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Good evening. I think this is on. Is this on? My name is Jack Napier. I've been asked before, like, oh, Jack Napier. Do you know that's the name of the Batman or the Joker in the Batman? I was like, I did know that. Did you know my middle name's Daniel was named after a famous drink? And they're like, you were named after a drink and the Joker? And I was like, well, technically not the Joker because I was born before that and my dad didn't choose our last name, so it just kind of worked out that way. But I am. It is interesting. You know, the name Jack comes from John, if you could believe that. John, John, Ken, Jonathan, Jankin, Jacken, and then Jack for short. Not many hundreds of years ago, the name Jack was the most famous or most popular name for a guy in the world. And it became a name for just any guy, like buddy. They'd be like, oh, Jack. Just random facts have nothing to do with anything we're about to talk about. But I'm glad we got that out. It's early. It's so early. We got all the time. Let's just talk about other stuff. Tonight we're going to go over the third offering that is the third of the great offerings, the five in the book of Leviticus. Only five. When I've shared this with people, I have had people that have been going to church for like 50 years and they've told me, I did not know there's only five sacrifices in the Old Testament. I had no clue. I was like, yeah. Do you know that all of the laws are just in the first five books of the Bible and primarily in the book of Leviticus? Did you know that some of them are. They're repeated a little bit in Deuteronomy, but it's Leviticus that's like the core. And they're like, no, I never knew that. I was like, I know. Isn't it crazy the way the Bible is organized once you study it from end to end? A lot of things just make more sense when you have that 30,000 foot view. Just five sacrifices in the Old Testament. All five point to Jesus. It's why he had to be sacrificed. The Merriam Webster dictionary has five entries for the word peace. There's five definitions for peace. And everybody wants peace. Everybody wants what you would consider is like harmony and joy and no conflict and all of that. But out of the five entries, only one matches the biblical term for peace in the Old Testament. The Old Testament wasn't written in English, so merriam Webster wouldn't understand the actual definition of that word that's used in Leviticus. But in Leviticus there's this word for peace that describes the third offering. And so you have the burnt offering, the grain offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering. The peace offering. I know that some of your Bibles will use the term fellowship. I'm going to explain that why your Bible may use the word fellowship. Fellowship and peace will not sound like the same thing to you. You will be like, these are not synonyms. I would not call them the same. And that's okay. There's a reason for them calling it the fellowship offering. But it's really. The peace offering is the more literal Hebrew word definition. I'll just tell you. It's. I think it's shalem from shalom. The word peace, you've probably heard shalom, you know, peace, peace be with you. God, you know, give you peace. But I want to give you a summary of the peace offering before we even get into the text because you kind of have to have an understanding of why this offering is different than the others. And I think I may even move around just a little bit so you can. I'm not in the way. Here's the peace offering. In the peace offering, there are three different animals that are able to be given. It's male or female, and they all have to be without blemish. There's one exception, and that's really unique and important for this and how it points to Jesus. Vitally important, actually. It's so important. If you grew up Jewish and you were learning the law, when you get to the peace offering, every Jewish boy would ask, why is this one so unique and different and what it allows for? There's an exception that's not in the others. The fat is burned on the altar along with the burnt offering. So if you read in your Bibles now, if you ever read through your Bible after this week and you say burnt offering, I know that one, one of the five and peace offering. Burnt offering and peace offering often go together. We're going to look at a few verses that bring them together. And it's because the fat is burned on the altar along with the burnt offering. And there's a connection between the burnt offering and the peace offering. A portion is given to the priest. This is not unique because, you know, the priests usually get all the offerings. But for this one, the portion that's given to the priest is. Is the breast and the right thigh. And I'm just curious Is there any Bible stories rolling around your mind? When you think of strange events where someone puts their hand under a thigh or things happen with the thigh that you're like, what's that about? I mean, thighs are great. Chicken thighs are my favorite kind of chicken. I think