“ ‘When anyone offers an offering of a meal offering to Yahweh, his offering shall be of fine flour. He shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it. He shall bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests. He shall take his handful of its fine flour, and of its oil, with all its frankincense, and the priest shall burn its memorial on the altar, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. That which is left of the meal offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is a most holy part of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire.
“ ‘When you offer an offering of a meal offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. If your offering is a meal offering made on a griddle, it shall be of unleavened fine flour, mixed with oil. You shall cut it in pieces, and pour oil on it. It is a meal offering. If your offering is a meal offering of the pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. You shall bring the meal offering that is made of these things to Yahweh. It shall be presented to the priest, and he shall bring it to the altar. The priest shall take from the meal offering its memorial, and shall burn it on the altar, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. That which is left of the meal offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is a most holy part of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5 Because the burnt offering could not be without the…
Because the burnt offering could not be without the meat offering.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–10 Lev 2:1 And when any will offer a meat…
Lev 2:1 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:
Ver. 1. Of fine flour.] No quantity is here prescribed, because it was a freewill offering: only it must be fine, no bran in it: to show the purity of Christ’s sacrifice, {Heb 7:26} and of our services through him, {Mal 3:11} by means of the oil of his Spirit and incense of his intercession.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6 A meat-offering was of two kinds; the one joined…
A meat-offering was of two kinds; the one joined with other offerings, Num 15:4,7,10, which was prescribed, together with the measure or proportion of it; the other, of which this place speaks, was a distinct and separate offering, and was left to the offerer’s good will, both for the thing and for the quantity. And the matter of this offering was things without life, as meal, corn, cakes, &c. Now this sort of sacrifices were appointed,
1. Because these are things of greatest necessity and benefit to man, and therefore it is meet that God should be served with them, and owned and praised as the giver of them.
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2. In condescension to the poor, that they might not want an offering for God, and to show that God would accept even the meanest services, when offered to him with a sincere mind.
3. These were necessary provisions for the feast, which was here to be represented to God, and for the use of the priests, who were to attend upon these holy ministrations.
Fine flour, searched, or sifted, and purged from all bran, it being fit that the best things should be offered to the best Being.
He shall pour oil upon it; which may note the graces of the Holy Ghost, which are compared to oil, and anointing with it, Psa 45:7; 1Jo 2:20, and which are necessary to make any offering acceptable to God. The frankincense manifestly designed Christ’s satisfaction and intercession, which is compared to a sweet odour, Eph 5:2, and to incense, Rev 8:3.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v1 There were some meat-offerings that were only appendices to…
There were some meat-offerings that were only appendices to the burnt-offerings, as that which was offered with the daily sacrifice (Exo 29:38, Exo 29:39) and with the peace-offerings; these had drink-offerings joined with them (see Num 15:4, Num 15:7, Num 15:9, Num 15:10), and in these the quantity was appointed. But the law of this chapter concerns those meat-offerings that were offered by themselves, whenever a man saw cause thus to express his devotion. The first offering we read of in scripture was of this kind (Gen 4:3): Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering.
I. This sort of offerings was appointed, 1. In condescension to the poor, and their ability, that those who themselves lived only upon bread and cakes might offer an acceptable offering to God out of that which was their own coarse and homely fare, and by making for God's altar, as the widow of Sarepta for his prophet, a little cake first, might procure such a blessing upon the handful of meal in the barrel, and the oil in the cruse, as that it should not fail. 2. As a proper acknowledgment of the mercy of God to them in their food. This was like a quit-rent, by which they testified their dependence upon God, their thankfulness to him, and their expectations from him as their owner and bountiful benefactor, who giveth to all life, and breath, and food convenient. Thus must they honour the Lord with their substance, and, in token of their eating and drinking to his glory, must consecrate some of their meat and drink to his immediate service. Those that now, with a grateful charitable heart, deal out their bread to the hungry, and provide for the necessities of those that are destitute of daily food, and when they eat the fat and drink the sweet themselves send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared, offer unto God an acceptable meat-offering. The prophet laments it as one of the direful effects of famine that thereby the meat-offering and drink-offering were cut off from the house of the Lord (Joe 1:9), and reckoned it the greatest blessing of plenty that it would be the revival of them, Joe 2:14.
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II. The laws of the meat-offerings were these: - 1. The ingredients must always be fine flour and oil, two staple commodities of the land of Canaan, Deu 8:8. Oil was to them then in their food what butter is now to us. If it was undressed, the oil must be poured upon the flour (Lev 2:1); if cooked, it must be mingled with the flour, Lev 2:4, etc. 2. If it was flour unbaked, besides the oil it must have frankincense put upon it, which was to be burnt with it (Lev 2:1, Lev 2:2), for the perfuming of the altar; in allusion to this, gospel ministers are said to be a sweet savour unto God, Co2 2:15. 3. If it was prepared, this might be done in various ways; the offerer might bake it, or fry it, or mix the flour and oil upon a plate, for the doing of which conveniences were provided about the tabernacle. The law was very exact even about those offerings that were least costly, to intimate the cognizance God takes of the religious services performed with a devout mind, even by the poor of his people. 4. It was to be presented by the offerer to the priest, which is called bringing it to the Lord (Lev 2:8), for the priests were God's receivers, and were ordained to offer gifts. 5. Part of it was to be burnt upon the altar, for a memorial, that is, in token of their mindfulness of God's bounty to them, in giving them all things richly to enjoy. It was an offering made by fire, Lev 2:2, Lev 2:9. The consuming of it by fire might remind them that they deserved to have all the fruits of the earth thus burnt up, and that it was of the Lord's mercies that they were not. They might also learn that as meats are for the belly, and the belly for meats, so God shall destroy both it and them (Co1 6:13), and that man lives not by bread alone. This offering made by fire is here said to be of a sweet savour unto the Lord; and so are our spiritual offerings, which are made by the fire of holy love, particularly that of almsgiving, which is said to be an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God (Phi 4:18), and with such sacrifices God is well pleased, Heb 13:16. 6. The remainder of the meat-offering was to be given to the priests, Lev 2:3, Lev 2:10. It is a thing most holy, not to be eaten by the offerers, as the peace-offerings (which, though holy, were not most holy), but by the priests only, and their families. Thus God provided that those who served at the altar should live upon the altar, and live comfortably.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–10 And when any man will offer a meat offering…
And when any man will offer a meat offering unto the Lord,.... Or, "when a soul", and which Onkelos renders "a man", so called from his more noble part; and, as the Jews say, this word is used because the Minchah, or meat offering here spoken of, was a freewill offering, and was offered up with all the heart and soul; and one that offered in this manner, it was all one as if he offered his soul to the Lord (s): there were some meat offerings which were appointed and fixed at certain times, and were obliged to be offered, as at the daily sacrifice, the consecration of priests, the waving of the sheaf, &c. Exo 29:40 but this was a freewill offering; wherefore it is said, "when any man will offer"; the Hebrew word "a meat offering", may be derived from "to bring" or "offer", and so is a name common to offerings of any sort; or from to "recreate" and delight, it being of a sweet savour to the Lord, as other offerings were; others derive it from a root not in use, and in the Chaldee language signifies a gift or present, in which sense this word is used, Gen 32:13.
his offering shall be of fine flour; of flour of wheat, Exo 29:2 for, as the Jews say, there is no fine flour but wheat, and this was for the meat offering, Ch1 21:23 and this was to be of the finest of the wheat; for all offerings, whether private or public, were to be of the best, and to be brought from those places which were noted for having the best; and the best places for fine flour were Mechmas and Mezonicha, and the next to them were Caphariim, in the valley; and though it might be taken out of any part of the land of Israel and used, yet it chiefly came from hence (t); and according to the Jewish writers (u); the least quantity of fine flour used in a meat offering was the tenth part of an ephah, which was about three pints and a half, and a fifth part of half a pint: Christ was prefigured by the meat offering; his sacrifice came in the room of it, and put an end to it, Psa 40:7 whose flesh is meat indeed, the true meat or bread, in distinction from this typical meat offering, Joh 6:55 the fine flour denotes the choiceness, excellency, and purity of Christ; the dignity of his person, the superiority of him to angels and men, being the chiefest, and chosen out of ten thousand; the purity of his human nature being free from the bran of original corruption, and the spotlessness of his sacrifice: and fine flour of wheat being that of which bread is made, which is the principal part of human sustenance, and what strengthens the heart of man, and nourishes him, and is the means of maintaining and supporting life; it is a fit emblem of Christ, the bread of life, by which the saints are supported in their spiritual life, and strengthened to perform vital acts, and are nourished up unto everlasting life, and who, as the meat offering, is called the bread of God, Lev 21:6 Joh 6:33.
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and he shall pour oil upon it; upon all of it, as Jarchi observes, because it was mingled with it, and it was the best oil that was used; and though it might be brought from any part of the land of Israel, which was a land of oil olive, yet the chief place for oil was Tekoah, and the next to it was Ragab beyond Jordan, and from hence it was usually brought (w); and the common quantity was a log, or half a pint, to a tenth deal of fine flour, as Gersom asserts from the wise men, and to which Maimonides (x) agrees; and Gersom on the place observes, that it is proper that some of the oil should be put in the lower part of the vessel, and after that the fine flour should put in it, and then he should pour some of it upon it and mix it: the oil denotes the grace of the Spirit poured out upon Christ without measure, the oil of gladness, with which he was anointed above his fellows, and from whence he has the name of Messiah or Christ, or Anointed; and with which he was anointed to be prophet, priest, and King, and which renders him very desirable and delightful to his people, his name being as ointment poured forth, Psa 45:7.
and put frankincense thereon; on a part of it, as Jarchi's note is; and according to him, the man that brought the meat offering left an handful of frankincense upon it on one side; and the reason of this was, because it was not to be mixed with it as the oil was, and it was not to be taken in the handful with it (z); and the quantity of the frankincense, as Gersom says, was one handful: this denoted the sweet odour and acceptableness of Christ, the meat offering, both to God and to his people: it is an observation of the Jewish writers, that the pouring out of the oil on the fine flour, and mixing it with it, and putting on the frankincense, might be done by a stranger, by any man, by the man that brought the meat offering, but what follows after the bringing of it to the priest were done by him (a).
(s) Jarchi, Aben Ezra, & Baal Hatturim, in loc. (t) Misn. Menachot, c. 8. sect. 1. (u) Jarchi & Gersom in loc. (w) Misn. Menachot, c. 8. sect. 3. (x) Hilchot Maaseh, Hakorbanot, c. 13. sect 5. (z) Vid T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 14. 2. (a) T. Bab. Menachot, fol. 9. 1. & 18. 2. & Pesachim, fol. 36. 1. & Jarchi in loc.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6 Directions concerning the meal-offerings.
Directions concerning the meal-offerings.
I. Of fine flour with oil and frankincense, ver. 1-11.
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II. Of the first fruits, ver. 12-16.
A meal-offering - (Not meat-offering, an ancient false print, which has run thro' many editions of our bible.) This was of two kinds, the one joined with other offerings, Num. xv, 4, 7, 10, which was prescribed, together with the measure or proportion of it: the other, of which this place speaks, was left to the offerer's good will both for the thing, and for the quantity. And the matter for this offering was things without life, as meal, corn, or cakes. Now this sort of sacrifices were appointed,
1. because these are things of greatest necessity and benefit to man, and therefore it is meet that God should be served with them, and owned and praised as the giver of them.
2. In condescension to the poor, that they might not want an offering for God, and to shew that God would accept even the meanest services, when offered with a sincere mind.
3. These were necessary provisions for the feast which was to be presented to God, and for the use of the priests, who were to attend upon these holy ministrations. He shall pour oil - This may note the graces of the Holy Ghost, which are compared to oil, and anointing with it, Psalm xlv, 7, 1 John ii, 20, and which are necessary to make any offering acceptable to God. Frankincense - Manifestly designed Christ's satisfaction and intercession, which is compared to a sweet odour, Eph. v, 2.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8 The meat-offering of flour with oil and incense, 1-3.
CHAPTER II
The meat-offering of flour with oil and incense, 1-3.
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The oblation of the meat-offering baked in the oven and in
the pan, 4-6.
The meat-offering baked in the frying-pan, 7-10.
No leaven nor honey to be offered with the meat-offering, 11.
The oblation of the first-fruits, 12.
Salt to be offered with the meat offering, 13.
Green ears dried by the fire, and corn to be beaten out of
full ears, with oil and frankincense, to be offered as a
meat-offering of first-fruits, 14-16.
NOTES ON CHAP. II
Verse 1. Meat-offering] מנחה minchah. For an explanation of this word See Clarke on Ge 4:3, and Lev. vii. Calmet has remarked that there are five kinds of the minchah mentioned in this chapter.
1. סלת soleth, simple flour or meal, Le 2:1.
