by Counting the Omer Biblically on Wednesday, 18 May 2011 at 23:47
Today is the twenty sixth day of Counting, the fifth day of the fourth week
MESSIAH IN THE OFFERINGS OF THE TABERNACLE – SHELEM /PEACE/ FELLOWSHIP-OFFERINGS
“When
his offering is a sacrifice of a peace offering, if he offers it of the
herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before
YHWH. And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill
it at the door of the tabernacle of meeting; and Aaron’s sons, the
priests, shall sprinkle the blood all around on the altar. Then he
shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by
fire to YHWH. The fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is
on the entrails, the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the
flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he
shall remove; and Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt
sacrifice, which is on the wood that is on the fire, as an offering
made by fire, a sweet aroma to YHWH.”
“If his offering as a
sacrifice of a peace offering to YHWH is of the flock, whether male or
female, he shall offer it without blemish. If he offers a lamb as his
offering, then he shall offer it before YHWH. And he shall lay his hand
on the head of his offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of
meeting; and Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood all around on the
altar. Then he shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering, as
an offering made by fire to YHWH, its fat and the whole fat tail which
he shall remove close to the backbone. And the fat that covers the
entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, the two kidneys and
the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to
the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove; and the priest shall burn
them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire to YHWH.” (Lev
3:1-11)
“Then YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children
of Israel, saying: ‘He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offering
to the Lord shall bring his offering to YHWH from the sacrifice of his
peace offering. His own hands shall bring the offerings made by fire to
YHWH. The fat with the breast he shall bring, that the breast may be
waved as a wave offering before YHWH. And the priest shall burn the fat
on the altar, but the breast shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. Also the
right thigh you shall give to the priest as a heave offering from the
sacrifices of your peace offerings. He among the sons of Aaron, who
offers the blood of the peace offering and the fat, shall have the right
thigh for his part. For the breast of the wave offering and the thigh
of the heave offering I have taken from the children of Israel, from the
sacrifices of their peace offerings, and I have given them to Aaron the
priest and to his sons from the children of Israel by a statute
forever.’” (Lev 7:28-34)
The Hebrew word behind the
Peace/Fellowship-offering is “shelem”. It is quite likely that most
people will recognise to which Hebrew word this is similar, “shalom”,
and indeed it does share the same root, “shalem” – “completion,
fulfillment or soundness”. Its meanings include wholeness, unity and a
restored relationship. The payment of a vow or completion of a
business transaction can contain the the ideas in this group of words:
“Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, ‘Go, sell the oil
and pay (shalem) your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.’” (2
Kings 4:7) and in Psalms 50:14, “Offer to God thanksgiving, and pay
(shalem) your vows to the Most High.” (Psalms 50:14) In these instances
the parties are brought back into a state of shalom.
National
or personal sin needs reparation and, once that has been met, wholeness
is restored: “So I will restore (shalem) to you the years that the
swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust,
and the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you.” (Joel
2:25) It can also be used of an attitude, “Let your heart therefore be
loyal (shalem) to YHWH our God, to walk in His statutes and keep His
commandments, as at this day.” (1 Kings 8:61) “Shalem” is also used of
uncut stones for the altar, “You shall build with whole (shalem) stones
the altar of YHWH your God, and offer burnt offerings on it to YHWH your
God. You shall offer peace (shelem) offerings, and shall eat there,
and rejoice before YHWH your God. And you shall write very plainly on
the stones all the words of this Torah.” (Deut 27:6-8) It is also used
of dressed stones used in building the Temple, “And the temple, when it
was being built, was built with stone finished (shalem) at the quarry,
so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple
while it was being built.” (1 Kings 6:7)
In reference to the
Shelem/Peace/Fellowship-offerings the word “shelem” is used in the
plural (“shelemim”) on all occasions except one, Amos 5:22: “Though you
offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept
them, nor will I regard your fattened peace (shelem) offerings
(mereechem).” (Amos 5:22)
The ritual surrounding the
Shelem-offering is similar to the Olah/Whole Burnt-offering, except only
a portion of the sacrificial animal is burned on the Great Altar of the
Tabernacle’s courtyard. The portion burned consisted of “The fat that
covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, the two
kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe
attached to the liver above the kidneys”. The priest received the “the
breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering” and
this could be shared with members of their family who were ritually
clean. (Numbers 18:9)
The Shelem/Peace/Fellowship-offerings
were given by those at peace with God and always of a person’s own
freewill: “And if you offer a sacrifice of a peace offering to YHWH,
you shall offer it of your own free will.” (Lev 19:5) Their whole
purpose was to express the offerer’s
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