Thanksgiving תּוֹדָה

We are in chapter seven of Leviticus with our word for today. תּוֹדָה thanksgiving, song of thanksgiving or praise, choir, doxology, communal sacrifice, offering of thanks. It is used 32 times in the Old Testament, 3 times in our chapter. Our word is used several times in the sense of singing songs of thanksgiving to God. Psalm 100:1, 4 A לְתוֹדָ֑ה Psalm for giving thanks. Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! … Enter his gates בְּתוֹדָ֗ה with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! Psalm 95:1-2 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence בְּתוֹדָ֑ה with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! Our word is used in connection with the peace offering for the purpose of thanksgiving. Psalm 107:20-22 He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. Let them יוֹד֣וּ thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! And let them offer sacrifices of תוֹדָ֑ה thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy! Psalm 116:16-17 You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to you the sacrifice of תּוֹדָ֑ה thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord. This is how our word is used 3 times in our chapter today. Leviticus 7:11-15 And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings that one may offer to the Lord. If he offers it for a תּוֹדָה֮ thanksgiving, then he shall offer with הַתּוֹדָ֗ה the thanksgiving sacrifice unleavened loaves mixed with oil, unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and loaves of fine flour well mixed with oil. With the sacrifice of his peace offerings for תּוֹדַ֥ת thanksgiving he shall bring his offering with loaves of leavened bread. And from it he shall offer one loaf from each offering, as a gift to the Lord. It shall belong to the priest who throws the blood of the peace offerings. And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for תּוֹדַ֣ת thanksgiving shall be eaten on the day of his offering. He shall not leave any of it until the morning. As we have seen the purpose of these sacrifices with the tabernacle worship is to connect people to God. I’ll close with this great passage that is a prediction of Jesus work on the cross. Our word is used in the first part referring to the people’s response to God bringing them back to their land but then we have our Messianic Prophecy that points to Jesus who solves our ultimate problem of being separated from God because of our sin. He is the sacrifice because he is the only one able to approach God because he is without sin. Jeremiah 30:18-19, 21-22 “Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob and have compassion on his dwellings; the city shall be rebuilt on its mound, and the palace shall stand where it used to be. Out of them shall come songs of תּוֹדָ֖ה thanksgiving, and the voices of those who celebrate … Their prince shall be one of themselves; their ruler shall come out from their midst; I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me, for who would dare of himself to approach me? declares the Lord. And you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”