2. Cakes and wafers, or whatever was baked in the oven, Le 2:4.
3. Cakes baked in the pan, Le 2:5.
4. Cakes baked on the frying-pan, or probably, a gridiron, Le 2:7.
5. Green ears of corn parched, Le 2:14.
All these were offered without honey or leaven, but accompanied with wine, oil, and frankincense. It is very likely that the minchah, in some or all of the above forms, was the earliest oblation offered to the Supreme Being, and probably was in use before sin entered into the world, and consequently before bloody sacrifices, or piacular victims, had been ordained. The minchah of green ears of corn dried by the fire, c., was properly the gratitude-offering for a good seed time, and the prospect of a plentiful harvest. This appears to have been the offering brought by Cain, Ge 4:3
See Clarke on Ge 4:3. The flour, whether of wheat, rice, barley, rye, or any other grain used for aliment, was in all likelihood equally proper; for in Nu 5:15, we find the flour of barley, or barley meal, is called minchah. It is plain that in the institution of the minchah no animal was here included, though in other places it seems to include both kinds; but in general the minchah was not a bloody offering, nor used by way of atonement or expiation, but merely in a eucharistic way, expressing gratitude to God for the produce of the soil. It is such an offering as what is called natural religion might be reasonably expected to suggest: but alas! so far lost is man, that even thankfulness to God for the fruits of the earth must be taught by a Divine revelation; for in the heart of man even the seeds of gratitude are not found, till sown there by the hand of Divine grace.
Offerings of different kinds of grain, flour, bread, fruits, c., are the most ancient among the heathen nations and even the people of God have had them from the beginning of the world. See this subject largely discussed on Ex 23:29, where several examples are given. Ovid intimates that these gratitude-offerings originated with agriculture. "In the most ancient times men lived by rapine, hunting, c., for the sword was considered to be more honourable than the plough but when they sowed their fields, they dedicated the first-fruits of their harvest to Ceres, to whom the ancients attributed the art of agriculture, and to whom burnt-offerings of corn were made, according to immemorial usages." The passage to which I refer, and of which I have given the substance, is the following: -
"Non habuit tellus doctos antiqua colonos:
Lassabant agiles aspera bella viros.
Plus erat in gladio quam curvo laudis aratro:
Neglectus domino pauca ferebat ager.
Farra tamen veteres jaciebant, farra metebant:
Primitias Cereri farra resecta dabant.
Usibus admoniti flammis torrenda dedere:
Multaque peccato damna tulere suo."
FASTOR., lib. ii., ver. 515.
Pliny observes that "Numa taught the Romans to offer fruits to the gods, and to make supplications before them, bringing salt cakes and parched corn; as grain in this state was deemed most wholesome." Numa instituit deos FRUGE colere, et MOLA SALSA supplicare, atque (ut auctor est Hemina) far torrere, quoniam tostum cibo salubrius esset. - HIST. NAT. lib xviii., c. 2. And it is worthy of remark, that the ancient Romans considered "no grain as pure or proper for divine service that had not been previously parched." Id uno modo consecutum, statuendo non esse purum ad rem divinam nisi tostum. - Ibid.
God, says Calmet, requires nothing here which was not in common use for nourishment; but he commands that these things should be offered with such articles as might give them the most exquisite relish, such as salt, oil, and wine, and that the flour should be of the finest and purest kind. The ancients, according to Suidas, seem to have made much use or meal formed into a paste with milk, and sometimes with water. (See Suidas in Μαζα.) The priests kept in the temples a certain mixture of flour mingled with oil and wine, which they called υγιεια Hugieia or health, and which they used as a kind of amulet or charm against sickness; after they had finished their sacrifices, they generally threw some flour upon the fire, mingled with oil and wine, which they called θυληματα thulemata, and which, according to Theophrastus, was the ordinary sacrifice of the poor.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Lev 2:1. When any will offer a meat-offering —…
Lev 2:1. When any will offer a meat-offering — The word מנחה, mincha, which we render meat-offering, signifies generally a simple oblation or gift. In this chapter and elsewhere it signifies an offering of things inanimate, in opposition to animal sacrifices, described in the former chapter. The word meat-offering (which is supposed by some to have been an ancient false print, that has run through many editions of our Bible, for meal-offering) conveys a quite different idea to the English reader. It certainly would be better rendered meal-offering, or wheat-offering. It was of two kinds: the one which, being joined with other offerings, (Num 15:4; Num 15:7; Num 15:10,) was particularly prescribed with the measure and proportion of it. The other, which is here spoken of, was left to the offerer’s good-will, both for the thing offered and the quantity. As to the matter of these minchas, or offerings of things inanimate, it was of such things as were of great use to the support of human life, namely, flour, bread, wine, salt, &c. Now this sort of sacrifices was appointed, 1st, Because these are things of the greatest necessity and benefit to man, and therefore it is meet that God should be served with them, and owned and praised as the giver of them. 2d, In condescension to the poor, that they might not want an offering for God, and to show that God would accept even the meanest services, when offered with a sincere mind. Some of these offerings were for the whole congregation, as the waved sheaf, (Lev 23:11,) and the two waved loaves, Lev 23:17. Some, again, were for private persons; among which were that for the poor sinner who could not afford the more expensive sacrifices, Lev 5:11, that, for the suspected woman, Num 5:15; besides the voluntary ones. He shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon — To make a sweet odour in the court of the tabernacle, which otherwise would have been very offensive, by reason of the blood that was sprinkled and the flesh that was burned there daily.
Besides, the pouring oil, and putting frankincense thereon, signified its being grateful and acceptable to God. And therefore in the offering of jealousy, when guilt was supposed, and sin brought to remembrance, no oil nor frankincense was to be put on the oblation. Now both these things were emblematical of spiritual blessings; the oil of the graces of the Holy Spirit, which are compared to oil and to anointing therewith, (Psa 45:7; 1Jn 2:20,) and are necessary to make any offering acceptable to God; and the frankincense of Christ’s atonement and intercession, compared to a sweet odour, Eph 5:2. And the intention of all these offerings being fully answered by the mediation of the Messiah and the blessings of his gospel, it was proper they should cease upon his death, as is thought to have been expressly foretold, Dan 9:27.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–4 A meat offering - Better translated in Lev 2:4…
A meat offering - Better translated in Lev 2:4 an oblation of a meat offering קרבן qorbân, see Lev 1:2 מנחה mı̂nchāh. signifies literally a “gift”; and it appears to have been applied especially to what was given by an inferior to a superior Gen 32:18-20; Gen 43:11; Jdg 3:15; 1Sa 10:27 : but in the technical language of the Law, it regularly denoted the vegetable offerings as distinguished from the animal offerings. Our translators have rendered it “meat-offering”, applying the word “meat”, according to old usage, as a general term for food. Vegetable-offering or meal-offering would be a more convenient rendering.
The meaning of the מנחה mı̂nchāh appears to be much more simple than that of the animal sacrifices. The מנחה mı̂nchāh, as a sacrifice, was something surrendered to God, which was of the greatest value to man as a means of living. It might thus seem to be merely eucharistic. But it should not be overlooked that the grain had been modified, and made useful, by man’s own labor. Hence, it has been supposed that the מנחה mı̂nchāh expressed a confession that all our good works are performed in God and are due to Him.
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The order in which the kinds of offering are named agrees with their development in order of time. The burnt-offering and the מנחה mı̂nchāh answer to the first two offerings on record Gen 4:3-4; Amo 5:22.
Three kinds of מנחה mı̂nchāh are here mentioned; (1) Lev 2:1-3; (2) Lev 2:4-7; (3) Lev 2:14-16. Of each of them a small portion was burned on the altar “for a memorial,” and the remainder was given to the priests. The offerings of flour belonged to the priests at large, but those of cakes and wafers to the officiating priests, Lev 7:9-10. Instructions to the priests are given in Lev 6:14-23.
Fine flour - finely bolted flour of wheat. It was probably always presented in a bowl, compare Num 7:13.
Oil - For the purpose of anointing and as food; in both senses a symbol of divine grace.
Frankincense - See the Exo 30:34 note.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 9 One, (anima). The soul is put to denote the…
One, (anima). The soul is put to denote the whole person. --- Of sacrifice. Hebrew mincha, which is applied to inanimate things, particularly to flour, "a present of wheat." (Vatable) --- As the other sacrifices have peculiar names, this is barely called sacrifice by the Vulgate. It was instituted, 1. for the poor; 2. to support the ministers of religion; 3. to shew that God was to be honoured with the fruits of the earth; 4. sacrifice being intended as a sort of feast, bread, salt, wine, and oil accompany it; and also incense, which was almost solely reserved for God. (Menochius) --- The person who offered the sacrifice, had to furnish all things belonging to it. The Samaritan and Septuagint add at the end of this verse, "Behold what is the offering of the Lord." Similar words occur, (ver. 6. and 16,) in Hebrew. Sacrifices of flour were the most ancient of all. Ovid (Fast. ii.) says, Farra tamen veteres jaciebant, farra metebant, &c. "Numa taught the people to worship the gods with fruits and flour, and to make supplication with a salted cake." (Pliny, xviii. 2.) Fruge deos colere, & mola salsa supplicare. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 1And when any [a soul,1] will offer a meat-offering…
B.—OBLATIONS (MEAT-OFFERINGS)
Lev_2:1-16
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1And when any [a soul,1] will offer a meat-offering [an offering of an oblation2] unto the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon:3 2and 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, with4 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: 3and the remnant of the meat-offering [oblation2] shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire.
4And if thou bring an oblation of a meat-offering [an offering of an oblation2] baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. 5And if thy oblation be a meat-offering [offering be an oblation2] baken in a pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled 6with oil. Thou shalt5 part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon: it6 is a meat-offering 7[an oblation2]. And if thy oblation be a meat-offering [offering be an oblation2] baken in the frying-pan [boiled in the pot7], it shall be made of fine flour with oil.8And thou shalt bring the meat-offering [oblation2] that is made of these things unto the Lord: and when it is presented unto the priest, he shall bring8 it unto the altar. 9And the priest shall take from the meat-offering [oblation2] a memorial thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord. 10And that which is left of the meat-offering [oblation2] shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made 11by fire. No meat-offering [oblation2], 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. 12As for the oblation [As an9offering2] of the first-fruits, ye shall offer them unto the Lord: but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet savour. 13And every oblation of thy meat-offering [offering of thy oblation2] shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat-offering [oblation2]: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt. 14And if thou offer a meat-offering [an oblation2] of thy [the] first-fruits unto the Lord, thou shalt offer for the meat-offering [an oblation2] of thy first-fruits, green ears of corn [grain10] dried [roasted11] by the fire, even corn 15[grain10] beaten out of full ears. And thou shalt put oil upon it, and lay frankincense thereon: it12 is a meat-offering [an oblation2]. 16And the priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the beaten corn [grain10] thereof, and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: it is an offering made by fire unto the Lord.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Lev_2:1. נֶפֶשׁ.—As this word is generally rendered a soul in the A. V., especially in the similar places, Lev_4:2; Lev_5:1-2; Lev_5:4; Lev_5:15; Lev_5:17; Lev_6:2, etc., it seems better to preserve as far as may he uniformity of translation.
Lev_2:1. The words here translated in the A. V. meat-offering are the same as those rendered in Lev_2:4 an oblation of a meat-offering. In this technical language of the law it is certainly desirable to preserve a strict consistency of translation, even if it must sometimes cause an appearance of tautology. The word קָרְבָּן will therefore be rendered throughout offering; gift might be in itself considered a better translation; but as it is already rendered offering twenty-nine times in Lev., and almost universally (with only two exceptions) in Num., less change is required to make that translation uniform. On the other hand מִנְהָה is already always in Lev. meat-offering in the A. V., and generally so in Num.; but the sense of meat has so generally changed since that version was made, that the term had better be replaced. In this book therefore it will be always rendered oblation, as it is in the Vulg. very frequently oblatio.
Lev_2:1. The Sam. and LXX. add oblation est, i. e., this is the law of the oblation.
Lev_2:2. With: for a similar construction of עַל, see Exo_12:8.
Lev_2:6. פָּתוֹת; on this use of the Infin. abs. comp. Exo_13:3; Exo_20:8.
Lev_2:6. The ancient form הוא is here changed in ten MSS. and in the Sam. to the later היא.
Lev_2:7. מַרְחֶשֶׁת, derived (Gesenius, Fuerst) from רָחַשׁ, to boil up, and interpreted by Maimonides, Knobel, Keil and others of a pot or kettle for boiling;—“a deep vessel suitable for boiling flour and other substances thoroughly.” Kalisch.
Lev_2:8. “נגשׁ in Hiph. is here used as the enhanced, second power of קרב in Hiph. as in Jer_30:21.” Lange.
Lev_2:12. The A. V. is singularly unfortunate; this clause plainly refers to the leaven and honey of Lev_2:11.
Lev_2:14. Corn is in this country so generally understood of maize that it seems better to substitute the more general word.
