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Leviticus 17 is one of the most difficult chapters in that book to understand. One of the main phrases that people question in this chapter is the phrase “that man [person] shall be cut off from among his people.” This chapter is not about how people were to slaughter animals for their daily meal. It is about God’s instructions about sacrifices and how sacrifices were not to be made by the people themselves, but they were to be brought to the priests so the different sacrifices were performed properly under priestly supervision.
When we see the phrase, “Then the LORD spoke to Moshe (Moses), saying…” this is something that God thought was important enough to tell Moshe to his face and to make sure all the children of Israel learned this.
Let’s put ourselves in the time of Moshe. They have no homes, no running water, no gardens, no vines, no harvests. This is in the era of the Tabernacle, not the era of the Temple. Don’t try to connect what we do in the 21st century to this text. What we see here God telling the people no to sacrifice animals to Him themselves. Animals for sacrifice were to be presented to the priests and the priests would officiate their sacrifice. Non-priests were not to officiate their own sacrifices.
We see that the consequence of disobeying this edict is, “… He has shed blood and that man shall be cut off from among his people” (Lev 17:4). This is not a reference to execution. The word off is not in the original Hebrew. This verse is more accurately translated as, “He has shed blood and that man shall be cut from among his people.” We use the phrase “cutting a deal” doesn’t mean anyone dies as a result, it’s a reference to covenant. A person who sacrifices animals to God without the priests or sacrifices animals to a god other than the Creator, he has cut himself and separated himself from God’s and God’s people.
Why is God being so “picky”?
“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 the LORD, at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the LORD.” (Lev. 17:5)
God is not upset at the people for slaughtering animals for their meal. He is talking about sacrifices, specifically peace offerings. All offerings, even peace offerings, are to be brought to the tabernacle.
When a שֶׁלֶם shelem (Strong’s lexicon No. H8002, peace offering) , which is an offering that says that you and God are happy with each other, outside God’s tabernacle, the peace offering was made a mockery, a lie.
Abraham, Yitskhak (Isaac), Ya’akov (Jacob) brought their own offerings for their own families in their homes, God is moving things around and bringing something to an end.
What is God ending right now? We see it in Lev. 17:7, and the Septuagint (Greek translation, circa 300–100 B.C.) has an interesting translation of this verse:
“and they shall no longer offer their sacrifices to useless things, to whom they go out to commit fornication after them. It shall be a perpetual precept to you throughout your generations.” (Lev 17:7, New English Translation of the Septuagint)
The more literal version of this verse says:
“They shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat demons with which they play the harlot. This shall be a permanent statute to them throughout their generations.” (Lev. 17:7)
What is the “goat demon”? The Hebrew word is שָׂעִיר sa’iyr (H8163), which is a shaggy, hairy young he-goat. Israel had lived in Egypt for 400 years, so they certainly picked up some of the more objectionable Egyptian practices, which included animal sacrifices and inappropriate sexual practices.
The closest answer I could find is from a non-Jewish commentary, specifically Adam Clarke’s Commentary:
“The famous heathen god, Pan, was represented as having the posteriors, horns, and ears of a goat; and the Mendesians, a people of Egypt, had a deity which they worshipped under this form. Herodotus says that all goats were worshipped in Egypt, but the he-goat particularly ….”
If they disregarded God’s instruction in regards to the sacrifices, they would be cut off, not from life, but from the covenant with Abraham, Yitskhak and Ya’akov.
When we violated God’s law, in a sense, He cuts us off, but He also called out to us and brought us back to Himself. We followed lies but He cuts off the lies and brings us to the truth.
Reader: Jeff. Speaker:Richard Agee. Summary: Tammy.