they're better than everybody's like, oh, get the breast and, you know, protein Max, and whatever. I'm like, no, chicken thighs. Those are the best. Why is it the thigh that's mentioned in particular, the right thigh, and the rest is eaten by the offer? So when you bring this particular offering into the tabernacle, for this context, later, the temple, when you bring your offering, this peace offering, you actually get some of it back. Some of it is given to you and to your family, and you're using it, you're able to use it with your neighbors. And it's the only offering of the five that you get to partake of and share with your neighbors that's also unique and important. So that's just a summary to give you a little snapshot of how this offering is different. So if you turn in your Bibles to Leviticus, chapter three, verse one, it's, you know, Leviticus 1, the burnt offering. Leviticus chapter two, the grain offering, chapter three, the. The peace offering. If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offers an animal from the herd, a male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord, and he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and kill it at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And Aaron's sons, the priest shall throw the blood against the sides of the offering altar. So it's called the sacrifice of peace offering, which is really just one word, Shelamim, which comes from Shalom. That's why it's called the peace offering. Then verse three, and from the sacrifice of the peace offering, as a food offering to the Lord, he shall offer the fat covering the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails and the two kidneys with the fat. Anyway, there's a lot of fat in an animal, even the organ fat, the visceral fat. Then verse five, and Aaron's sons shall burn it on the altar on top of the burnt offering. So these two offerings are the only ones that go together. So that's meant to be unique. The burnt offering and the peace offering, which is on the wood on the fire. It is a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. And I think I shared this before the first three mentioned the reason why they're in this order, even though they're not in the right chronological order, is because these are the sweet spots. Savor offerings, the pleasing aromas to the Lord. And you'll later find out tomorrow why the sin offering and the guilt offering doesn't smell good to God. And we'll see that tomorrow. So the fat, the fat must be completely burned up. You'll notice that with this particular offering, fat is a big deal. It's mentioned more for this offering than the others. It's on top of the burnt offering. And those are together. So you, you get from the herd, you get from the flock, verses 6 through 8, verses 9 through 11. Still from the sheep. It says then from the sacrifice of peace offering, he shall offer as a food offering to the Lord. It's fat. He shall remove the whole fat tail cut off close to the backbone and the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails. Okay, Are there any shepherds in the room? Right, okay. Anybody ever seen a sheep? How fat are their tails? Right. Do they even have tails? Right. Unless you're speaking metaphorically, they don't have tails. Okay, well, just so you don't think the Bible's a lie, there's, you know, and any zoologists in here, there are two particular sheep that are unique in the Middle East. This is called the Oriental broad tailed sheep. It's also known as the Ahwasee or the caracal sheep, depending on their region in which it's from, based on a Arabic or Hebrew or Middle Eastern name. It's all the same kind of sheep. They're known for their ability to thrive in harsh environments. They have unique wool. Part of the reason for the fat is for their calories. Because when you live in a desert, I would survive in the desert longer than some of you. I've got stuff that can handle me for a little bit longer. Some of you run every morning. And you know what? If World War three happens, I win. So, you know, I'm gonna live longer anyway. Newborn caracal lambs like these. Oh, this is an older picture, actually. It was drawn hundreds of years ago. Part of the reason for some of this, if you get into apologetics and you get into Hebrew and Middle Eastern studies, you find that this is one of those unique, cool thing, cool facts. They were trying to discount the Bible with some of this and it ends up. It's all verified anyway. They're known. A newborn caracal lamb like this is known as the Persian lamb or the ostracon. They can store up to 25 pounds of prized fat in their tail. And they cook it and use it, and it's amazing. It's known as a delicacy. And here's why I'm bringing this up. Fat is mentioned a lot for this offering. And every single time it says, and the fat belongs completely to the Lord, and you need to burn it all up. And if you're reading Leviticus and you're like, why is all this? Here's the idea. God is making a point to say, the delicacy, the good stuff, it belongs to me. I want you to have a lifestyle like what Molly's been