Leviticus chapter 17 has 5 statutes that Yehovah gives His son, Israel concerning how they are to treat their clean meat.
The first statute is the one that discusses “meat sacrificed to idols” and it is something that every beef, goat and lamb eater is participating in and is something that will get us cut out from among Yehovah’s people. Keep in mind, we are not talking about meat sacrificed to idols, we are talking about meat that is slaughtered for our food; the “idols” portion is more about how the animal is killed, who kills it and whose statutes were followed in that process.
This is the part four in this “Meat sacrificed to idols” series. Please read the preceding 3 before continuing with this installment.
Our Bible translations are perverted by the theological biases of the translators who render their interpretations based on the doctrines and traditions of men instead of Yehovah’s clear instructions. Our only safety is to go back to the original Hebrew and understand His eternal and unchanging ways in the context of His Torah, His instructions, as a whole. With that in mind I have prepared a translation which is more in accord with Yehovah’s words spoken to Moses in these first 7 verses of Leviticus 17. I encourage you to study this passage in-depth, just as I have, and discover for yourself the wickedness that we are involved in. Here is my translation of Yehovah’s first statute concerning domestically raised meats; specifically, beef, goat and lamb.
1. And Yehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
2. “Speak to Aaron’s seed, and to all Israel, and say to them, ‘This is the word which Yehovah has commanded, saying:
Statute 1 begins with what Yehovah’s son, the owner of the land and the stock, is NOT to do with his cattle, sheep and goats!
3. “Any man of Israel’s house who kills cattle or lamb or goat in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp,
4. and brings it [the animal] not to the door of the tent of meeting to bring [caw-rav] his offering [his cor-vawn, the fat and the blood] unto Yehovah, before the presence of Yehovah; the blood which the man shed shall be imputed on him, and that man shall be cut off from among his people.
Now Yehovah contrasts the negative with what we, Yehovah’s son, ARE to do!
5. To the end, that My son, Israel may come with their slaughterings, which they [were] slaughtering in the open field, and come to Yehovah, to the door of the tent of meeting, to the priest, and he [the man] shall slaughter His slaughtered she-la-mim to Yehovah.
6. And the priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of Yehovah at the door of the tent of meeting, and burn the fat for a sweet aroma to Yehovah.
We are to stop doing what we are doing now, and start doing it correctly.
7. They shall no more slaughter their slaughterings to goats/devils/ wicked, after whom they have played the harlot. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.” ‘ (Lev 17:1-7)
Oh my, there is so much for us to know if we are ever to get a correct understanding of these instructions and especially what He means by “they shall no more slaughter their slaughterings to goats, after whom they have played the harlot.” I have much to say about this, but before I do I must lay some additional foundations. The slaughter of any cattle, goat or lamb by Israel’s seed, if they are in or near the camp, is to be brought to Yehovah as a she-la-mim and is killed and eaten in accordance with His statutes and ordinances.
I see, in Leviticus 17, Yehovah’s a great love even for animals which is demonstrated by His instructions. In His kingdom the animals which His son (the plural he) slaughters, is eaten by the man who slaughtered it; we, His son, see and understand the life that was taken for our meat because we were the ones who slaughtered it. And Yehovah further demonstrates His love for the animal in His requirements concerning how the animal’s flesh is to be treated even after it is slaughtered. There is no provision in Torah for others to slaughter and prepare the meat which His son (along with his family, servants, friends and the Ger that dwells with them) eat. Yehovah never intended the mass production and slaughtering of any animal, which is so common today. We will see that Yehovah treats all the clean animals which His men slaughter for themselves with respect for the life of each individual animal. Look what Yehovah said in verse 4; “the blood which the man shed shall be imputed on him.” Shedding the blood of an animal incorrectly will get the man of Israel cut off from His people. We will see this to be true for all the clean animals which His men kill.
Please don’t get frustrated, I do understand that currently there is no tent of meeting, no temple or priesthood. But we must understand how our domestic animals are to be treated when we bring them to the brass altar as a she-la-mim, in order to see how they were treated before we had a brass altar and a priesthood. I am trying to present this information in a logical manner that will lead to greater knowledge and deeper understandings and hopefully prevent the new Ger who is joining himself (and his family) to Israel, from being cut off from his people. Understanding the importance of this first statute concerning how we are to treat our cattle, goat and lamb has drastic and eternal consequences for those who choose to ignore it.
Next time I will discuss some of the statutes in Leviticus chapters 3 and 7 in which Yehovah gives his instructions on how the slaughtered she-la-mim is to be treated.
Does Yehovah change? Does His word endure forever? If you think He does change, you had best stop reading right here. I am looking for people, especially men, who want to learn, do and teach even the little things in Yehovah’s eternal and unchanging word. And these statutes about the food we eat, are some of the MOST important things in His word; instructions designed to preserve life.
I’m very greatfull for your work Michael. I haven’t found anyone saying anything about any of this. This is SO informative!