Leviticus 7:3Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

This is the law of the sacrifice of obedience: It is a great holy thing; the sacrifice of duty shall be slain in the place where the burnt-offering is slain, and its blood shall be sprinkled upon the altar on all sides; the offerer shall present out of it all the fat, the curd, and the fat that covers the viscera, and both kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, that is upon the stalks, and the omentum that is upon the liver; with the kidneys let him separate these things; and the priest shall burn these things upon the altar as an offering to the Lord: it shall be a sacrifice of oblation. All the male sex of the priestly race may eat it; in the holy place it shall be eaten: it is a great holy thing. Of both the sin offering and the sacrifice of obligation the law is the same: it belongs to the priest, who cleanseth by means of it’ (Lev. 6:30-7:1-7). This prohibits the eating of the entrails of the offerings, which are to be consecrated and offered only to God. This signifies the command to ‘Let them be burned with fire;’ implying they are to be set apart for devotion to the One Divine and perfect essence, which fire represents. When the ram of offense is offered, its blood is poured at the base of the altar, for the death of Christ is both holy and sweet-smelling. The entrails, fat, kidneys, and lobes of the liver are collected; these represent not just a single virtue, but a multitude of virtues, as there are many forms of virtue. Thus, we find justification in Christ, who died for us and offered Himself ‘unto God, to God, to the Father, in savour pleasing’ (Eph. 5:2).