Lev_2:14. Dried does not sufficiently give the sense of קָלוּי=roasted.
Lev_2:15. Eighteen MSS. and the Sam here again, as in Lev_2:6, read היא.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
The oblation, or meat-offering, naturally follows next after the burnt-offering, because it was usually an accompaniment of that offering. That it was invariably so has been often maintained (Outram, Bähr, Kurtz, etc.), and indeed it was always offered, and also a drink-offering, with most of the other sacrifices (Num_15:2-13); but from this chapter with Lev_6:14, and with Num_5:15, it appears that the oblation might be offered separately, although the reasons given for this by Kalisch need not be admitted. It is also associated with the burnt-offering in the generality of its signification as opposed to the more special offerings which follow. Lange: “It signifies not so much resignation as giving, or a return, in the sense of childlike thankfulness, resignation of the support of life, of the enjoyment of life. Its motive is not through a divine demand as the performance of a duty or a debt, but through an instinctive desire of communion with Jehovah. Hence it is here indeed the soul, נֶפֶשׁ, that brings the sacrifice, not the אָדָם as in the burnt-offering; and in spite of the grammatical equivalence of both expressions, we must not obliterate this distinction.” The word מִנְחָה itself originally means a present with which one seeks to obtain the favor of a superior (Gen_32:21-22; Gen_43:11; Gen_43:15, etc.); then κατ̓ έξοχήν, what is presented to God, a sacrifice. At first it was used alike of the bloody and the unbloody sacrifice (Gen_4:3-4); but under the law it is restricted absolutely to bloodless offerings. The full expression, as in Lev_2:1; Lev_2:4, is מִנְחָה קָרְבָּן, LXX. δῶρον θνσία, although often either δῶρον or θυσία alone. Besides the kinds of oblation mentioned here, there were others, as the shew-bread and the jealousy-offering. With those enumerated in this chapter salt was always to be used (Lev_2:13) and oil (Lev_2:1; Lev_2:4-7; Lev_2:15); and with those of flour and grain, incense also (Lev_2:1; Lev_2:15).
Only a handful of these oblations was to be burnt upon the altar, the rest being eaten by the priests in “a holy place.” The oblation of unprepared flour or of flour simply mingled with oil (Lev_7:10) was the common property of the priests (Lev_2:3); while that which was cooked belonged to the officiating priest (Lev_7:9-10).
“While the bloody sacrifice is to be purified of its unclean portions, the unbloody sacrifice is to be enriched by the addition of oil, incense and salt; i.e. the enjoyment of life becomes enriched and preserved clean through spirit and through prayer, and especially through the salt of the covenant—through the hard spiritual discipline which keeps pure the divine fellowship. In its nature the “meat-offering” [oblation] is closely related to the salvation (or peace) offering; yet the latter has reference to the enjoyment or desire of uncommon prosperity, while the former relates to the enjoyment of usual and quiet existence. The meat-offering culminates in the shew-bread (Exo_25:30; Lev_24:5).” Lange. “In all these cases the sacred character of the offering was conveyed not only by the admixture of oil, the type of holiness and sanctification, the addition of frankincense, the emblem of devotion, and the use of salt, the agent of preservation, and therefore called ‘the salt of the covenant;’ but more decidedly still by the rigid prohibition of honey and leaven, representing fermentation and corruption, by the portion devoted to God and burnt in His honor as a ‘memorial’ to bring the worshipper to His gracious remembrance, and lastly by the injunction to leave to the priests the remainder as most holy.” Kalisch.
Three kinds of oblation are here mentioned, the second of which had three varieties: I. Fine flour with frankincense (Lev_2:1-3); II. Cakes or pastry: (a) of unleavened cakes mixed with oil and baked in an oven (Lev_2:4), or (b) of thin cakes, also unleavened, baked and then broken up and oil poured over them (Lev_2:5-6), or (c) of fine flour boiled in oil (Lev_2:7); the directions common to all these varieties occupy Lev_2:8-10, while those concerning all oblations are in Lev_2:11-13; III. Parched kernels of the first-fruits of grain with frankincense.
I. The first kind of oblation. Lev_2:1-3.
Lev_2:1. A soul=a person, any one of either sex.
Fine flour—סֹלֶת, a word of uncertain derivation, but clearly meaning fine flour, whether as separated from the bran, or as sifted from the coarser particles. The Syr. here renders puram, and in Gen_18:6 it is put in apposition with סְאִים קֶמַח. It is probable that this flour was generally of wheat (see Exo_29:2), and the LXX. always translate it σεμίδαλις. The Vulg. has similia.סֹלֶח does not occur in connection with the jealousy-oblation of barley, Num_5:15.
Put frankincense thereto.—The incense was not mixed with the flour and oil, but so added that it might be wholly removed with the “handful” which was taken to be burned with the incense upon the altar. Frankincense was “a costly, sweet-smelling, pale yellow resin, the milky exudation of a shrub, used for sacred fumigations” (Fuerst), and also for purposes of royal luxury (Son_3:6). It is considered to have been a product of Southwestern Arabia. Its use in the oblations presented with the animal sacrifices must have been important. Maimonides (More Neboch., lib. III., c. 46): Elegitque ad eam thus, propter bonitatem odoris fumi ipsius in illis locis, ubi fœtor est ex carnibus combustis.
Lev_2:2. And he shall take.—The A. V. like the Heb. leaves the antecedent of the pronoun somewhat uncertain; but the Targ. Onkelos and the Vulg. are undoubtedly right in referring it to the priest, see Lev_6:15, and comp. also Lev_5:12. The transfer of the handful from the offerer to the priest who was to burn it would have been inconvenient.
Handful.—Plainly what the hand could hold, and not, as the Rabbins have it, with the thumb and little finger closed, leaving three fingers open.
Memorial.—אַזְכָרָה, applied only to that part of the oblation which was burnt upon the altar (Lev_2:9; Lev_2:16; Lev_6:15), to the corresponding part of the sin-offering of flour (Lev_5:12), of the jealousy-offering (Num_5:26), and also to the frankincense placed upon the shew-bread (Lev_24:7), which last was also burnt upon the altar. The LXX. render by μνημόσυνον, and the figurative application of that word to the prayers and alms of Cornelius (Act_10:4) throws light upon the significance of the oblation.
An offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.—The same expression as is applied to the burnt-offering, Lev_1:9; Lev_1:13; Lev_1:17.
Lev_2:3. And the remnant,etc.—So far as the offerer was concerned, the oblation was as wholly given to the Lord as the burnt-offering; nothing of it was restored to him. There was a difference in the method by which it was given: the burnt-offering was wholly burned except the skin, which was given to the priest; the oblation had only an handful burned, together with all the incense, and the bulk of it was consumed by the priests.
A thing most holy.—קֹדִשׁ קָדָשִׁים, lit. holy of holies. This term is applied to all sacrificial gifts which were wholly devoted to God, yet of which a part was given to Him by being given to His priests. It is not applied to the burnt-offerings, nor to the priestly oblations (Lev_6:19-23), nor to any other sacrifices which were wholly consumed upon the altar. All sacrifices were holy, and the phrase most holy is not to mark those to which it is applied as holier than the others; but is used only in regard to those which, having been wholly devoted, might possibly be perverted to other uses. Thus it is used of the oblations (Lev_2:3; Lev_2:10; Lev_6:17; Lev_10:12) of such of the sin and trespass-offerings as were not burned without the camp (Lev_6:25; Lev_6:29; Lev_7:1; Lev_7:6; Lev_10:17; Lev_14:13; Num_18:9), and of the shew-bread (Lev_24:9). Its use is similar when applied to other things than sacrifices; thus, Exo_40:10, it is used of the altar in contradistinction to the tabernacle which is called holy (Lev_2:9), because the altar was thus to be guarded from the touch of the people, while there was no danger in regard to the tabernacle proper, since they were forbidden to enter it at all (comp. Exo_29:37); so the term is applied to the sacred incense (Exo_30:36), and to all objects devoted by vow, whether man or beast or field (Lev_27:28). The parts of all “most holy” sacrifices which were not placed upon the altar must be eaten by the priests themselves in “a holy place” (Lev_6:26; Lev_7:6; Lev_10:17, etc.); and this “holy place”—not the sanctuary itself—is more particularly described (Lev_6:26) as “in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation,” and “beside the altar” (Lev_10:12). Whereas the priests’ portion of other sacrifices might be eaten with their families in any “clean place” (Lev_10:14).
II. The second kind of oblation. Lev_2:4-13.
This included several varieties of cakes or pastry all prepared from fine flour and with oil, but without frankincense.
(a) The first variety, Lev_2:4.
Lev_2:4. Baken in the oven.—תַּנּוּר is an oven of any kind, but must here mean a portable oven, or rather a large earthen pot or jar, such as is still in use in the East for baking cakes, such as is mentioned in Lev_11:35 as capable of being broken; this was heated by a fire inside.
Cakes.—חַלּוֹת from חָלַל =to be perforated. A thick kind of cake pierced with holes after the fashion of our bakers’ biscuit. These were mixed up with oil before baking.
Wafers—from רָקַק= to beat or spread out thin, This denotes a kind of cake well described by wafer. It is often cooked by the Arabs on the outside of the same vessel in which the חַלּוֹת are baked at the same time. The oil was applied to these after they were baked.
(b) The second variety, Lev_2:5-6.
Lev_2:5. In a pan.—ַעל־הַמַּחֲבַת. Authorities differ as to whether this is to be understood as in the text of the A. V. of a frying-pan, or as in the margin of a flat plate. The LXX. render τήγανον which seems to be equally perpetuated in the iron frying-pans of the Cabyles of Africa, and the earthen plates of the Bedouins of the East, both being called tajen. The distinction of this variety of oblation from the former will be more marked if we may understand it of fried cakes, according to the translation of the A. V. in 1Ch_23:29. This was both to be made up with oil, and to have oil poured on it after it was cooked and broken into pieces.
(c) The third variety, Lev_2:7.
Lev_2:7. Boiled in a pot.—This is another variety made up with oil and boiled, perhaps also boiled in oil. Lange notes that with each successive advance in the form of the oblation “the addition of the oil seems to rise, as if the varying grade of spiritual life was distinguished by the consecration of life’s enjoyment. (See Keil, Knobel, 363.) But throughout the oil of the Spirit is the peculiar or appropriate vital essence of the offering, especially in the burnt-offering and the thank-offering, and above all in the sacrifice of the priests.”
Directions common to both these varieties of oblation. Lev_2:8-10. These scarcely differ from the directions in Lev_2:2-3, except in the omission of incense which was not used with the cooked oblation. The הֵרִים מִן in Lev_2:9 has the same sense with the קָמַץ מִן of Lev_2:2 (comp. Lev_3:3 with Lev_4:8; Lev_4:31; Lev_4:35; Lev_4:10 with Lev_4:31; Lev_4:35), and means simply to lift off the part to be burned. It does not denote, as the Rabbins and others assert, any special waving ceremony.
Lev_2:11-13. General directions concerning all oblations.
Ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey.—These were strictly prohibited as offerings to be laid upon the altar, but not for those offered to God by being given to His priests; thus they are allowed in Lev_2:12. Leavened bread is also required in the peace-offering to be used as a heave-offering (Lev_7:13-14), and in the Pentecostal loaves to be waved before the Lord (Lev_23:17; Lev_23:20), and honey is expressly enumerated among the first-fruits offered under Hezekiah (2Ch_31:5). The reason for the exclusion of these from the altar was undoubtedly their fermenting property (for honey was anciently used in the preparation of vinegar, Plin. Nat. Hist. xi. 15; xxi. 48); fermentation has ever been recognized “as an apt symbol of the working of corruption in the human heart” (Clark) both in Scripture (Luk_12:1; 1Co_5:8; Gal_5:9), and among the ancients generally (Aul. Gell. Noct. Att. x. 15), and hence was unsuitable for the altar of Jehovah, although as abundantly shown by Bochart (Hieroz. Ed. Rosen. III., p. 394 sq.) continually offered to the heathen deities. Honey was also by the ancient interpreters generally connected with the deliciæ carnis so destructive of the spiritual life. “The leaven signifies an incongruous fellowship with the world, easily becoming contagious, which must be excluded from the priestly fellowship with Jehovah. The honey, on the other hand, signified in contrast with the leaven, the dainty enjoyment of children, or especially infants (Isa_7:15), and was no food for the communion of priestly men with Jehovah.” Lange.
Lev_2:12. As an offering.—The sense is plainly that while leaven, i.e. anything made with leaven, and honey might not be burned upon the altar, they were yet allowable as offerings of first-fruits to be consumed by the priests.
