Leviticus 3:1 "And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offer it of the herd; whether it be a male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord."

Again, "oblation" is called "Korban" in the Hebrew text. Notice that this offering can be either a male or female animal, but the animal must be one without blemish given to the Lord. By stating "without blemish" refers to a type of Christ. The peace offering is different than the burnt offering, for the burnt offering could only use the male for the sacrifice.

Leviticus 3:2 "And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron's sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about."

The door of the tabernacle, or the tent of the assemble, is the entrance into the inner courts of the holy of holies, and the altar of incense.

Leviticus 3:3 "And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto the Lord; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,"

The fat belongs to YHVH and is not to be eaten by man, and this is declared in verse sixteen. The fat referred to here is a hard fat that is around the kidneys and the loins, for it is removed right along with the kidneys.

Leviticus 3:4 "And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away."

The "flanks" spoken of here are the loins, while the "caul" is the flap that is over the liver. The person that is making the sacrifice is the one that must take these items before it is presented to the priest for the sacrifice.

Leviticus 3:5 "And Aaron's sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is upon the wood that is on the fire: it is an offering made by fire, of the sweet savour unto the Lord."

Notice that this peace offering shall be burnt directly over the other burnt offering sacrifice that was talked about in Chapter one. It is pointed out by many teachers that the burnt offering or "Olah" had to go before this peace offering; even so, there would be a burnt sacrifice on the altar, because every morning there was a burnt sacrifice made that would already be on the altar.

Leviticus 3:6 "And if his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering unto the Lord be of the flock; male or female, he shall offer it without blemish."

The reference to "flock" means that it would be of the sheep or goats; either male or female but without blemish. Again the statement "without blemish" is a type of Christ's offering at the cross.

Leviticus 3:7 "If he offer a lamb for his offering, then shall he offer it before the Lord."

Leviticus 3:8 "And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron's sons shall sprinkle the blood thereof round about upon the altar."

The person making the sacrifice must put his hand upon the head of the lamb that is to be offered; then he must slay the lamb and give the blood to the priest to be sprinkled round the sides of the altar. So when the offerer would put the hand on the head of the animal to be slain, he was stating that this animal is going to die, and his or her blood is going to be shed just for me and my household. This was done away with at the cross, for there was a supreme sacrifice that was shed for you and I individually, in the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

These sacrifices that were being made during the time of the law, were temporary measures, that were to be made each year, or as sins were committed. They were established by God for sinful man to all man a way back to God. Paul said in Hebrews 10:1 "For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect."

Each year the people came back to the tabernacle to make these many sacrifices over and over, yet in the end, they still could never be perfect before the eyes of the Lord. For these sacrifices were a temporary covering for sin. The law was not bad, but it was a shadow of the heavenly law that would come later. A shadow of that time when even though there is sin in the flesh, but when by faith you believe and come to repentance in Jesus Christ, your flesh and even the sin becomes perfect before God. The use of animals for sacrifice under the law was required by God each year until that perfect sacrifice would come.

Does this mean that once you have repented of your sins and become saved that you will sin no more? No, for you will sin again, but once we are saved we come to the Father in Jesus name in repentance, and even those sins are blotted out from the books of heaven. It doesn't mean that you didn't do them, but the charges for those sins against you are blotted from the record kept in heaven. This is why we as Christians can enjoy peace of mind. The point then is that we forgive our selves, for those sins will more than likely be still remembered in our mind, but the guilt of them is removed. We must learn to forgive ourselves, once we have repented of sins.

Under the law of Moses' day, these sacrifices were looking forward to a better time coming when this perfection would be fulfilled in Christ, the Messiah.

Hebrews 10:2 "For then would they not have ceased to be offered, because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins?"

The problem with sin is that it sticks around in your memory long after it was committed. This "conscience of sins" is what we call a guilt trip today. Stresses in our lives are caused by the sins that we commit, that linger in our minds long afterwards. Psychologist and Psychiatrist have built an entire industry over trying to treat people's "conscience for sins". The problem is that their system does not see sin as sin, but tries to cover over sin with their new concepts, and redefining sin into something that they can handle. They shift the blame from their patients to schools, the home life, the neighborhood, or any one of many ideas; but the guilt remains in that mind.

This is sort of like it was in this time of Sacrifices under the law, but the difference was that when the hand was placed on the head of the sacrifice animal, that person recognized before God that it was he that did the sin, and this animal was the one that would shed the blood for that sin. This was a temporary covering for that year only, to cover the guilt in the offerer's mind. Hebrews 10:3 "But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year."

I Peter 3:18 "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit."

Jesus Christ live the perfect life and He was perfect. This is why He, the Just, culd pay the price of His own blood once, that through our repentance each of us could be brought back to God. Does this mean that those that would be born later, after the death of Christ were favored over those under the law? No!

I Peter 3:19 "By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison, Which sometimes were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water."

In those three days Christ was in the tomb, He went back to those souls in "prison", that place in the heavenlies where souls went after they die in the flesh; and gave each of those souls the same opportunity that you and I have living today. This is why the things that we are reading of here in Leviticus are but shadows of those thing that would come and be fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ. Men and women under the law expressed their love for the Father by and through these sacrifices, but today you can tell our Heavenly Father directly that you love Him; He loves to hear those words coming from your lips. There is no vail and holy of holies that parts us from God, but we can go to him directly and talk to Him. When we are in Christ, guided by His Spirit, it becomes a pleasure to us to follow the instructions of His Word in our lives.

Leviticus 3:9 "And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto the Lord: the fat thereof, and the whole rump, it shall he take off hard by the backbone; and the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,"

Notice that in this verse the sheep are treated separately from the goats. Under the instructions for the burnt offering in Chapter one, the instructions for each type of animal were lumped together, but they are handled separately under the peace offering. The sheep is placed first, by the statement using the phrase "whole rump", for in this sacrifice the whole animal is not going to be burnt, the fat will all be burnt, but the rest of the animal will be taken in a sacrificial meal.

