“The meat of their fellowship offering of thanksgiving must be eaten on the day it is offered; they must leave none of it till morning.”
Leviticus 7:15 (NIV)
As Paul instructs the Corinthians about eating meat offered to idols, he reminds them to consider the people of Israel, and the truth that when they ate the sacrifices they participated in the altar. Most of us who have been taught the Old Testament know that animals were brought before the LORD and sacrificed for the people’s sin, but we overlook or forget that going to the temple to be forgiven through animal sacrifice was also the time for a family meal. We see a great example of this in the account of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1, and as you read it you get the sense of the family meal around a fellowship offering.
The altar was the place where the sacrifice for sin was accepted, where the punishment for sin was carried out, and where forgiveness for the sin was extended from God to sinner who came. In Matthew 23 our Lord very pointedly reminded the Pharisees of the importance of the altar, and in Hebrews 13:10 we are reminded that the altar we come to (the cross where Christ Jesus was sacrificed) is greater than the Mosaic altar.
We participate in the cross, when we come to the Lord for forgiveness, mercy and grace.
Oh friend have we have gone to the cross today?
May we stay close to the cross of Christ.
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