Lev_2:13. This verse gives directions applicable to all oblations, and in fact to all sacrifices. The salt of the covenant of thy God.—A covenant of salt is a perpetual covenant, Num_18:19; 2Ch_13:5; and this expression is said to be still in use among the Arabs at this day. Salt in its unalterable and preserving property is the opposite of leaven and of honey. Its symbolical meaning is therefore plain; the purifying and preserving principle must never be wanting from any offering made in covenant-relation with God.
With all thine offerings.—From the connection of this clause it might, with Knobel, be taken as applicable only to oblations; but as salt was used with all offerings (Eze_43:24 : Mar_9:49), not only among the Hebrews, but other nations also (Plin. Nat. Hist. xxxi. 41 insacris ... nulla conficiuntur sine mola salsa), and as on account of this universally recognized usage no other direction is anywhere given about it in the law, it seems better to take the words as a parenthetical clause meant to apply to all offerings of every kind.
III. The third kind of oblation. Lev_2:14-16. This kind of oblation is separated from the others probably because it was not like them offered in connection with the bloody sacrifices, but by itself, like the same kind of offering mentioned in Num_18:12-13. That offering, however, was obligatory, while this was voluntary. Lange, however, considers that “this direction looks back to Lev_2:12, completing it. It is true that the leavened loaves of the first-fruits might not be brought to the sacrificial fire; but it is not on that account to be said that in general the first-fruits were not to be offered. Accordingly the form is now prescribed.” These precepts are of course to be understood of private and voluntary oblations of first-fruits; both the time (on the morrow after the Passover-Sabbath, Lev_23:11) and the material (barley—for this only was ripe at that time) of the public and required oblation grain were prescribed.
Lev_2:14. Green ears of grain.—Ears freshly gathered of the maturing grain scarcely yet quite ripe. Stalks of wheat with the ears, gathered before they are entirely ripe, roasted by the fire, and the kernels of grain then beaten out, is still a favorite food in the East.
Lev_2:15-16. Oil and frankincense were to be added, and the oblation treated as that in Lev_2:2-3.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
I. As the burnt-offerings were of such domestic animals as were used for food, and yet not from every kind of them; so the oblations were of certain kinds of farinaceous food in common use—not indeed of all kinds, but of a sufficient variety to place the material of the offering always within easy reach. Both kinds of offerings, which were entirely voluntary, were thus made easily accessible to the people, and they were taught that the things of the daily life were to be sanctified by offerings to God. As the perfect animal was required for the burnt-offering, so the fine flour was demanded for the oblation; that which is given to God is to be of the best man has.
II. That which is once absolutely given to God may not afterwards be turned aside to any other use. However voluntary the gift, when it has once been stamped “most holy,” it belongs to Him alone. The principle is recognized in the N. T. in the case of Ananias and Sapphira. Yet what is given to God must often, as in the oblation, be largely consumed by those who minister on His behalf, and by secondary instrumentalities generally. This is recognized by St. Paul in 1Co_9:13-14, and must necessarily be true of the great mass of the gifts in the Christian Church given to God for the upholding and advancement of His kingdom on earth.
III. In the exclusion from the oblation of all ferment and the requirement of the salt of purity and preservation is plainly taught that approach to God must be free from contamination of “the leaven of hypocrisy,” and must have in it both purity and steadfastness.
IV. In the oblation, recognizing as a whole that man gives back to God of that which God has given to him, the use of the oil seems to have a more special significance. As an article of food it meant also what was meant by the fine flour; but inasmuch as oil is constantly in Scripture the emblem of Divine grace given through the Spirit, it was perhaps intended by its use in the oblation to signify also the acknowledgment that spiritual gifts are from God and belong to Him.
V. Much of the ritual of the oblation is applied in the N. T. to Christian duties and affections, sometimes in what is common to this with other offerings, sometimes in what belonged to this alone. Several such passages have already been pointed out; others may be added: Mat_16:6, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees: Mar_9:49-50, Every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.….Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another; 1Co_5:7-8; Col_4:6, Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt; Heb_13:15, through Christ, Let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The oblation to God, though unbloody and among the least of the sacrifices, must still be the best of its kind, of fine flour. It must have upon it the oil of an act of the Spirit, and the sweet frankincense of prayer. That it may be truly a gift to God, and acceptable, it is only necessary that a mere handful of it be actually burned upon His altar; the rest is still a gift to Him, although consumed by those who minister in His service. “It is joined with the burnt-offering like blessing with faithful discharge of duty.” Lange.
Every variety of food, fit for the altar, must be sanctified by an oblation. We ever ask: “Give us this day our daily bread,” and receiving it, we are called upon to acknowledge the Giver by giving to Him an offering of that which is His own. Even the leaven and the honey, which, from their fermenting properties, may not go upon the altar, may yet be offered as first-fruits. There is none of God’s gifts which we may use ourselves, with which we may not show our gratitude to the Giver.
In the worship of God “we may not adopt our own inventions, though they may be sweet and delicious as honey to our own palates.… Honey is good in its proper place, and heaven itself is typified by ‘a land flowing with milk and honey’ (Exo_3:8; Exo_13:5); but if God forbids it, we must abstain from it, or we shall not come to that heavenly Canaan.” Wordsworth.
That seasoning of salt, which the apostle requires for our conversation (Col_4:6), may not be wanting from our gifts to God. They are not to be insipid, but having “that freshness and vital briskness which characterizes the Spirit’s presence and work.” Alford.
Of first-fruits especially is an oblation to be brought. Not only should we give to God as He blesses us all along; but especially with each new harvest received from His bounty should a first portion be laid aside for His service.
Footnotes:
[1]Lev_2:1. נֶפֶשׁ.—As this word is generally rendered a soul in the A. V., especially in the similar places, Lev_4:2; Lev_5:1-2; Lev_5:4; Lev_5:15; Lev_5:17; Lev_6:2, etc., it seems better to preserve as far as may he uniformity of translation.
[2]Lev_2:1. The words here translated in the A. V. meat-offering are the same as those rendered in Lev_2:4 an oblation of a meat-offering. In this technical language of the law it is certainly desirable to preserve a strict consistency of translation, even if it must sometimes cause an appearance of tautology. The word קָרְבָּן will therefore be rendered throughout offering; gift might be in itself considered a better translation; but as it is already rendered offering twenty-nine times in Lev., and almost universally (with only two exceptions) in Num., less change is required to make that translation uniform. On the other hand מִנְהָה is already always in Lev. meat-offering in the A. V., and generally so in Num.; but the sense of meat has so generally changed since that version was made, that the term had better be replaced. In this book therefore it will be always rendered oblation, as it is in the Vulg. very frequently oblatio.
[3]Lev_2:1. The Sam. and LXX. add oblation est, i. e., this is the law of the oblation.
[4]Lev_2:2. With: for a similar construction of עַל, see Exo_12:8.
[5]Lev_2:6. פָּתוֹת; on this use of the Infin. abs. comp. Exo_13:3; Exo_20:8.
[6]Lev_2:6. The ancient form הוא is here changed in ten MSS. and in the Sam. to the later היא.
[7]Lev_2:7. מַרְחֶשֶׁת, derived (Gesenius, Fuerst) from רָחַשׁ, to boil up, and interpreted by Maimonides, Knobel, Keil and others of a pot or kettle for boiling;—“a deep vessel suitable for boiling flour and other substances thoroughly.” Kalisch.
[8]Lev_2:8. “נגשׁ in Hiph. is here used as the enhanced, second power of קרב in Hiph. as in Jer_30:21.” Lange.
[9]Lev_2:12. The A. V. is singularly unfortunate; this clause plainly refers to the leaven and honey of Lev_2:11.
[10]Lev_2:14. Corn is in this country so generally understood of maize that it seems better to substitute the more general word.
[11]Lev_2:14. Dried does not sufficiently give the sense of קָלוּי=roasted.
[12]Lev_2:15. Eighteen MSS. and the Sam here again, as in Lev_2:6, read היא.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2–6 shall burn the memorial--rather, "for a memorial"; that is,…
shall burn the memorial--rather, "for a memorial"; that is, a part of it.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1–8 1. Meat offering — Our word meat has undergone…
THE MEAT OFFERING.
1. Meat offering — Our word meat has undergone a contraction in its meaning. It once signified food of any kind; but now its popular use is restricted to flesh. On account of this mutability in words, so beautifully portrayed by Horace in his Art of Poetry, every version of the Bible, after a few generations, needs a revision. The American Bible Union and Professor Murphy have adopted the oblation as a translation of the mincha, the food offering — a general term applied to a particular offering, and always needing explanation. Let us go back to the original intent of our English translators and call it food offering, or more exactly, bread offering, since it was made of bread or breadstuff.
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Fine flour — This was produced from wheat ground in hand mills and sifted. Only the wealthy could afford to make it a constant article of diet. The quantity is not here specified. In the case of individuals the quantity may have been left for the offerer to determine, as an exercise of his benevolent feelings. When the feast of firstfruits was celebrated, the quantity of fine flour was prescribed — “two tenth deals of flour,” Lev_23:13, equal to about six and a half quarts.
Shall pour oil upon it — This is the oil of pressed olives. Animal oil was forbidden for food. Lev_7:23. Olive oil is much used in the preparation of food in Palestine. It takes the place of butter and lard in the diet and cookery of the western nations. Bread baked in oil is reputed to be particularly sustaining. Wheat boiled and eggs fried in oil are common dishes for all classes in Syria. Since oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, the spiritual lesson conveyed by this ingredient is, that all the offerings of our hearts to God must be through the unction of the Holy Ghost, and all our devotional exercises must be inspired by him, whether of prayer, (Jud_1:20,) or song, (1Co_14:15,) or speaking, (Act_2:4.)
Frankincense — This is a vegetable resin, brittle, bitter, glittering, and white when obtained from the first incision of the tree, the arbor thuris. It is produced in Arabia, (Isa_60:6,) especially in Sheba. The statement that it is still uncertain by what tree it is produced, is not complimentary to botanical science. The disagreement of modern writers is as great as that of ancient authors. Professor Murphy asserts that the Boswellia thurifera, or libanus, of the natural order Burseraceae, a tree of India and Arabia, produces this gum. Frankincense is chiefly used for sacrificial fumigation. The incongruity of putting this inedible substance upon the bread offering is explained in the next verse, in which the priest is directed to take all the incense and a handful of the flour and oil and burn it upon the altar.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 2. and he shall take] The personal pronoun in…
2. and he shall take] The personal pronoun in the English version refers to the person who brings the offering, but the subject of the verb ‘take’ is the priest mentioned in the following clause (cp. Lev_2:9). Dillm. suggests that the words from ‘and he shall take’ to ‘all the frankincense thereof’ may be an addition describing the material of the ‘memorial’ in the next clause.
the memorial] Heb. ‘azkârah, an expression applied to a part of the Meal-Offering in this ch. and Lev_6:15; elsewhere Lev_5:12 (of the poor man’s Sin-Offering), Lev_24:7 (of the frankincense offered with the shewbread), and Num_5:26 only (cp. Sir_38:11; Sir_45:16). It is generally explained as an offering which puts God in remembrance (cp. ‘memorial’ in Act_10:4, where the Gk. word is the same as in LXX. of these passages), and it has been suggested that Psalms 38, 70, with their titles ‘to bring to remembrance,’ may be in some way connected with this ceremony (Berth. Bibl. Theol. d. A.T. ii. p. 67). Others prefer sweet smelling offering; cp. Dillm. note here, Isa_66:3 (see Skinner’s note in C.B.), and Hos_14:7.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–9 (1) A meat offering.—Better, an oblation of a meat…
II.
(1) A meat offering.—Better, an oblation of a meat offering, as the same two words are rendered in Lev_2:4; Lev_2:13. The meat offerings which come next in the legal enumeration, and which occupy the whole of the present chapter, consisted of three kinds. The first is fine flour with oil and frankincense (Lev_2:1-3). The flour was of wheat (Exo_29:2), and was double the value of the ordinary barley flour (2Ki_7:1; 2Ki_7:16; 2Ki_7:18), and because of its use at the sacrifices formed part of the Temple stores (1Ch_9:29; 1Ch_23:29).
