“Then the king, together with all Israel, offered sacrifices before Adonai. For the sacrifice of peace offerings which Shlomo offered to Adonai, he offered 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. Thus the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of Adonai.” – 1 Kings 8:62-63
Alrighty, so in verses 62 and 63, we’re told that Solomon offered up a ton of sacrifices before Adonai.
This is actually the perfect opportunity to review some basic concepts that we studied way back when we were in the book of Leviticus.
And what better way to do this than via a fun little quiz?
So that’s what we’re gonna do, homies!
Let’s see how well you can answer the following questions.
If you’re a Christian, I’d be surprised if you get even one of these correct.
On the other hand, a Jew who attended Hebrew school from their youth, I imagine, would get these right off the bat.
But maybe not.
So here we go.
1) What is the chief of all offerings called?
2) Which sacrifice is normally offered up together with the chief of all offerings mentioned in question 1?
3) What is the Peace Offering called in Hebrew?
4) What part of the Peace Offering is burned up?
5) Which sacrifice was also used for food for both the worshipper and the priests?
Alrighty, take out a pen and a piece of paper.
Now jot down what comes to mind.
Don’t cheat by hitting up ChatGPT or Claude.
Just see how well you can do by trying to answer these questions off the top of your head.
What?
You’ve given up already?!
No worries.
Don’t feel bad if you couldn’t answer even one of the questions.
Rest assured that 99% of believers…
Especially from the gentile Christian camp…
Will fall flat on their proverbial faces trying to get these.
In fact, not only will your average Christian not be able to answer these questions…
He or she won’t give two hoots.
Why?
Because they’re handcuffed by a lawless theology that says Jesus did away with the law.
Anyway, don’t get me started on a rant here.
Alrighty…
So without any further ado…
Here are the answers:
QUESTION ONE
“What is the chief of all offerings called?”
The chief of all sacrifices was called the Burnt Offering, or the OLAH in Hebrew.
One of the biggest distinctions between the olah and several other sacrifices was that the animal was entirely burned up.
This sacrifice was offered voluntarily, and the animal had to be without defect.
Now here’s what most homies don’t get.
The olah wasn’t simply “a sacrifice for sin.”
That makes this sacrifice totally different from the other sacrifices.
You could almost think of it as total surrender or dedication expressed to the Lord through sacrifice.
Ya feeling me here?
Alrighty, onward.
QUESTION TWO
“Which sacrifice is normally offered up together with the chief of all offerings mentioned in question 1?”
The sacrifice normally offered up with the OLAH is the “grain offering” or MINCHAH in Hebrew.
It was basically the worshipper’s way of bringing Adonai a gift from the stuff they grew in the ground.
No animal was involved.
Instead, the offering was made from fine flour, olive oil, and frankincense.
A portion of it was burned on the altar, creating that sweet-smelling aroma before Adonai.
The rest was given to the priests to eat.
Since it was offered together with the OLAH (Burnt Offering), the voluntary spirit behind this offering was essentially the same.
The attitude of the worshipper was something like this:
“Adonai, here’s a portion of what You’ve blessed me with.
I’m giving it back to You as an act of worship and devotion.”
It was a simple but powerful reminder that everything we have ultimately comes from the Lord.
QUESTION THREE
“What is the Peace Offering called in Hebrew?”
The Peace Offering is called ZEVAH in Hebrew.
But technically speaking, it ought to properly be called the ZEVAH SHELAMIM.
Note that the Hebrew word SHALOM for peace is the root of SHELAMIM.
Now, the ZEVAH is a really interesting one because, unlike the OLAH, this sacrifice wasn’t about burning up the whole animal.
It was an animal that was brought before the Lord, slaughtered, and then shared as a meal.
So it was a fellowship meal amongst fellow homies.
The worshiper, family, friends, and priests — every homie and his grandmother could eat from the sacrifice.
So the ZEVAH wasn’t about giving something up.
It was about sharing a meal in connection with Adonai.
Ya feeling me here?
Alrighty, onward.
QUESTION FOUR
“What part of the Peace Offering is burned up?”
