Commentary - Leviticus 17:1-9

Bird's-eye view

In this chapter, we pivot from the great day of Atonement to what we might call the practicalities of a blood-bought holiness. This is not a let-down, but rather the necessary application. High theology must always result in grounded obedience. The Lord here institutes a foundational principle for Israel's worship: all slaughter is to be treated as sacrifice. There is no such thing as a secular meal when it comes to taking the life of an animal. Every life belongs to God, and so the blood, which is the life, must be brought to Him in the prescribed way. This statute serves two primary functions. First, it centralizes all worship at the tabernacle, thereby protecting Israel from the rampant idolatry of the surrounding nations. Second, it drives home the theological reality that all life is sacred and finds its meaning only in reference to the altar of God. This is a direct assault on the freelance, open-air worship that was common to paganism, a worship offered to "goat demons." The penalty for disobedience is severe, to be "cut off", demonstrating that how we worship is a matter of covenant life and death.

This passage establishes a bright line between the worship of Yahweh and the worship of demons. By commanding that every animal killed for food be brought to the tent of meeting, God is taking control of the entire food chain, as it were. He is declaring that there are no neutral zones. You cannot simply have a barbecue out in the field without reference to Him. Why? Because the field is where the goat demons dance. The world is full of other gods, other claimants to authority, and God is teaching His people that He will not share His glory with another. This is a perpetual statute, meaning the principle it embodies carries forward. We no longer bring animal sacrifices to a central tent, because the Tent and the Sacrifice have met us in the person of Jesus Christ. But the principle that all of life, down to our very meals, must be consecrated to God and protected from idolatry remains fully in force.

Outline

Context In Leviticus

Leviticus 17 marks the beginning of what scholars often call the "Holiness Code" (chapters 17-26). Having just concluded the intricate laws of purity and the climactic ceremony of the Day of Atonement in chapter 16, the book now turns to the outworking of this holiness in the daily life of Israel. The placement is crucial. Atonement has been made, access to God has been secured by blood, and now the question is, "How then shall we live?" The answer begins here, with blood. This chapter is the hinge that connects the liturgical worship at the tabernacle with the ethical and moral life of the people in the camp and, eventually, in the land. It sets the stage for all subsequent laws about sexual morality, social justice, and Sabbath observance by first establishing the absolute sovereignty of God over life and death, symbolized by the handling of blood.

Key Issues

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh has commanded, saying,

The formula is familiar, and it is foundational. What follows is not Moses's good idea, nor is it a suggestion from a committee on public health and safety. This is a direct command from Yahweh. The authority is absolute. And notice the audience: Aaron and his sons (the priests who will officiate), and "all the sons of Israel." This is not a regulation just for the clergy. This is a law for every single household. Holiness is a corporate affair. The way one man kills his goat out in the wilderness affects the spiritual health of the entire nation. There is no private spirituality in Israel. This command concerns everyone because the threat it addresses, idolatry, is a threat to everyone.

3 “Any man from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or who slaughters it outside the camp, 4 and has not brought it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to bring it near as an offering to Yahweh before the tabernacle of Yahweh, it will be counted as bloodguiltiness to that man. He has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people.

Here is the heart of the prohibition. The word for slaughter, shachat, is a general term. It could be for a peace offering, a burnt offering, or simply for a meal. The point is that during this time in the wilderness, there is no distinction. If you are going to kill an animal for your family's dinner, you must treat it as a sacred act. You are to bring it to the one legitimate place of worship: the doorway of the tent of meeting. To kill it anywhere else, whether inside the camp or out, is to commit an unauthorized killing. God defines it as "bloodguiltiness." You have shed blood, and in God's economy, the shedding of blood outside of His prescribed sacrificial system is murder. It is illicit violence.

The penalty is to be "cut off from among his people." This is not a mere fine or a slap on the wrist. This is excommunication. It is to be put outside the covenant community, to be severed from the congregation of the righteous and the presence of God. Why so severe? Because to slaughter an animal in the open field is to act like a pagan. It is to perform a religious act on your own terms, which is the very essence of idolatry. You are setting up your own altar, your own system of worship, and God will not tolerate rivals.

5 The reason is so that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they were sacrificing in the open field, that they may bring them in to Yahweh, at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to Yahweh.

