What Pertains To The Priests From The Peace Offerings and Sacrifices (Leviticus 7:28-36).
‘And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,'
Once again it is said to be a matter of divine revelation through Moses.
‘Speak to the children of Israel, saying, He who offers the sacrifice of his peace-offerings to Yahweh shall bring his oblation to Yahweh out of the sacrifice of his peace-offerings: his own hands shall bring the offerings of Yahweh made by fire; the fat with the breast shall he bring, that the breast may be waved for a contribution before Yahweh. And the priest shall burn the fat on the altar; but the breast shall be Aaron's and his sons'.'
When a man brings the sacrifice of his peace offerings he must bring them himself in person. There is no question of sending a representative. And he must bring to the priest the fat and the breast, the fat so that it can be burned on the altar by the priest, it is an offering by fire, and the breast so that it can be ‘waved' before Yahweh, after which it will belong to the priests. It is his ‘contribution'. ‘Waving' was a way by which the offering could be made to Yahweh by presenting it with certain movements towards the altar, possibly by moving it from side to side. It was then as it were handed back by God to the priest for his consumption.
‘And the right thigh shall you give to the priest for a set-aside offering out of the sacrifices of your peace-offerings. He among the sons of Aaron who offers the blood of the peace-offerings, and the fat, shall have the right thigh for a portion.'
As well as the breast the priest is to receive the right thigh. This is to be a ‘set-aside offering', a special contribution or levy to the priests. This again is to be offered to Yahweh, (some suggest by waving up and down - hence the translation ‘heave-offering), followed by it becoming the priest's. The thigh was one of the choice portions for important guests (see 1 Samuel 9:24). Thus the right thigh was set aside for the priest. The officiating priest receives the breast and the thigh as his portions. The detail with which this is spelled out demonstrates how important this was seen to be. God's representative was to be well provided for.
Discoveries at Lachish from not long after the time of Moses have revealed many right foreleg bones of animals. This would suggest that they had been set aside there for some special purpose, which would tie in with what is to happen here. It would seem that whoever dwelt there also carried out a similar practise to this so that they were all gathered in one place.
‘For the wave-breast and the set-aside thigh have I taken of the children of Israel out of the sacrifices of their peace-offerings, and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their portion for ever from the children of Israel.'
It is now stressed by repetition that the wave breast and the set-aside thigh of the peace sacrifices are to be Israel's perpetual contribution to those who acted as their mediators and representatives before God, to Aaron and his sons into the distant future.
This continual repetition is a further emphatic reminder to us that we are responsible for the physical wellbeing of those whom we look to for sustenance in the things of God, and for those whom we send out in our name to take His word to others. Every time that we partake of meat we should consider the fact that we should lay aside an equivalent money portion to represent the breast and the thigh for those who thus serve God. They should benefit in proportion to the good things that we receive.
‘This is the measured portion of Aaron, and the measured portion of his sons, out of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, in the day when he presented them to minister to Yahweh in the priest's office; which Yahweh commanded to be given them by the children of Israel, in the day that he anointed them. It is their portion for ever throughout their generations.'
These portions are now described as the ‘measured portion' for those who have been anointed as God's appointees. They were portions out of the offerings made by fire, and therefore belonged to Yahweh. And on the very day that he first anointed Aaron and his sons as priests over Israel he allocated to them these portions ‘throughout their generations'. They were therefore sacrosanct.
By this we learn that God has a special concern for those whom He calls to serve Him, and guarantees their full physical provision from the people of God. A poor minister in a wealthy church is a contradiction against God's will, and a sign of His people's disobedience. Rather should His people recognise that how they provide for their leaders in God is an indication of their genuine dedication to God's will. On the other hand the leaders in their turn should be utilising any such benefits in the service of God, not for their own aggrandisement. A minister who misuses what is given to him for his own ends is a disgrace in the eyes of God. The purpose is for him to be properly fed, not so that he can live luxuriantly.