Verses 22-38
Things Forbidden; the Portion of the Priests
The eating of the fat and the blood was prohibited; the first probably during the pilgrimage, the latter in perpetuity. See Leviticus 3:17 . When we are told that the disobedient soul must be cut off, it refers probably to the excommunication which the priest pronounced until the offender had repented and was reinstated in the privileges of God’s house. The waving of parts of the victim consisted in the priest placing his hands beneath those of the offerer, who held the piece to be waved, and moving them slowly backward and forward before the Lord, to and from the altar. The heaving was performed by slowly lifting the pieces upward and downward. These movements signified that the pieces, though not burned at the altar, were specially consecrated to God’s service. The shoulder is the emblem of government and strength; the breast of the affections. We specially need to meditate on these aspects of our Lord’s character. It may be that the action referred to in Acts 13:3 meant that the Church waved the two first missionaries as a votive-offering to God.
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