God does not leave them guessing as to His motives. He explicitly states the reason for this law. The Israelites had fallen into a bad habit. They were already sacrificing in the "open field." This was the common practice of the pagan world. Every grove of trees, every high hill, every peculiar rock formation could be a place of worship. But Yahweh is not a nature god. He is the transcendent Creator, and He determines the time, place, and manner of His worship. This law is therefore a corrective measure. It is designed to pull all of their worship, all of their sacrificial activity, out of the wild and into the holy space that He has ordained. What they were doing in the field, likely with syncretistic overtones, must now be brought to the priest at the tabernacle and offered correctly as peace offerings to Yahweh, and to Him alone.

6 And the priest shall splash the blood on the altar of Yahweh at the doorway of the tent of meeting and offer up the fat in smoke as a soothing aroma to Yahweh.

This verse details the proper procedure. The blood, which represents the life (nephesh) of the animal, is not to be trifled with. It belongs to God. The priest is to take it and splash it against the altar of Yahweh. This is the act of atonement, the returning of the life to the Giver of life. Then the fat, considered the richest part of the animal, is burned on the altar. This is God's portion. It ascends as a "soothing aroma," a sign of acceptance. The rest of the animal, in the case of a peace offering, would then be eaten by the worshiper and his family in a communal meal. So you see the logic: first, God is honored with the life (the blood) and the best part (the fat). Then, and only then, can the people feast in His presence. God's portion comes first. Right worship precedes a right meal.

7 And they shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat demons with which they play the harlot. This shall be a perpetual statute to them throughout their generations.” ’

Here the spiritual reality behind the "open field" sacrifices is laid bare. They were not offering sacrifices to an abstract nature spirit; they were sacrificing to "goat demons." The Hebrew is se'irim, hairy ones, often associated with satyrs or demonic entities that were thought to inhabit desolate places. The Bible does not treat these as imaginary friends. Behind the idols of the nations are real, malevolent spiritual beings. And the worship of these beings is described in the starkest possible terms: they "play the harlot." Idolatry is spiritual adultery. It is cheating on the God who brought you out of Egypt. It is giving the devotion and worship that belongs to your covenant Lord to demonic powers. This law is a guardrail against spiritual prostitution. And it is a "perpetual statute." The principle stands forever: God's people must not traffic with demons. They must worship God in the way He commands, and they must flee all forms of idolatry.

8 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Any man from the house of Israel, or from the sojourners who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, 9 and does not bring it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to offer it to Yahweh, that man also shall be cut off from his people.

This final section reiterates and expands the law. It applies not only to the native-born Israelite but also to the "sojourner," the resident alien living among them. If you are going to live with the covenant people, you must live by the covenant rules, especially when it comes to worship. There is no religious pluralism in the camp of Israel. The command is repeated for emphasis: any burnt offering or sacrifice offered anywhere else results in being cut off. God is jealous for His own glory, and He is jealous for the purity of His people. Centralized worship was the antidote to the chaotic, demonic, and adulterous worship of the pagan world. For us, Christ is the new and living Tabernacle. All our worship must be brought to Him. To try to approach God through any other mediator, any other system, is to build an altar in the open field, and to flirt with the goat demons that still haunt the desolate places of this world.

Application

So what does a law about not slaughtering goats in a field have to do with us? Everything. The principle is about the centralization of worship. For Israel in the wilderness, that center was the tabernacle. For the Christian, the center is Jesus Christ. He is the Temple, He is the Priest, and He is the Sacrifice. All of our spiritual sacrifices, our praise, our good works, our very lives, are acceptable to God only when they are offered "through Him" (Heb. 13:15).

This passage is a stark warning against all forms of do-it-yourself religion. We are not at liberty to invent our own methods of worship. We are not free to blend Christianity with other spiritualities, to set up little altars to our careers, our politics, our hobbies, or our appetites. That is to sacrifice in the "open field," and the goat demons are always ready to receive such worship. Playing the harlot with other gods is a constant temptation. This text calls us to a radical, exclusive loyalty to Christ.

Finally, it reminds us that there are no neutral activities. For Israel, even a meal had to be consecrated by being brought into the presence of God. For us, "whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31). We are to bring every part of our lives, our work, our family, our leisure, to the "doorway of the tent of meeting," which is to say, we are to bring it all to Christ. Every domain must be claimed for Him, lest it be ceded by default to the hairy ones in the wilderness.