“If your offering is a fellowship offering, and you offer an animal from the herd, whether male or female, you are to present before the Lord an animal without defect. You are to lay your hand on the head of your offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall splash the blood against the sides of the altar.”

Leviticus 3:1-2

In chapters 1-2, we read about the burnt offering and the grain offering, which is the first and second of five offerings described in Leviticus. This chapter tells us about the third, the fellowship or peace offering. Further details are to be found in 7:11–21. It differs from other sacrifices in two respects. First, it is not commanded by God but may be offered as a voluntary act of thanksgiving and worship. Second, it is the one sacrifice from which not only the priest may eat but the person making the offering and their family and friends as well.

Based on the meaning of the Hebrew root word which is linked to ‘shalom,’ Bible translations refer to it both as the peace offering and the fellowship offering. Peace is an essential prerequisite of fellowship, since no two people can be in fellowship if they are not at peace with each other. Anyone making this offering was seeking to experience joyful fellowship with God in spite of all their human flaws. It foreshadows that peace we have through Jesus Christ, which makes possible our fellowship with our holy Creator God. The result is peace in our own heart, leading to peace with others as we keep growing in the grace of God.

In the last supper Jesus Christ had with his disciples, he shared with them the bread and the wine, representing his body and his blood. He instituted it as a memorial in which he invites us to share a fellowship meal with him in the here and now, along with our fellow believers. He has sent out a banket invitation to all the world, which anyone and everyone is free to accept. The day is coming when we shall be privileged to share a banquet with him—the wedding feast of the Lamb!

CLOSING PRAYER

Lord Jesus, thank you for the gift of communion that reminds me of your sacrifice made for me, and for the faith you have given that makes it possible to come to you with my prayer of gratitude.

(Edited from Encounter with God)