Leviticus. Day 22, The Portions Allotted To The Priests

Many of the offerings brought to the tabernacle were meant to be shared with the priests. The Lord's portion was devoted to Him first and then the priests were given their share and then the person who brought the offering also kept part of it. Today we'll look at the portions of the fellowship offerings that were allotted to the priests.

"The Lord said to Moses, 'Say to all the Israelites: Anyone who brings a fellowship offering to the Lord is to bring part of it as their sacrifice to the Lord. With their own hands they are to present the food offering to the Lord; they are to bring the fat, together with the breast, and wave the breast before the Lord as a wave offering. The priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast belongs to Aaron and his sons." (Leviticus 7:28-31) The breast was waved before the Lord in an attitude of thankfulness but then it was given to the priests. It is said that a wave offering was done in a specific manner. The person bringing the offering would hold the portion of meat in his hands and the priest would put his hand underneath the hands of the bringer of the offering and they would wave the meat in a back and forth and side to side manner. Many scholars point out that this motion would have made the sign of the cross. Whether this exactly how the wave offering was presented, and whether it was intended to be waved in a cross-shaped manner, we cannot say for certain all these centuries later.

"You are to give the right thigh of your fellowship offerings to the priest as a contribution. The son of Aaron who offers the blood and the fat of the fellowship offering shall have the right thigh as his share. From the fellowship offerings of the Israelites, I have taken the breast that is waved and the thigh that is presented and have given them to Aaron the priest and his sons as their perpetual share from the Israelites."" (Leviticus 7:32-34) It would have been a sin not to give these portions to the priests when a person brought a fellowship offering to the tabernacle. The Lord makes it clear that these portions belong to the priests; therefore to withhold it from them would be stealing from them. He also makes it clear that this ordinance does not die out with the generations of Aaron and his sons. To all the priests who follow them will belong these portions.

"This is the portion of the food offerings presented to the Lord that were allotted to Aaron and his sons on the day they were presented to the Lord to serve as priests. On the day they were anointed, the Lord commanded that the Israelites give this to them as their perpetual share for the generations to come." (Leviticus 7:35-36) The Lord gave this command on the day Aaron and his sons were ordained as priests, which is a ceremony we will begin studying tomorrow as we move on into Chapter Eight.

"These, then, are the regulations for the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the ordination offering and the fellowship offering, which the Lord gave Moses at Mount Sinai in the Desert of Sinai on the day He commanded the Israelites to bring their offerings to the Lord." (Leviticus 7:37-38) This concludes the portion of Scripture we have been studying for the past couple of weeks regarding the types of offerings and how they were to be presented. 

These regulations were to be carried out exactly as described by God and were to be observed in a serious and reverent manner. Each offering was to be handled in the same specific way every single time, in an orderly and respectful attitude toward the Lord, toward the priests, and toward each other. In the New Testament we find the Apostle Paul cautioning the members of the Christian church to see to it that they conduct their services in an orderly and respectful manner. They were no longer bringing sacrifices or following a strict set of regulations but this didn't mean they were to take on a casual attitude toward God and it didn't mean they could be selfish and talk over each other in church, for he said, "God is not a God of disorder but of peace---as in all the congregations of the Lord's people." (1 Corinthians 14:33) 

You and I don't have to bring sacrifices to a tabernacle or to a temple. Christ has made the only sacrifice we will ever need. But when we come together to worship the Lord we should bring the "sacrifice" of a humble spirit. We should come together with a willingness to listen and learn and in a manner that shows respect to our God and to our fellow man.