Scripture Daily

Context No. 3852 of 4322 · Leviticus

Context · Reflection

Leviticus 7:22-27: in context

22The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘You shall eat no fat, of bull, or sheep, or goat. 24The fat of that which dies of itself, and the fat of that which is torn of animals, may be used for any other service, but you shall in no way eat of it. 25For whoever eats the fat of the animal which men offer as an offering made by fire to the LORD, even the soul who eats it shall be cut off from his people. 26You shall not eat any blood, whether it is of bird or of animal, in any of your dwellings. 27Whoever it is who eats any blood, that soul shall be cut off from his people.’”

This law reserves two things for God alone: the fat and the blood of the sacrificial animals were not to be eaten by the people. The fat, regarded as the rich, prime part, was to be offered to God; and the blood, which represented the life, was never to be consumed.

Behind these rules lie truths that run through all of Scripture. The fat, the prime portion, belonged to God; his people were to give him the prime, not the leftovers. And the blood, the life, was sacred, belonging to God who gives life, and set apart for the atonement he would provide. There is a principle here that still speaks. God is worthy of our prime, not our leftovers; the prime of what we have rightly belongs to him. And the reverence for the blood, the life, points forward to the preciousness of the blood by which Christ would make atonement, the lifeblood poured out for our redemption. To honor God is to give him the prime of what we have, and to reverence the life that he alone gives and that Christ poured out for us.

Do I give God the prime of what I have rather than my leftovers, and do I reverence the precious blood, the life poured out, by which Christ made atonement for me?

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