Daily Devotion | Leviticus 7:11–38 | January 27, 2026

Daily Devotion – January 27, 2026

Scripture: Leviticus 7:11–38 (ESV)

Speaker: Rev. John Chen

Transcribed, translated & edited by: Joseph Wang (Yufan)

Dear brothers and sisters, peace be with you. We thank God for His grace that once again we come to a new day to study our Daily Devotion together. The Scripture we are studying today is Leviticus chapter 7, verses 11 through 38. Let us pray.

Our Lord, we thank You for revealing to us these statutes of the priests so clearly. You do this in order that we may fear You, that we may know how holy it is to love and revere You, and what rules we are to keep. Lord, be with us this morning. Awaken our ears once again, so that we may know and understand more deeply Your holiness, Your glory, and Your blessing. Be with us. We pray in the name of Christ. Amen.

Let us now look at the regulations concerning the peace offering in Leviticus chapter 7.

First, concerning the peace offering: there are three kinds of peace offerings. There are three kinds. One is offered as a thanksgiving offering, which is mentioned in verse 12. Another is a vow offering, mentioned in the first half of verse 16. And the third is a freewill offering. So the peace offering is a broad category, and under this category there are thanksgiving offerings, vow offerings, and freewill offerings. We must not place them side by side as if they were separate main offerings, otherwise we will become confused.

Why do we have peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings? What is the relationship between them? The peace offering is the main category, and within it there are thanksgiving offerings, vow offerings, and freewill offerings.

Thanksgiving means that you encountered difficulty in your life, God showed mercy to you, and you passed through that difficulty. Therefore you come to thank God, and what you offer is a peace offering in the form of a thanksgiving offering. This shows that the peace offering is a large category.

The second is the vow offering. This means you made a vow to God, for example, “Lord, if You let me pass the university entrance exam, I will come and thank You.” God fulfilled it, and then you come to fulfill your vow.

The third is the freewill offering. This means there is no specific reason. You simply come willingly and gladly to praise God, to glorify God, and to thank Him. This is the freewill offering.

So there are three kinds of peace offerings, and although they are all peace offerings, their ways of offering are slightly different.

What is the difference? When you offer a thanksgiving offering, you must present two kinds of bread: one kind of unleavened bread, and one kind of leavened bread. This is something we must pay attention to, because the Bible does not present these things in tables as we might do today. God did not make a table. We must read carefully and reflect.

When offering a thanksgiving peace offering, two kinds of bread must be offered: unleavened bread and leavened bread.

This raises an important question in interpretation. Some people ask, “When we offer sacrifices, are we only allowed to offer unleavened bread?” If this were an exam question and you answered “Yes,” you would be wrong.

In the peace offering, two kinds of bread are offered: one unleavened and one leavened. The meaning is quite clear. Why unleavened bread? It means you must not be defiled by the world. You must not go along with worldly corruption. You must not be contaminated by the leaven of the world. This is the meaning of the unleavened bread.

But why also leavened bread? The leavened bread signifies that you are a new lump, a new dough, a new life. This new life must be leavened in order to spread and be passed on. This is something we must remember.

In 1 Corinthians 5:6–7, Paul uses precisely this image of the peace offering. He says, “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” Then he says, “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened.” This refers to removing the old leaven so that you may become a new lump — a new dough, a new leavened life.

So leaven itself does not represent sin. Some people misunderstand and think leaven always means sin. Leaven simply causes something to rise and spread. If it spreads sin, then it is evil. But if it spreads the life of Christ, then it is good. Therefore leaven itself does not equal sin.

So when offering the peace offering, remember this: not all offerings forbid leaven. In the peace offering, two kinds of bread are offered: one showing separation from sin and the world, and the other showing the new life that spreads the glory of Christ.

Another special feature of the thanksgiving offering is that the meat must be eaten on the same day. It must not be left until morning. But for the vow offering and the freewill offering, the meat may be eaten on the second day, though not on the third day — on the third day it must be burned.

Is there a deeper meaning here? It is difficult to find a precise one-to-one correspondence. We may reflect that justification by faith in Christ is received once, immediately. And perhaps the reason the meat may not be eaten on the third day is that Christ rose on the third day and brought new life. But these are reflections and guesses; we cannot say the text must mean this. There are different interpretations.

Next, verses 19 to 21 speak about uncleanness. Meat that touches anything unclean must not be eaten. Only clean people may eat the meat of the peace offering. Anyone who is unclean and eats must be cut off from the people.

Here we must clarify two important issues.

First, what does it mean to be “cut off from the people”? Does it necessarily mean execution? Different theologians give different interpretations. The most direct meaning is exclusion from the community — being separated from the congregation, no longer counted among the people. Whether such a person may later return is debated. My personal understanding is that this exclusion is not necessarily permanent; after a period of cleansing, the person may return.

Second, how do we understand the apparent tension between Leviticus 6:27, which says that whoever touches the sin offering becomes holy, and here, where an unclean person who touches the meat becomes defiled and must be cut off?

Here we must understand three categories: unclean, clean, and holy (or consecrated). Something holy must be clean, but not everything clean is holy. A clean person who touches the holy meat may become holy, that is, set apart for God. But an unclean person who touches holy meat does not become clean.

So only clean people may eat. If you are unclean, you must undergo purification first.

Then verses 22 onward speak about not eating fat and not eating blood. Fat from animals that died naturally or were torn by beasts may be used for other purposes, but not eaten. But eating blood is more serious — whoever eats blood must be cut off.

Blood contains life. Christ poured out His blood to bring us to God. We are not to share in the life of this world; we are to share only in the life of Christ. We drink only one blood — the blood of Jesus Christ, the blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Next we see that the breast and the right thigh are given to the priests. The best portions belong to the priests. This shows God’s care and provision for His servants.

Verse 37 concludes that these are the regulations for burnt offerings, grain offerings, sin offerings, guilt offerings, and peace offerings. In chapter 7 the laws of the offerings are explained in detail.

All these offerings point to Christ. The peace offering points to the peace Christ accomplished between God and us. The fat and the best portions offered to God show that the best belongs to Him. The blood reminds us of Christ’s sacrifice.

Finally, what does this mean for us?

First, we must offer ourselves as living sacrifices. God gave everything for us, so we should offer our lives, our bodies, our time, and all that we are to Him.

We should continually offer thanksgiving offerings, vow offerings, and freewill offerings — that is, we should willingly and joyfully place ourselves before God.

Unclean people may not eat the holy meat. In the same way, those who persist in sin should not partake of the Lord’s Supper. Only those cleansed in Christ may partake, and through this they grow in holiness.

We must not love the world or share in the world’s life. Our life is only in Christ.

The right thigh given to the priest reminds us to be strong in the Lord, to run the heavenly race, not to fall back or grow weak, but to lift up our drooping hands and strengthen our weak knees.

May God have mercy on us and help us understand these truths more deeply. This is our sharing for today. Thank you, brothers and sisters.