talking about, where if God says yes, you go, I want you to have a lifestyle and have habits and practices where you live. Like, the best belongs to God. He decides. He chooses who stays or who goes. He chooses. If we say yes or no, he's the one that the best belongs to. And there's a little bit of that in that unique sheep element. Then you have the goats. If his offering is a goat, verses 12 through 15. I'm not going to read it all to you because it's all very similar. Similar. And you can read it. So you have the goat. So here's the conclusion. Verses 16 through 17. And the priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering with a pleasing aroma. All fat is the Lord's. Now, how many of you like ribeyes more than New York Strip, right? Some of you know meat. And you're right, okay, you know that, that marbled fat, that wagyu beef, that is the best part. That's the good part. God is making a statement here, saying, I want this to belong to me. And there's a benefit to God's people when they obey this. When God's heart, when people's hearts are truly given to the Lord, like the best belongs to you, it all belongs to you. You are actually more blessed. It's more blessed to give than receive. And part of this offering, this peace offering, and you might be thinking already, like, what does this have to do with peace? We're gonna get there. Part of this offering is to draw your heart into a peaceful relationship with God. Relational harmony. I mentioned there were five entries for peace. Only one of them connects to the Old Testament, and it's relational harmony. Real peace is when you have harmony with another person. That's the kind of peace that this word shalom means. Now, I know if you've ever read the book, I bet Molly's read this book when helping Hurts Brian Fickard and that other guy. Yeah, such a good book. Short term mission. So good. Okay, There is a reality in which I lost my train of thought. Anyway. All fats to the Lord. All fat belongs to the Lord. I can talk too long and I don't want to because it's. Are you guys excited about disco night? Anybody going to that? Yeah. We got to get out of here soon, so I gotta go stretch. I gotta take another two of leave, so we gotta get ready. All right. So all fat is the Lord's. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your. Oh, why is it peace, relational peace. Anyway, it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places that you eat neither fat nor blood. Now that is a strange instruction that the rest of the people around them didn't do. And I can't get into the chapters in Leviticus about blood, but that is really important to understand why God told them and why God wanted them to understand. The life is in the blood. Do not drink blood. It was also connected to demonic realities. Short story. We live in what we think of you. And I probably think we live in a three dimensional world. Now mathematicians and scientists have already found 10 dimensions. So there's already 10 dimensions we're working with. Time is likely one of those other of the three dimensions, not just length with height. So we live in a physical world, physical dimensions. There's also a spiritual dimension, the spiritual world, the unseen realm, the things that you and I don't see with our physical eyes, but it's very real. We just don't touch it and feel it because it's not physical. This there is a reality of. There is another dimension that we cannot see. And the spiritual dimension is connected to us because we are spiritual beings. So blood is a real physical thing that has a spiritual connection. Another in the Bible is music. If you listen to music and it affects you, you think emotionally, guess what? It's spiritually. It's not just emotional. You are a spiritual being. There's a reason why music, this universal language is. Is connected to all human beings, right? And you have some extreme people out there talking about residencies and all this. And listen, there's just a reality. In the scriptures, there are multiple dimensions. God has designed us for a spiritual dimension in which music, blood and other things connect. Words, actual words are important and significant. We are connected to the spiritual realm. Fat is about honoring God. Blood is about the other dimension. But I can't preach that other chapter in Leviticus to you. But there, it speaks about blood, too. So no fat or blood. FYI, this is why Jehovah's Witnesses, even though I believe that is a cult and that's based off of bad doctrine, Jehovah's Witnesses won't let their kids, even they could be on life support. You can't get blood transfusions. They actually get that from the law, and they get that from here. This is one of the places that this is referenced again later in Leviticus, about seven chapters down. And so no blood, no fat. You may be asking Jack, what does that have to do with peace? And I'm glad you asked that, because I'm about to tell you. If you notice the very first slide, when I gave the list of the five offerings we gave, you know, chapter one, chapter two, chapter three, chapters four and five, Ish. Five