What is the trespass offering in this passage?

The trespass offering here deals with specific sins, often smaller or done in ignorance, that still need to be taken seriously before God. It is called “most holy.” The animal is killed where the burnt offering is killed, its blood is sprinkled around the altar, and the best fat parts are burned for God. The remaining flesh is eaten by the male priests in a holy place. This shows that sin has a cost, that God provides a way for guilt to be covered, and that those who serve at the altar share in the offering.

How is the trespass offering like the sin offering?

This passage says the trespass offering is treated like the sin offering and that there is one law for them. Both are called “most holy.” Both focus on atonement, with blood applied at the altar and the choicest parts burned for the Lord. In both, the priest who makes atonement shares in the meat. The main idea is that guilt and sin cannot be brushed aside. God gives a clear, serious way for wrongs to be dealt with and for the priest, as servant for the people, to be provided for.

What are peace offerings for thanksgiving, vows, and voluntary gifts?

Peace offerings in this chapter can be given for different reasons. A thanksgiving offering is brought when someone wants to thank God for a clear blessing. It comes with various cakes and some leavened bread, and the meat must be eaten the same day, shared in a spirit of joy and generosity. A vow or voluntary offering is tied to a promise or a free act of devotion. That meat may be eaten on the first and second day, but never on the third. These offerings show fellowship with God, gratitude, and a willing heart, not cold duty.

Why must the meat not be eaten on the third day?

The passage says if any of the flesh from a peace offering is eaten on the third day, the offering will not be accepted. It is called an abomination, and the person who eats it must bear his iniquity. The meat is to be burned instead. This guards against greed, carelessness, and decay entering into God’s worship. The sacrifice is meant to be fresh, showing a prompt and sincere response to God’s goodness. Holding it back for extra days would twist a holy gift into something self-serving instead of thankful and pure.

Why is eating while unclean so serious here?

Anyone who is unclean and still eats from the peace offerings that belong to the Lord is to be cut off from the people. The passage also says if the meat itself touches something unclean, it must be burned, not eaten. This shows that God’s holiness cannot be mixed with uncleanness. Coming to God’s table while ignoring personal impurity treats sin lightly and dishonors God. Being “cut off” points to losing one’s place among God’s people. The warning pushes Israel to take both their bodies and their worship seriously.

Why does God forbid eating fat and blood in this passage?

The people are told not to eat any fat from ox, sheep, or goat that could be offered, and not to eat blood from any bird or animal. The fat of such animals belongs on the altar as God’s portion, and blood is tied to life, which is God’s alone. Using the fat for other common purposes is allowed, but eating it is not. Anyone who eats fat or blood is said to be cut off from the people. These rules teach respect for life, for what is set apart for God, and for the difference between holy use and everyday use.

What are the wave breast and heave shoulder, and who gets them?

From the peace offerings, the worshiper brings the fat along with the breast so the breast can be waved before the Lord. The priest burns the fat on the altar, but the breast belongs to Aaron and his sons. The right shoulder is given as a heave offering to the priest who offers the blood and fat. God says He has taken the wave breast and heave shoulder from Israel’s sacrifices and given them to the priests forever. This provides for those who serve at the altar and shows that God Himself assigns their share.

What does this passage teach about God’s holiness and worship?

The careful rules in this chapter show that God is holy and must be approached on His terms. Some offerings are called “most holy,” only certain people may eat from them, and only in a holy place. Time limits, bans on eating fat and blood, and warnings about uncleanness all guard the boundary between holy and common. At the same time, God makes room for thanksgiving, vows, and freewill gifts, and He feeds the priests through the offerings. Worship is not casual here; it is ordered, pure, and also full of shared joy and provision.

How can this passage about offerings apply to believers today?

While these exact animal sacrifices are no longer offered, the heart lessons still speak. God cares how He is approached and wants worship that is sincere, pure, and not mixed with known sin. The care over what portions belong to God and to the priests reminds us that what we have is not all for ourselves; some is set apart for God’s honor and for the support of those who serve. The stress on thanksgiving and prompt sharing of the peace offerings can also shape how we respond quickly and generously when God shows us kindness.

Lev.7.1

Leviticus 7:1

KJV GOD

Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering: it is most holy.

The Guilt Offering

1 Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering: it is most holy.

2 In the place where they kill the burnt offering shall they kill the trespass offering: and the blood thereof shall he sprinkle round about upon the altar.

3 And he shall offer of it all the fat thereof; the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards,

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

5 And the priest shall burn them upon the altar for an offering made by fire unto the Lord: it is a trespass offering.

6 Every male among the priests shall eat thereof: it shall be eaten in the holy place: it is most holy.

7 As the sin offering is, so is the trespass offering: there is one law for them: the priest that maketh atonement therewith shall have it.

8 And the priest that offereth any man’s burnt offering, even the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering which he hath offered.

9 And all the meat offering that is baken in the oven, and all that is dressed in the fryingpan, and in the pan, shall be the priest’s that offereth it.

10 And every meat offering, mingled with oil, and dry, shall all the sons of Aaron have, one as much as another.

The Peace Offering

11 And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he shall offer unto the Lord.

12 If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried.

13 Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings.

14 And of it he shall offer one out of the whole oblation for an heave offering unto the Lord, and it shall be the priest’s that sprinkleth the blood of the peace offerings.

15 And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the morning.

16 But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow, or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offereth his sacrifice: and on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be eaten:

17 But the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt with fire.

18 And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings be eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it: it shall be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity.

19 And the flesh that toucheth any unclean thing shall not be eaten; it shall be burnt with fire: and as for the flesh, all that be clean shall eat thereof.

20 But the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, that pertain unto the Lord, having his uncleanness upon him, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.

21 Moreover the soul that shall touch any unclean thing, as the uncleanness of man, or any unclean beast, or any abominable unclean thing, and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which pertain unto the Lord, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.

Fat and Blood Forbidden

22 ¶ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

23 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat.

24 And the fat of the beast that dieth of itself, and the fat of that which is torn with beasts, may be used in any other use: but ye shall in no wise eat of it.

25 For whosoever eateth the fat of the beast, of which men offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his people.

26 Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings.

27 Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.

The Priests’ Portion

28 ¶ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

29 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, He that offereth the sacrifice of his peace offerings unto the Lord shall bring his oblation unto the Lord of the sacrifice of his peace offerings.

30 His own hands shall bring the offerings of the Lord made by fire, the fat with the breast, it shall he bring, that the breast may be waved for a wave offering before the Lord.

31 And the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar: but the breast shall be Aaron’s and his sons’.

32 And the right shoulder shall ye give unto the priest for an heave offering of the sacrifices of your peace offerings.

33 He among the sons of Aaron, that offereth the blood of the peace offerings, and the fat, shall have the right shoulder for his part.

34 For the wave breast and the heave shoulder have I taken of the children of Israel from off the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them unto Aaron the priest and unto his sons by a statute for ever from among the children of Israel.

35 ¶ This is the portion of the anointing of Aaron, and of the anointing of his sons, out of the offerings of the Lord made by fire, in the day when he presented them to minister unto the Lord in the priest’s office;

36 Which the Lord commanded to be given them of the children of Israel, in the day that he anointed them, by a statute for ever throughout their generations.

37 This is the law of the burnt offering, of the meat offering, and of the sin offering, and of the trespass offering, and of the consecrations, and of the sacrifice of the peace offerings;

38 Which the Lord commanded Moses in mount Sinai, in the day that he commanded the children of Israel to offer their oblations unto the Lord, in the wilderness of Sinai.

Cross References

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