Leviticus chapter 7

After reading Leviticus 7:

*Verses 1-10 are basically a repetition of instructions for guilt offerings.

*Next we have instructions for fellowship offerings. There are two kinds. First, we have offerings of thanksgiving. The person making this offering must bring a cake of unleavened bread and a cake of leavened bread along with his thank offering, which is meat. The bread is given to the priest, all the meat must be eaten the same day as the offering. The second kind is the result of a vow, or a free will offering. Meat from that offering may be eaten for two days, no more. On the third day, it is to be burned. If any of the meat is eaten on the third day, any credit for the offering is null and void. Plus, it will make anyone who eats it impure.

*Meat that touches anything unclean must be burned. Any unclean person that eats meat from a fellowship offering is to be excommunicated. No ifs, ands, or buts.

*Absolutely no fat from any meat animal is to be eaten. It may be used for other purposes. Anyone who eats animal fat from an offering is to be excommunicated. Absolutely no blood from any meat animal is to be eaten. Anyone who eats blood is to be excommunicated.

*A few questions arise from this. Is it even possible to get every bit of blood out of an animal before it is eaten? Even if a sacrificial animal is well drained of blood, wouldn't the tissues still retain some blood? Why is eating blood and fat so reprehensible that a person would be excommunicated? With so many ways to be excommunicated, I imagine the Israelites might have been reduced to a constant state of fear and guilt, which would be to the benefit of the priests. Also, I wonder if the Israelites were prone to anemia.

*From verse 28 on,  we are given the instructions for what parts of a fellowship offering were the priest's shares to keep and eat. I imagine they never went hungry.

Dr. Robert Sapolsky has an interesting perspective on religious ritual and priesthoods that I find fascinating. It woul be well worth your time to watch the video of his lecture on the biological basis of religiosity.