through seven, seven and six are almost always listed in those at the end. It's because there's a recap of these five offerings later in chapters six and seven. So if you go to chapter seven that talks about the peace offering, we find three different reasons why God is giving us a peace offering. Those three reasons why he gives the peace offering lead God's people to three different habits that promote peace. So the three reasons for the peace offering, when you know the reasons, he says if you do it for these, one of these three reasons you give the peace offering, all three of those are habits for God's people that promote peace. So if you. If you enact those three habits in your own life, you will produce peace. You will promote peace in your own life. And they're all connected to the peace offering. So I didn't say that very well. And I think it's just because it's late and I'm tired. But you will see in just a second, I've got it actually written out. So we're not relying on my mind here. So the peace offering there. Oh, well, it was a thing. Okay, so here it is. All of which leads God's people to three different habits that promote peace. Well said. Okay, number one, I do not do drugs. I really don't. I've not been drinking anything but coffee and water. And I don't know why I'm so tired. All right, the first reason, the first habit that promotes peace, for the peace offering, you will see in chapter 7, verses 11 through 13. This offering celebrates God's deliverance that God delivers his people. So the purpose for the peace offering is that it is to celebrate that God delivers us, that God delivers his People, that's the first reason for it. And of course, deliverance. Celebrating God's deliverance does promote peace. So verse 11. And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, Shalomim, that one may offer to the Lord if he offers it for a thanksgiving. I'll just tell you that phrase. If he offers it for thanksgiving, it's the same offering. But if he offers the peace offering for thanksgiving, that's reason number one. Then he shall offer with the thanksgiving sacrifice, unleavened loaves mixed with oil. He goes through it with the sacrifice of his peace offering for thanksgiving. Reason number one, you give a peace offering, it's for thanksgiving. He shall bring his offering with loaves of leavened bread. This is the peace offering. So the first reason for the peace offering is thanking God. But you're thanking God for something very specific. You're thanking him for deliverance. God delivered his people out of Egypt. And this offering, the peace offering, is connected that King David mentions this more than once. King David wrote 73 of the 150 Psalms. And if you read his Psalms, they're like songs, poetic songs from a man who was a great warrior, a war prodigy, really brilliant in the way. Now, he wasn't a great husband or father. You could read the Bible yourself. He wasn't great in that area, but he was an amazing warrior. And he wrote his Psalms in such a way that everybody knew a couple of things, one of which is I cannot win any battle unless God helps me. I think one of the reasons why David is called by God as a man after his own heart, is the best warrior that's probably ever lived. Had the attitude and the impression that I will not win one battle unless the Lord helps me. And he's the greatest warrior that I think ever lived. He writes about this Psalm 60, 56. I'll just go to it. There's other background to this. The Philistines captured David and Gath. You could read about this in 1st Samuel, chapter 21, if you want to go do Bible study tonight or tomorrow morning and read. It's a really interesting story. If you read about when David first got captured. He ends up peeing on a wall so that they would think he's crazy. And then he ends up getting on the inside of the Philistine camps, the floor five Philistine cities. That's how he was able to destroy the Philistines. It's a really amazing story of how King David did this. But in Psalm 56, verse 12, he writes, I must perform my vows to you, O God, I will render thank offerings to you. This is speaking back to the peace offering. For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life. So you don't know this yet, but in verse 12 in Hebrew, the vow, the vow word and the thanksgiving offering all point back to the peace offering in Leviticus chapter 7. This is a well known, everybody agrees on Jewish understanding, study of the Old Testament. Also a common evangelical understanding. If you study it, you could read a commentary on it. David is talking about the peace offering and he's saying, I'm giving this peace offering to thank you because you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life, you've delivered me. So he's doing that. When Gad the prophet came to David and told him to build an altar on the threshing floor of Aruna the Jebusite, so God would relent and stop the plague, there was one point in which David did the wrong thing. There was many points in which David did the wrong thing. This was one of them David chose. I'm gonna put