Leviticus 2 ~ 20160424 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

04/24 Leviticus 2; The Grain Offering; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20160424_leviticus-2.mp3

We are in Leviticus 2, the second of the 5 offerings. The first three offerings, the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the peace offering, are voluntary offerings, and they are each said to be “a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD”. The last two, the sin and the guilt offering, are required to be offered when anyone sins. The whole burnt offering, we saw, was a foundational offering, dealing not with specific sins, but with our sinful nature. It was a costly offering, and it was a completely Godward offering, the entire animal (except for the hide) going up in smoke as a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

Jesus said to the religious leaders in John 5

John 5:39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

All these offerings together, the whole sacrificial system, points us to Jesus, and his once-for-all sacrifice for us.

Tribute

This second offering is unique among the offerings, in that it is not a bloody offering. No animal is involved. It is a grain offering. This offering is called in Hebrew a 'Minhah', simply a gift. This kind of gift often expresses gratitude, reverence, homage, or allegiance. This was often a tribute offering. In Genesis 32, when Jacob was returning to his homeland and his brother Esau, from whom he had stolen both birthright and blessing, who had wanted to kill him, was coming out to meet him with 400 men, he sent a 'minhah' ahead of him

Genesis 32:20 ...For he thought, “I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.”

This was a gift intended to appease, to gain acceptance. In Genesis 43, when Jacob reluctantly agreed to send his youngest son to the leader of Egypt who had interrogated his other sons and was holding one prisoner,

Genesis 43:11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry a present down to the man, a little balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds. ...14 May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, and may he send back your other brother and Benjamin.

This was a gift to a powerful leader intended to gain a favorable outcome.

When we come to the time of the Judges, we see Israel subservient to other nations, and in Judges 3 a 'minhah' is sent from Israel to the king of Moab. In 2 Samuel 8, when David conquered the Moabites, they became David's servants and brought him 'minhah'.

It was common for a defeated king to enter into a treaty with the conquering king where he would bring a regular gift of grain or produce to express loyalty, allegiance, and fidelity to the king, and to acknowledge his debt to the king for their very life and existence. We might think of it as a sort of tax; in exchange for peace and security, they offer a percentage of their income to the king who rules over them. This is a good way to think of this offering, but this grain offering is not mandatory, it is voluntary.

Leviticus 2:1 “When anyone brings a grain offering as an offering to the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour. He shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it 2 and bring it to Aaron's sons the priests. And he shall take from it a handful of the fine flour and oil, with all of its frankincense, and the priest shall burn this as its memorial portion on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 3 But the rest of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the LORD's food offerings.

This was a tribute to the conquering King. This was a gift to express loyalty, allegiance, faithfulness to the King. This was a recognition that we owe our very life and existence to the King. God has conquered our enemies, he has broken our own rebellion and resistance, he rules over us with peace and justice. God owns all, but he allows us to keep a portion of what we produce for our own needs. God demands our allegiance. Yet this offering is voluntary. It is a way to freely express our loyalty to our King.

How and How Much?

There were different ways that were acceptable to make this offering. All used fine flour, the best of the best, the choicest of the grain, consistently and carefully ground very fine. The fine flour could be brought raw, as flour. Verses 1-3 give instructions for an uncooked grain offering. The fine flour could be prepared as bread. Verses 4-10 give instructions for three categories of cooked grain offerings; verse 4 says “When you bring a grain offering baked in the oven as an offering” it can be brought as loaves or wafers. Verse 5 says “And if your offering is a grain offering baked on a griddle”; verse 7 says “And if your offering is a grain offering cooked in a pan.” There is no requirement given of what kind of grain offering to bring when. There is freedom for the preference of the worshiper, and for the means of preparation available to the worshiper.

Notice also, no quantity is specified. Should I bring a quart? A bushel? A truckload? Two loaves? Ten? A thousand? Bring as much as you wish. Jesus said:

Luke 6:38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

As Paul says in 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 9:6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

I know this can be frustrating for some. How much should I give? Am I giving enough? How much do most people give? Is it still ten percent? Gross or net? I want to know where I stand. You are not under compulsion. You are to give freely, cheerfully, liberally. When we recognize how much, how very very much we owe to God, how much we have been freely graciously given, giving back to him becomes not an obligation or a debt but a delight.

Where Does It Go?

But where does my gift go? It is brought to the priests, and they offer a handful of it as a memorial portion to be burned on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. The remainder belongs to the priests. This was God's way of providing for the needs of the priests. It is called most holy, or literally 'a holy of holies', which meant that it was set apart, and only for the priests to be eaten only by them, only in a holy place. Your offering is given to God, and God in turn uses that offering to care for those who are in his service. Paul applies this principle to Christian workers in 1 Corinthians 9.

1 Corinthians 9:13 Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? 14 In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

He says in 1 Timothy 5:

1 Timothy 5:17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.”

It is quite flattering, by the way, to be likened to an ox treading grain.

What to Bring and What to Leave Out

Although there was freedom in the quantity and method of preparation, there is also very specific instructions on what is to be brought and what must be left out. As we said, this was a grain offering, and it was to be the best of the best, fine flour. Regardless of the preparation, it was always to be offered with oil, and it was always to include frankincense. Never was it to include leaven of any kind, or honey, and it was always to include salt.

