A Sacrifice of Thanksgiving?
A morsel of insight in Leviticus
Welcome! Today, let’s look at a surprisingly relevant bit of law in Leviticus. I promise it’s more interesting than you might think!
A missing piece
Look carefully at the current condition of the dining room in the new house…
Notice anything missing?
🤔
Like…maybe…a table!
Table fellowship
Truthfully, that missing piece should be here in a few days, and I can assure you, we are waiting with anticipation. We parted with our previous dining table almost fifteen years ago in one of our moves. Since then, we’ve acquired a few white, plastic folding tables to continue the practice of table fellowship. Of course, when set up with colorful coverings, adorned with a few decorations, and surrounded by good friends, those tables still provided a backdrop for special memories.
And yet–I treasure God’s gracious blessing of a more established space for family and friends to gather! A dedicated place where the table is always ready for stories to flow, laughter to echo, and smiles to spread. A setting where–as conversations wind down and feet cross the threshold to return home–both tummies and hearts are full.
A sacrifice of thanksgiving
Very likely, I am not the only one thinking on tables and fellowship as Thanksgiving approaches. However, in my reading of Scripture this past week, I ran across a few verses that called me to dig a little deeper…and make a few discoveries!
As you read these verses from Psalms, what do you notice?
Do you wonder about the phrase “sacrifice of thanksgiving” and how it relates to tables and fellowship? Well, Leviticus holds the answers.
In chapters 1-7 of Leviticus, God provides 5 different sacrificial offerings the Israelites could use to worship and commune with Him. Because God is holy, those who approach Him must do so in holiness, which is rather impossible for us as sinful humans. Therefore, four of the sacrifices symbolically mediated the sin of the offerer. As you might guess, each of these sacrifices points to different aspects of Christ’s sacrifice in the New Testament that fully grants the believer righteousness in God’s sight. (However, I must leave that for you to study further.)
In contrast, the remaining sacrifice–the “sacrifice of peace offering” (ESV) or “fellowship sacrifice” (CSB) (Lev. 7:11)–was not associated with sin, but with reconciliation. A worshiper offered this sacrifice to celebrate the peace and fellowship he had with God. Furthermore, there were three types of peace offerings.
The first of which was…thanksgiving. Aaahhh, there’s the sacrifice of thanksgiving!
To be clear, the sacrifice of thanksgiving differed not only in purpose, but also in substance. It consisted of an unblemished animal (Leviticus 3:1, 7, 12) and both unleavened and leavened bread in various forms (Lev. 7:12-13). Furthermore, this was the only offering where, after the sprinkling of the blood on the altar and after the designated portions of animal and bread were given to both God (Lev. 3) and the priest (Lev. 7:14, 30-35), the remainder was given back to the offerer (Lev. 7:15).
The pieces come together
Now here’s where it gets interesting: For the sacrifice of thanksgiving, the offerer then had to have a feast and eat the remainder of the sacrifice–animal and bread–that day…in the court of the tabernacle (Lev. 7:15, Deut. 12:11-12, 17-18). That means he had to invite people to share in his gratitude and his feast (Deut. 12:12, 18).
Think about it! This would not have been a small doggie bag of leftovers eaten quietly. This would have been a substantial amount of meat (cow, lamb, or goat) with four different types of bread (Lev. 7:12-13) eaten in celebration on the tabernacle grounds.
Lots of food…lots of people…lots of opportunities to share what God had done and why the offerer was thankful…eaten at the tabernacle…where the Presence of the LORD dwelt!
Oh, this wasn’t just table fellowship with the invited guests. This was table fellowship with and sincere worship of the one, true, holy God who made the reconciled, peaceful relationship possible!
Closing
Isn’t that amazing? Now take a moment to scroll back up and reread the verses from Psalms with a better understanding of their context. Do you have a greater sense of the peace and fellowship between God and the psalmist as you read those verses about the sacrifice of thanksgiving?
As you can tell, the sacrifices in Leviticus hold greater meaning than a cursory reading might reveal. I encourage you to explore them more fully for yourself. For now, as you reflect on the Old Testament sacrifice of thanksgiving with our Thanksgiving near, consider the following quote by Spurgeon:
Is your thanksgiving like the incense of the temple? What does the phrase “sacrifice of thanksgiving” mean to you? Was there something in today’s devotion that was especially meaningful? Or perhaps confusing? Sign in below to leave a comment. (You should only have to sign in this first time.) I’d love to hear from you!
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This year, as you celebrate the remainder of the Thanksgiving season, keep the sacrifice of thanksgiving in your mind. And, as a believer in Christ, may you
- Enjoy lots of food, lots of people, and lots of opportunities to share what God has done.
- Rejoice that His Spirit dwells in you (not just in the tabernacle) so you can fellowship with and worship the Lord wherever you are.
- Celebrate with gratitude the peace of reconciliation because of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
Have a wonderful, peaceful Thanksgiving.
P.S. Don’t forget to check out the Engage with His Word resources for praying Psalm 130 and memorizing Colossians 1:9-12. They’re free, so please take advantage of them!
©2025 Catherine L Hill. All rights reserved.
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As usual, Catherine, I appreciate your careful study of God’s Word and how clearly you teach it to your readers. This post delighted me. I loved imagining what an offering of thanksgiving would have looked like in the tabernacle. I hadn’t pictured it like this before. Thank you!
Thank you, Jana! Honestly, even though I have studied Leviticus and the sacrifices/offerings before, I hadn’t previously pictured it like this either. Don’t you love how God continues to draw us to His Word to give greater depths of understanding?!