myself in the hands of God because I know no one's as merciful as him. So I'll go with God on this. He gives him three options. God gives a man three options. How do you wanna be punished? And he picks the option in which, I just wanna be in your hands when you punish me. Because no one in the whole universe I trust but you to be merciful. That's how David knew God. So in 2 Samuel 24, chapter 24, verse 25, and David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Remember, burnt offerings and peace offerings go together because they literally are burnt together. They think of it like carrots and peas or, you know, spaghetti and catfish. You know, things that we all mix together. You know, it's like that. So the Lord responded to the plea for the land and the plague was averted. He gives this, he builds this altar. He gives the burnt offering and the peace offering, confessing and believing God is gonna deliver us. He mentions this before, this actually is written in 2nd Samuel, but he's believing this. Leviticus 7:15 and the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering for thanksgiving. That it's just clear in the text, the peace offering is given for thanksgiving shall be eaten on the day of his offering. He shall not leave any of it until the morning. This is unique. The other offerings, this is not mentioned in the other offerings. And I just want to keep challenging you. And I know I'm beating the same drum over and over again here. Every word in the Bible is important. Every single sentence. If you ever read a part of the Bible and say, if this sentence was gone, nothing changes, you're wrong. You don't have to feel bad about it, but just know. I just don't understand why this is here. Every single word in God's word is important. If you study and analyze the different offerings and how they're different and why is this mentioned here and there? Every single sentence, every single word that's used is unique in God's way of trying to point his people to the significance of the offering. So you have to eat this particular one on the day of the offering. What does this really teach us? It can't be saved for later. Here's a couple of things for celebrating God's deliverance. Don't wait to thank God for his good work in your life. When you were to give the peace offering and you eat it the day of, it's meant to be a memorial where you're saying, I'm going to remember that God is the one who delivers me. I'm not waiting till tomorrow. I'm not saving this in the fridge. I'm not freezing this. I'm not ziplocking this. I'm not freezer saver bag thing that lasts a year. This. I'm going to eat this immediately. This offering is unique in which I want to celebrate God's deliverance right now. It's meant to be a Thanksgiving offering that's meant to be given immediately. Don't wait to give thanks for God's deliverance in your life. 2. Share God's providence. Now, providence is not the same thing as provision. Providence is God's wisdom and direction in your life in which he delivers you. You know, do not lead me into temptation, but deliver me from evil. By the way, has anybody ever struggled with that verse, the Lord's Prayer? Have you ever read the Lord's Prayer? And it's like, you know, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done here on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Do not lead us into temptation. Have you ever struggled and thought, why would we have to pray to keep God from doing something bad? That makes no sense. Why would I have to pray? That's a misunderstanding. Saying, don't lead us into temptation as the Lord's Prayer. And it's funny, we call it the Lord's Prayer. The Lord actually didn't pray this because he doesn't pray to be forgiven. That's what I mean by that. This is how he taught them to pray. He's telling them, you're gonna pray and ask God to give you your daily bread. You're gonna be asking him for things. Ask, seek, knock. But there's certain things that you want, there's certain things you're gonna ask for that guess what, they're not good for you. Right? How many of us have ever raised kids right? You're gonna want things ain't good for you, it's not good for you. And so saying, don't lead us into temptation means, God, don't give me everything I'm asking for. Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. God desires to direct and deliver you in your life. He wants to deliver you out of trouble. And it's connected with the Lord's Prayer. It's connected with other prayers. The peace offering, this peace idea, this relational harmony with God. One of the reasons for it is God's deliverance. You have peace with God because He delivers you. The reason why you have peace is because he's the one that delivers. So share it. This is why it's the word peace offering. All right. It also promotes peace number two by leading us to honor our commitments. Verse 16 in chapter seven. This is all in the section on the peace offering. But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow offering or a freewill offering, that's the other one. That's the third one, the free will, the vow