Jolly Good Fellow-ship Offerings

Leviticus 7:11-21

Fellowship offering regulations- they fall into two categories.

For expressions of thankfulness-along with the offering comes yeast free bread mixed with oil, yeast free wafers spread with oil, well kneaded cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and some bread with yeast. The priest who sprinkles the blood of his offering keeps all of these extras. All the meat must be eaten that day.

If the offering is because of a vow- or a freewill offering (in case they weren't getting their fill of slaughter already) they still eat it that day- but it's ok if there are some leftovers for the next day. But by the third day, anything left needs to be burned up. Any third day meat eaten is impure- if it's eaten, no sacrifice credit is applied- and the eater is responsible.

Finally, if the meat touches anything ceremonially unclean, you can't eat it. If anyone unclean eats any of this fellowship meat, he is to be cut off from his people. If anyone touches something unclean, whether this unclean thing is a person or animal or anything else, and then eats, he is to be cut off from his people.

So it seems like maybe these fellowship offerings are shared meals between the priest and the offerer. I'm not sure about this, but it seems to make sense with the eating regulations. The priests must have been some stout dudes- Friar Tuck looking.

All of these offerings are a bit overwhelming- and it seems odd that they would think, you know I just haven't offered enough livestock yet, let's go offer some more. But maybe if this was their way of life, it served a greater purpose. Was this how they interacted with their community? Did they get a spiritual sense of belonging by continually trekking to the tabernacle and offering?

Once again, I'm struck by how harsh the regulations are. So if I give a freewill offering- which apparently I didn't have to do- and I ate it on the wrong day- I'm gone, an outcast, on my own, perona non grata. With the stipulations in place and the severity of repercussions, I'd not be very likely to offer more than what was required.

But perhaps the idea of fellowship- the need to experience belonging- the urge to be part of a group was so overwhelming that they were willing to risk making a mistake in order to gain the feelings of worth and acceptance that come from inclusion.

And if they risked so much- doesn't it indicate that the rewards of strong relationships are worth the fear and vulnerability that deep friendships require?