Leviticus 7 Devotional

Thanks Brought by Hand

“With his own hands he is to bring the food offerings to the LORD; he shall bring the fat, together with the breast, and wave the breast as a wave offering before the LORD.”Leviticus 7:30 (BSB)

The peace offering returns in chapter 7, now with what happens to the meat. A worshiper giving thanks brings it with loaves and cakes, and the meat must be eaten that same day (7:12-15). The worshiper brings the fat and the breast with his own hands (7:30), and God gives the breast and the right thigh to the priests as their lasting share (7:34). Thanks was not only felt. It was carried, offered, and eaten.

The meal was joyful but never casual. Anyone unclean who ate from it was to be cut off from his people (7:20-21). Fellowship with God was real, and so was his holiness. Paul says that Israelites who ate the sacrifices shared in the altar, and that the cup and bread of the Lord's Supper are a sharing in the blood and body of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16, 18). Gratitude in Scripture takes a concrete shape, and yours can too.

To think about: What concrete form could your thanks to God take today, in something you bring, say, or share with someone else?