offering. It shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice. And on the next day, what remains of it shall be eaten. So it's the same offering. It's the peace offering. When you give the peace offering for thanksgiving, God, I'm thanking you. You deliver me. I'm so celebrating your deliverance. You're the reason why I have peace. You eat it that day. But there are two other reasons for giving a peace offering, and they are the vow and the free will. Now, if it's the vow offering, you can eat it the next day, and on the next day it shall be eaten. Sorry, not if it's a vow offering. If it's a free offering, you can eat it the next day. But this is the vow offering. The second type of the peace offering is a vow offering. When a man made a Vow to God he would sacrifice a peace offering. Why? It's the same reason for when multiple men or families would make a vow to one another. It's as if you're saying, we have made a vow, a commitment, and the only way to keep peace is to honor our vows. It's a peace offering because if you do not honor your vows, you will not have peace. And so vows are one of the reasons for the peace offering. It's a way to commemorate a person's or family's commitment. The idea is that if we don't honor our commitments, we're not able to keep peace. So if you have two neighbors or two families and they make some kind of covenant agreement with each other and they have a peace offering meal, this vow offering meal, what they're saying is, I'm going to keep these vows. If they don't, they will forego peace. If I don't keep good on my contract, I realize I will not be at peace with you. There will be division and animosity between us. Have you ever not kept your word? Right. If you've ever done something and you didn't keep your word, what happened? Somebody felt offended by you. They no longer trust you. You do not have peace with that. Somebody you know? Did you ever tell your kid, yes, we will stop by, you know, McDonald's and get you an ice cream cone? And then you ended up not doing it. Was there peace between you and that kid? No, there's not going to be peace. Yes, you can do this thing and then something happens and then they can't. Is there peace between you? No. So the idea of the peace offering, one of the reasons is a vow offering, is a vow reason. I like saying vow reason. You're giving the peace offering because you've made a vow and you want to keep the peace. Jesus spoke about this on the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew, chapter 5, verse 33, let your yes mean yes and your no mean no. Anything more than this is from the evil one. So a practical application would be in your own relationships. Have you made commitments to your spouse or to your church or to your children, or even with God? Have you made any commitments. And did peace disappear because your commitment was broken? You did not keep your commitment? Has peace disappeared in your life because a commitment was broken? You told God, I'm going to do this, or you vowed to your family, you vowed to someone, I'm going to do this. Did you end up with chaos and animosity and fighting because you did not keep your Word, one of the reasons is for that. So you give a peace offering. The third one, or I should go back and say Leviticus 22, verse 23, this is later in Leviticus, I forgot to add this. You may present a bull or a lamb that has a part too long or too short for a free will offering, but for a vow offering, it cannot be accepted. So I know this sounds really strange, and this is getting really into the weeds. If you study Leviticus, you will find that it's not all neatly packed, that it rephrases, you know, it refers back to the five sacrifices throughout the book. And in Leviticus 22, it mentions the peace offering. Again. The reason why it does is if you make a vow to someone, you have to have an unblemished animal. But if you give a free will offering, you, you do not have to have an unblemished animal. It's okay if you don't. If there's an animal, and I know it sounds weird, a part too long or too short, Imagine there's a sheep and it had three legs that were all the same size, but a fourth leg that was shorter. That's considered a bad sheep. That's like the black sheep. You don't want to mate that sheep and you don't want to keep producing sheep like that because that's a mutation that's not good. You want strong, healthy, all four legs are the same length kind of sheep. But for a free will offering, you can actually given a blemished, what's considered a blemished animal, the vow offering. You cannot. And the idea is you have to honor your commitments and the vow has to match and it's got to be right and exact. You cannot go off on your word. Like you can't tell, tell someone, I'm going to give $30. And then you know, well, I gave 29. And if you round up, that's $30, that's not okay. You're not actually keeping your vow and keeping the peace. It cannot be short. It has to be exact. Your vows have to be exact. And I know it sounds strange to talk about the length of an animal's leg, but that is meant to be a