leviticus 11:10-13, 20, 24-42; Deuteronomy 14:3, 7-8, 14:10, 12-20) and then you eat of the שֶׁלֶם (shelem)—you don’t just “bear your sin” and bring a sin offering. You are cut off from your people. You are put outside the covenant of God, or maybe, just maybe, God might just take you out of the world Himself. Does God have that right? Can He simply destroy someone just because they brushed up against a camel and then ate what was given in thanks to god for deliverance? Of course He does. Psalm 115:3—Our God is in Heaven and He does as he pleases. Psalm 24:1—The earth is the LORD's, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein. Notice I underlined that past part. Every single person that lives and has breath and moves upon the earth—whether Jew or Gentile, slave or free, saved or lost—every single soul belongs to God. And if He says not to take even a bite of that roasted lamb of the שֶׁלֶם (shelem) after a dog runs by and knocks you over—then you don’t eat it. And if you do eat it, and God strikes you down, He is well within His rights because this is His world, you just occupy space, and if He says it and if He commands it then He has that right because it all belongs to Him anyway. Oh, I'm sorry. You don’t like that? Too bad. You don’t get a vote.

So, now that we have seen all the regulations and restrictions that go along with the sacrifice of שֶׁלֶם (shelem), let’s see what you could offer and how it was to be prepared. This should not take nearly as long. For this, we turn to Leviticus 3. You could offer an animal from either your herd (livestock), or your flock (sheep or goats). The preparation of livestock and the preparation of goats was the same, so let’s look at them together. Leviticus 3:1-6, 12-16—“‘1 When his offering is a sacrifice of a peace offering, if he offers it of the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the LORD. 2 And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of meeting; and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood all around on the altar. 3 Then he shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire to the LORD. The fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, 4 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; 5 and Aaron's sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is on the wood that is on the fire, as an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD. 6 If his offering as a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD is of the flock, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish…12 And if his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before the LORD. 13 He shall lay his hand on its head and kill it before the tabernacle of meeting; and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar. 14 Then he shall offer from it his offering, as an offering made by fire to the LORD. The fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, 15 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; 16 and the priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma; all the fat is the LORD's.’”

Did you notice something there in verse 1? The Burnt Offering (עֹלָה (olah)), you had to bring a male without blemish. The Peace Offering (שֶׁלֶם (shelem)), you could bring a male or a female. So you find a male or female goat without spot or blemish, or a male or female cattle without spot or blemish, and you bring it to the priest. You lay your hand on the head of that animal, you declare that God is your Almighty Provider, Deliverer, and the One who sustains and upholds all things. And then you slit its throat. And you watch as this animal goes from healthy and vibrant and living one minute, to bleating and bellering and thrashing and kicking the next. And finally you watch as this beast very…slowly…bleeds…to…death. The priest sprinkles some of that blood around the altar, and then he hoists the animal up by its hind legs until all the blood is drained (all 10 or so gallons of it). Then he cuts it up as we read in verses 4-5. Those things he burns on the altar as a sweet aroma to the LORD. You guys don’t eat that, it belongs to God.

Now, do you just throw the rest of the carcass on top of the daily Burnt Offering? Not quite. While the rest of the offering is indeed burned on top of the daily Burnt Offering (Aaron's sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice) and roasted until there’s no more blood left, it wasn’t just thrown there in a heap. Aaron and his sons get the breast (brisket) and the right thigh. They cut those pieces out, and everything is laid, in order, on the altar and burned. “Where does it say that about Aaron and his sons?” you ask. It tells us that in the instructions for the initial consecration of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood in Exodus 29:26-28—“26 Then you shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron's consecration and wave it as a wave offering before the LORD; and it shall be your portion. 27 And from the ram of the consecration you shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering which is waved, and the thigh of the heave offering which is raised, of that which is for Aaron and of that which is for his sons. 28 It shall be from the children of Israel for Aaron and his sons by a statute forever. For it is a heave offering; it shall be a heave offering from the children of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, that is, their heave offering to the LORD.” They take the breast (brisket) and wave it back and forth. They take the right rear thigh and heave it into the air. Let’s see…one goes up and down, the other goes back and forth. Maybe, kinda like the upright beam and the horizontal beam of the cross? Then once the animal is cut up in the proper manner, you follow the various commands determined by whether this is an offering of thanksgiving or if it’s a vow or free-will offering.

Now, suppose you don’t bring an ox or a goat? Suppose you bring a lamb? I'm glad you asked. Leviticus 3:7-11—“‘7 If he offers a lamb as his offering, then he shall offer it before the LORD. 8 And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of meeting; and Aaron's sons shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar. 9 Then he shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering, as an offering made by fire to the LORD, its fat and the whole fat tail which he shall remove close to the backbone. And the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, 10 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; 11 and the priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire to the LORD.’” The one thing that sets the offering of a lamb apart from the offering of livestock or goats is the inclusion of the “fat tail” (verse 9). If you have a KJV, it renders “the fat tail” as “the whole rump.” And that is not correct. John Gill—“In the eastern countries, some sheep and lambs had very large tails, and very fat ones, the least weighing ten or twelve pounds, the largest above forty, and were put in little carts for ease and safety. Now such as were ‘whole’, entire, perfect, and without blemish, as the word signifies, the fat of them that was next to the backbone was to be taken off of such as were brought for Peace Offerings.” The “fat tail” was (and in some places, still is) a delicacy in the Middle East. And here, in this offering (and also in the offering for the consecration of Aaron and his sons, Exodus 29:22; Leviticus 8:25), God says, “I want that.” Do you get to say, “Well, now, I promised that to Yitzhak if he’d help me fix my tent”? No. That belongs to God. Didn’t we just say a little while ago that everything—that is, every thing—belongs to God? He has that right. If He says “Take the best, most tender and delectable part of that animal and burn it for Me”—case closed.

