Leviticus 7:22-27 – The basis of effective fellowship with God

In these six verses we see two critical instructions. Firstly,  God forbade the eating of the fat of animals that were sacrificed to God and the fat of clean animals that died. Secondly, He forbade the eating of blood. Anyone who partook of the fat or the blood would be excommunicated. We shall look at each of these commands. Why did God forbid the eating of the fat? The reason firstly is because the fat of animals sacrificed to God was not to be consumed because they belonged to Him. The fat was to burn on the altar of sacrifice as smoke unto Him. And the fats of clean animals that had died were also not to be eaten because they could have died of disease and eating the fat would mean eating the contaminant that caused the animal’s death. This would invariably be harmful to the body of the partaker. God did not want His people to be harmed by the fat that had come into contact with any contaminant. Our good God is concerned for our well-being, both the spiritual and the physical.  

The reason, why the blood of any kind of animals ought not to be eaten, is clearly shown in Leviticus 17:11-12. In these two verses, God said, “‘For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.’ Therefore, I said to the sons of Israel, ‘No person among you may eat blood, nor may any alien who sojourns among you eat blood.’”  The life of a person or an animal is sustained by the blood. Besides, God uses blood as a means for our atonement, from the very beginning when sin sabotaged man’s relationship with God. Remember when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and became sinful, God took a clean animal and spilled its blood to atone for their sin and the skin of the animal to provide a covering for them. This points us forward to the ultimate blood that was shed at Calvary by our Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of our sin. The blood of Christ not only cleanses us, but it also brought us eternal life.

Fat signifies the richest part of the animal and God required it to be burned as smoke to Him. This tells us that any meaningful fellowship with God is contingent on us offering the very best part of who we are to Him. If we are to establish a deep and profound fellowship with Him, we must offer Him our very best. Not eating blood reminds us that our relationship with God is sealed by the shed blood of Christ. On the basis of Christ's shed blood that God found the ground for us to enter a relationship and commune with Him. So, let us enter into God’s presence through the blood of Christ to offer to Him our very best, and have a deep and abiding fellowship with Him!