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Shall pour oil upon it.—Oil being to the food of the Israelites what butter is to ours, the offerer is here commanded to put some of it into this preparation in order to make it more palatable to the priests who were to eat part of it. (See Lev_2:3.) The frankincense was designed to counteract the offensive smell arising from the quantity of the flesh burnt there, as is evident from the following verse, where it is stated that it is wholly to be burnt.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. H. Mackintosh 1880 · Public Domain On v1 Leviticus 2
Leviticus 2
We, now, come to consider the meat offering which presents, in a very distinct manner, the man Christ Jesus." As the Burnt offering typifies Christ in death, the meat offering typifies Him in life. In neither the one nor the other, is there a question of sin-bearing. In the burnt offering, we see atonement but no sin bearing* - no imputation of sin - no outpoured wrath on account of sin. How can we know this? Because it was all consumed on the altar. Had there been ought of sin-bearing, it would have been consumed outside the camp. (Comp. Lev. 4: 11, 22, with Heb. 13: 11)
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{*That is to say sin-bearing is not prominent, Of course, where there is atonement, sin must be in question.}
But, in the meat offering, there was not even a question of blood shedding. We simply find, in it, a beauteous type of Christ, as He lived and walked and served, down here, on this earth. this one fact is, of itself, sufficient to draw the spiritual mind to the close and prayerful consideration of this offering. The pure and perfect manhood of our blessed Lord is a theme which must command the attention of every true Christian. It is to be feared that great looseness of thought prevails, in reference to this holy mystery. The expressions which one sometimes hears and reads are sufficient to prove that the fundamental doctrine of incarnation is not laid hold of as the word presents it. Such expressions may, very probably, proceed from misapprehension as to the real nature of His relations, and as to the true character of His sufferings; but, from what cause soever they arise, they should be judged in the light of holy scripture, and rejected. Doubtless, many who make use of those expressions, would recoil, with just horror and indignation, from the real doctrine contained in them, were it put before them in its broad and true characters; and, for this reason, one should be sorry to attribute unsoundness as to fundamental truth, where it may merely be inaccuracy of statement.
There is, however, one consideration which should weigh heavily in the estimation of every Christian, and that is, the vital nature of the doctrine of Christ’s humanity. It lies at the very foundation of Christianity; and, for this reason, Satan has diligently sought, from the beginning, to lead people astray in reference to it. Almost all the leading errors which have found their way into the professing church disclose the Satanic purpose to undermine the truth as to the Person of Christ. And even when earnest, godly men have sought to combat those errors, they have, in many cases, plunged into errors on the opposite side. Hence, therefore, the need of close adherence to the veritable words which the Holy Ghost has made use of in unfolding this profound and most sacred mystery. Indeed, I believe that, in every case, subjection to the authority of holy scripture, and the energy of the divine life in the soul, will prove effectual safeguards against every complexion of error. It does not require high theological attainments to enable a soul to keep clear of error with respect to the doctrine of Christ. If only the word of Christ be dwelling richly, and "the Spirit of Christ" be in energy, in the soul, there will be no room for Satan to thrust in his dark and horrible suggestions. If the heart be delighting in the Christ which Scripture unfolds, it will, assuredly, shrink from the false Christs which Satan would introduce. If we are feeding upon God’s reality, we shall unhesitatingly reject Satan’s counterfeit. This is the best possible way in which to escape the entanglements of error, in every shape and character. "The sheep hear His voice, and . . . . . . follow him: for they know His voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him; for they know not the voice of strangers" (John 10: 4, 5) It is not, by any means, needful to be acquainted with the voice of a stranger, in order to turn away from it; all we require is to know the voice of the good Shepherd." This will secure us against the ensnaring influence of every strange sound. While, therefore, I feel called upon to warn the reader against strange sounds, in reference to the divine mystery of Christ’s humanity, I do not deem it needful to discuss such sounds, but would rather seek, through grace, to arm him against them, by unfolding the doctrine of Scripture on the subject.
There are few things in which we exhibit more failure than in maintaining vigorous communion with the perfect manhood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hence it is that we suffer so much from vacancy, barrenness, restlessness, and wandering. Did we but enter, with a more artless faith, into the truth that there is a real Man, at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens - One whose sympathy is perfect, whose love is fathomless, whose power is omnipotent, whose wisdom is infinite, whose resources are exhaustless, whose riches are unsearchable, whose ear is open to our every breathing, whose hand is open to our every need, whose heart is full of unspeakable love and tenderness towards us - how much more happy and elevated we should be, and how much more independent of creature streams, through what channel soever they may flow! There is nothing the heart can crave which we have not in Jesus. Does it long for genuine sympathy? Where can it find it, save in Him who could mingle His tears with those of the bereaved sisters of Bethany? Does it desire the enjoyment of sincere affection? It can only find it in that heart which told forth its love in drops of blood. Does it seek the protection of real power? It has but to look to Him who made the world. Does it feel the need of unerring wisdom to guide? Let it betake itself to Him who is wisdom personified, and who of God is made unto us wisdom." In one word, we have all in Christ. The divine mind and the divine affections have found a perfect object in the man Christ Jesus;" and, surely, if there is that in the Person of Christ which can perfectly satisfy God, there is that which ought to satisfy us, and which will satisfy us, in proportion as, by the grace of the Holy Ghost, we walk in communion with God.
The Lord Jesus Christ was the only perfect man that ever trod this earth. He was all perfect - perfect in thought, perfect in word, perfect in action. In Him every moral quality met in divine and, therefore, perfect proportion. No one feature preponderated. In Him were exquisitely blended a majesty which overawed, and a gentleness which gave perfect ease in His presence. The Scribes and the Pharisees met His withering rebuke; while the poor Samaritan. and "the woman that was a sinner," found themselves unaccountably, yet irresistibly, attracted to Him. No one feature displaced another, for all was in fair and comely proportion. This may be traced in every scene of His perfect life. He could say, in reference to five thousand hungry people, "Give ye them to eat;" and, when they were filled, He could say, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost." The benevolence and the economy are both perfect and neither interferes with the other. Each shines in its own proper sphere. He could not send unsatisfied hungry away; neither could He suffer a single fragment of God’s creatures to be wasted. He would meet, with a full and liberal hand, the need of the human family, and, when that was done, He would carefully treasure up every atom. The self-same hand that was widely open to every form of human need was firmly closed against all prodigality. There was nothing niggardly nor yet extravagant in the character of the perfect, the heavenly Man.
What a lesson for us! How often, with us, does benevolence resolve itself into an unwarrantable profusion! and, on the other hand, how often is our economy marred by the exhibition of a miserly spirit! At times, too, our niggard hearts refuse to open themselves to the full extent of the need which presents itself before us; while, at other times, we squander, through a wanton extravagance, that which might satisfy many a needy fellow-creature. Oh! my reader, let us carefully study the divine picture set before us in the life of the "Man Christ Jesus." How refreshing and strengthening to "the inward man" to be occupied with Him who was perfect in all His ways, and who "in all things must have the pre-eminence!"
See Him in the garden of Gethsemane. There, He kneels in the profound depths of a humility which none but Himself could exhibit; but yet, before the traitor’s band, He exhibits a self-possession and majesty which cause them to go backward and fall to the ground. His deportment before God is prostration; before His judges and accusers, unbending dignity. All is perfect. The self-emptiness and the self-possession, the prostration and the dignity, are all divine.
So also, when we contemplate the beauteous combination of His divine and human relations, the same perfectness is observable. He could say, How was it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?" And, at the same time, He could go down to Nazareth, and there set an example of perfect subjection to parental authority. (See Luke 2: 49-51.) He could say to His mother, Woman, what have I to do with thee?" And yet, when passing through the unutterable agony of the cross, He could tenderly commit that mother to the care of the beloved disciple. In the former case, He separated Himself in the spirit of perfect Nazariteship to accomplish His Father’s will; while, in the latter, He gave expression to the tender feelings of the perfect human heart. The devotion of the Nazarite and the affection of the man were both perfect. Neither was permitted to interfere with the other. Each shone with undimmed lustre in its proper sphere.
Now, the shadow of this perfect man passes before us in the "fine flour" which formed the basis of the meat offering. There was not so much as a single coarse grain. There was nothing uneven - nothing unequal - nothing rough to the touch. No matter what pressure came from without, there was always an even surface. He was never ruffled by any circumstance or set of circumstances. He never had to retrace a step, or recall a word. Come what might, He always met it in that perfect evenness which is so strikingly typified by the "fine flour."
In all these things, it is needless to say, He stands in marked contrast with His most honoured and devoted servants. For example, Moses, though "the meekest man in all the earth," yet "spoke unadvisedly with his lips." In Peter, we find a zeal and an energy which, at times, proved too much for the occasion; and, again, a cowardice which shrank from the place of testimony and reproach. There was the assertion of a devotedness which, when the time for action arrived, was not forthcoming. John, who breathed so much of the atmosphere of the immediate presence of Christ, exhibited, at times, a sectarian and an intolerant spirit. In Paul, the most devoted of servants, we observe considerable unevenness. He uttered words to the high priest which he had to recall. He sent a letter to the Corinthians, of which at first he repented, and afterwards repented not. In all, we find some flaw, save in Him who is "the fairest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely.
In the examination of the meat offering, it will give clearness and simplicity to our thoughts to consider, first, the materials of which it was composed; secondly, the various forms in which it was presented; and, thirdly, the persons who partook of it.
As to the materials, the "fine flour" may be regarded as the basis of the offering; and, in it, we have a type of Christ’s humanity, wherein every perfection met. Every virtue was there, and ready for effectual action, in due season. The Holy Ghost delights to unfold the glories of Christ’s Person, to set Him forth in all His peerless excellence - to place Him before us in contrast with all beside. He contrasts Him with Adam, even in his very best and highest state; as we read, "the first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven." (1 Cor. 15: 47) The first Adam, even in his unfallen condition, was "of the earth;" but the second Man was "the Lord from heaven."
The "oil," in the meat offering, is a type of the Holy Ghost. But, inasmuch as the oil is applied in a twofold way, so we have the Holy Ghost presented in a double aspect, in connection with the incarnation of the Son. The fine flour was "mingled" with oil; and there was oil "poured" upon it. Such was the type; and, in the Anti type, we see the blessed Lord Jesus Christ, first, "conceived," and then "anointed," by the Holy Ghost. (Comp. Matt. 1: 18, 23, with Lev. 3: 16) This is divine! The accuracy, which is here so apparent, draws forth the soul’s admiration. It is one and the same Spirit which records the ingredients of the type, and gives us the facts in the antitype. The one who has detailed for us, with such amazing precision, the types and shadows of the Book of Leviticus, has also given us the glorious subject thereof, in the gospel narratives. The same Spirit breathes through the pages of the Old and those of the New Testament, and enables us to see how exactly the one corresponds with the other.
The conception of Christ’s humanity, by the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin, unfolds one of the most profound mysteries, which can possibly engage the attention of the renewed mind. It is most fully set forth in Luke’s gospel; and this is entirely characteristic, inasmuch as, throughout that Gospel, it would seem to be the special object of the Holy Ghost to unfold, in His own divinely touching manner, "the Man Christ Jesus." In Matthew, we have "the Son of Abraham - the Son of David." In Mark, we have the Divine Servant - the Heavenly Workman. In John, we have "the Son of God - the Eternal Word - the Life - the Light, by whom all things were made. But the great theme of the Holy Ghost in Luke is "the Son of man."
When the angel Gabriel had announced to Mary the dignity which was about to be conferred upon her, in connection with the great work of incarnation, she, not in a spirit of scepticism, but of honest ignorance, enquired, "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" It, manifestly, seemed to her that the birth of this glorious Person who was about to appear should be according to the ordinary principles of generation; and this her thought is made the occasion, in the exceeding goodness of God, of developing much valuable light, in reference to the cardinal truth of incarnation. The angel’s reply to the virgin’s question is unspeakably interesting, and cannot be too closely considered. "And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that Holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." (Luke 1: 35)
From this magnificent passage, we learn that the human body into which the eternal Son entered, was formed by "the power of the Highest." "A body hast thou prepared me." (Comp. Psalm 40: 6 with Heb. 10: 6) It was a real human body - real "flesh and blood." There is no possible foundation here, on which Gnosticism or mysticism can base its vapid and worthless theories no warrant for the cold abstractions of the former, or the misty fancies of the latter. all is deep, solid, and divine reality. The very thing which our hearts needed- the very thing which God has given. The early promise had declared that the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head," and none but a real man could accomplish this prediction - one whose nature was as real as it was pure and incorruptible. Thou shalt conceive in thy womb," said the angelic messenger, "and bring forth a son"* And, then, lest there should be any room for an error, in reference to the mode of this conception, he adds such words as prove unanswerably, that "the flesh and blood" of which the Eternal Son "took part" while absolutely real, was absolutely incapable of receiving, of retaining, or of communicating a single taint. The humanity of the Lord Jesus was, emphatically, that holy thing." And, inasmuch as it was wholly without taint, it was wholly without a seed of mortality. We cannot think of mortality, save in connection with sin; and Christ’s humanity had nought to do with sin, either personally or relatively. Sin was imputed to Him, on the cross, where He was made sin for us." But the meat offering is not the type of Christ as a sin-bearer. It foreshadows Him in His perfect life, here below - a life in which He suffered, no doubt, hut not as a sin-bearer - not as a substitute - not at the hand of God. Let this be distinctly noted. Neither in the burnt offering, nor in the meat offering, have we Christ as a sin-bearer. In the latter, we see Him living; and, in the former, we see Him dying; but, in neither, is there a question of the imputation of sin, nor of enduring the wrath of God, on account of sin. In short, to present Christ as the sinner’s substitute any where else save on the cross, is to rob His life of all its divine beauty and excellency, and to displace the cross altogether. Moreover, it would involve the types of Leviticus in hopeless confusion.