We will finish up the Peace Offerings next week.

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--The Peace Offering Part 2 (3:1-17; 7:11-21)

Today we begin by examining the third type of Peace Offering of a vow, this being the “vow of destruction” (the Hebrew [חֵרֶם, cherem], or Greek [ἀνάθεμα, anathema]). Where have I heard the word ἀνάθεμα (anathema) before? Oh yeah. 1^st Corinthians 16:22 (KJV)—If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be ἀνάθεμα (anathema). Paul uses it in a couple other verses (although translated into English rather than transliterated from the Greek). Galatians 1:8-9—8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed (ἀνάθεμα (anathema)). 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed (ἀνάθεμα (anathema)). Let him be devoted to destruction. We read about things being declared חֵרֶם (cherem) in Joshua 6. The things dedicated to חֵרֶם (cherem) were, of course, those things in the city of Jericho that the LORD commanded them to destroy. Joshua, son of Nun, makes this warning very clear to all within the sound of his voice when he declares in Joshua 6:16-18—16 And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, “Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city. 17 And the city shall be accursed (חֵרֶם (cherem)), even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. 18 And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing (חֵרֶם (cherem)), lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing חֵרֶם (cherem), and make the camp of Israel a curse (חֵרֶם (cherem)), and trouble it.” Anything that was devoted to destruction for the glory of God was to be destroyed. Not just for grins and giggles, but so that all things which call themselves “God” (which are not God) may be obliterated and the true God be magnified.

A person could put under the חֵרֶם (cherem) either land, or beasts, or even people. Leviticus 27 is the first place we read about putting something (or someone) under חֵרֶם (cherem). In Leviticus 27:16-21—“‘16 If a man dedicates to the LORD part of a field of his possession, then your valuation shall be according to the seed for it…17 If he dedicates his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand. 18 But if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, then the priest shall reckon to him the money due according to the years that remain till the Year of Jubilee, and it shall be deducted from your valuation. 19 And if he who dedicates the field ever wishes to redeem it, then he must add one-fifth of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall belong to him. 20 But if he does not want to redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed anymore; 21 but the field, when it is released in the Jubilee, shall be holy to the LORD, as a devoted field; it shall be the possession of the priest.’” To make it simple: if you declare a portion of your field to be חֵרֶם (cherem) during the year of Jubilee, you get 50 shekels. For every year after that, they knock a shekel off the price. Let’s say you declare a piece of land חֵרֶם (cherem) 7 years after the last Jubilee. If you want it back, you have to redeem it by paying back what you received, plus one-fifth. Now, if you declare it חֵרֶם (cherem) and you get your 43 shekels, and then you turn and sell that land to someone who is not of your tribe—it’s gone. And even closer to our point here, if you declare that piece of land חֵרֶם (cherem), and the next Jubilee rolls around, and you haven’t redeemed it—tough luck, Lucy. It belongs to the priests. It is חֵרֶם (cherem) to YHVH. Period, paragraph.

Then, we read a little something that makes us pause. Leviticus 27:28-29—“‘28 Nevertheless no devoted offering that a man may devote to the LORD of all that he has, both man and beast, or the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted offering is most holy to the LORD. 29 No person under the ban, who may become doomed to destruction among men, shall be redeemed, but shall surely be put to death.’” You could dedicate animals to the חֵרֶם (cherem), obviously. And once you declare that animal חֵרֶם (cherem) you could not redeem it. You dedicated it to destruction for the glory of God—it’s over, you don’t get it back. But the really odd thing here is you could dedicate people to the חֵרֶם (cherem). One could dedicate another person to destruction. That sounds bizarre to us. That sounds cruel and inhumane. BUT—let’s think about this, and not just rashly write this off as some insane addition that some corrupt scribe inserted here. For the most glaring example of rashly assigning one to חֵרֶם (cherem), we look at Jephthah. Judges 11:29-33—29 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead; and from Mizpah of Gilead he advanced toward the people of Ammon. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD, and said, "If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, 31 then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering." 32 So Jephthah advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hands. 33 And he defeated them from Aroer as far as Minnith—twenty cities—and to Abel Keramim, with a very great slaughter. Thus the people of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel. Sounds great, yeah? Good news, Jephthah led the people of Israel to a mighty victory. And as a Peace Offering, he makes a vow of חֵרֶם (cherem) of the first living thing that comes out of his house to greet him at home!

