Burnt offerings, wave offerings, grain offerings, peace offerings. Leviticus has a lot of offerings.
But all of them had a purpose. Depending on your specific situation, you may need to offer a specific type of animal to cleanse your sin, or to show your dedication to God, or to simply say thank you. The Law provided opportunities for everything under the sun.
Alongside the other sacrifices you may see in Scripture, Biblical peace offerings were completely voluntary and designed to revel in the peace we enjoy with God.
Think back to the largest peace offering in the Bible. At the dedication of the Temple in 1 Kings 8:63, Solomon made a peace offering of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. I’m not sure what the dollar amount for that would be, but I’m sure it’s in the tens of millions, if not hundreds.
Why did Solomon offer such a gargantuan sacrifice? It wasn’t because he needed to beg God for forgiveness, but because he wanted to appreciate the nation’s unique relationship with God. This was to be the meeting place between God and man; no other nation on earth had such a blessing.
Like the other sacrifices, this one was to be “without blemish” — perfect, spotless, according to God’s command.
Let’s be real though: If you’re making specifically a peace offering to God, you’re definitely offering the best, right? Why would you voluntarily celebrate peace with God through garbage?
It’s always been interesting to me how the various sacrifices come together in our worship to God. When we come before Him in worship, we’re not just asking for forgiveness and remembering the death of Jesus, we’re also celebrating that relationship through song and prayer.
If that is part of what we do every Sunday, then make it behooves us to take a few minutes and appreciate that relationship. He didn’t have to send His Son; He did that voluntarily for us. Do we respect that as we should?
