PEACE OFFERING

Leviticus 7:11,16,34

“These are the instructions regarding the different kinds of peace offerings that may be presented to the Lord.

“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.

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.

Every king is entitled to receive gifts from his subjects. One reason for gifts is to show allegiance and submission to the throne. The gifts are not mandatory but freely given.

The mandatory gifts could become task especially when it has to do with a conquered people.

Moses was given instructions concerning many types of offerings, amongst them are the gift and peace offerings.

Some of them could be eaten, some could not, some part where only meant for the priesthood.

The question today is, how does it relate with believers?

Believers are also expected to give today. Though Christ taught us to avoid making vows, we must fulfill any promise we make. 

We give to honour God, our giving is for the furtherance of the gospel, to take care of the poor and also for those who work full time in the kingdom work. (Do we still have true missionaries today?)

Leviticus 7:35-36

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.

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.”

(N/B: they had no share in the inheritance!)

So it is responsible for a believer to be part of the giving in their local assembly.

1 Corinthians 9:13-14

Don’t you realize that those who work in the temple get their meals from the offerings brought to the temple? And those who serve at the altar get a share of the sacrificial offerings.

In the same way, the Lord ordered that those who preach the Good News should be supported by those who benefit from it.

*take note of the next verses! as a caution!

1 Corinthians 9:15-17

Yet I have never used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that I want to start now. In fact, I would rather die than lose my right to boast about preaching without charge.

Yet preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News!

If I were doing this on my own initiative, I would deserve payment. But I have no choice, for God has given me this sacred trust.

That gotten, we can then read:

1 Timothy 5:17-18

Elders who do their work well should be respected and paid well, especially those who work hard at both preaching and teaching.

For the Scripture says, “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.” And in another place, “Those who work deserve their pay!”

Our giving as believers must first be understood to be to the Lord.

Not that the Lord needs anything from us but we honour Him, are submitting to Him and are working for Him.

The leader must be careful not to use the offering for God wrongly.

We must remember the vulnerable in our midst who need to be taken care of - unless we say that we don't have any!

These special group of people include, elderly widows or widowers who have lived a faithful life and have no family to take care of them and also those passing through certain situations. Laziness is never permitted!

1 Timothy 5:3,9-11,13-14,16

Take care of any widow who has no one else to care for her.

A widow who is put on the list for support must be a woman who is at least sixty years old and was faithful to her husband.

She must be well respected by everyone because of the good she has done. Has she brought up her children well? Has she been kind to strangers and served other believers humbly? Has she helped those who are in trouble? Has she always been ready to do good?

The younger widows should not be on the list, because their physical desires will overpower their devotion to Christ and they will want to remarry.

And if they are on the list, they will learn to be lazy and will spend their time gossiping from house to house, meddling in other people’s business and talking about things they shouldn’t.

So I advise these younger widows to marry again, have children, and take care of their own homes. Then the enemy will not be able to say anything against them.

If a woman who is a believer has relatives who are widows, she must take care of them and not put the responsibility on the church. Then the church can care for the widows who are truly alone.

James 1:27

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

May the love of God grow continually in our hearts may we always have a glorious offering to bring to the Lord.

Remember the acceptable giving is that which is giving willingly - it is a peace offering and not a liability!

Our gifts will be accepted by Him and our good deeds will be properly recorded.

Glory to God.

He calls us blessed.

Love

@the watcher