Reaffirmation 


Leviticus 3:1-5;16 
6/27/2010 

We’re family here, right? Be honest, how many of you have never heard of the book of Leviticus much less 
opened your Bible to it? Well, I’ve never preached from Leviticus, so we’re all in for an adventure today. To our 
eyes and ears Leviticus is a strange book filled with images of the animal sacrifice, ritual purification rites, and 
how to handle moldy clothes. It’s a book whose contents are completely foreign to us, and at times offensive to 
our sensitivities. It is a book of Law. 

When Jesus was on earth, he taught that he would fulfill all the Law. Paul reminds us that Jesus is the end of the 
the Law, or the Law’s summation. In other words, the Law, these strange and obscure laws we find in Leviticus 
point to Jesus. 

It’s with this thought, that Jesus Christ is who the Law of Leviticus points to, that we will focus for a few 
moments this, specifically looking at Leviticus 3. What we find in Leviticus 3 are the regulations for what is 
called the Fellowship Offering, some bibles translate it as the Peace Offering. The purpose of the Fellowship 
Offering was to provide an opportunity for an Israelite to spontaneously give thanks to God. It may be offered 
in thanks to God at the end of a vow, or in thanks to God for a particularly good harvest, or simply to thank God 
for his faithfulness, but always reminding the one giving it of the covenant that God had made with his people. 
The overarching purpose of the Fellowship Offering was to say thank you, and to reaffirm commitment to 
God’s covenant. 

This morning we’re going to ask and answer 5 questions about the Fellowship offering, you’ll find these listed 
in the sermon notes insert. 

What is distinct about the Fellowship Offering? The Fellowship Offering was not a required offering but one 
that could be given spontaneously. However, the beginning of the fellowship offering is identical to other 
offerings Israelites were to make. The worshipper brings the animal forward for the offering and places their 
hand on its head. The worshipper then states the reason they are making a fellowship offering -Lord God thank 
you for the extra harvest that we had this year, and then the animal would be slaughtered. The priest then takes 
the animals blood and sprinkles it on the altar, which serves as a reminder to the worshipper that he is always in 
need of the forgiveness of his sins. 

At this point 2 emphases are seen in the Fellowship Offering. First, only the fat of the animal is offered not the 
entire animal. Leviticus 3:3 says, ”From the fellowship offering he is to bring a sacrifice made to the LORD by 
fire: all the fat that covers the inner parts or is connected to them, both kidneys with the fat on them near the 
loins, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys”. 

An ancient Israelite who wouldn’t normally have meat as a part of their diet, and when they did eat meat, the fat 
parts of the animal would be the most prized. Why? Because the fat is where the flavor is. Why do you think 
most good foods are loaded with fat? Corn dogs, hello!?! Fat is where the flavor is. For someone making a 
Fellowship Offering, giving the fat to God reminds them that the very best belongs to the Lord. 

The second thing that makes the Fellowship offering unique, is that some of the meat is given back to the 
worshipper to enjoy with friends and family in celebration. This part of the ritual is left out of Leviticus 3, but in 
chapter 7 we would find the regulations that govern how the meat that is given back to the worshipper is to be 


consumed. And this second distinction is a key to understanding what this offering is all about and leads us to 
the second question. 

So, how was the Fellowship Offering thought of by an ancient Israelite? Vs. 16 gives us the answer, “The 
priest shall burn them, the fat portions, on the altar as food, an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma. All the 
fat is the Lord’s”. 

To an ancient Israelite making a Fellowship Offering they thought of it as a shared meal between the offerer and 
the Lord. It goes without saying that the person knew that God did not actually eat with him, but it is a symbolic 
representation of God and the worshipper sharing a meal together. This understanding of how the worshipper 
thought of the fellowship offering then leads to the third question. 

How did a meal function in ancient Israel? To share a meal with someone in ancient Israel was a sign of 
hospitality. When a traveler or visitor came to your home, it was the custom of to offer them a meal as a show of 
welcome and good tidings. 

Meals in ancient Israel also functioned as a way of sealing or completing a covenant relationship. Today we seal 
covenant relationships with one another by signing a contract, or maybe even shaking on it. But in Israel this 
was done by sharing a meal together. In Genesis 26 we read, “Meanwhile, Abimelech had come to [Isaac] from 
Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. Isaac asked them, “Why 
have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?” They answered, “We saw clearly that 
the LORD was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’— [A covenant] between 
us and you. Let us make a treaty with you that you will do us no harm, just as we did not molest you but always 
treated you well and sent you away in peace. And now you are blessed by the LORD.” Isaac then made a feast 
for them, and they ate and drank”. When people entered into covenants with one another they sealed the 
covenant by sharing a meal together. 

