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Topical Encyclopedia

The Peace Offering, also known as the "fellowship offering," is a significant sacrificial practice detailed in the Old Testament, primarily within the Levitical law. It is one of the five major offerings described in the Book of Leviticus, alongside the burnt offering, grain offering, sin offering, and guilt offering. The Peace Offering is unique in its emphasis on communal fellowship and thanksgiving, serving as a means for the Israelites to express gratitude, fulfill vows, or simply enjoy communion with God.

Biblical Foundation

The primary instructions for the Peace Offering are found inLeviticus 3 andLeviticus 7. The offering could be made from cattle, sheep, or goats, and it was characterized by the shared consumption of the sacrifice. The offering was divided into three parts: one part was burned on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the Lord, another part was given to the priests, and the remaining portion was consumed by the offerer and their family.

Leviticus 3:1-5 states: "If someone’s offering is a peace offering and he offers an animal from the herd, whether male or female, he must present it without blemish before the LORD. He is to lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood on all sides of the altar. From the peace offering he is to bring an offering made by fire to the LORD: the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them, the kidneys with the fat on them, and the lobe of the liver, which he is to remove with the kidneys. Then Aaron’s sons are to burn it on the altar atop the burnt offering that is on the burning wood, as an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD."

Purpose and Significance

The Peace Offering served multiple purposes. It was a voluntary act of worship, expressing thanksgiving and gratitude to God. It also functioned as a communal meal, symbolizing peace and fellowship between the offerer, the priesthood, and God. This offering underscored the importance of community and shared blessings within the covenant relationship.

The Peace Offering could also be offered in fulfillment of a vow or as a freewill offering, as described inLeviticus 7:16 : "If, however, the sacrifice he offers is a vow or a freewill offering, it is to be eaten on the day he presents his sacrifice, but anything left over may be eaten on the next day."

Symbolism and Theological Implications

Theologically, the Peace Offering symbolizes reconciliation and harmony with God. It reflects the peace that comes from being in right relationship with the Creator, a theme that resonates throughout Scripture. The shared meal aspect of the offering prefigures the communal aspects of the New Testament Lord's Supper, where believers partake in the body and blood of Christ, celebrating the peace and unity found in Him.

The Peace Offering also highlights the holiness and purity required in approaching God. The requirement for an unblemished animal and the specific handling of the sacrifice emphasize the sanctity of the offering and the reverence due to God.

New Testament Fulfillment

In the New Testament, the concept of peace with God is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who is our ultimate peace offering.Ephesians 2:14 declares, "For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility." Through His sacrificial death and resurrection, Christ has reconciled humanity to God, establishing eternal peace and fellowship.

The Peace Offering, therefore, serves as a profound foreshadowing of the reconciliation and communion believers now enjoy through Christ, who is the perfect and final sacrifice.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

Peace Offering

PEACE OFFERING

SeeSACRIFICE.

Strong's Hebrew

8002. shelem -- a sacrifice for alliance or friendship,peace...
... a sacrifice for alliance or friendship,peace offering. Transliteration: shelem
Phonetic Spelling: (sheh'-lem) Short Definition: offerings....peace offering....

Library

The Eating of thePeace-Offering
... THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY THE EATING OF THEPEACE-OFFERING.... There were three bloody
sacrifices, the sin-offering, the burnt-offering, and thepeace-offering....

Separation to God.
... Having fulfilled the ordinances he was blameless; but the necessity alike for
sin-offering, for burnt-offering, and forpeace offering, remind us of the sin of...

Feasting on the Sacrifice
... 'The flesh of the sacrifice of hispeace-offering for thanksgiving shall be offered
in the day of his oblation.' Such was the law for Israel....

Leviticus
... Laws for thepeace-offering"the offerer kills it, the priest sprinkles the blood
on the sides of the altar and burns the fat (iii.) For an unconscious...

The Blood of Sprinkling
...offering. This, under the Mosaic service, was split into parts, - thepeace
offering, trespassoffering, sinoffering, etc. In all...

The Attack on the Book of Leviticus.
... "And if his oblation be a sacrifice ofpeace offering, ... he shall lay
his hand upon the head of hisoffering, and kill it at the...

Entire Sanctification in Type.
... individuals or for the whole people, the guiltoffering, the sinoffering, one for
what we have done, the other for what we are, thepeace offering, the burnt...

The Kingdom of all Israel.
... LESSON VI. THE KINGDOM OF ALL ISRAEL. "As is the fat taken away from the
peace-offering, so was David chosen out of the children of Israel ......

Scriptural Uses of the General Words for Prayer
... In this sense it is written in Proverbs: [I have apeace offering: today I pay my
vows; and a foolish son is a father's shame: unhallowed are vows from a...

'The Love of Thine Espousals'
... We have remarked that the ritual of thepeace-offering included a feast on the
sacrifice 'before the Lord,' by which was signified communion with Him, as at...