So what are some of the things we have seen so far in this series?

• Part 1 – The offering or kor-van that a man brings to Yehovah is all about “drawing near” to him.
• Part 2 – “Sacrifice” is not a word used in Torah. It is used to cover up the word zeh-vach which means “slaughter; and a slaughter is ALWAYS eaten by the man who killed it. All the other places that the word “sacrifice” is used is simply added to the text.
• Part 3 – James commanded that the new ger, the man who left his old elohim (lawmakers and judges) and turned into the way that leads to life to no longer eat meat sacrificed to idols. We also saw an overview of how Israel is to treat all their slaughtered clean meat in Leviticus 17.
• Part 4 – All meat that comes from the herd (cattle) or the flocks (sheep and goats) MUST be brought alive to Yehovah and slaughtered as a she-la-mim before His altar; and the man who does not do this is cut off from among his people. I must stress here the importance of bringing our thanksgiving slaughter to Yehovah.

The she-la-mim is commonly called the “peace offering.” The Hebrew word she-la-mim is the plural form of the word she-lem.

H8002
she-lem: A noun meaning thanksgiving offerings, also called peace offerings. These offerings were voluntary, given to God in thanks or in praise to Him. (WordStudy)

Complete: A state of being whole, complete or full. Also an offering of restitution or payment. (AHLB)

It appears to me that the word she-la-mim is the qualitative plural because the One being thanked is the qualitative Elohim (THE lawmaker and judge or the whole earth). As I read Torah, this is a “thanksgiving slaughter.” Leviticus 7 makes this very clear for me.

‘This is the law [to-rah] for the thanksgiving [ha-she-la-mim] slaughter [zeh-vach] which he shall bring near to Yehovah.  If it is for thanks [to-dah], he shall bring what he brings with the thanks [ha-to-dah] slaughter [zeh-vach]: unleavened cakes mixed with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, or cakes of blended flour mixed with oil. (Lev 7:11-12)

We bring our thanksgiving [she-la-mim] slaughter [zeh-vach] to Yehovah because He is the one who gave us the increase of the herd and the increase of the flocks; the thanksgiving [ha-she-la-mim] slaughter [zeh-vach] is His way for us to give Him the honor He deserves for giving us the increase. Speaking to His son, Israel, Moses says,

“Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that Yehovah your Elohim will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers. And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you. (Deu 7:12-13)

The thanksgiving [ha-she-la-mim] slaughter [zeh-vach] can come from either the herd or the flock, it can be male or female and must be at least 8 days old. It is brought alive (whole) to Yehovah’s altar and then killed by the man who brought it. Leviticus 3 gives Yehovah’s instructions for the thanksgiving [ha-she-la-mim] slaughter [zeh-vach]; first for the herd (verses 1-5) and then the lamb (verses 7-11) and then the goat (verses 12-16). Since they are all done (pretty much) the same, I am only going to address the thanksgiving [ha-she-la-mim] slaughter; [zeh-vach] that comes from the herd.

And if his offering [kor-van] is a thanksgiving [she-la-mim] slaughter [zeh-vach], if it is of the herd, whether male or female, he shall bring it alive and whole [taw-meem] to Yehovah. (Lev 3:1)

And Yehovah spoke to Moses, saying: “When a bull or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall be seven days with its mother; and from the eighth day and thereafter it shall be pleasing as fire offering to Yehovah. Whether it is a cow or ewe, do not kill both her and her young on the same day. And when you brings a thanksgiving slaughter to Yehovah, of your own free will you shall slaughter it. (Lev 22:26-29)

Our slaughters walk in with us.

And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tent of meeting; and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood all around on the altar. (Lev 3:2)

It is the man, not the priest, who lays his hand on the animal’s head and kills (sha-khat) it. At the same time the priest catches some of the animal’s blood in order to put some of it on the altar. Both the tabernacle and the temple have places for the slaughtered animal to be hung up, drained of its blood and butchered as needed. In this case the man removes the fat and the kidneys and then gives it to the priest to burn on the altar as a sweet aroma to Yehovah.

And he shall bring from the thanksgiving [ha-she-la-mim] slaughter [zeh-vach] a portion unto Yehovah’s fire: 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 son shall burn it on the altar as the rising or ascending [ha-o-lah], which is on the wood that is on the fire, the raising, a sweet aroma to Yehovah. (Lev 3:3-5)

That is it! These are the Yehovah’s instructions for our thanksgiving slaughter. The priest, for his services, gets a wave offering (which is the breast of the animal) and a heave offering (the right thigh).

“Speak to My son, Israel, saying: ‘He who brings his thanksgiving [she-la-mim] slaughter [zeh-vach] to Yehovah shall bring his offering [kor-van] to Yehovah from his thanksgiving [she-la-mim] slaughter [zeh-vach]; his own hands shall bring the offerings made by fire to Yehovah: the fat with the breast he shall bring, that the breast may be waved as a wave offering before Yehovah. 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 your thanksgiving [she-la-mim] slaughter [zeh-vach]. He among the sons of Aaron, who offers the blood of the thanksgiving [ha-she-la-mim] 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 My son, Israel, from their thanksgiving [she-la-mim] slaughters [zeh-vach], and I have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons from My son, Israel by a statute forever.’ “  (Lev 7:29-34)

So the spiritually born son of Yehovah and the head of his family, his servants and the Ger who dwells with him decided he wanted a meal with beef. He selected the animal (probably a young bull) which he wanted from the herd or purchased one. He then brought his thanksgiving slaughter to the tabernacle and killed it there. Then he cut it up and gave the priest the fat, the wave and the heave offerings. Now the remainder of the meat is for him, his friends and those under his covering.

Next time we will see who gets to eat this meat and the time span in which this meat must be eaten.

So much to learn, so little time.

Go to part 6