Leviticus 7:1-38 (NLT)
1 “These are the instructions for the guilt offering. It is most holy.
2 The animal sacrificed as a guilt offering must be slaughtered at the place where the burnt offerings are slaughtered, and its blood must be splattered against all sides of the altar.
3 The priest will then offer all its fat on the altar, including the fat of the broad tail, the fat around the internal organs,
4 the two kidneys and the fat around them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver. These are to be removed with the kidneys,
5 and the priests will burn them on the altar as a special gift presented to the LORD. This is the guilt offering.
6 Any male from a priest’s family may eat the meat. It must be eaten in a sacred place, for it is most holy.
7 “The same instructions apply to both the guilt offering and the sin offering. Both belong to the priest who uses them to purify someone, making that person right with the LORD.
8 In the case of the burnt offering, the priest may keep the hide of the sacrificed animal.
9 Any grain offering that has been baked in an oven, prepared in a pan, or cooked on a griddle belongs to the priest who presents it.
10 All other grain offerings, whether made of dry flour or flour moistened with olive oil, are to be shared equally among all the priests, the descendants of Aaron.
11 “These are the instructions regarding the different kinds of peace offerings that may be presented to the LORD.
12 If you present your peace offering as an expression of thanksgiving, the usual animal sacrifice must be accompanied by various kinds of bread made without yeast—thin cakes mixed with olive oil, wafers spread with oil, and cakes made of choice flour mixed with olive oil.
13 This peace offering of thanksgiving must also be accompanied by loaves of bread made with yeast.
14 One of each kind of bread must be presented as a gift to the LORD. It will then belong to the priest who splatters the blood of the peace offering against the altar.
15 The meat of the peace offering of thanksgiving must be eaten on the same day it is offered. None of it may be saved for the next morning.
16 “If you bring an offering to fulfill a vow or as a voluntary offering, the meat must be eaten on the same day the sacrifice is offered, but whatever is left over may be eaten on the second day.
17 Any meat left over until the third day must be completely burned up.
18 If any of the meat from the peace offering is eaten on the third day, the person who presented it will not be accepted by the LORD. You will receive no credit for offering it. By then the meat will be contaminated; if you eat it, you will be punished for your sin.
19 “Meat that touches anything ceremonially unclean may not be eaten; it must be completely burned up. The rest of the meat may be eaten, but only by people who are ceremonially clean.
20 If you are ceremonially unclean and you eat meat from a peace offering that was presented to the LORD, you will be cut off from the community.
21 If you touch anything that is unclean (whether it is human defilement or an unclean animal or any other unclean, detestable thing) and then eat meat from a peace offering presented to the LORD, you will be cut off from the community.”
22 Then the LORD said to Moses,
23 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. You must never eat fat, whether from cattle, sheep, or goats.
24 The fat of an animal found dead or torn to pieces by wild animals must never be eaten, though it may be used for any other purpose.
25 Anyone who eats fat from an animal presented as a special gift to the LORD will be cut off from the community.
26 No matter where you live, you must never consume the blood of any bird or animal.
27 Anyone who consumes blood will be cut off from the community.”
28 Then the LORD said to Moses,
29 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you present a peace offering to the LORD, bring part of it as a gift to the LORD.
30 Present it to the LORD with your own hands as a special gift to the LORD. Bring the fat of the animal, together with the breast, and lift up the breast as a special offering to the LORD.
31 Then the priest will burn the fat on the altar, but the breast will belong to Aaron and his descendants.
32 Give the right thigh of your peace offering to the priest as a gift.
33 The right thigh must always be given to the priest who offers the blood and the fat of the peace offering.
34 For I have reserved the breast of the special offering and the right thigh of the sacred offering for the priests. It is the permanent right of Aaron and his descendants to share in the peace offerings brought by the people of Israel.
35 This is their rightful share. The special gifts presented to the LORD have been reserved for Aaron and his descendants from the time they were set apart to serve the LORD as priests.
36 On the day they were anointed, the LORD commanded the Israelites to give these portions to the priests as their permanent share from generation to generation.”
37 These are the instructions for the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, as well as the ordination offering and the peace offering.
38 The LORD gave these instructions to Moses on Mount Sinai when he commanded the Israelites to present their offerings to the LORD in the wilderness of Sinai.
Consumption of the sacrifice was a vital part of Israel’s sacrificial system. The priest did not only offer the animal—he also participated in the sacrifice by eating from it. In doing so, he acted as the sanctified representative of the people. The blood of the animal, which symbolized life and served as the payment for sin, was poured out and never consumed. And the fat, considered the richest and most precious portion, was burned entirely unto the Lord as a sacred act of worship.
Because the blood belonged to God as the means of atonement, and the fat belonged to God as His rightful portion, neither could be eaten. Yet the meat, bread, and hide of the sacrifice became the sustenance and provision for the priest, the one set apart to stand between God and the people. In consuming the sacrifice, the priest participated in the offering, and the benefits of atonement and peace were extended to those he represented.
With Jesus, there is a dramatic and holy shift.
Jesus commands His followers to eat His body and drink His blood, something that would have sounded not only forbidden, but a direct violation worthy of being cast out of the community. Blood was never to be consumed—yet Jesus presents His own blood as essential for life.
In giving Himself as the final and perfect sacrifice, Jesus becomes:
Where priests once consumed the meat of sacrificed animals to extend temporary absolution, Jesus calls us to consume Him—His body and His blood—for eternal life and lasting peace. This is a gift far greater than any daily or repeated sacrifice could achieve.
So when we participate in the remembering of Christ’s sacrifice—when we receive His body and His blood in communion—we are not performing an empty ritual. We are acknowledging the reception of His very life, His holiness, and His peace.
This is the miracle beyond the miracles:
The holy and precious offering of Christ becomes our life, empowering us to live as His priesthood, serving at His altar forever.