Leviticus 3:10 "And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away."

This verse pertains only to the sheep.

Leviticus 3:11 "And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire unto the Lord."

The word used for food in the Hebrew text, is bread. So this is the bread of the offering that is made unto the Lord.

Leviticus 3:12 "And if his offering be a goat, then he shall offer it before the Lord."

The Hebrew word for "offering" used here is "Korban". Again, keep in mind that in the meat and burnt offerings, if a person was poor and could not afford a sheep or goat in their sacrifices, God allowed them to use young pigeons and turtledoves. However this was not the case with the peace offering. The reason here is that the sacrificial meal followed the peace offering, and the birds were not cleaned and made ready to eat, and there would not be enough to go around to feed the people there required to take part in the meal.

Leviticus 3:13 "And he shall lay his hand upon the head of it, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation: and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle the blood thereof upon the altar round about."

Again, before the animal to be sacrificed was killed, the one making the offering would place his hand on the head of the animal, recognizing before God that this animal was taking the place of of the offerer. Then the one making the sacrifice would kill the animal at the door of the tabernacle, and the blood would be given to the priest to splash to the sides of the altar. The blood was to be called holy by God, and thus only the priest could touch it.

Leviticus 3:14 "And he shall offer thereof his offering, even an offering made by fire unto the Lord: the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,"

Leviticus 3:15 "And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away."

These instructions are identical except for the part pertaining to the whole rump. The fat tail of the sheep had to be removed, because the fat had to be placed on the fire on the altar.

Leviticus 3:16 "And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savour: all the fat is the Lord's."

God makes is very clear to us that the fat belongs to him, and man should leave the fat alone. God also instructed all of Israel that they should eat no blood, and this is talked about later.

Leviticus 3:17 "It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.' "

This perpetual statute is established for all times, that we do not eat neither blood nor fat. Though these blood sacrifices were a requirement, they do not apply today, for the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus Christ death and shed blood on the cross did away with these sacrifices once and for all times. God tells us how He feels about animal sacrifices in Isaiah 1.

Isaiah 1:8 "And the daughters of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city."

The cottage in the vineyard is a temporary housing standing on four poles in the vineyard.

Isaiah 1:9 "Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah."

God promised that we would always have a small remnant to carry forth the truth from generation to generation. If that remnant that knows the truth of God's Word, then all of God's people would have become like Sodom and Gomorrah.

Isaiah 1:10 "Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah."

This should read; "ye rulers that rule as the rulers of Sodom", [and Gomorrah].

Isaiah 1:11 "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me?" saith the Lord: "I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats."

Though God required these offerings of the children of Israel, He did not delight in those sacrifices.

Isaiah 1:12 "When ye come to appear before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread My courts?"

When they trample, or tread in God's courts, they profane them.

Isaiah 1:13 "Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto Me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting."

The word for "Oblations" used here is the word "minchah", or gift offerings; and this is the same as peace offerings that we studied here in Leviticus 3. God is telling you not to bring for any more of your empty peace offerings to Him. God is telling us that He just can not tolerate any of these forms of sacrifices and traditions any more.

Isaiah 1:14 "Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth: they are a trouble unto Me; I am weary to bear them."

Isaiah 1:15 "And [even] when you spread forth your hands [in prayer], I will hide Mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood."

Isaiah 1:16, 17 "Wash your, make you clean; ut away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow."

Isaiah 1:18 "Come now and let us reason together," saith the Lord; "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

God is saying, come and lets settle this matter once and for all.

Isaiah 1:19, 20 "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."

God has given us His laws to live by, and the sacrifice that were to be followed then. However, at the coming of Christ, and death on the cross, those statutes of sacrifices were fulfilled in the blood of Christ. Yet God is telling us that if we follow His instructions and are willing and obedient to His Word, we can expect to receive His blessings. However when we go against the instructions of His Word, and rebel and refuse to listen to Him, then expect the sword to come down on us and our land. When the people of our land become complacent towards Sodomy, and allow the things of Gomorrah to enter our assemblies, and those wicked perversions become common place in our communities, then expect the sword to fall upon our land. The sword of the Lord is the two edged sword, the sword of truth that we read about in Revelation 19:15.

We have been studying about the types in these chapters, and all of those types look to the coming of the true Christ. The Messiah that would live the perfect life and willingly become the living sacrifice for one and all times. This is spelled out in Hebrews 10:5 - 10.

Hebrews 10:5 "Wherefore when He cometh into the world, He saith, "Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared Me:"

Hebrews 10:6 "In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast had no pleasure."

Hebrews 10:7 "Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of Me) to do Thy will, O God."

Our Lord Jesus Christ came to fulfill all of the prophecies of the Old Testament that pertained to the coming Messiah. By suffering the pain and humiliation, and going to the cross and shedding his blood, Jesus made the way that any man of any race can by faith believe and approach the throne of God. Those things that we are reading of here in Leviticus were requirements then, but God took no pleasure in them, and that is why God allowed His very begotten Son to suffer the death that He went through.

Hebrews 10:8 "Above when He said, "Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin Thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein;" which are offered by the law;"

Hebrews 10:9, 10 "Then said He, "Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God." He taketh away the first, that He may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

Jesus was born into this earth age of flesh man for one purpose; "I come to do Thy will, O God". And in doing the will of God, Jesus took away the first requirement of sacrifices of lambs and goats, that He may establish the second. That second way is through the body of Jesus Christ, and His shed blood on the cross. Jesus died once and in his death and resurrection, the way was made in the blood of Christ that was sufficient for all mankind of any race to approach the throne of God.