Levítico 7

Levítico 7

Spurgeon comments on Ps 50:14 - No longer look at your sacrifices as in themselves gifts pleasing to Me, but present them as the tributes of your gratitude; it is then that I will accept them, but not while your poor souls have no love and no thankfulness to offer Me. The sacrifices, as considered in themselves, are contemned (despised), but the internal emotions of love that result from a remembrance of God's divine goodness, are commended as the substance, meaning, and soul of sacrifice. Even when the legal ceremonials were not abolished, this was true (before the Cross), and when they came to an end (Ed: Jesus "gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma" - Eph 5:2-note), this truth was more than ever made manifest. Not for want of bullocks on the altar was Israel blamed, but for want of thankful adoration before the Lord. She excelled in the visible, but in the inward grace, which is the one thing needful, she sadly failed. Too many in these days are in the same condemnation. And pay thy vows unto the most High. Let the sacrifice be really presented to the God who sees the heart, pay to Him the love you promised, the service you covenanted to render, the loyalty of heart you have vowed to maintain. O for grace to do this! O that we may be graciously enabled (Ed: by the Spirit) to love God, and live up to our profession! To be, indeed, the servants of the Lord, the lovers of Jesus, this is our main concern. What avails our baptism, to what end our gatherings at the Lord's table, to what purpose our solemn assemblies, if we have not the fear of the Lord, and vital godliness reigning within our bosoms? (Spurgeon on Ps 50:23) Praise is the best sacrifice; true, hearty, gracious thanksgiving from a renewed mind. Not the lowing of bullocks bound to the altar, but the songs of redeemed men are the music which the ear of Jehovah delights in. Sacrifice your loving gratitude, and God is honored thereby. Rooker on todah - The noun תּוֹדָה (todah) is from the root ידה, (yadah) which as shown above means “to confess, praise.” The same distribution of meaning in the verb exists in the noun according to R. Alexander, who suggests that the תּוֹדָה offering was presented to offer thanks to God or confession of sin. He believes the latter is at issue in 7:12–15 (יָדָה [yādâ], In Lev 7:12 todah is translated in the Septuagint (Lxx) with the noun ainesis which describes a thank offering, an action of praise in which one speaks of how excellent a person or thing is (Heb 13:15-note). It is a thank-offering presented to God for some benefit received. It speaks of praise or adoration. Todah - 29x in OT - translated in the NAS - choir(1), choirs(2), confession(1), hymns of thanksgiving(1), praise(1), sacrifices of thanksgiving(1), thank offering(2), thank offerings(4), thanksgiving(18). Leviticus 7:12 'If he offers it by way of thanksgiving, then along with the sacrifice of thanksgiving he shall offer unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, and cakes of well stirred fine flour mixed with oil. 13 'With the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving, he shall present his offering with cakes of leavened bread. 15 'Now as for the flesh of the sacrifice of his thanksgiving peace offerings, it shall be eaten on the day of his offering; he shall not leave any of it over until morning. Leviticus 22:29 "When you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. Joshua 7:19 Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, I implore you, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and give praise to Him; and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me." 2 Chronicles 29:31 Then Hezekiah said, "Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the LORD." And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all those who were willing brought burnt offerings. 2 Chronicles 33:16 He set up the altar of the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it; and he ordered Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel. Ezra 10:11 "Now therefore, make confession to the LORD God of your fathers and do His will; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives." Nehemiah 12:27 Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites from all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem so that they might celebrate the dedication with gladness, with hymns of thanksgiving (Lxx = euphrosune = rejoicing, cheerfulness, gladness; see related verb euphraino) and with songs to the accompaniment of cymbals, harps and lyres. 31 Then I had the leaders of Judah come up on top of the wall, and I appointed two great choirs, the first proceeding to the right on top of the wall toward the Refuse Gate. 38 The second choir (Lxx - ainesis - a thank offering) proceeded to the left, while I followed them with half of the people on the wall, above the Tower of Furnaces, to the Broad Wall, 40 Then the two choirs took their stand in the house of God. So did I and half of the officials with me; Psalm 26:7 That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving And declare all Your wonders. Spurgeon - David was so far instructed that he does not mention the typical offering (Ed: As described here in Leviticus 7), but discerns the spiritual offering which was intended thereby, not the groans of bullocks, but songs of gratitude the spiritual worshipper presents. To sound abroad the worthy praises of the God of all grace should be the everyday business of a pardoned sinner. Let men slander us as they will, let us not defraud the Lord of His praises; let dogs bark, but let us like the moon shine on. Psalm 42:4 These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God, With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival. Psalm 50:14 "Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving And pay your vows to the Most High; 23 "He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; And to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God." Psalm 56:12 Your vows are binding upon me, O God; I will render thank offerings to You. Spurgeon - Vows made in his trouble he does not lightly forget, nor should we. We voluntarily made them, let us cheerfully keep them. All professed Christians are men under vows, but especially those who in hours of dire distress have rededicated themselves unto the Lord. I will render praises unto thee. With heart, and voice, and gift, we should cheerfully extol the God of our salvation. The practice of making solemn vows in times of trouble is to be commended, when it is followed by the far less common custom of fulfilling them when the trouble is over. Psalm 69:30 I will praise the name of God with song And magnify Him with thanksgiving. Psalm 95:2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. Spurgeon - Here is probably a reference to the peculiar presence of God in the Holy of Holies above the mercy seat, and also to the glory which shone forth out of the cloud which rested above the tabernacle. Everywhere God is present, but there is a peculiar presence of grace and glory into which men should never come without the profoundest reverence. We may make bold to come before the immediate presence of the Lord—for the voice of the Holy Ghost in this psalm invites us, and when we do draw near to him we should remember his great goodness to us and cheerfully confess it. Our worship should have reference to the past as well as to the future; if we do not bless the Lord for what we have already received, how can we reasonably look for more. Psalm 100:4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. Spurgeon - To the occurrence of the word thanksgiving in this place the Psalm probably owes its title. In all our public service the rendering of thanks must abound; it is like the incense of the temple, which filled the whole house with smoke. Expiatory sacrifices are ended, but those of gratitude will never be out of date. So long as we are receivers of mercy we must be givers of thanks. Mercy permits us to enter his gates; let us praise that mercy. What better subject for our thoughts in God's own house than the Lord of the house. Psalm 107:22 Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, And tell of His works with joyful singing. Spurgeon - In such a case let there be gifts and oblations as well as words. Let the good Physician have his fee of gratitude. Let life become a sacrifice to him who has prolonged it, let the deed of self denying gratitude be repeated again and again: there must be many cheerful sacrifices to celebrate the marvelous boon. Psalm 116:17 To You I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving, And call upon the name of the LORD. Spurgeon - Being thy servant, I am bound to sacrifice to Thee, and having received spiritual blessings at Thy hands I will not bring bullock or goat, but I will bring that which is more suitable, namely, the thanksgiving of my heart. My inmost soul shall adore thee in gratitude. And will call upon the name of the Lord, that is to say, I will bow before thee reverently, lift up my heart in love to thee, think upon thy character, and adore thee as thou dost reveal thyself. He is fond of this occupation, and several times in this Psalm declares that "he will call upon the name of the Lord, "while at the same time he rejoices that he had done so many a time before. Good feelings and actions bear repeating: the more of hearty callings upon God the better. Psalm 147:7 Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; Sing praises to our God on the lyre, Spurgeon - In this paragraph the contrast announced in the former section is enlarged upon from another point of view, namely, as it is seen in nature and in providence. Sing unto the LORD with, thanksgiving; or rather, "respond to Jehovah." He speaks to us in his works, let us answer him with our thanks. All that he does is gracious, every movement of Iris hand is goodness; therefore let our hearts reply with gratitude, and our lips with song. Our lives should be responses to divine love. Jehovah is ever engaged in giving, let us respond with thanksgiving. Isaiah 51:3 Indeed, the LORD will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places. And her wilderness He will make like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the LORD; Joy and gladness will be found in her, Thanksgiving and sound of a melody. Jeremiah 17:26 "They will come in from the cities of Judah and from the environs of Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of the LORD. Jeremiah 30:19 'From them will proceed thanksgiving And the voice of those who celebrate; And I will multiply them and they will not be diminished; I will also honor them and they will not be insignificant. Jeremiah 33:11 the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, "Give thanks to the LORD of hosts, For the LORD is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting"; and of those who bring a thank offering into the house of the LORD. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were at first,' says the LORD. Amos 4:5 "Offer a thank offering also from that which is leavened, And proclaim freewill offerings, make them known. For so you love to do, you sons of Israel," Declares the Lord GOD. Jonah 2:9 But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the LORD." In the peace offering of thanksgiving, a person could approach God only through the sacrifice (Lev 7:12). Recall that this OT sacrifice ultimately pointed to Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on Calvary. POSB - The person also had to offer several kinds of bread with the sacrifice: cakes, wafers, and loaves mixed with oil. But note: the bread was to be made without leaven or yeast (Leviticus 7:12). Again, this symbolized sin and corruption. No person can grow in the peace and fellowship of God if he has sin in his life. The offering with leaven or yeast (sin, corruption) is unacceptable to God. The person must also offer several loaves of bread made with yeast (Leviticus 7:13). These were to go to the priests to be their portion, not the LORD's portion of the offering (cp. Leviticus 7:14). Harrison - he peace or well-being sacrifice (NEB ‘shared-offerings’) could be presented as a thanksgiving in connection with a vow made to God (cf. Ps. 116:14) or as a freewill offering (Lev 7:16), and it was the only sacrifice in the entire tariff in which the donor was permitted to share. In later Judaism the thanksgiving offering was valued as the highest type of sacrifice, but here it is only one category of offering, meant to promote the well-being of the worshipper. The thanksgiving (Heb. tôdâ) gift represented the donor’s acknowledgment of God’s mercies to him, while the votive (Heb. neder) comprised an offering in fulfilment of a vow. The freewill (Heb. nĕdābâ) offering consisted of an act of homage and obedience to the Lord where no vow had been made, and with the other categories of well-being sacrifices lent substance to the conviction in Israel that God valued a tangible response to his blessings more than a mere verbal profession of gratitude, which might or might not be sincere. Similarly, the Christian is commanded to love not just in word or speech, but in deed and truth (1 John 3:18). Ryrie: The peace offering could be brought (1) as an act of thanksgiving (Lev 7:12-15) for deliverance, answers to prayer, healing, and so on, (2) in connection with a vow (votive offering) relative to a past or future favor (Lev 7:16-17), or (3) purely as a freewill, voluntary act (Lev 7:16-17). The thanksgiving peace offering had to be eaten the same day it was offered; the vow or voluntary offerings might be eaten that day and the day following, but not left till the third day. Lev 7:13 'With the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving, he shall present his offering with cakes of leavened bread. leavened: Lev 23:17 Am 4:5 Mt 13:33 1Ti 4:4) NET He must present this grain offering in addition to ring-shaped loaves of leavened bread [which regularly accompany] (see note below) the sacrifice of his thanksgiving peace offering. NET Bible Note - The translation “[which regularly accompany]…” is based on the practice of bringing bread (and wine) to eat with the portions of the peace offering meat eaten by the priests and worshipers (see Lev 7:14 and Nu 15:1–13). This was in addition to the memorial portion of the unleavened bread that was offered to the LORD on the altar (cf. Lev 2:2, 9-note, and Lev 7:12) CSB He is to present as his offering cakes of leavened bread, with his thanksgiving sacrifice of fellowship. NIV Along with his fellowship offering of thanksgiving he is to present an offering with cakes of bread made with yeast. Cakes of leavened bread - "Only here in the Bible is this term used. It is unusual to have yeast as part of an offering to the Lord; nevertheless, it further symbolizes the entirety of the produce of the land, which God has given to Israel. Both types of cakes, leavened and unleavened, belong to the Lord as an offering and to the priests for food. In the NT leaven often symbolizes something that begins in a small way and spreads. Most of the time this describes some sort of evil (Mt 16:6, 11–12; Mk 8:15; Lk 12:1; 1 Co 5:6–8), but sometimes it describes something positive, such as the kingdom of heaven (Mt 13:33; Lk 13:21). In the same manner, the prototype of leaven in the sacrifices of the OT most often must be avoided; but occasionally it forms part of a legitimate offering." (Hess - Expositor’s Bible Commentary) Bush explains that the peace offerings for thanksgiving are given "in token of gratitude for special mercies and favors received, such as recovery from sickness, preservation in a journey, deliverance at sea, redemption from captivity, all of which are specified in Psalm 107:1-43, and for them men are called upon to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving. In allusion to this kind of offering the apostle says, Heb 13:15, ‘Through Him (Jesus) then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His Name.’ In regard to oblations of this kind, the precept is, that along with the bullock, goat, or sheep, the offerer should present pancakes mixed with pure oil, but unleavened, inasmuch as part of them was to be offered up to God with the fat upon the altar, where leaven was entirely prohibited. Still leaven was not excluded from another part of the offering, viz. that of the bread of the priests, which was not burnt upon the altar. The occasion of the offering, it is to be recollected, was one of gratitude, praise, and rejoicing; and on such an occasion God would kindly allow a more palatable species of food for his servants, and accept at His own table the same bread which they were wont to use at theirs." Deffinbaugh - Along with the fat which is offered up to God there would also be the appropriate offering of grain. In the case of a thanksgiving offering both leavened and unleavened cakes were to be offered, some of which was burned on the altar, and the rest of which was to go to the priests (Lev 7:12-13). This was not the only grain offering which was leavened, for the celebration of Pentecost included the offering of leavened bread (Lev. 23:17). Those who would tell us that leaven is always a symbol of evil, and that, as such, it can never be used in conjunction with Israel’s worship or offerings, have some explaining to do here. G Campbell