Leviticus 3:12-17

Of Goats

v. 12. And if his offering be a goat, then he shall offer it before the Lord.

v. 13. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of it, and kill it before the Tabernacle of the Congregation; and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle the blood thereof, as it was caught when the animal was slaughtered, upon the altar round about.

v. 14. And he shall offer thereof his offering, even an offering made by fire unto the Lord; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,

v. 15. and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away.

v. 16. And the priest shall burn them upon the altar; it is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savor; all the fat is the Lord's, that is, all the loose fatty parts that were enumerated in these three cases were to be the Lord's portion.

v. 17. It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings that ye eat neither fat nor blood. As long as the children of Israel were in the wilderness, all the animals slaughtered for food had to be brought to the Sanctuary, Leviticus 17:3-Judges :; in the land of Canaan, they were permitted to slaughter such animals in their own cities. Deuteronomy 12:15, but all the sacrifices had to be made at the place of the Sanctuary. The prohibition, however, concerning the loose fat mentioned in this Chapter and that regarding blood remained in force for the Jewish people. In the case of all peace-offerings the wave-breast and the heave-shoulder belonged to the priests, Leviticus 7:30 ff. and the rest of the meat was to be eaten by the worshiper and his family in the court of the Tabernacle. This joyous sacrificial meal was to express the happiness which the believers felt because of their covenant with the God of their salvation, just as we Christians enjoy the blessings of God's covenant in the Sacrament of the Altar.