Leviticus 7:16-21: a reflection

16“‘But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow, or a free will offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice. On the next day what remains of it shall be eaten, 17but what remains of the meat of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned with fire. 18If any of the meat of the sacrifice of his peace offerings is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted, and it shall not be credited to him who offers it. It will be an abomination, and the soul who eats any of it will bear his iniquity. 19“‘The meat that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten. It shall be burned with fire. As for the meat, everyone who is clean may eat it; 20but the soul who eats of the meat of the sacrifice of peace offerings that belongs to the LORD, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from his people. 21When anyone touches any unclean thing, the uncleanness of man, or an unclean animal, or any unclean abomination, and eats some of the meat of the sacrifice of peace offerings which belong to the LORD, that soul shall be cut off from his people.’”

The regulations for the peace offering include strict rules about cleanness: the one who eats of the offering must be clean; anyone who eats it while unclean, or after it touches something unclean, is cut off. The peace offering was a meal shared, in a sense, in God's presence, a celebration of fellowship with him, and it required that those who partook come clean, not carelessly, not while defiled. Fellowship with the holy God at his table was not to be entered casually.

Notice the principle beneath the ritual: drawing near to share in God's holy things requires that we come rightly, examined, not defiled. The peace offering was a joyful thing, a meal of fellowship, but it was fellowship with a holy God, and so it called for reverence and a clean approach. One could not partake while carrying uncleanness as though it did not matter. Communion with God was joyful, but never careless.

That principle carries forward to how we come to God, and especially, Christians have long seen, to the Lord's table. Paul warns believers to examine themselves before eating the bread and drinking the cup, not to come carelessly, treating fellowship with the holy God as a trivial thing. This is not about earning our place, which we never could, but about coming with reverence and a searched heart rather than casual indifference. When you draw near to God, and when you come to his table, do not come carelessly. Examine your heart, come cleansed by Christ, and enter the fellowship with the reverence that its holiness deserves.

Lord, the peace offering was a joyful meal of fellowship, yet it required coming clean, not careless, before your holiness. Teach me to draw near to you, and to come to your table, with reverence and a searched heart, not casual indifference. Not to earn my place, which I never could, but to honor the holiness of fellowship with you. Cleanse me by Christ, and help me enter your presence with the reverence its holiness deserves.