living, everyday example for the Israelites as they're giving these offerings to remember, if I make a vow, I got to keep it. If I don't keep it, I'm not keeping peace. This is meant to be a peace offering. The third reason is joyful hospitality. But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow offering, but we've Covered. That or a freewill offering. It shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice, and on the next day, what remains of it shall be eaten. You can eat this later the next day because this is the part of the offering in which you share with your neighbors. But what remains of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned up with fire. You don't want to keep meat around because it spoils, right? We've all seen the shiny meat that glows glisteny green. That's. I've actually heard that. That's okay. Is that true? I know this is random. Anyway. I heard that you could do that a little bit. The shiny meat anyway. But don't you do it. I'm not a doctor, you know. Talk to your physician. Anyway, if any of the flesh of the sacrifice, of his peace offering is eaten on the third day, he who offers it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be credited to him. It is tainted. And he who eats of it shall bear his iniquity. And so you find in Leviticus, throughout the book, there's these strange laws with serious consequences for breaking them. And here's the practical idea. God has a mob of 2 million people that are used to staying in Egypt who are now living in a desert. And he needs to keep them alive, not really alive, forever. They're only going to live 40 years. Two million people will die. They're going to die, but he needs to keep them together. So when it talks about leprosy and colds and sores and all this stuff, imagine everybody living in tents in close quarters. If someone gets sick, it's going to be contagious. Other people are going to get sick. And so that's part of the reason for the laws. But back to verse 16. The third type of peace offering is a free will. Peace offering. Free will, meaning it's voluntary. It's not reluctantly or under compulsion, but joyfully. And this comes from a heart that desires to share a meal with others to celebrate the peace we have with one another because of God. And this is really mainly what I want to end with. Do you remember when Jesus is walking down the road to Jericho, and it's kind of like a resort town, at one time, he's walking down the road and there's this short guy named Zacchaeus, and he's in the tree. And anyway, he comes down and Jesus is talking with him and he's like, yeah, I want to come to your house. And Jesus uses the term, peace has come to Your house today. He actually uses this word for peace, this idea of shalom that's connected, I think, to the peace offering. He says, I've come to your house today. And then what happens at his house? Anybody know what happened when he goes to his house? Is it just Jesus and that dude, or do a lot of people show up? He's having meals. Do you notice how the Pharisees hate that? They hate when Jesus is having meals with a bunch of people, People that, like, would be outcast in a church setting. Even though that's not true. All of us are go like people. So we know, you know, you don't have to dress a certain way, you don't have to look a certain way. And, you know, the church is meant to be a place in which, yeah, I want you to hear the good news of Jesus because he loves you. He can save you. He did this. He sacrificed for you. Anyway, the Pharisees and the religious leaders are like, we're not down with that. This is crazy. Jesus having meals with tax collectors, I hate that. You know, they're really upset about all that. He says, peace has come to your house. But Jesus does that over and over. He has a meal with sinners over and over again. Part of the reason why the Jewish tradition is we hate that idea of you eating with sinners. You cannot eat with the Gentiles, do not eat with the sinners, is because when you have a meal with someone, even today, there's certain cultures that this is true. Inviting someone into your home, like, practicing hospitality is important. But if you practice hospitality in this way in which you're saying, you and I are at peace with one another, you're identifying with that person and you're saying, I love this person. I'm good with this. I want this person with me. I want to be relational with this person. And so the peace offering became what's called a freewill offering. I'm bringing it back to the beginning. Why? In some of your Bibles, it's translated wrong or, sorry, not wrong. It's translated differently as a fellowship offering is because this is the only offering in which you invite your neighbors to eat a meal with you. This is the only one in which you give a free, free will peace offering. And you say, I'm given this offering. And the. And the Aaron and the priest, if you read back In Leviticus, chapter 3, they prepare everything up, and then they give a huge portion back to the offeror. The offeror then takes his. You know, imagine you ordered $50 from Popeye's