The part of the ZEVAH, or Peace Offering, that was burned up was the fat covering the animal’s internal organs.
There is a special term in Hebrew for this type of fat that surrounds the organs of the sacrificial animals.
It is HELEV.
Now here’s where homies get confused and think that because of this, the Lord prohibits eating all fat from the meat, period.
That ain’t the case, homies.
HELEV ain’t talking about the ordinary fat found under the skin or hide of an animal, like what we see in an ordinary cut of meat.
This ordinary type of fat is called SHUMAN in Hebrew.
And SHUMAN is totally cool for human consumption.
Ya feeling me here?
Alrighty, onward.
QUESTION FIVE
“Which sacrifice was also used for food for both the worshipper and the priests?”
This one should be easy given what we learned in the answers to quiz questions 3 and 4.
Obviously, it is the ZEVAH, or Peace Offering, that was allowed to be eaten by both the worshippers and the priests.
There was a practical element to this as well.
During Solomon’s Temple dedication ceremony, thousands of people showed up.
How to feed all these homies?
The ZEVAH was the answer.
Alrighty, so the takeaway I’m getting from all this is that these sacrifices reflect how we are to view our wealth and other possessions.
Because the truth is, we don’t really possess anything.
It all belongs to the Lord.
With the OLAH, we are saying…
“Adonai, I’m giving this entire animal to You.”
With the MINCHAH, we are saying…
“Adonai, I’m giving You some of what You’ve provided from the land.”
With the ZEVAH, we are saying…
“Adonai, I’m bringing You this animal…
And we’re going to share a meal in fellowship.”
I particularly like how the ZEVAH is shared among everyone.
It goes so against the selfish hoarding mentality that exists in our greedy society today.
These sacrifices represent a true abundance mentality rooted in faith in the Lord.
And that does it for today.
CONNECTING THESE TEACHINGS TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Therefore take no thought, saying,
What shall we eat? or,
What shall we drink? or,
Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:)
for your heavenly Father knoweth
that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God,
and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you.”
-Matthew 6:31-33
Okay, let me add one or two more questions (BTW…I didn’t know the Hebrew names!):
1. Is the Pesach (Passover) sacrifice a sin sacrifice?
2. Why is Yeshua called the “Passover lamb” if his sacrifice was for sin, which would be the Yom Kippur sacrifice?
The Passover sacrifice is a thanksgiving sacrifice because we share in the eating of the sacrificial animal. The Thanksgiving (or Zevah) sacrifice is the only one where the person bringing the sacrifice gets to eat of it, representing our reuniting with God (by sharing a meal with him). Technically, this type of sacrifice is to be eaten in a holy place, which meant they would eat it at the Tabernacle and then the plates would be broken because they became holy and no common food could touch them, again.
( I had heard once that this is how they knew they found where the Tabernacle was placed in Shiloh- the archaeologists found the remains of many broken plates surrounding the mound,which indicated that is where they ate the Zevah.)
Yeshua’s sacrifice replaced the need to sacrifice an animal at the temple in Jerusalem, which the Torah states is the only place God will accept any sacrifice (Deut. 4), and his innocent blood shed is what allows us to be forgiven.
Yeshua completed two important sacrifices, although it was sorta in the wrong order: he replaced the need for the Yom Kippur sacrifice to be forgiven of sin (although we should still fast, for who is without sin?) on Passover, when we sacrifice as a means of thanking God (for protecting us from the Angel of Death).
Oy, so confusing!
All we really need to remember is that Yeshua is the Messiah God promised to send, that faithfully belieivng his sacrifice was accepted (proven by his resurrection) and that through his sacrifice, when we truly repent (do T’shuvah) we can be forgiven of our sins, and the way to live as God wants us to live is to obey his Torah.
Thanks for your discussion the other night, Steven.
Yeshua’s sacrifice freed the Jewish people from the curses of the law.
When I say, “curses of the law,” I’m referring to that specific part of the Levitical sacrificial system that the Hebrew was turned over to if he had committed an intentional sin.
I’m not operating under Christianity’s totally flawed understanding of what the curses of the law are.