Leviticus 17:3-7

God did not permit the Israelites to slaughter sacrificial animals (Leviticus 17:5) anywhere except before the altar of burnt offerings. This may seem to us to have created logistical problems. How could the priests handle all those sacrifices? However most of the Israelites and other ancient Near Eastern people rarely slaughtered animals. They did not eat as much meat as we do.

"Meat was eaten only occasionally, except perhaps for the rich, who may have had it regularly." [Note: The New Bible Dictionary, 1962 ed., s.v. "Food," by R. P. Martin.]

The Israelites in the wilderness lived primarily on manna (cf. Numbers 11:6). They kept animals for producing milk, wool, bearing burdens, and doing hard work. Any Israelite who slaughtered an animal for sacrifice except before the altar would die (Leviticus 17:4; cf. Leviticus 17:9-10; Leviticus 17:14).

"It appears . . . that this phrase ["cut off"] may not only refer to premature death at the hand of God, but hint at judgment in the life to come." [Note: Wenham, The Book . . ., p. 242]

Similarly the Christian who commits a "sin unto death" (1 John 5:16; cf. 1 Corinthians 11:30) dies prematurely at God’s hand. The reasons for so severe a penalty were two. First, each slaughter was to be an offering to God, an act of worship (Leviticus 17:5). God owned the animal since He had given it life. Second, killing animals was commonly part of a pagan ritual connected with worship of the "goat demon" (Leviticus 17:7).

The goat demon was a god that the Egyptians and other ancient Near Easterners worshipped. It was supposedly responsible for the fertility of the people, their herds, and their crops. They believed it inhabited the deserts. A goat represented this demon (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:20), and part of its abhorrent rituals involved goats copulating with women votaries. [Note: Harrison, p. 180.] The Israelites were at this time committing idolatry with this Egyptian god (Leviticus 17:7). They continued to worship Egyptian deities for many generations (cf. Joshua 24:14) in spite of commandments like this one that should have ended this practice. Even today the goat is a demonic symbol in Satan worship. [Note: See Merrill F. Unger, Biblical Demonology, p. 60; and idem, Demons in the World Today.]

"Just as the narrative about the incident of the golden calf revealed the imminent danger of Israel’s falling into idolatry, so the present narrative demonstrates the ongoing threat. These two narratives play an important role in the composition of this part of the Pentateuch.

"The two narratives showing the threat of idolatry bracket the detailed legislation dealing with the office of the priest-legislation primarily directed toward preventing further idolatry. The narratives provide the priestly legislation with two vivid examples of Israel’s falling away after ’other gods.’" [Note: Sailhamer, p. 343.]