God's Portion, God's Priests Text: Leviticus 7:28-36
Introduction: The Economics of Fellowship
We live in an age that is allergic to divine authority, particularly when that authority touches our wallets. We have been trained by our democratic and egalitarian sensibilities to view any kind of mandated tithe or offering as a form of religious taxation, an unfortunate but necessary business expense for keeping the church doors open. We think in terms of budgets, spreadsheets, and charitable donations. God, however, thinks in terms of worship, fellowship, and divine right.
The book of Leviticus is a hard stumbling block for the modern mind precisely because it is so earthy, so physical, and so unapologetically authoritative. It is full of blood, fat, smoke, and very specific rules about who gets to eat what. Our sophisticated age wants a spiritual, ethereal religion, one that can be confined to the private spaces of the heart. But the God of the Bible is not a gnostic deity; He created the material world, and He lays claim to it. He is interested in the fat of the animal and the right thigh because He is interested in everything.
This passage comes at the end of a long section detailing the various sacrifices, and it focuses on the peace offering, or what could be called the fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice that culminated in a shared meal. The worshiper, the priest, and God Himself all partook of the same animal. It was a picture of restored communion. But for communion to happen rightly, it must happen on God's terms. True fellowship is never a potluck where everyone just brings what they feel like. It is a divinely catered meal, and God sets the menu and the seating chart. Here, God lays out the portion that belongs to His priests. This is not an administrative footnote. It is a theological declaration about how God provides for His ministers, how worship sustains the ministry, and how our fellowship with God is directly tied to our fellowship with one another in a well-ordered, hierarchical, covenant community.
To misunderstand these verses is to misunderstand the very nature of the church's life and worship. It is to replace a robust, God-centered system of provision with a flimsy, man-centered model of fundraising. God is establishing an economic principle that is rooted in sacrifice and fellowship, and it is a principle that is perpetual.
The Text
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'He who brings the sacrifice of his peace offerings near to Yahweh shall bring his offering to Yahweh from the sacrifice of his peace offerings. His own hands are to bring offerings by fire to Yahweh. He shall bring the fat with the breast, that the breast may be waved as a wave offering before Yahweh. And the priest shall offer up the fat in smoke on the altar, but the breast shall belong to Aaron and his sons. And you shall give the right thigh to the priest as a contribution from the sacrifices of your peace offerings. The one among the sons of Aaron who brings near the blood of the peace offerings and the fat, the right thigh shall be his as his portion. For I have taken the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution from the sons of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and I have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as a perpetual statute taken from the sons of Israel.
'This is the share for Aaron and the share for his sons from the offerings by fire to Yahweh, in that day when he brought them near to minister as priests to Yahweh. These Yahweh had commanded to be given them from the sons of Israel in the day that He anointed them. It is a perpetual statute throughout their generations.'"
(Leviticus 7:28-36 LSB)
The Worshiper's Hands (vv. 28-30)
The instruction begins by emphasizing the personal involvement of the one making the offering.
"Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, "He who brings the sacrifice of his peace offerings near to Yahweh shall bring his offering to Yahweh from the sacrifice of his peace offerings. His own hands are to bring offerings by fire to Yahweh. He shall bring the fat with the breast, that the breast may be waved as a wave offering before Yahweh."'" (Leviticus 7:28-30)
Notice the repetition. The offering is brought "to Yahweh." This is not a transaction with the priest. The priest is a mediator, a servant, but the worship is directed vertically. But then we have this crucial phrase: "His own hands are to bring" it. Worship is not a spectator sport. It is not something you can delegate or pay someone else to do for you. The worshiper must be personally, physically invested. He brings the fat, which is God's portion that will be turned to smoke on the altar, and he brings the breast, which will be the priest's portion. The hands that bring the offering are the hands of the one seeking fellowship.
The breast is to be "waved as a wave offering before Yahweh." This was a specific ritual motion, likely a side-to-side or back-and-forth movement, presenting the portion to God before it was given to the priest. It was a visual acknowledgment: "This belongs to You first, Lord. I am giving it to your servant because You have directed me to do so." It is a ceremony of presentation and dedication. This simple act demolishes any notion that this is merely a payment for services rendered. The entire animal is consecrated to God, and God, in His sovereign prerogative, distributes the pieces as He sees fit.
