Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Leviticus 5-7

Forgiveness of sins remains a gory business in Leviticus 5-7. You have your burnt offering, peace offering, meat offering, sin offering, wave offering, heave offering and trespass offering. It's a bad time to be an unblemished ram in Sinai. In some circumstances, if you can't kill a lamb, then two turtledoves or pigeons are acceptable. God is also agreeable to offerings of silver. Hey, he's got bills to pay just like everyone else.

When priests burn an offering, they wear special linen breeches. They change clothes when they carry the ashes to a clean place. Cooking methods are advancing because meat offerings are now breaded with flour and fried. The bible also reveals that Aaron and sons will eateth the "remainder" of the offering, I guess meaning whatever God doesn't chow down on first. Don't forget the unleavened cakes and wafers. Those are delicious dipped in oil.

Numerous rules explain how to cook the meat, sprinkle the blood, clean the vessel, handle the ashes and so on. This probably becomes quite routine after slaughtering your umpteenth animal. For best results, the priests should eat an offering the day it is burned. Leftovers have a specific shelf life. If the flesh of the sacrifice be eaten 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.

The fat of a sacrified ox, sheep or goat is particularly troublesome. If you eat this unclean substance, you will be cut off from the chosen people forever. The same rule applies if the beast dies of natural causes or is ripped apart by other animals. For peace offerings, the priest will burn the fat, then eat the baked breast. Aaron gets first dibs on the right shoulder.

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