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

Unrealized Potential

Unspent things have no value
Dollars, thoughts, effort
They are only potential until they are given away

Life itself is only idleness
Until it is offered for something greater
It finds it value in being sacrificed

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 38:29-31

29 And the brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels.

30 And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the brasen altar, and the brasen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar,

31 And the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the court gate, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.

Yesterday we heard the full contribution of gold and silver to the construction of the tabernacle, and now we finish this chapter by mentioning the brass that was donated as well. Using the same conversion rates as before, the 70 talents and 2,400 shekels of brass would be approximately 5,310 pounds (2,408 kg) in total.

Here is a summary of all the metal:

  • 7,544 pounds / 3,422 kg silver
  • 5,310 pounds / 2,408 kg brass
  • 2,193 pounds / 995 kg gold

Yesterday we calculated the modern-day value of the gold and silver. That is less useful with brass, as it has far less relative value today than it had in ancient times. Today the full weight of brass for the tabernacle would be just a bit over $10,000, but in the time of the tabernacle it would have been much more, though still not as much as the silver or gold.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 38:24-28

24 All the gold that was occupied for the work in all the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.

25 And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:

26 A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.

27 And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the veil; an hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.

28 And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters, and filleted them.

The full weight of gold used in the tabernacle was 29 talents and 730 shekels; and the silver was 100 talents and 1,775 shekels. Talents and shekels were ancient metrics of weight, not value. The conversion to today’s metrics is estimated to be about 75-100 pounds (34-45kg) for a talent, and 0.4 ounces (11 grams) for a shekel.

Thus, a shekel was much smaller than a talent, about 1/3000th of the size. If we break the 29 talents of gold and 100 talents of silver into shekels, then we get a combined total of approximately 389,505 shekels of precious metal donated for the construction of the temple. A bekah was half of a shekel, so that comes to approximately 779,010 bekahs of metal. From that number we can understand how verse 26 is saying that it was about one bekah for each of the 603,550 men in the Israelite community.

I do not think that every man did give one bekah, though. The Israelites were not required to give their possessions to the creation of the temple if they did not want to, they varied in their individual wealth, and we were already told that some of the contributions were turned away because the measure had already been filled. It seems likely that some contributed more, and others less, and some not at all, but in aggregate it was as if every man had contributed one bekah.

Converting these metrics into today’s standards, we have approximately 2,193 pounds (995 kg) of gold and 7,544 pounds (3,422 kg) of silver. The value of these will obviously change constantly over the years, but in any time, it is a princely sum. As of today, March 19, 2025, gold is about $3,000 per ounce and silver is about $34. That brings the value of the gold over $100,000,000 USD, and the silver over $4,000,000.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Thought for the Day- Life is Worth Living

All life, even a painful life, is still a life
And all life, even a painful life, is worth living

Posted on by Abe Austin

The Nature of Sacrifice- Matthew 20:18-19, 28; John 15:13

Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,
And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.
Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

COMMENTARY

Even as the Son of man came not to give his life a ransom for many
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends
The way Jesus viewed his mortal life was quite distinct. Where so many of us covet our lives and insist on using them for our own purposes, he instead saw his as something to be given as a ransom, something to be laid down for others. We see our lives as a jealous possession. He saw it as a currency, one which could be spent for the redemption of others.
I think that when most of us hear the word “sacrifice” we think that we are giving something up to be destroyed. Essentially turning something of worth into no value. But the example of Christ is not that things sacrificed or made devoid of worth. Rather they are spent for the enriching of our fellow man.
While we are not called to die for the sins of all mankind, we too can make our lives a currency in the treasury of God. We can “spend” our time in the service of others. We can “give” our attention to enrich our brothers and sisters. We can “donate” our energy to spread humanity throughout the world.