(Lev 2 NIV) “‘When someone brings a grain offering to the LORD, his offering is to be of fine flour. He is to pour oil on it, put incense on it and take it to Aaron’s sons the priests. The priest shall take a handful of the fine flour and oil, together with all the incense, and burn this as a memorial portion on the altar, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD. The rest of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the offerings made to the LORD by fire. “‘If you bring a grain offering baked in an oven, it is to consist of fine flour: cakes made without yeast and mixed with oil, or wafers made without yeast and spread with oil. If your grain offering is prepared on a griddle, it is to be made of fine flour mixed with oil, and without yeast. Crumble it and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering. If your grain offering is cooked in a pan, it is to be made of fine flour and oil. Bring the grain offering made of these things to the LORD; present it to the priest, who shall take it to the altar. He shall take out the memorial portion from the grain offering and burn it on the altar as an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD. The rest of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the offerings made to the LORD by fire. “‘Every grain offering you bring to the LORD must be made without yeast, for you are not to burn any yeast or honey in an offering made to the LORD by fire. You may bring them to the LORD as an offering of the firstfruits, but they are not to be offered on the altar as a pleasing aroma. Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings. “‘If you bring a grain offering of firstfruits to the LORD, offer crushed heads of new grain roasted in the fire. Put oil and incense on it; it is a grain offering. The priest shall burn the memorial portion of the crushed grain and the oil, together with all the incense, as an offering made to the LORD by fire.
THE MEAL OFFERING
This offering follows the burnt offering and was offered with it. — not alone!!
The Burnt Offering had three varieties of offering … Herd, Flock , Fowl
The Meal Offering also had three varieties:
vv. 1-3 the unbaked fine flour,
vv. 4-10 the baked cakes & loaves,
v. 14 the green ears of corn dried by the fire.
These show three stages of offering and contain a representation of the same truth.
As with the burnt offering the meal offering was a free will giving. Verse 1. Begins IF any will offer …
This was the only offering without blood yet it also speaks of Calvary.
FINE FLOUR
.
vv. 1, 2, 4, 5, 7.
(John 12:23-33 NIV) Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. [24] I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. [25] The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. [26] Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me. [27] “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. [28] Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” [29] The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. [30] Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. [31] Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. [32] But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” [33] He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.
These verses are a type of Jesus and His church. Fine flour comes from the kernel of the wheat. Jesus a type of the kernel that died to bring forth many other kernels. Death is involved in bringing forth. Bread comes not from the wheat but from fine flour. Crushing is necessary.
(Isa 28:23-29 NIV) Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say. [24] When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and harrowing the soil? [25] When he has levelled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cummin? Does he not plant wheat in its place, barley in its plot, and spelt in its field? [26] His God instructs him and teaches him the right way. [27] Caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is a cartwheel rolled over cummin; caraway is beaten out with a rod, and cummin with a stick. [28] Grain must be ground to make bread; so one does not go on threshing it forever. Though he drives the wheels of his threshing cart over it, his horses do not grind it.
Wheat for bread is bruised and the chaff blown away.
(Psa 1:4 KJV) The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Jesus was bruised / crushed for our iniquities
(Isa 53:5 NIV) But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
The finest wheat gives the finest flour. The perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ was without blemish. All others had blemishes. All have sinned and come short.
Wheat comes out of the earth but is not of it. Jesus was born out of an earthly vessel but was not part of it. The first fruits of a new creation.
THE MEAL OFFERING AND RESURRECTION LIFE.
Note … No blood for that speaks of death. This offering speaks of LIFE outpoured.
(Rom 5:10 NIV) For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
First death then life. First the burnt offering then the meal offering
OIL
v.1 oil upon.
v.4 oil mixed with.
v.5 oil mixed with.
v.6 oil poured upon.
v.7 made with oil.
v.16 a memorial of oil.
Oil speaks of the Holy Spirit. Note that the oil was to be in and upon the offering.
This typifies the two operations of the Holy Spirit upon the believer.
The perfect example Jesus.