Oil in the Scripture is symbolic of the Holy Spirit, and joy. This is to be a Spirit filled offering, not a fleshly offering. It is to be a joyful offering, not a reluctant offering.

Frankincense is an aromatic resin. It was an ingredient of the incense that was to be burned on the altar of incense in the holy place every morning and every evening. No incense for common use was to be made like it. It was set apart for God. All the frankincense on the grain offering was set apart to God. The portion of the grain offering that was burnt on the altar of burnt offering included all the frankincense. It was wholly set apart and devoted to God. Frankincense, you will remember was among the gifts the Magi brought to honor the child Jesus. Frankincense was symbolic of holiness, total Godward devotion.

In chapter 5, we will see that for the sin offering, no oil or frankincense is to be included. A sin offering was not a joyous occasion, sin had been committed, and an offering had to be made to deal with the consequences of sin.

Never was the grain offering to include leaven or honey. In Matthew 16 Jesus warns his disciples to watch out for the leaven of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and Herod, which he says in Luke 12 is hypocrisy, to appear different than you are.

In Matthew 13, Jesus:

Matthew 13:33 He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”

This is in the context of parables about weeds sown by an enemy among good seed that is then allowed to grow together until the harvest, about a mustard seed that grows so large it even provides a nesting place for the evil birds who snatch away gospel seeds, and a net in the sea that gathered fish of every kind, to be sorted in the end good from bad.

Leaven is what we would think of as a sourdough start, a piece of the old dough that contains microorganisms that eat the sugars and convert them into bubbly gasses which puff up the bread. Leaven is that which inflates or puffs up, it is pervasive and affects all it touches. Honey refers not only to honey from bees, but to any sweet nectar, like that from fruits. This too can have a leavening effect. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5:

1 Corinthians 5:6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Leaven is boasting, malice, evil, in contrast to sincerity and truth. No leaven is ever to be burnt on the altar. Verse 12 clarifies, because the offering of firstfruits in Leviticus 23 allows leaven. Leaven is allowed in that offering, but the leavened bread is never to be burned on the altar.

Salt is a required part of all grain offerings. Three times in three different ways in verse 13, salt is emphatically not to be left out of the offerings. Salt has the opposite effect of leaven, actually counteracting leavening influences, stopping the fermentation process and acting as a preservative. Salt was also used in judgment, placed in the ground it would prevent anything from growing. It is called 'the salt of the covenant with your God'. Salt pointed to the permanent, lasting, eternal character of the covenant.

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus calls his followers 'the salt of the earth'. In Mark 9, in the context of warning against the dangers of sin and encouraging us to take drastic action against sin in our lives, he says

Mark 9:49 For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

We are told in Colossians 4:

Colossians 4:6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

All our conversations are to have a preserving, not a corrupting effect. All our conversations are to be gracious.

The Work of Our Hands

So what is the grain offering? The grain offering is the work of our hands. The soil is worked, grain is planted, watered, harvested, threshed, ground fine, cooked or prepared in various ways, presented. In this we acknowledge that God has rights over all, that all that we have is only that which he first gave to us.

Jesus in the Grain Offering

But is there more here? How does this offering point us to Jesus? This is not a bloody offering; it is a bread offering. In John 6, Jesus said:

John 6:48 I am the bread of life.

Jesus said:

John 6:32 ...my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Some have seen in the grain offering a picture of Jesus in his humanity. Jesus humbled himself. Jesus in his humanity is perfectly humble. There is no trace of leaven of pride or hypocrisy, no trace of malice or evil. Jesus is full of grace and truth. Everything he said was seasoned with salt. His whole life was a pleasing aroma to his Father. It is interesting to note that in verse 4, it is to be loaves mixed with oil or wafers smeared with oil. Oil is to be mixed in with the grain to form the dough. Jesus' human body was prepared for him by the Holy Spirit. But at Jesus' baptism, the Holy Spirit came to rest on him. Jesus said:

Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit for ministry. The word for 'smear' is 'mashak', literally 'anointed'; the verb from which we get 'messiah'. Jesus was tested by the devil, as if in an oven, and he refused to do anything to please himself. In John 6, where he claimed to be bread from heaven he said:

John 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

Jesus, as the perfect man, submitted himself in perfect obedience in all things to the will of his Father. And all his works were perfectly pleasing to the Father. “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Mt.3:17; 17:5). Where Adam, when tested, brought sin and corruption into this world, Jesus perfectly obeyed in all things.

Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

But why, in verse 6 is the grain offering to be broken in pieces? Some suggest this would allow the bread to burn better in the fire. Jesus, on the night he was betrayed,

Luke 22:19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

The grain offering that is burned on the altar is called a 'memorial', literally a reminder or a remembrance offering. The grain offering was a reminder that God is the provider of all, and it was an offering to remind God to be faithful to his covenants and treat the worshiper with grace. Breaking bread was a normal daily activity that ministered to both physical and social needs within the context of a meal. May we come to know him more fully in the breaking of the bread (Lk.24:35).

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org