And we see the same picture in the Bible when God enters into a covenant with people. Turn for a moment to 
Exodus 24. In this chapter, God is confirming, he is sealing the covenant between Himself and Israel. Listen to 
how the scene is described starting at verse 5, “Then [Moses] sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt 
offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the LORD. Moses took half of the blood and put it 
in bowls, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the 
people. They responded, “We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey.” Moses then took the blood, 
sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in 
accordance with all these words.” Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up 
and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky 
itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and 
drank”. Again, God is not actually eating with Moses and the elders, but their eating of the fellowship offering 
made to the Lord in verse 5, confirms and seals between God and Israel the binding nature of the covenant that 
God makes with His people, and serves as a reminder of God’s promises and obligations, as well as those of His 
people. 

So what did the fellowship offering communicate to an ancient Israelite? Given that this was not a required 
offering, but one given freely and when the offerer desired to do so, it was a means of reaffirming their covenant 
relationship with God. Through the fellowship offering the worshipper was reminded of God’s faithfulness and 
fidelity to His covenant with them, and the worshipper reaffirmed his own fidelity to live out the covenant in 
obedience to the Law. 


The Fellowship Offering also communicated to Israelites that they were a part of a larger covenant community. 
The Fellowship Offering was to be shared with others, friends or family, and not to be eaten alone. It was a 
reminder that those who shared the Fellowship Offering also shared together in the blessings and promises of 
God. It was a reminder to Israel that they needed each other. 

Third, the Fellowship Offering communicated to Israel the Lord’s greatness. Again, it was the fat of the animal, 
the most prized part of the animal that was given over to God and burned on the altar. God condescended to 
establish a covenant with Israel, but he was still God, he was still to be revered, worshiped, praised, and 
glorified alone as God. 

I said a moment ago that the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ fulfills the Law and is who the Law points to. So, is 
there anything that the Fellowship Offering communicates to us? I think there is. 

The reasons for the Fellowship Offering is a picture of what we experience in Communion, or the Lord’s 
Supper. Of course the immediate context of the Lord’s Supper, of Communion, is the passover, and there are 
some commentators who suggest that the passover is a Fellowship Offering, but I’m not sure of that. 

You see, the Lord’s supper is also a covenant meal shared in reality with Jesus’ first disciples and symbolically 
between Jesus and those who are His disciples today. At the institution of this meal with his disciples, Jesus 
used covenant language with his disciples. In Matthew 26 we read, “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, 
gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took the 
cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, 
which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from 
now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom”. 

As the Fellowship Offering reminded an ancient Israelite of God’s covenant with him, Communion reminds 
disciples of God’s new covenant made through Jesus Christ of Christ’s sacrificial and atoning death for sin. But 
it’s also a celebration of the promises and blessings that Christ’s people, the church have had lavished upon 
them. The forgiveness of sin, the promise of eternal life, and the blessings of being God’s people now. 

We also see in the Lord’s supper a corporate expression of covenant faith. We pass the plate to one another, we 
take the elements together, we do communion as a part of the larger worshipping community, being encouraged 
that we part of the larger community of our local church and the global church, and being challenged to treat 
those we have shared this meal with in this room as an extended family in Christ, to remember we are in need of 
each other. 

Finally, Communion reminds us of Christ’s greatness and is a time to reaffirm our commitment as disciples of 
Jesus Christ to the covenant Christ has made with us. As the Israelite would use the Fellowship Offering as a 
time to tangibly reaffirm their commitment to God’s covenant through the sacrifice of an animal and obedience 
to the Law, so we in the Lord’s Supper reaffirm our commitment to God’s new covenant made through Jesus 
Christ by obediently living as Christ’s disciples. In the new covenant we no longer bring animals as our 
sacrifice since it is now the very life of the disciple living obediently under the Lordship of Jesus Christ that 
becomes the sacrifice. Paul reminds us in Romans 12, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, 
to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship”. 


As you come to the table this morning, I trust you will come to remember the terrible price paid for our sin, 
rejoice in your calling to Christian discipleship, and reaffirm your commitment to live as a disciple of Jesus 
Christ. Amen.