{*"But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law." (genomenon ek gunaikos, genomenon hupo nomon.) This is a most important passage inasmuch as it sets forth our blessed Lord as Son of God, and Son of man. "God sent forth his Son, made of a woman" Precious testimony.}
I would, at this point, solemnly admonish my reader, that he cannot be too jealous in reference to the vital truth of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, If there be error as to this, there is no security as to anything. God cannot give the sanction of His presence to ought that has not this truth for its foundation. The Person of Christ is the living - the divine ground which the Holy Ghost caries on all His operations. Let slip the truth as to Him, and you are like a vessel broken from its moorings, and carried, without rudder or compass, over the wild watery waste, and in imminent danger of being dashed to fragments upon the rocks of Arianism, Infidelity, or Atheism. Question the eternal Sonship of Christ - question His Deity - question His unspotted humanity, and you have opened the floodgate for a desolating tide of deadly error to rush in. Let no one imagine, for a moment, that this is a mere matter to be discussed by learned theologians - a curious question - a recondite mystery - a point about which we may lawfully differ. No; it is a vital, fundamental truth, to be held in the power of the Holy Ghost, and maintained at the expense of all beside - yea, to be confessed, under all circumstances, whatever may be the consequences.
What we want is simply to receive into our hearts, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Father’s revelation of the Son, and, then, our souls shall be effectually preserved from the snares of the enemy, let them take what shape they may. He may speciously cover the trap of Arianism or Socinianism with the grass and leaves of a most plausible and attractive system of interpretation; but directly the devoted heart discovers what this system attempts to make of the Blessed One to whom it owes everything, and where it attempts to put Him, it finds but little difficulty in sending it back to where it manifestly came from. We can well afford to do without human theories; but we can never do without Christ - the Christ of God - the Christ of God’s affections - the Christ of God’s counsels - the Christ of God’s word.
The Lord Jesus Christ, God’s eternal Son, a distinct Person in the glorious Trinity, God manifest in the flesh, God over all, blessed for ever, assumed a body which was inherently and divinely pure, holy, and without the possibility of taint - absolutely free from every seed or principle of sin and mortality. Such was the humanity of Christ, that He could at any moment, so far as He was personally concerned, have returned to heaven, from whence He had come, and to which He belonged. I speak not here of the eternal counsels of redeeming love, or of the unswerving love of the heart of Jesus - His love to God - His love to God’s elect, or of the work that was needful to ratify God’s everlasting covenant with the seed of Abraham, and with the whole creation. Christ’s own words teach us that it behoved Him to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day." (Luke 24: 46) It was necessary that He should suffer, in order to the full manifestation and perfect accomplishment of the great mystery of redemption. It was His gracious purpose to "bring many sons unto glory. He would not abide alone," and, therefore, He, as the corn of wheat, "should fall into the ground and die." The more fully we enter into the truth of His Person, the more fully do we apprehend the grace of His work.
When the apostle speaks of Christ’s being made perfect through suffering," it is as "the Captain of our salvation that he contemplates Him, and not as the eternal Son who, as regards His own abstract Person and nature, was divinely perfect and could not possibly have ought added to Him. So, also, when He Himself says, "Behold I cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected," (Luke 13: 32) He refers to His being perfected, in the power of resurrection, as the accomplisher of the entire work of redemption. So far as He was personally concerned, He could say, even on His way forth from the garden of Gethsemane, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?" (Matt. 26: 53, 54)
It is well that the soul be clear as to this - well to have a divine sense of the harmony which exists between those scriptures which present Christ in the essential dignity of His Person, and the divine purity of His nature, and those which present Him in His relation with His people, and as accomplishing the great work of redemption. At times we find both these things combined, in the same passage, as in Heb. 5: 8, 9: "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him." We must, however, bear in mind that not one of those relations into which Christ, voluntarily, entered - whether as the expression of divine love to a lost world, or the servant of the divine counsels not one of these could possibly interfere with the essential purity, excellency, and glory of His Person. "The Holy Ghost came upon" the virgin, and the power of the Highest overshadowed her;" and "therefore that holy thing which was born of her was called the Son of God." Most magnificent unfolding, this, of the deep secret of Christ’s pure and perfect humanity - the great antitype of the "fine flour mingled with oil!"
And here, let me observe, that, between humanity, as seen in the Lord Jesus Christ, and humanity, as seen in us, there could be no union. That which is pure could never coalesce with that which is impure. That which is incorruptible could never unite with that which is corruptible. The spiritual and the carnal - the heavenly and the earthly - could never combine. Hence, therefore, it follows that incarnation was not, as some have attempted to teach, Christ’s taking our fallen nature into union with Himself. If He could have done this, there would have been no need of the death of the cross. He needed not, in that case, to feel "straitened" until the baptism was accomplished - the corn of wheat did not need to fall into the ground and die." This is a point of great moment. Let the spiritual mind ponder it deeply. Christ could not possibly take sinful humanity into union with Himself. Hear what the angel said to Joseph, in the first chapter of Matthew’s gospel. "Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." See now Joseph’s natural sensibilities, as well as Mary’s pious ignorance, are made the occasion of a fuller unfolding of the holy mystery of Christ’s humanity; and also of guarding that humanity against all the Blasphemous attacks of the enemy!
How, then, is it that believers are united to Christ. Is it in incarnation or resurrection? In resurrection, assuredly. How is this proved? "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone." (John 12: 24.) At this side of death, there could be no union between Christ and His people. It is in the power of a new life that believers are united to Christ. They were dead in sin, and He, in perfect grace, came down, and, though Himself pure and sinless, was "made sin" - "died unto sin" - put it away - rose triumphant over it, and all pertaining to it, and, in resurrection, became the Head of a new race. Adam was the head of the old creation, which fell with him. Christ, by dying, put Himself under the full weight of His people’s condition, and having perfectly met all that was against them, rose; victorious over all, and carried them with Him into the new creation, of which He is the glorious Head and Centre. Hence, we read, He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit." (1 Cor. 6: 17.) But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Eph. 2: 4-6.) For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." (Eph. 5: 30.) "And you being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses." (Col. 2: 13.)
Passages might be multiplied, but the above are amply sufficient to prove that it was not in incarnation, but in death, that Christ took a position in which His people could be "quickened together with him." Does this seem unimportant to the reader? Let him examine it in the light of Scripture. Let him weigh all the consequences. Let him view it in its bearing upon Christ’s Person, upon His life, upon His death, upon our condition, by nature, in the old creation, and our place, through mercy, in the new. Let him consider it thus, and, I feel persuaded, he will no longer regard it as a light matter. Of one thing, at least, he may rest assured, that the writer of these pages would not pen a single line to prove this point, did he not consider it to be fraught with the most momentous results. The whole of divine revelation so hangs together - is so adjusted by the hand of the Holy Ghost is so consistent in all its parts, that, if one truth be disturbed, the entire arch is injured. This consideration should suffice to produce, in the mind of every Christian, a holy caution lest, by some rude touch, he mar the beauteous superstructure. Every stone must be left in its divinely appointed place; and, unquestionably, the truth as to Christ’s Person is the keystone of the arch.
Having thus endeavoured to unfold the truth typified by the "fine flour mingled with oil," we may remark another point of much interest in the expression, "He shall pour oil upon it." In this we have a type of the anointing of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the Holy Ghost. The body of the Lord Jesus was not merely formed, mysteriously, by the Holy Ghost, but that pure and holy vessel was also anointed for service, by the same power. And it came to pass when all the people were baptised, and Jesus also being baptised and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape, as a dove, upon him, and there was a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased." (Luke 3: 21, 22)
The anointing of the Lord Jesus, by the Holy Ghost, previous to His entrance upon His public ministry, is of immense practical importance to every one who really desires to be a true and an effectual servant of God. though conceived, as to His manhood, by the Holy Ghost; though, in His own proper Person, "God manifest in the flesh;" though embodying, in Himself, all the fullness of the Godhead; yet, be it well observed, when coming forth, as man, to do the will of God, on the earth, whatever that will might be, whether preaching the gospel, teaching in the synagogues, healing the sick, cleansing the leper, casting out devils, feeding the hungry, or raising the dead, He did all by the Holy Ghost. That holy and heavenly vessel in which God the Son was pleased to appear in this world, was formed, filled, Anointed, and led by the Holy Ghost.
What a deep and holy lesson for us! A most needful and salutary lesson! How prone are we to run unsent! How prone to act in the mere energy of the flesh! How much of that which looks like ministry is only the restless and unhallowed activity of a nature which has never been measured and judged in the divine presence! Truly, we need to contemplate, more closely, our divine "meat offering" - to understand, more fully, the meaning of the "Fine flour anointed with oil." We need to meditate, more deeply, upon Christ Himself, who, though possessing, in His own Person, divine power, nevertheless, did all His work, wrought all His miracles, and, finally, offered himself without spot to God, by the eternal Spirit. He could say, "I, by the Spirit of God, cast out devils."
Nothing is of any value save that which is wrought by the power of the Holy Ghost. A man may write; but, if his pen be not guided and used by the Holy Ghost, his lines will produce no permanent result. A man may speak; but, if his lips be not anointed by the Holy Ghost, his word will not take permanent root. This is a solemn consideration, and, if properly weighed, would lead to much watchfulness over ourselves, and much earnest dependence upon the Holy Ghost. What we need is thorough self-emptiness, so that there may be room left for the Spirit to act by us. It is impossible that a man full of himself can be the vessel of the Holy Ghost. Such an one must, first, be emptied of himself, and, then, the Spirit can use him. When we contemplate the Person and ministry of the Lord Jesus, we see how that, in every scene and circumstance, He acted by the direct power of the Holy Ghost. Having taken His place, as man, down here, He showed that men should not only live by the Word, but act by the Spirit of God. Even though, as man, His will was perfect - His thoughts, His words, His acts, all perfect, yet would He not act, save by the direct authority of the Word, and by the direct power of the Holy Ghost. Oh! that in this, as in every thing else, we could, more closely, more faithfully, follow in His steps. Then, indeed, would our ministry be more effective, our testimony more fruitful, our whole course more entirely to the glory of God.
The next ingredient in the meat offering demanding our consideration is "the frankincense." As has been remarked, the "fine flour" was the basis of the offering. The "oil" and "frankincense" were the two leading adjuncts; and, truly, the connection between these two latter is most instructive. The "oil" typifies the power of Christ’s ministry; the "frankincense" typifies the object thereof. The former teaches us that He did everything by the Spirit of God; the latter that He did everything to the glory of God. The frankincense presents that in the life of Christ, which was, exclusively, for God. This is evident from the second verse: "And he shall bring it (the meat offering) 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." Thus was it in the true meat offering - the Man Christ Jesus. There was that in His blessed life which was exclusively for God. Every thought, every word, every look, every act of His, emitted a fragrance which went up, immediately, to God. And, as in the type, it was the fire of the altar" that drew forth the sweet odour of the frankincense; so, in the Anti type, the more he was "tried," in all the scenes and circumstances of His blessed life, the more fully was it manifested that, in His manhood, there was nothing that could not ascend, as an odour of a sweet smell, to the throne of God. If, in the burnt offering, we behold Christ "offering himself, without spot, to God;" in the meat offering, we behold Him presenting all the intrinsic excellence and perfect actings of His human nature to God. A perfect, a self-emptied, an obedient man, on the earth, doing the will of God, acting by the authority of the word, and by the power of the Spirit, had a sweet odour which could only be for divine acceptance. The fact that all the frankincense" was consumed on the altar, fixes its import in the simplest manner.
It now only remains for us to consider an ingredient which was an inseparable adjunct of the meat offering, namely, "salt." "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." The expression, "salt of the covenant," sets forth the enduring character of that covenant. God Himself has so ordained it, in all things, that nought can ever alter it - no influence can ever corrupt it. In a spiritual and practical point of view, it is impossible to over-estimate the value of such an ingredient. "Let your conversation be always with grace, seasoned with salt." The whole conversation of the Perfect Man exhibited the power of this principle. His words were not merely words of grace, but words of pungent power - words divinely adapted to preserve from all taint and corrupting influence. He never uttered a word which was not redolent with "frankincense" and seasoned with salt. The former was most acceptable to God, the latter most profitable for man.
Sometimes, alas! man’s corrupt heart and vitiated taste could not tolerate the pungency of the divinely salted meat offering. Witness, for example, the scene in the synagogue of Nazareth. (Luke 4: 16-29) The people could bear him witness, and wonder at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth;" but when He proceeded to season those words with salt, which was so needful, in order to preserve them from the corrupting influence of their national pride, they would fain have cast Him over the brow of the hill whereon their city was built.
