1 And when any will offer a meat offering unto the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon:

At first glance, there are some similarities between the meat offering and the consecration offering that we heard of in Exodus. Both involved making a sacrifice where a portion of it was burned on the altar to the Lord, and another portion was given to the priests. But these are not the same offering, and there are some key differences to be noted.

The first is who made each offering. For the consecration offering, it was made by the priests themselves, to consecrate a new priest to his work. The meat offering was made by everyday Israelites, those not of the priest class, for the purpose of giving thanks.

Unlike other offerings, the meat offering was entirely voluntary. Israelites would bring them when they felt very blessed by the Lord’s bounty, so much so that they wanted to bring a gift of thanks. Perhaps they secured a good contract, or received a bounteous crop, or had a good rainfall, or secured a marriage betrothal. They would signify their awareness that this was a blessing from God by bringing an offering to the altar. It was as if to say, “you have blessed me, and even more than I need, so here is a part of it returned back to you.” And because it was presented as a gift to God, and God shares His gifts with His servants, those priests would receive a portion of it also.

Sacrifice	Eligible oblation	Steps	Explanation
Meat Offering	Flour, oil, frankincense		Giving gratitude for blessings

Full table.