Leviticus 3 Summary: A Short Breakdown in 5 Minutes

Leviticus 3 Summary - A Quick Overview

WHEN:

• Leviticus picks up where Exodus left off. The children of Israel are on their way through the wilderness to the Canaan land.

• According to Leviticus 8, the Tabernacle had already been erected, which would place the year at approximately 1490 B.C. (one year after the Israelites left Egypt).

DEFINITIONS:

• Long Lobe of the Liver – The liver in humans and animals is made up of lobes. For example, a cow's liver has 4 lobes (right, left, caudate, and quadrate). The number of lobes depends on the animal.

TABERNACLE DIAGRAM

OUTLINE:

• PEACE OFFERINGS MADE WITH ANIMALS FROM THE HERD (3:1-5):

  • In the previous chapters we discussed burnt offerings and grain offerings, in Leviticus 3 we are introduced to peace offerings.

  • If an Israelite man wanted to offer a peace offering using an animal from his herd (cattle), he was to bring a male or female without blemish to the Tabernacle.

  • He was then to lay his hand on the animal’s head before killing it.

  • The priests were to throw the animal’s blood against the bronze altar.

  • From the peace offering, the “fat covering the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the long lobe of the liver” were to be burnt up on the bronze altar as a food offering to God.

• PEACE OFFERINGS MADE WITH LAMBS (3:6-11):

  • If an Israelites man brought a lamb to be sacrificed as a peace offering, the same procedures were to be followed, with the exception that slightly different portions were to be burnt on the altar.

  • From the peace offering, the priests were to offer a food offering of “the whole fat tail, cut off close to the backbone, and the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins and the long lobe of the liver.”

• PEACE OFFERINGS MADE WITH GOATS (3:12-16):

  • If an Israelite man brought a goat to be sacrificed as a peace offering, he was to bring the animal to the Tabernacle and lay his hand on it’s head before killing it.

  • The priests were to take the goat’s blood and throw it against the altar.

  • The “fat covering the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins and the long lobe of the liver” were to be burnt on the altar as a food offering.

• PROHIBITION AGAINST EATING FAT AND BLOOD (3:17):

  • The Israelites were forbidden to eat fat and blood.

  • Leviticus 3:16 – “…all fat is the Lord’s.”

  • Genesis 9:4 – “But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.”

APPLICATION:

• The peace offering is described in more detail in Leviticus 7:11-21.

• It was not an offering made as an attempt to make peace with God after sinning, rather it was an offering of praise or thanksgiving for having peace with God.

• We no longer offer animal sacrifices to worship and thank God for His grace towards us, but that doesn’t mean there’s no longer a place for praise and thanksgiving.

• We offer sacrifices of praise to God through our obedience and through our words.

• Hebrews 13:15 – “Through [Jesus] then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.” 

• Our continual acknowledgement of Jesus as our savior through our words are our offerings.

• This practice should be present in our everyday lives and it is part of the reason Christians gather for collective worship.