So, also, in Luke 14, when His words of "grace" had drawn "great multitudes" after Him, He instantly throws in the "salt," by setting forth, in words of holy faithfulness, the sure results of following Him. Come, for all things are now ready," Here was the "grace." but, then, "whosoever forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be my disciple." Here was the salt." Grace is attractive; but "Salt is good." Gracious discourse may be popular; but salted discourse never will. The pure gospel of the grace of God may, at certain times, and under certain circumstances, be run after by the multitude" for a while; but when the "salt" of a fervid and faithful application is introduced, it will soon thin the benches of all save such as are brought under the power of the word.
Having thus considered the ingredients which composed the meal offering, we shall now refer to those which were excluded from it.
The first of these was "leaven." No meat offering which ye shall bring unto the Lord, shall be made with leaven." This ingredient is used throughout the inspired volume, without so much as a single exception, as the symbol of evil. In Lev. 23, which will be noticed in due course, we find leaven admitted in the two loaves which were offered on the day of Pentecost; but from the meat offering, leaven was most sedulously excluded. There was to be nothing sour: nothing that would puff up, nothing expressive of evil in that which typified the Man Christ Jesus." In Him, there could be nothing savouring of nature’s sourness, nothing turgid, nothing inflated. All was pure, solid, and genuine. His word might, at times, cut to the quick; but it was never sour. His style never rose above the occasion. His deportment ever exhibited the deep reality of one walking in the immediate presence of God.
In those who bear the name of Jesus, we know, too well, alas! how leaven shows itself in all its properties and effects. There has been but one untainted sheaf of human fruit - but one perfectly unleavened meat offering; and, blessed be God, that one is ours - ours to feed upon in the sanctuary of the divine presence, in fellowship with God. No exercise can be more truly edifying and refreshing for the renewed mind than to dwell upon the unleavened perfectness of Christ’s humanity - to contemplate the life and ministry of One who was, absolutely and essentially, unleavened. In all His springs of thought, affection, desire, and imagination, there was not so much as a particle of leaven. He was the sinless, spotless, perfect Man. And the more we are enabled, by the power of the Spirit, to enter into all this, the deeper will be our experience of the grace which led this perfect One to place Himself under the full consequences of His people’s sins, as He did when He hung upon the cross. his thought, however, belongs entirely to the sin-offering aspect of our blessed Lord. In the meat offering, sin is not in question. It is not the type of a sin-bearer, but of a real, perfect, unblemished Man, conceived and anointed by the Holy Ghost, possessing an unleavened nature, and living an unleavened life, down here; emitting, ever, to God-ward, the fragrance of His own personal excellency, and maintaining, amongst men, a deportment characterised by grace seasoned with salt."
But there was another ingredient, as positively excluded from the meat offering as leaven," and that was honey." For ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the Lord made by fire." (Ver. 11). Now, as "leaven" is the expression of that which is positively and palpably evil, in nature, we may regard honey" as the significant symbol of that which is apparently sweet and attractive. Both are disallowed of God - both were carefully excluded from the meat offering - both were unfit for the altar. Men may undertake, like Saul, to distinguish between what is "vile and refuse," and what is not; but the judgement of God ranks the delicate Agag with the vilest of the sons of Amalek;. No doubt, there are some good moral qualities in man which must be taken for what they are worth. hast thou found honey, eat so much as is convenient;" but, be it remembered, it found no place in the meat offering, nor in its Antitype. There was the fullness of the Holy Ghost; there was the fragrant odour of the frankincense; there was the preservative virtue of the salt of the covenant." All these things accompanied the fine flour," in the Person of the true "meat offering;" but "no honey."
What a lesson for the heart is here! yea, what a volume of wholesome instruction! The blessed Lord Jesus knew how to give nature and its relationships their proper place. He knew how much honey "was convenient." He could say to His mother, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?" And yet He could say, again, to the beloved disciple, Behold thy mother." In other words, nature’s claims were never allowed to interfere with the presentation to God of all the energies of Christ’s perfect manhood. Mary and others too might have thought that her human relation to the blessed One gave her some peculiar claim or influence, on merely natural grounds. There came, then, his brethren ("after the flesh") and his mother, and standing without, sent unto him, calling him. And the multitude sat about him; and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee." What was the reply of the true Meat Offering? Did He, at once, abandon His work, in order to respond to nature’s call? By no means. Had He done so, it would have been to mingle honey" with the meat offering, which could not be. The honey was faithfully excluded, on this, as on every occasion, when God’s claims were to be attended to, and instead thereof, the power of the Spirit, the odour of the frankincense," and the virtues of the salt" were blessedly exhibited. And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and my mother."* (Mark 3: 31-35.)
{*How important to see, in the above beautiful passage, that doing God’s will brings the soul into a relationship with Christ, of which His brethren according to the flesh knew nothing, on merely natural grounds. It was as true, with respect to those brethren, as any one else, that except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Mary could not have been saved by the mere fact of her being the mother of Jesus. She needed personal faith in Christ as much as any other member of Adam’s fallen family. She needed to pass, by being born again, not of the old creation into the new. It was by treasuring up Christ’s words in her heart that this blessed woman was saved. No doubt, she was highly favoured" in being chosen as a vessel, to such a holy office; but, then, as a lost sinner, she needed! to rejoice in God her Saviour, like any one else. She stands on the same platform, is washed in the same blood, clothed in the same righteousness, and will sing the same song, as all the rest of God’s redeemed.
This simple fact will give additional force and clearness to a point already stated, namely; that incarnation was not Christ’s taking our nature into union with Himself. This truth should be carefully pondered. It is fully brought out in 2 Cor. 5, "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh, yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new." (Ver. 14-17)}
There are few things which the servant of Christ finds more difficult than to adjust, with spiritual accuracy, the claims of natural relationship, so as not to suffer them to interfere with the claims of the Master. In the case of our blessed Lord, as we know, the adjustment was divine. In our case, it often happens that divinely-recognised duties are openly neglected for what we imagine to be the service of Christ. The doctrine of God is constantly sacrificed to the apparent work of the gospel. Now, it is well to remember that true devotedness always starts from a point within which all godly claims are fully secured. If I hold a situation which demands my services from ten till four every day, I have no right to go out to visit or preach, during those hours. If I am in business, I am bound to maintain the integrity of that business, in a godly manner. I have no right to run hither and thither preaching, while my business, at home, lies in sixes and sevens, bringing great reproach on the holy doctrine of God. A man may say, I feel myself called to preach the gospel, and I find my situation, or my business, a clog. Well, if you are divinely called and fitted for the work; of the gospel, and that you cannot combine the two things, then resign your situation, or wind up your business, in a godly manner, and go forth, in the name of the Lord. But, clearly, so long as I hold a situation, or carry on a business, my work in the gospel must begin from a point within which the godly claims of such business or situation are fully responded to. This is devotedness. Ought else is confusion, however well intended. Blessed be God, we have a perfect example before us in the life of the Lord Jesus, and ample guidance, for the new man, in the word of God; so that we need not make any mistakes, in the varied relationships which we may be called, in the providence of God, to all, or as to the various claims which God’s moral government has set up, in connection with such relationships.
2. The second point, in our theme, is the mode in which the meat offering was prepared. This was, as we read, by the action of fire. It was "baken in an oven" - "baken in a pan" - or "baken in a frying pan." The process of baking suggests the idea of suffering. But inasmuch as the meat offering is called "a sweet savour" - a term which is never applied to the sin offering, or trespass offering - it is evident that there is no thought of suffering for sin - no thought of suffering the wrath of God on account of sin - no thought of suffering at the hand of infinite Justice, as the sinner’s substitute. The two ideas of "sweet savour" and suffering for sin, are wholly incompatible, according to the Levitical economy. It would completely destroy the type of the meat offering, were we to introduce into it the idea of suffering for sin.
In contemplating the life of the Lord Jesus, which, as we have already remarked, is the special subject foreshadowed in the meat offering, we may notice three distinct kinds of suffering; namely, suffering for righteousness; suffering by the power of sympathy; and suffering, in anticipation.
As the righteous Servant of God, He suffered in the midst of a scene in which all was contrary to Him; but this was the very opposite of suffering for sin. It is of the utmost importance to distinguish between these two kinds of suffering. The confounding of them must lead to serious error. suffering as a righteous One, standing amongst men, on God’s behalf, is one thing; and suffering instead of men, under the hand of God, is quite another. The Lord Jesus suffered for righteousness, during His life. He suffered for sin, in His death. During His life, man and Satan did their utmost; and, even at the cross, they put forth all their powers; but when all that they could do was done - when they had travelled, in their deadly enmity, to the utmost limit of human and diabolical opposition, there lay, far beyond a region of impenetrable gloom and horror into which the Sin-bearer had to travel, in the accomplishment of His work. During His life He ever walked in the unclouded light of the Divine countenance; but, on the cursed tree, the dark shadow of sin intervened, and shut out that light, and drew forth that mysterious cry, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" This was a moment which stands absolutely alone, in the annals of eternity. From time to time, during the life of Christ, down here heaven had opened to give forth the expression of divine complacency in Him; but on the cross God forsook Him, because He was making His soul an offering for sin. If Christ had been a sin-bearer all His life, then what was the difference between the cross and any other period? Why was He not forsaken of God during His entire course? What was the difference between Christ on the cross, and Christ on the holy mount of transfiguration? was He forsaken of God, on the mount? Was He a sin-bearer there? These are very simple questions, which should be answered By those who maintain the ides of a life of sin-bearing.
The plain fact is this, there was nothing either in Christ’s humanity, or in the nature of His associations, which could possibly connect Him with sin, or wrath, or death. He was made sin" on the cross; and there He endured the wrath of God, and there He gave up His life, as an all-sufficient atonement for sin; but nothing of this finds a place in the meat offering. True, we have the process of baking - the action of fire; but this is not the wrath of God. The meat offering was not a sin offering, but a sweet savour" offering. Thus, its import is definitely fixed; and, moreover, the intelligent interpretation of it must ever guard, with holy jealousy, the precious truth of Christ’s spotless humanity, and the true nature of His associations. To make Him, by the necessity of His birth, a sinbearer, or to place Him, thereby, under the curse of the law, and the wrath of God, is to contradict the entire truth of God, as to incarnation - truth announced by the angel, and repeated, again and again, by the inspired apostle. Moreover, it destroys the entire character and object of Christ’s life, and robs the cross of its distinctive glory. It lowers the sense of what sin is, and of what atonement is. In one word, it removes the keystone of the arch of revelation, and lays all in hopeless ruin and confusion around us.
But, again, the Lord Jesus suffered by the power of Sympathy; and this character of suffering unfolds to us the deep secrets of His tender heart. Human sorrow, and human misery ever touched a chord in that bosom of love. It was impossible that a perfect human heart could avoid feeling, according to its own divine sensibilities, the miseries which sin had entailed upon the human family. Though, personally free, both from the cause and the effect - though belonging to heaven, and living a perfect heavenly life, on the earth, yet did He descend, by the power of an intense sympathy, into the deepest depths of human sorrow yea, He felt the sorrow, more keenly by far, than those who were the direct subjects thereof, inasmuch as His humanity was perfect. And, further, He was able to contemplate both the sorrow and its cause, according to their just measure and character, in the presence of God. He felt as none else could feel. His feelings - His affections - His sensibilities - His whole moral and mental constitution were perfect; and, hence, none can tell what such an One must have suffered, in passing through such a world as this. He beheld the human family struggling beneath the ponderous weight of guilt and wretchedness; He beheld the whole creation groaning under the yoke; the cry of the prisoner fell upon His ear; the tear of the widow met His view; bereavement and poverty touched His sensitive heart; sickness and death made Him groan in the spirit;" His sympathetic sufferings were beyond all human conception.
I shall quote a passage for my reader, illustrative of that character of suffering to which we are now referring. When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." (Matt. 8: 16, 17) This was entirely sympathetic - the power of fellow-feeling, which in Him was perfect. He had no sicknesses or infirmities of His own. Those things which are sometimes spoken of as sinless infirmities," were, in His case, but the evidences of a veritable, a real, a perfect manhood. But by sympathy, by perfect fellow feeling, He took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." None? but a perfect man could have done this. We may feel for, and with, each other; but only Jesus could make human infirmity and sickness His own.
Now, had He been bearing all these things by the necessity of His birth, or of His relations with Israel and the human family, we should have lost all the beauty and preciousness of His voluntary sympathy. There could be no room for voluntary action when absolute necessity was laid upon Him. But, on the other hand, when we see His entire freedom, both personally and relatively, from human misery and that which produced it, we can enter into that perfect grace and compassion which led Him to take our infirmities, and bear our sicknesses," in the power of true sympathy. There is, therefore, a very manifest difference between Christ’s suffering as a voluntary sympathiser with human misery, and His sufferings as the sinner’s substitute. The former are apparent throughout His entire life; the latter are confined to His death.
