Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 2:13

13 And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.

Previously we heard how leaven was forbidden from the offerings, and how it could be a symbol for corruption or worldly secularization. Today, we learn how salt, on the other hand, was an essential component. For each type of offering, it had to be seasoned with the salt. So, if leaven symbolized corruption, what did salt represent?

Well, salt fulfills two functions when applied to food. One is to add flavor to the dish, and the other is to serve as a preservative. Thus, salt can represent our spiritual flavor, and the preservation of God within us. Like leaven, a little bit of salt can affect the entire whole, but it does not mutate and bloat it like leaven does. Once salt is mixed into a dish, you can’t even see it, but when you taste it, you can tell that it is there. So it is with the Spirit in our hearts. You can’t see it, and we are still very much our own selves, but our actions are savory, and they preserve God’s kingdom on the earth.

SacrificeEligible oblationStepsExplanation
Meat OfferingFlour, oil, frankincenseGiving gratitude for blessings
Firstfruits from the fieldBlessings of raw potential
Separate ingredients burned on altarBody, spirit, and prayer uniting in gratitude
Ingredients baked into unleavened cakesDevotion to God’s law, unsullied by pagan practices
All offering types seasoned with saltSpiritual action and preservation
Portion given to priestsGod’s treasures shared with us

Full table.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 2:12, 14-16

12 As for the oblation of the firstfruits, ye shall offer them unto the Lord: but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet savour.

14 And if thou offer a meat offering of thy firstfruits unto the Lord, thou shalt offer for the meat offering of thy firstfruits green ears of corn dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears.

15 And thou shalt put oil upon it, and lay frankincense thereon: it is a meat offering.

16 And the priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the beaten corn thereof, and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: it is an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

We have already heard that the meat offering could be made with bread or with raw ingredients, now we also hear that it could be offered with the first yield of the crops, the grain while still in its kernels. Thus, we see all three stages of grain development presented in the different meat offerings:

  1. The raw first fruits, freshly sown from the field.
  2. The refined ingredients, made from stripping and grinding the grain.
  3. The finished product, mixed and baked into its final form.

Remember, the idea of this sacrifice was to give thanks to God for blessings received, and those blessings can similarly come in different degrees of development. There are blessings of new potential, blessings of refinement, and blessings of full fruition. The contract signed, the production pipeline established, and the quarterly results. The acceptance into the program, the classes being fulfilled, and the receiving of the degree. The positive pregnancy test, the gestation in the womb, and the successful delivery.

Not only this, but as mentioned earlier, the different stages provided different values of offering. The raw materials had one value, the brute effort to refine it added more, and the delicate baking added still more. There is in this a pattern demonstrated of how value is made in this world, and depending on the offeror’s status he could give according to his personal wealth level.

SacrificeEligible oblationStepsExplanation
Meat OfferingFlour, oil, frankincenseGiving gratitude for blessings
Firstfruits from the fieldBlessings of raw potential
Refined ingredients burned on altarBody, spirit, and prayer uniting in gratitude
Ingredients baked into unleavened cakesDevotion to God’s law, unsullied by pagan practices
Portion given to priestsGod’s treasures shared with us

Full table.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 2:8-10

8 And thou shalt bring the meat offering that is made of these things unto the Lord: and when it is presented unto the priest, he shall bring it unto the altar.

9 And the priest shall take from the meat offering a memorial thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

10 And that which is left of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire.

Here we read how part of the offering was burned unto the Lord, but then all the remainder was given to Aaron and his sons, the priest class, being their portion and reward from the Lord. Today, we do not have a specific tribe of priests separate from the rest of us, rather each worthy man may volunteer to administer in the Lord’s rituals, whatever his heritage. And even more broadly, every man, woman, and child may volunteer to assist in the work of the Lord, spreading His kingdom in many different ways. To us who take part in His labor, I can only assume that the same promise made to the Israelite priests applies to us, that we will receive a portion of the Lord’s own.

And that is not only for this life, but more importantly, for life in the eternities. Remember that Jesus promised his disciples they would be given things from their Father for both their earthly needs and for their heavenly reward. The same, I believe, is true for us. At least, it is if we first adopt the burdens and responsibilities of our Lord.

SacrificeEligible oblationStepsExplanation
Meat OfferingFlour, oil, frankincenseGiving gratitude for blessings
Separate ingredients burned on altarBody, spirit, and prayer uniting in gratitude
Ingredients baked into unleavened cakesDevotion to God’s law, unsullied by pagan practices
Portion given to priestsGod’s treasures shared with us

Full table.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 2:4-7, 11

4 And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.

5 And if thy oblation be a meat offering baken in a pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil.

6 Thou shalt part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon: it is a meat offering.

7 And if thy oblation be a meat offering baken in the fryingpan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.

11 No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the Lord, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the Lord made by fire.

In the last post we discussed the meat offering made from separate ingredients, now we see the option to have it already baked as a cake or a wafer. One key detail from verse four and eleven is that if the offering were baked, it needed to be “unleavened,” which is to say having no germ agent that would cause it to cause it to rise. Thus, what they were bringing was not like bread, but crackers.

Many scholars have already explained that the reason for this was as a symbol of purity. You were to keep the ingredients plain, not introduce a foreign agent that transformed the end result. Those coming to the tabernacle were expected to eschew all foreign doctrines, all forms of idolatry, and all pagan superstitions. They were to keep the word of God pure, uncompromised by the philosophies of the world.

Of course, we do interact and cooperate with the larger world, and the Israelites did use leaven in their home cooking. But all of us should have a place that is pure. Just as the Israelites would not bring leaven into the tabernacle, we should not bring the world into our most sacred moments of worship.

One other point regarding leaven. Some may recall that Jesus spoke favorably of it when he compared it to the kingdom of heaven in Matthew 13:33. While leaven is usually used as a negative symbol in the scriptures, including from Jesus, it is not, in and of itself, good or evil. Broadly speaking, it is a symbol of influence and transformation. And influence and transformation can be good, but they can also be evil.

SacrificeEligible oblationStepsExplanation
Meat OfferingFlour, oil, frankincenseGiving gratitude for blessings
Separate ingredients burned on altarBody, spirit, and prayer uniting in gratitude
Ingredients baked into unleavened cakesDevotion to God’s law, unsullied by pagan practices

Full table.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 2:2-3

2 And he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests: and he shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord:

3 And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire.

It may be strange to see this referred to as a “meat” offering, when no meat is involved in it. This confusing naming scheme is due to the differences in 17th century English, where “meat” was used to describe any solid food, as opposed to drink or soup. More modern translations tend to render this as a “grain” or “meal” offering.

This offering could be provided as a baked bread, or as its raw ingredients. Today’s verses describe the raw ingredient version, featuring flour, oil, and frankincense. All of these ingredients would have been accessible to the Israelites, even the poor ones. Of all of the ingredients, frankincense would have had the highest cost, but not unattainably so.

Flour would have been seen as a symbol for life, or the body, and oil as a symbol for the spirit. Frankincense, with its pleasant aroma, was typically seen as a symbol for prayer, such as when it was used on the incense altar. Thus, their combined offering would represent the whole person, body, mind, and spirit, connected to God, expressing gratitude for the blessings that had been given.

SacrificeEligible oblationStepsExplanation
Meat OfferingFlour, oil, frankincenseGiving gratitude for blessings
Separate ingredients burned on altarBody, spirit, and prayer uniting in gratitude

Full table.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 2:1

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.

SacrificeEligible oblationStepsExplanation
Meat OfferingFlour, oil, frankincenseGiving gratitude for blessings

Full table.