Jesus born of the Holy Spirit’s overshadowing … mingled
Anointed/poured upon by the Holy Spirit … Jordan
The meal offering was MOST HOLY when mingled with oil
(Luke 1:26-35 NIV) In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, [27] to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. [28] The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.” [29] Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. [30] But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. [31] You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. [32] He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, [33] and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” [34] “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” [35] The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
(Luke 4:18 NIV) “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me
(John 3:5 NIV) Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
(Acts 2:38 NIV) Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
(Acts 10:38 NIV) how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power,
The cakes had oil IN them and ON them. We are likewise commanded to be filled with the Spirit.
(Eph 5:18 NIV) Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
FRANKINCENSE
The fragrant sap or gum from the bark of a tree.
Involved in prayer as typified by the Golden Altar of Incense. We are reminded of Jesus and His prayers.
It had to be ground small. Remember the suffering of Gethsemene
Needed fire to release the fragrance. The work of the Holy Spirit.
Significant in the Song of Solomon. Frankincese has a connection with the bride.
(Song 4:6-7 KJV) Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. [7] Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.
CAKES or LOAVES
These were cooked or baked in an oven. They were mixed, ingredient added to ingredient. A combination of fine flour, oil and salt. NO leaven as this typifies sin in Scripture. The “cakes” were to be broken
A picture of Jesus the perfect one; who was without sin AND HE WAS BROKEN AND OFFERED UP FOR US.
(John 6:27 NIV) Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
(John 6:35 KJV) And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
(1 Cor 11:24 KJV) And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
SALT
With every offering salt was to be present. Each was to be seasoned with salt
Why salt ???
i. salt purifies,
ii. seasons,
iii. saves from corruption,
iv. preserves, and
v. irritates the flesh.
It speaks of grace and love.
(Mat 5:13 NIV) “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
(Mark 9:49 NIV) Everyone will be salted with fire.
(Col 4:5-6 NIV) Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. [6] Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Salt is necessary to sacrifice. To offer a sacrifice with the wrong attitude is an offering without salt and not acceptable.
LEAVEN
This was FORBIDDEN. Leaven is mentioned in many places and different kinds are spoken of in Scripture.
i. Boasting or self glorification.
(1 Cor 5:6-8 NIV) Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? [7] Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. [8] Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.
ii. Pharisees and Sadducees The leaven of unworthy doctrine
(Mat 16:6 NIV) “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
(Mat 16:11-12 NIV) How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” [12] Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
(Acts 23:8 NIV) (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.)
Their doctrine taught there were no angels, no resurrection no Spirit. This kind of limiting God goes on today. Some still preach no tongues, no miracles, no healing etc. Jesus spoke about this …
(Mat 23:1 NIV) Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:
Read the rest of this chapter.
JESUS WAS FREE FROM ALL THESE LEAVENS … He was the perfect one and so constituted the perfect and acceptable sacrifice. No one else could measure up to the requirements of a holy God.
HONEY
No honey with the offering. Honey from the flowers of the earth represent the sweetness of carnal love, not peace and joy.
Heat sours honey. It cannot stand the fire. Our offering must be free of imitation sweetness or that stemming from carnality. This kind of sweetness sours when tribulation, persecution and trial comes.
True love suffereth long. The spiritual quality of true sweetness needed.
(Rev 10:9 NIV) So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.“
The Word searches the inward parts.
OVEN – PAN – FRYPAN
Three applications of fire to the offerings:
i. Oven: shut out of sight. Jesus hid His suffering within. The door was shut Three hours of darkness
ii. Pan. Everyone could see. Three hours of light. Jesus was seen by all. Mocked, spat upon.
iii. Frypan. The part seen. Gethsemene. His disciples slept.
Jesus experienced all these aspects as a meal offering.
(Heb 9:14 NIV) How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
A MEMORIAL
(1 Cor 11:25-31 NIV) In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” [26] For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. [27] Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. [28] A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. [29] For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. [30] That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. [31] But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.
Of this holy offering God received a portion and the priests received a portion. We all as priests should also have fellowship with our brethren in this offering.
The offering was a sweet savour to God.
(Mat 13:33 NIV) He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
There were three measures of meal and leaven/yeast was added. This is typical of the church to this day. False doctrine still is to be found throughout
the church. The fine flour (Jesus) is still there for us. At the Lord’s table we feast on this meal offering.
(John 6:56 NIV) Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.
(1 Cor 10:17 KJV) For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.