Chicken. He takes all his big order in bags, he brings it back home to his house, and he invites his neighbors and celebrates. We have peace. There is peace in this home. Peace has come to this home because of what God has done. The free will word that free will means it's voluntary. You are joyfully and voluntarily inviting your neighbors to hear about the peace that you have. And so there's a lot of connections there. And in modern day, we just call it hospitality. We just use the word hospitality to speak of the peace offering when it's given for the free will reason. Meals tear down walls and get people to see each other as God sees them. God sees each person as an image bearer. And when you have a meal with someone, it just opens a door that's unique. Eat with people. Jesus did this a lot. I used to listen to a public debater who would often say, when people stop talking, you get violence. The reason why I'm out here on college campuses trying to get people to talk is because when people stop talking, they fight. And if you want peace, you got to be willing to sit face to face and talk with people. You've got to be willing to be with someone. And the peace offering meal is one of those times. Non Christians, Desmond Tutu or someone who may be a Christian, but however that works out in the end. Desmond Tutu of South Africa, he was a bishop there. He says, if you want peace, you don't talk to your friends, you talk to your enemies. Margaret Atwood, she was a vocal feminist. She's quoted as saying, war is what happens when language fails. The free will peace offering is connected with peace because it promotes peace in a society of desperate differing opinions and different people. God intended for the nations to come and have a peace offering with his people. And that's why the Pharisees were so upset with Jesus. He was bringing the nations and Gentiles into meals with him and he was loving on them, talking with them, eating with them. And it all stemmed from the peace offering, the free will peace offering, the way this is written about in the New testament. Romans chapter 12, verse 13. I wish I could tie all these threads for you, because we'll have Q and A tomorrow. Ask all your questions tomorrow. I'll talk as long as you want. Romans 12:13 contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. 1st Peter 4, 9. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. Hebrews 13:2. Do not neglect to show hospitality for to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels, unawares Sounds a lot like the word underwear. I used to laugh at this all the time, but now it's not funny because I'm older. You can entertain angels, underwear. Anyway, some people have thought that angels, like, just show up and they eat at a meal at your house. I don't know if that happens, but I've heard stories from missionaries, missionaries like Molly, where they would have a meal in a town and the town would show up and there would be people there that they didn't know. People that just showed out of nowhere and that were helping other people and bringing food and bringing other things, and then all of a sudden they're gone. And there have been Christian missionaries and teams that are like, I think angels showed up and brought food, almost like multiplying loaves and fish. I don't know how it works out, really. I don't. I have not seen. I'm not a prophet. God's not giving me words to know. I do know that when God's people are hospitable and loving to strangers, strangers means you don't know everything about them. They haven't been vetted. Right. We don't want them leading cove kids. But you invite people into your home, into your life, you want to have a meal with them, Love them, love them, show them that you care about them and have a meal with them. God brought peace to you because he came to you. If Jesus had the attitude, I'll go to them when they look like me, would he have ever come 2,000 years ago? Never. He would have never showed up. When is the last time you had a meal with a neighbor or friend or a church member? And that leads us to the last thing. The offering leads us to Jesus. Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 14. For He Himself is our peace. Who. Who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances. Ordinance. Think ordinance. Like we have to do these things in order to maintain righteousness. He abolished the law of commandments expressed in ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two. So making peace. This idea of peace. Shalom. The peace offering. Jesus is wanting to make peace between us and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. The word for hostility is the opposite of peace. God desires to kill hostility in your life. The only way for you as a Christian to live that out is. Is the peace offering principle. You giving a celebration of God's deliverance in your life, sharing it, you honoring your commitment and saying, I'm going to promote peace between us and you practicing joyful hospitality. Jesus practiced hospitality. He came and he is the peace offering, and that's it.