This is a picture of our own worship. We do not come to God with empty hands. We come bringing the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips. We bring our tithes and offerings. And we must do so personally, with our own hands, acknowledging that everything we have is first His. We wave it all before Him before we distribute it according to His Word, for the work of the kingdom.
The Divine Distribution (vv. 31-34)
Here God specifies exactly how the meal is to be divided. This is not open to negotiation.
"And the priest shall offer up the fat in smoke on the altar, but the breast shall belong to Aaron and his sons. And you shall give the right thigh to the priest as a contribution from the sacrifices of your peace offerings... For I have taken the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution from the sons of Israel... and I have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons..." (Leviticus 7:31-34)
There are three portions from this one sacrifice. First, the fat belongs to God. It is burned on the altar, ascending as a "soothing aroma." This represents the best, the richest part, given directly to God. Second, the breast, which was waved, belongs to the priesthood collectively, to "Aaron and his sons." Third, the right thigh is given as a "contribution" or "heave offering" to the specific priest officiating that sacrifice. The thigh, a prime cut representing strength, is his personal portion.
The central point is found in verse 34. "For I have taken... and I have given." Who takes the breast and thigh from the Israelite? God does. Who gives the breast and thigh to the priest? God does. The Israelite is simply the courier. This is the foundational principle of all Christian giving. When you give to the church, to support the ministry of the Word, you are not primarily giving to a man or an institution. You are giving to God, and God is the one who provides for His ministers out of that offering. The minister eats from God's table.
This protects the ministry from two opposite errors. It prevents the minister from thinking he is a hired hand, dependent on the whims of the congregation for his salary. He is not. He is fed by God. It also prevents the congregation from thinking they are patrons of the arts, employing a religious professional whose job is to please them. They are not. They are fellow worshipers, bringing their gifts to God, who in turn sustains the public ministry of the Word from those same gifts.
A Perpetual Statute (vv. 35-36)
The passage concludes by cementing this principle in place for all future generations.
"'This is the share for Aaron and the share for his sons from the offerings by fire to Yahweh... These Yahweh had commanded to be given them from the sons of Israel in the day that He anointed them. It is a perpetual statute throughout their generations.'" (Leviticus 7:35-36)
This provision is called the "share for Aaron," or more literally, the "anointing of Aaron." His provision is directly linked to his consecrated office. It is not a wage; it is an ordination portion. And it is a "perpetual statute." Now, we must be careful here. We are no longer under the Levitical system of animal sacrifice. Christ, our Great High Priest, has offered Himself once for all. He is the ultimate peace offering, securing our fellowship with God. But a perpetual statute means that the underlying principle, the moral equity of the law, endures.
The New Testament picks up this theme without missing a beat. Paul asks the Corinthians, "Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from the altar? So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel" (1 Corinthians 9:13-14). Paul is making a direct Levitical argument. Just as the Levitical priest was fed by the altar, so the New Covenant minister of the gospel is to be fed by the gospel offerings of God's people. The principle of God providing for His ordained ministry through the worship of His people is, in fact, perpetual.
This is not a matter of pragmatism. It is a matter of divine right, established by God on the day He anointed His priests. To neglect the support of the ministry is not just a budgetary oversight; it is to disregard a perpetual statute of God.
The Fellowship Meal of the Gospel
So how do we tie all this together? We must see it all fulfilled and glorified in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our peace. He made the one sacrifice that allows us to have fellowship with a holy God. When we come to the Lord's Table, we are participating in the ultimate peace offering, the true fellowship meal.
In this new covenant, all believers are a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). We all get to draw near to God. But God has still ordained that some men be set apart as ministers of the Word, as undershepherds of the flock. And He has ordained that they be supported in the same fundamental way: from the offerings of God's people brought to God in worship.
Christ is the priest who officiates, and He is also the sacrifice. What is His portion? He receives the glory, the fat that ascends to the Father. But He also shares the meal with us. He is the host of the table, and He invites us to feast on Him by faith. He is the breast that is waved before the Father and the right thigh that strengthens us.
Therefore, our giving to the church is not paying dues. It is an act of worship, a part of our peace offering. We bring our offering in our own hands, joyfully and personally. We wave it before the Lord, acknowledging His ownership of all things. And we present it as our contribution to the work of His kingdom, trusting that He will take it and give it to whom He has appointed, sustaining the ministry of the Word. This is the economics of fellowship. It is not a business model; it is a body life, a shared meal, a perpetual statute of our generous, providing, and sovereign God.