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Meat sacrificed to idols – 6

In part 5 we saw what is involved for an an ezrach, Yehovah’s son, Israel, who wants to serve beef, lamb or goat to his family, servants, and the Ger who dwells with him, while he is in or near the camp. The slaughter of this animal is called the “Thanksgiving Slaughter” or  (she-la-mim zeh-vach) and is done in accordance with Yehovah’s instructions, NOT the Kosher, Halal or even the United States Department of Agriculture’s instructions. And the Ezrach who kills (sha-khat) it, is the man who also eats it.

  • He selects his animal male or female (at least 8 days old or older)
  • He brings it alive to the brazen altar.
  • Lays his hand on the animal and kills it.
  • The priest catches some of the blood and puts it on the altar.
  • The man now butchers the animal and gives the priest the fat to burn on the altar.
  • The man also gives the priest the breast for a heave and the right thigh as a wave offering.
  • The rest of the meat belongs to the man and is food for him, his friends and those under his covering.

There are three different kinds of Thanksgiving Slaughters; the thank (to-dah) offering (kor-vawn), the vow and the freewill. For the purpose of this series I have concentrated on the most common one and the one that only a son of Yehovah, theEzrach, may bring to Him. There are just a few differences between these 3 kor-vawn and this chart should help us see them quickly. In each case they come from the herd (cattle) or the flock (sheep or goats).

Offering
(kor-van)

Who may bring
this slaughter?

Sex of
Animal

Condition
of animal

Time in which it
may be eaten

Thank
(to-dah)
Only the Ezrach Male or
female
Alive, whole
and not torn
Same day
Freewill The Ezrach or
the Ger
Male Alive, whole
a blemish is OK*
2 days
Vow The Ezrach or
the Ger
Male Alive, whole
and no blemish
2 days

*And a bull or a lamb or goat that has any limb too long or too short you may bring as a freewill, but for a vow it shall not be pleasing. (Lev 22:23)

What happens to this meat between the time it is killed and the next morning is critical to the man that killed it; it is the difference between him receiving a blessing from Yehovah or a curse. Most of the instructions regarding the handling, eating and disposal of this meat at the end of this time period are codified in Leviticus 7:11-21.

‘This is the torah (instructions) for a Thanksgiving Slaughter of which he shall bring near to Yehovah: If he brings it for a to-dah, then he shall bring, with the to-dah slaughter, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and wafers anointed with oil, or cakes of blended flour mixed with oil. Besides the cakes, as his kor-vawn he shall bring leavened bread with a his slaughtered she-lem of to-dah (thanks). And he shall bring one cake for each offering as a heave offering to Yehovah. It shall belong to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the she-la-mim offering. ‘The flesh of a slaughter of his she-la-mim for thanks shall be eaten the same day it is offered. He shall not leave any of it until morning.
But if the slaughter of his kor-vawn is a vow or a freewill it shall be eaten the same day that he brings his slaughter; but on the next day the remainder of it also may be eaten; the remainder of the flesh of the slaughter on the third day must be burned with fire. And if any of the flesh of his Thanksgiving Slaughter is eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, nor shall it be imputed to him; it shall be an abomination to him who offers it, and the person who eats of it shall bear guilt. (Lev 7:11-18)

We only have one day to eat this meat, or two, in the case of a vow or freewill. It does not go into the refrigerator for a few days or into the freezer for months on end.

Now let’s find out how this meat is to be treated and who may eat it during this day.

Meat sacrificed to idols - place setting ‘The flesh [the meat of the animal] that touches any unclean thing [an object, a person, an animal] shall not be eaten. It shall be burned with fire. And as for the clean flesh, all who are clean may eat of it. But the person eats the flesh from the Thanksgiving Slaughter to Yehovah, while he is unclean, that person shall be cut off from his people. Moreover the person who touches any unclean thing, such as human uncleanness, an unclean animal, or any abominable unclean thing, and who eats the flesh from the Thanksgiving Slaughter to Yehovah, that person shall be cut off from his people.‘ ” (Lev 7:19-21)

Any wonder why James in Acts chapter 15 chose meat slaughtered and eaten incorrectly as the number one item that the new Ger MUST NOT do? There are lots of ways, in relation to the meats, which we eat that get us kicked out of Israel; and getting kicked out of Israel means no eternal life. This is part of the reason we must begin to understand what things can make us unclean (ta-mei).

“Speak to Aaron, to his sons, and to all My son, Israel, and say to them, ‘This is the thing which Yehovah has commanded, saying: “Any man of the house of Israel who kills an ox or lamb or goat in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp, and does not come to the door of the tent of meeting to bring his kor-vawn to Yehovah before the presence of Yehovah: the guilt of bloodshed shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people. (Lev 17:2-4)

This is what His son, His Ezrach, is NOT to do. Now He contrasts this with what Israel’s seed, Israel, is to do.

To the end, that Israel’s seed shall 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 Thanksgiving Slaughter to Yehovah. 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. (Lev 17:5-6)

The very next verse is where we will read, in most English translations, the words, “meat sacrificed to idols” and discover what is actually being said there. But before we do that, we must understand to whom our meats are currently slaughtered.

So next time we will compare how the meats most of us eat are slaughtered and learn the judgments of Yehovah that we can expect if we will not change our ways, to His eternal and unchanging ways.

Go to part 7

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Meat sacrificed to idols – 5

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

Meat sacrificed to idols – 4

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.

Part 1 – Introduction

Part 2 – “Sacrifice” is translated from the Hebrew word zevach, and a zevach is always eaten by the man that kills it.

Part 3 – Not eating “meat sacrificed to idols” is the first of the minimum requirements commanded by James for those gerim who were joining themselves to Israel.

Continue reading Meat sacrificed to idols – 4

Meat Sacrificed To Idols (Sacrifice vs Slaughter) – 2

WE ARE ALL EATING “MEAT SACRIFICED TO IDOLS” AND IT NEEDS TO STOP RIGHT AWAY OR WE WILL BE CUT OFF, OR PERHAPS NEVER BECOME, YEHOVAH’S PEOPLE. We must understand the difference between sacrifice vs slaughter.

Yehovah speaks to His spiritually born men who have knowledge, understanding and wisdom that most men do not; just as he spoke to Ezekiel.

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house [family] of Israel [these are all of Yehovah’s spiritually born men, His ezrach, His seed, Israel]; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: (Eze 3:17)

First he warns the wicked men of the earth.

When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. (Eze 3:18)

Then he warns his own people, the righteous men, those who are, or were, learning and doing the ways that lead to life.

Continue reading Meat Sacrificed To Idols (Sacrifice vs Slaughter) – 2