Chapter 7

Begins with details about the guilt offering.  Vs 7 clarifies this way:

7 The guilt offering is just like the sin offering; there is one law for them. The priest who makes atonement with it shall have it. [Lev 7:7 ESV]

Though these have different names, the procedure for carrying them out is the same.

More detail about how sacrifices were to be made.  No one allowed to eat fat or blood, at all.

Beginning in vs 11, the peace offering is described.

There were various kinds of peace offerings, and details for each are described.  A peace offering of thanksgiving, a peace offering as a vow offering or as a freewill offering.

Eating meat from any of these sacrifices while you were ceremonially unclean was a major offense, and resulted in that priest being cut off from his people.  Priests better know the rules! 

Then these verses:

23 "Speak to the people of Israel, saying, You shall eat no fat, of ox or sheep or goat. 24 The fat of an animal that dies of itself and the fat of one that is torn by beasts may be put to any other use, but on no account shall you eat it. 25 For every person who eats of the fat of an animal of which a food offering may be made to the LORD shall be cut off from his people. [Lev 7:23-25 ESV]

The fat belonged to the Lord.  This must have applied to separable fat, because a ribeye or a filet has the fat embedded.  In the description of the sacrifices, it is described as the fat on the organs, on the long lobe of the liver, and so on.  These are the fats we render oil from these days.  You don't "render" a ribeye steak.  The "stand alone" fats were for the Lord.

Blood was not to be eaten at all in any form.

2023 - 26 Moreover, you shall eat no blood whatever, whether of fowl or of animal, in any of your dwelling places. [Lev 7:26 ESV]

2021 - Previously, I believed the prohibition against fat was only about the fat of animals that were sacrificed.  But here, Moses is talking to ALL the people, and it says it this way:

23 "Speak to the people of Israel, saying, You shall eat no fat, of ox or sheep or goat. ... 25 For every person who eats of the fat of an animal of which a food offering may be made to the LORD shall be cut off from his people. [Lev 7:23, 25 ESV]  So even if the animal is NOT sacrificed, but COULD BE sacrificed, they were not to eat its fat.  So they couldn't eat the fat from most of their livestock.  What was done with all this fat?

2024 - Certain fat and all blood were off the menu.  Perhaps unless the animal had a blemish and could not be sacrificed anyway.  7:25 seems to say that the fat of animals that could not be sacrificed could be eaten.  Only bulls, sheep, and goat fat was off limits.  Likely, a wild animal had to be "clean" to eat its fat.  We might also see a push here toward olive oil - vegetable or seed oil - and away from animal fat for cooking.  Hmm...

There are several notations about when the portion for the priests was to be eaten - and only the sons of Aaron were allowed to eat it.  I seem to recall in the NT that meat offered to idols was sold in the marketplaces at a low rate and anyone at all could eat it.  So this is a marked distinction between worshiping God and worshiping pagan gods.

This summary verse:

37 This is the law of the burnt offering, of the grain offering, of the sin offering, of the guilt offering, of the ordination offering, and of the peace offering, [Lev 7:37 ESV]

There are 5 general offerings and then the specific ordination offering.  In these chapters, the reason for each sacrifice was described, and the procedure the priests were to follow was described.  No room for error here.