Fellowship Offerings

But the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, that pertain unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. (Leviticus 7:20)

Let us think about food for a moment.

Most people think of food as innocent and/or without boundaries.

But is it?

Food is not as innocent as many think.

All food carries with it some baggage.

Allow me to give some verses to set this off

When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat. (Proverbs 23: 1 - 3)

You do not dine with a ruler without an invitation.

Why then should such a meal be called deceitful meat?

It is because a ruler always has an agenda. And this means that his food reeks of that agenda

You are therefore safer outside that dining table than inside if you are not aware of the agenda that required your presence as you could be heading to the gallows even as you celebrate that promotion.

Or you do not remember Haman?

We have two scenarios in Matthew 22 about a king and his son’s wedding.

The honourable who were invited to the party trashed the invitation and were killed and their city razed.

That is why I say that a ruler’s invitation is never innocent since rejecting it can easily become criminal.

But then the king orders his servants to go everywhere to look for guests since a king’s party must be well attended.

Another reality comes to play.

As he was going through his guests, he found one that had probably thought his dress was honourable enough that he refused to dress in the king’s uniform, and probably he was right.

But just as the ones who had rejected the invite he was also condemned to severe punishment. Yet he had more or less been forced into that wedding, probably being diverted from some other worthy pursuit.

That may have been the reason he did not want to change his clothes so that he could get back to his affairs as soon as the wedding concluded.

That is what food can do.

And it is not only the ruler’s food. It is any food.

But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. (1Corinthians 5:11)

You see, food indicates fellowship, oneness.

I must in essence agree with what you represent to positively respond to your invitation to dine.

It is therefore utter folly to agree to dine with someone to mend fences because someone will be being bought.

We dine to celebrate the fact that we have mended fences.

But many times, we do not do that, only to discover that the wrong narrative has been painted about our unity because we agreed to dine.

I have seen that a few times, sometimes even being duped to participate, only to regret my folly.

You can’t separate food and agenda.

And that is why the fellowship (peace) offerings we see in the verse above have very solid boundaries, with death/ banishment being the punishment of any breach.

This means that fellowship is not the simple coming together to feast.

To God, it is a coming together of His people to celebrate Him.

That is why it is called a sacrifice or offering.

The community was offering their celebration and fellowship to God.

They would give God the fat and feast on the rest.

But before that they were also required to give the priests their portion.

The whole community came together to celebrate God’s goodness.

And that is why for the most part private slaughter was forbidden. Because many times someone would be drawn into honouring other gods (and effort and success are such), thus slowly leading one’s heart from God.

That is not easy when done God’s way.

There must be a priest who represented God’s ministry and who would have ensured that things were done according to God’s revelation (word).

And since it was also forbidden for that meat to last beyond two days or it would have been unclean (abominable to God), there also must have been neighbours and friends

And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings be eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it: it shall be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity. (Leviticus 7:18)

This because no family can eat a cow in two days.

Eating together was the Old Testament equivalent of probably what would later become synagogue and then church as it brought the community together in fellowship.

Fellowship and food are interrelated. Food builds fellowship as fellowship unleashes sharing in other aspects of community.

And as is known, astute businessmen know the power of a meal to seal a deal because having fellowship over a meal releases warm feelings all over.

This is confusing for many especially when I bring about business.

But the purpose is to show that it is not only in the faith where meals have a greater purpose than just filling a stomach.

What is the summary of this whole thing?

Watch out where you eat. Watch out with whom you eat.

Even more important, pray about those invitations and respond as God would have you.

And I am not scaring you.

Christ protects us in our ignorance, though we may have to go through some consequences.

But He does not cover our rebellion or folly.