“This is the law for sacrificing peace offerings offered to Adonai: If a person offers it for giving thanks, he is to offer it with the thanksgiving sacrifice of unleavened cakes mixed with olive oil, matzah spread with olive oil, and cakes made of fine flour mixed with olive oil and fried. With cakes of leavened bread he is to present his offering together with the sacrifice of his peace offerings for giving thanks.”-Leviticus 7:11-13
In my last post, I mentioned that there are Holy Offerings (KODESH KALLIM) and Most Holy Offerings (KODESH KODASHIM).
I also explained that all of the content from Leviticus 6:1 to 7:11 dealt with those offerings designated as “Most Holy” or KODESH KODASHIM.
Everything from Leviticus 7:11 to pretty much the end of the chapter deals with KODESH KALLIM in the form of the ZEVAH offerings.
So this is where we’re at in our studies.
Now out of the many types of ZEVAH or Peace Offerings, there are two primary types.
They are the ZEVAH TODAH and the ZEVAH SHELAMIM.
For those with a basic working knowledge of Hebrew, I’m sure the word TODAH sounds familiar to you.
TODAH is the Hebrew expression for “Thank you”.
If you were to visit Israel today, I’m pretty sure this phrase would come in quite handy.
So when somebody offered up a ZEVAH TODAH, they were expressing gratitude to the Lord for rescuing them from a troublesome situation whether it was achieving victory in a battle, giving birth to a healthy child without incident, or overcoming a deadly sickness.
The ZEVAH TODAH was always accompanied by a MINCHAH or a “Grain Offering”.
And to get even more technical, depending on the purpose of the ZEVAH TODAH offering, the dough of the MINCHAH that accompanied it had to sometimes be leavened or sometimes unleavened.
The second primary type of ZEVAH was called the ZEVAH SHELAMIM.
In English this is sometimes called the “Vow Offering”.
When a sacred vow was made to the Lord a ZEVAH SHELAMIM was performed and after one had fulfilled his vow, the ZEVAH SHELAMIM was performed again.
This sacrifice and others of course appear in the New Testament many times but but most folks just don’t recognize them.
This may be because Leviticus is probably one of the least taught Bible books (if it is even taught at all) in the churches.
In the Book of Acts, there is section where James tells Paul to pay for the “Vow Offerings” for four men who had just fulfilled their vows.
Paul was specifically paying for the sacrificial animals so that the men could offer up a ZEVAH SHELAMIM per the Torah’s commands.
Now an interesting question to ask is why did James instruct Paul to pay for the vow offerings for these men?
Keep in mind that this was AFTER Paul had come to faith in Yeshua as the Messiah of Israel.
The reason Paul paid for the animals so the men could perform a ZEVAH SHELAMIM was to prove that his belief in Yeshua did not in any way take away from his Torah observance.
I would say Paul became even more Torah observant after his conversion since he was now walking in faith with the Torah made flesh.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“What, then, is to be done?
They will certainly hear that you have come.
So do what we tell you.
We have four men who are under a vow.
Take them with you,
be purified with them,
and pay the expenses connected
with having their heads shaved.
Then everyone will know that there is nothing
to these rumors which they have heard about you;
but that, on the contrary,
you yourself stay in line
and keep the Torah.”
-Acts 21:22-24
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