Not so fast. What was the first living thing to greet him when he got home? Judges 11:34-39—34 When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, there was his daughter, coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing; and she was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I have given my word to the LORD, and I cannot go back on it"…39 And it was so at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he carried out his vow with her which he had vowed. What happened here? Well, this is one place where we must depart from the traditional translations. In verse 31, when Jephthah makes this fateful vow, what we have read had been the traditional rendering. However, it may not actually be accurate. At the risk of sounding like I have this notion that I have somehow solved one of the greatest difficulties in Scripture—one which the most learned of men have wrestled with for years—after pouring over much material, I must come to the conclusion that what happened here was NOT that Jephthah promised to take the first human that came out the door to greet him, take that person to the priest and have the priest kill, cut up, and burn that person. Let’s talk about this a moment.

If Jephthah had promised to offer the first person out the door as a Burnt Offering on YHVH’s altar, and if YHVH had held Jephthah to that vow—then any Israelite could put any other Israelite under חֵרֶם (cherem), and there would be all kinds of human sacrifice going on, and they would be no different form the pagans who worshipped Molech. Keil and Delitzsch—

“…the law concerning the ban and a vow of the ban [חֵרֶם (cherem)] could not possibly give any individual Israelite the right to ban [חֵרֶם (cherem)] either his own child or one of his household to the Lord, without opening a very wide door to the crime of murder. The infliction of the ban [חֵרֶם (cherem)] upon any man presupposed notorious wickedness, so that burnt-offering and ban [חֵרֶם (cherem)] were diametrically opposed the one to the other.”

So, what was the vow that Jephthah vowed? Well, Dr. William Hales, a Hebrew scholar from the 1800’s, interprets it thus:

“When Jephthah went forth to battle against the Ammonites, he vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, ‘If thou wilt surely give the children of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be that whatsoever cometh out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall either be the Lord’s, or I will offer it up (for) a burnt-offering.’ According to this rendering of the two conjunctions…the vow consisted of two parts: 1. That what person soever met him should be the Lord’s or be dedicated to his service; and, 2. That what beast soever met him, if clean, should be offered up for a burnt-offering unto the Lord. This rendering and this interpretation is warranted by the Levitical law about vows.

“The נדר  (neder), or vow, in general, included either persons, beasts, or things dedicated to the Lord for pious uses; which, if it was a simple vow, was redeemable at certain prices, if the person repented of his vow, and wished to commute it for money, according to the age or sex of the person (see Leviticus 27:1-8): this was a wise regulation to remedy rash vows. But if the vow was accompanied with חֵרֶם (cherem), devotement, it was irredeemable, as in the following case, Leviticus 27:28—‘“Notwithstanding, no devotement which a man shall devote unto the Lord, (either) of man, or beast, or of land of his own property, shall be sold or redeemed. Every thing devoted is most holy to the Lord”’

“…there are three distinct subjects of devotement to be applied to distinct uses: the man to be dedicated to the service of the Lord, as Samuel by his mother Hannah (see 1^st Samuel 1:11); the cattle, if clean, such as oxen, sheep, goats, turtle-doves, or pigeons, to be sacrificed; and if unclean, as camels, horses, asses, to be employed for carrying burdens in the service of the tabernacle or temple; and the lands, to be sacred property.

“This law therefore expressly applied…to Jephthah’s case, who had devoted his daughter to the Lord, or opened his mouth to the Lord, and therefore could not go back…she was, therefore necessarily devoted, but with her own consent to perpetual virginity in the service of the tabernacle, and such service was customary, for in the division of the spoils taken in the first Midianitish war, of the whole number of captive virgins the Lord’s tribute was thirty-two persons (see Numbers 31:15-40). This instance appears to be decisive of the nature of her devotement.”

To summarize, although Jephthah did indeed offer his daughter to YHVH as an עֹלָה (olah), he did not necessarily devote her to destruction as a חֵרֶם (cherem). Therefore, she need not be slaughtered a bloody עֹלָה (olah), but she was presented, as Paul encourages us to present ourselves, as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Romans 12:1). And indeed, Adam Clarke bolsters this argument by quoting the great Hebrew scholar of the 1600’s, Charles Francois Houbigant on the last verses in this chapter, Judges 11:39-40, which have come to us as reading, And it became a custom in Israel that the daughters of Israel went four days each year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite. Monsieur Houbigant rather renders it thus: “But this custom prevailed in Israel that the virgins of Israel went at different times, four days in the year, to the daughter of Jephthah, that they might comfort her.” Mister Clarke concludes from this rendering (and, I believe, rightly so), that, “This verse also gives evidence that the daughter of Jephthah was not sacrificed: nor does it appear that the custom or statute referred to here lasted after the death of Jephthah’s daughter.” Many, many years later, Solomon would warn us about making hasty vows in Ecclesiastes 5:2-5—2 Do not be rash with your mouth, And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few…4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed—5 Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.

So that covers the Peace Offerings (שֶׁלֶם (shelem)) “of a vow”—the vow of devotion, the vow of abstinence (קָרְבָּן (qorban)), and the vow of destruction (חֵרֶם (cherem)). Next week we will turn our attention to the “voluntary” (or “freewill”) offering.

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.