Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
back to:
Leviticus
Book: Leviticus
Chapter: 3
Overview:
The peace-
Offering of the
Herd.
(1-5) The peace-
Offering of
the flock.
(6-17)
1-5 The peace-offerings had regard to
God as the giver of all
good things. These were divided between the
Altar, the
Priest,
and the owner. They were called peace-offerings, because in them
God and his people did, as it were,
Feast together, in token of
friendship. The peace-offerings were offered
By way of
supplication. If a
Man were in pursuit of any
Mercy, he would
add a peace-
Offering to his
Prayer for it.
Christ is our Peace,
our Peace-
Offering; for through him alone it is that we can
obtain an answer of peace to our prayers. Or, the peace-
Offering
was offered
By way of thanksgiving for some
Mercy received. We
must offer to
God the
Sacrifice of praise continually,
By Christ
our Peace; and then this shall please the
Lord better than an
Ox
or
Bullock.
6-17 Here is a
Law that they should eat neither
Fat nor
Blood.
As for the
Fat, it means the
Fat of the inwards, the suet. The
Blood was forbidden for the same reason; because it was
God's
part of every
Sacrifice.
God would not permit the
Blood that
made
Atonement to be used as a common thing, Heb 10:29; nor
will he allow us, though we have the comfort of the
Atonement
made, to claim for ourselves any share in the honour of making
it. This taught the Jews to observe distinction between common
and sacred things; it kept them separate from idolaters. It
would impress them more deeply with the belief of some important
Mystery in the shedding of the
Blood and the burning the
Fat of
their solemn sacrifices.
Christ, as the
Prince of peace, "made
peace with the
Blood of his
Cross." Through him the believer is
reconciled to
God; and having the peace of
God in his
Heart, he
is disposed to follow peace with all men. May the
Lord multiply
Grace,
Mercy, and peace, to all who desire to
Bear the
Christian
character.