Finally, we have to consider Christ’s sufferings, by anticipation. We find the dark shadow of the cross casting itself athwart His path, and producing a very keen order of suffering which, however, must be as clearly distinguished from His atoning suffering as either His suffering for righteousness, or His suffering by sympathy. Let as take a passage, in proof: And he came out, and went, as He was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation and he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven strengthening him. and being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." (Luke 22: 39-44.) Again, we read, And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me . . . . . he went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done." (Matt. 26: 37-42.)
From these verses, it is evident, there was a something, in prospect, which the blessed Lord had never encountered before. There was a cup" being filled out for Him of which He had not yet drunk. If He had been a sin-bearer all His life, then why this intense agony at the thought of coming in contact with sin and enduring the wrath of God on account of sin? what was the difference between Christ, in Gethsemane, and Christ, at Calvary, if He were a sin-bearer all His life? There was a material difference! but it is because He was not a sin-bearer all His life. What is the difference? In Gethsemane, He was anticipating the cross! at Calvary, He was actually enduring it. In Gethsemane, there appeared an angel unto him from heaven strengthening him;" at Calvary, He was forsaken of all. There was no angelic ministry there. In Gethsemane He addresses God as Father," thus enjoying the full communion of that ineffable relationship; but at Calvary, He cries, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Here the sin-bearer looks up, and beholds the throne of eternal Justice enveloped in dark clouds, and the countenance of inflexible Holiness averted from Him because He was being made sin for us."
The reader will, I trust, find no difficulty in examining this subject for himself. He will be able to trace, in detail, the three characters of the life-sufferings of our blessed Lord, and to distinguish between them and His death-sufferings-His sufferings for sin. He will see how that, when man and Satan had done their utmost, there yet remained a character of suffering which was perfectly unique, namely, suffering, at the hand of God, on account of sin - suffering as the sinner’s substitute. Until He came to the cross, He could ever look up and bask in the clear light of His Father’s countenance. In the darkest hour, He found a sure resource above. His path down here was a rough one. How could it be otherwise, in a world where all was directly contrary to His pure and holy nature? He had to endure the contradiction of singers against himself." He had to endure" the reproach of them that reproached God." What had He not to endure? He was misunderstood, misinterpreted, abused, maligned, accused of being mad, and of having a devil. He was betrayed, denied, deserted, mocked, buffeted, spit upon, crowned with thorns, cast out, condemned, and nailed between two malefactors. All these things He endured at the hand of man, together with all the unutterable terrors which Satan brought to bear upon His spirit; but let it be, once more, emphatically repeated, when man and Satan had exhausted their power and enmity, our blessed Lord and Saviour had to endure a something compared with which all the rest was as nothing, and that was the hiding of God’s countenance - the three hours of darkness and awful gloom, during which He suffered what none but God could know.
Now, when scripture speaks of our having fellowship with Christ’s sufferings, it refers, simply, to His sufferings for righteousness - his sufferings at the hand of man. Christ suffered for sin, that we might not have to suffer for it. He endured the wrath of God, that we might not have to endure it. This is the ground of our peace. But, as regards suffering from man, we shall always find that the more faithfully we follow in the footsteps of Christ, the more we shall suffer in this respect; but this is a matter of gift, a matter of privilege, a favour, a dignity. (See Phil. 1: 29, 30) To walk in the footsteps of Christ - to enjoy companionship with Him - to be thrown into a place of sympathy with Him, are privileges of the very highest order. Would that we all entered, more fully, into them! But, alas! we are too well content to do without them - too well satisfied, like Peter, to follow afar off" - to keep aloof from a despised and suffering Christ. All this is, undoubtedly, our heavy loss. Had we only more fellowship with His sufferings, the crown would glisten, far more brightly, in our soul’s vision. When we shrink from fellowship with Christ’s sufferings, we rob ourselves of the deep joy of His present companionship, and also of the moral power of the hope of His future glory.
3. Having considered the ingredients which composed the meat offering, and the various forms in which it was presented, it only remains for us to refer to the persons who partook of it. These were the head and members of the priestly house. "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." (Ver. 10) As in the burnt offering, we observed the sons of Aaron introduced as types of all true believers, not as convicted sinners, but as worshipping Priests; so, in the meat offering, we find them feeding upon the remnant of that which had been laid, as it were, on the table of the God of Israel. This was a high and holy privilege. None but priests could enjoy it. This is set forth, with great distinctness, in "the law of the meat offering," which I shall here quote at length. And this is the law of the meat offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the Lord, before the altar. And he shall take of it his handful, of the flour of the meat offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat offering, and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour, even the memorial of it unto the Lord. And the remainder thereof shell Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten, in the Holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it. It shall not be baken with leaven. I have given it unto them for their portion of my offerings made by fire; it is most holy, as is the sin offering, and as the trespass offering. All the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it: it shall be a statute for ever in your generations, concerning the offerings of the Lord made by fire: every one that toucheth them shall be holy." (Lev. 6: 14-18)
Here, then, we are furnished with a beauteous figure of the Church, feeding, "in the holy place," in the power of practical holiness, upon the perfections of the Man Christ Jesus." This is our portion, through the grace of God; but, we must remember, it is to be eaten with unleavened bread." We cannot feed upon Christ if we are indulging in anything evil. Every one that toucheth them shall be holy." Moreover, it must be in the holy place." Our position, our practice, our persons, our associations, must be holy, ere we can feed upon the meat offering. Finally, it is, all the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it." That is to say, real priestly energy, according to the divine idea of it, is required, in order to enjoy this holy portion. Aaron’s Sons" set forth the idea of energy in priestly action. His "daughters," feebleness therein. (Comp. Num. 18: 8-13) There were some things which the sons could eat which the daughters could not. Our hearts should earnestly desire the highest measure of priestly energy, so that we may discharge the highest priestly functions, and partake of the highest order of priestly food.
In conclusion, let me add that, inasmuch as we are made, through grace," partakers of the divine nature," we can, if living in the energy of that nature, walk in the footsteps of Him who is foreshadowed in the meat offering. If only we are self-emptied, our every act may emit a sweet odour to God. the smallest as well as the greatest services may, by the power of the Holy Ghost, present the fragrance of Christ. The paying of a visit, the writing of a letter, the public ministry of the word, giving a cup of cold water to a disciple, giving a penny to a pauper, yea, the common-place acts of eating and drinking - all may emit the sweet perfume of the name and grace of Jesus.
So, also, if only nature be kept in the place of death, there may be, in us, the exhibition of that which is not corruptible, even a conversation seasoned with the "salt" of abiding communion with God. But, in all these things, we fail and come short. We grieve the Holy Spirit of God in our ways. We are prone to self-seeking or men-pleasing, in our very best services, and we fail to "season" our conversation. Hence, our constant deficiency in the "oil," the "frankincense," and the Salt while, at the same time, there is the tendency to suffer the "leaven" or the "honey" of nature to make its appearance. There has been but one perfect meat offering;" and, blessed be God, we are accepted in Him. We are the sons" of the true Aaron; our place is in the sanctuary, where we can feed upon the holy portion. Happy place! Happy portion! May we enjoy them more than ever we have done. May our retirement of heart from all but Christ be more profound. May our gaze at Him be so intense, that we shall have no heart for the attractions of the scene around us, nor yet for the ten thousand petty circumstances, in our path, which would fret the heart and perplex the mind. May we rejoice in Christ, in the sunshine and in the darkness; when the gentle breezes of summer play around us, and when the storms of winter rage fiercely abroad; when passing over the surface of a placid lake, or tossed on the bosom of a stormy ocean. Thank God "we have found Him" who is to be our satisfying portion for ever. We shall spend eternity dwelling upon the divine perfections of the Lord Jesus. Our eyes shall never be averted from Him, when once we have seen Him as He is.
May the Spirit of God work mightily in us, to strengthen us, "in the inner man." May He enable us to feed upon that perfect Meat Offering, the memorial of which has been fed upon by God Himself! This is our holy and happy privilege. May we realise it, yet more fully!
C. H. Mackintosh, Notes on the Pentateuch — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 7 THE MEAT OFFERING. The regulation of the burnt offering…
THE MEAT OFFERING. The regulation of the burnt offering as a Levitical institution is immediately followed by a similar regulation of the meat offering, consisting of flour and oil, with salt and frankincense, and usually accompanied by the drink offering of wine. The sacrifice of the animal in the burnt offering had represented the entire surrender of the offerer"s will and life to God; the presentation of the fruits and products of the earth in the meat offering represents man"s gift of homage, whereby he acknowledges God"s sovereignty over all things and over himself, by offering to him a portion of that which he had graciously bestowed in abundance. David"s words, "All things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee... all this store cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own", (1Ch_29:14, 1Ch_29:16) express the idea underlying the meat offering. In the acted language of symbolism, it not only recognized the supremacy of God, but made a tender of loyal submission on the part of the offerer; as gifts of homage did in the case of Jacob and Esau, (Gen_32:20) and as they do to this day throughout our Indian empire, and generally in the East.
And when any will offer a meat offering unto the Lord. The word used in the original for "meat offering" (minchah), means, like its Greek equivalent, dwron , a gift made by an inferior to a superior. Thus the sacrifices of Cain and Abel were their "minchah" to God, (Gen_4:3, Gen_4:4) the present sent to Esau by Jacob was his "minchah", (Gen_32:13) and the present to Joseph was his brethren"s "minchah". (Gen_43:11) It is therefore equivalent to a gift of homage, which recognizes the superiority of him to whom it is offered, and ceremonially promises loyal obedience to him. Owing to its use in this passage, it came gradually to be confined in its signification to vegetable gifts, unbloody sacrifices, as they are called sometimes, in contrast to animal sacrifices while the word "corban" crone to be used in the wider acceptation which once belonged to "minchah." The conditions to be fulfilled by the Israelite who offered a meat offering were the following.
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1. He must offer either
(1) uncooked flour, with oil, salt, and frankincense, or
(2) flour made into an unleavened cake (whether of the nature of biscuit or pancake), with oil, salt, and frankincense; or
(3) roasted grains, with oil, salt, and frankincense.
2. He must bring his offering to the court of the tabernacle, and give to thepriests at least as much as one omer (that is, nearly a gallon), and not more than sixty-one omers.
The priest receiving it from him must:
1. Take a handful of the flour, oil, and salt, or a proportionate part of the cake (each omer generally made ten cakes) in place of the flour, and burn it with all the frankincense as a memorial upon the altar of burnt offering.
2. With his brother priests he must eat the remainder within the precincts of the tabernacle. Here the essentials of the sacrifice are the presentation made by the offerer, and the burning of the memorial on the altar, followed by the consumption of the remainder by the priests. The moral lesson taught to the Israelite completed that of the burnt offering. As the burnt offering taught self-surrender, so the meat offering taught recognition of God"s supremacy and submission to it, the first by the surrender of a living creature substituted for the offerer, the second by the gift of a part of the good things bestowed by God on man for the preservation of life which, being given back to God, serve as a recognition of his supremacy. Spiritually the lesson taught the Jew was that of the necessity of a loyal service to God; and mystically he may have learnt a lesson
(1) as to the force of prayer rising up to heaven as the incense which had to be offered with each form of the meat offering;
(2) as to the need of purity and incorruption, symbolized by the prohibition of leaven and honey, and the command to use salt. The supplemental character of the meat offering accounts for the order in which it hero stands, not arbitrarily interposed between two animal sacrifices, but naturally following on the burnt offering, as an adjunct to it and the complement of its teaching. So close was the union between the two sacrifices, that the burnt offering was never offered without the accompaniment of the meat offering. (Num_15:4) It has been also maintained that the meat offering, like the drink offering, was never made independently of the animal sacrifice; but this cannot be proved. On the contrary, the manner in which laws regulating it are here laid down, lead to the inference that it might be offered, when any willed it, by itself. The close connection between the sacrifice of an animal and the offering of cakes of flour, and of wine, is noticeable in heathen sacrifices likewise. The very word, immolare, translated "to sacrifice," is derived from the mola or salt-cake offered with the animal; and the other word ordinarily used in Latin for "sacrifice," that is, mactare, is derived from the victim being enriched (magis auctus) with the libation of wine. Thus we see that the offering of the fruits of the earth was regarded, elsewhere as well as in Judaea, as the natural concomitant of an animal sacrifice, and not only that, but as so essential a part of the latter as to have given a name to the whole ceremony, and not only to the whole ceremony, but to the specific act of the slaughter of the victim. The thought of the heathen in offering the fruits of the earth was probably not much different from that of the Israelites. It was his gift to the superhuman power, to which he thus acknowledged that he owed submission. We may further notice that salt was enjoined in the heathen as in the Jewish sacrifices as indispensable. Pliny says that the importance of salt is seen especially in sacrifices, none of which are completed without the salt-cake ("Hist. Nat.," 31, 7) The now obsolete use of the word "meat" in the sense of "food," in contrast to "flesh," creates some confusion of thought. "Fruit offering" would be a better title, were it not that the signification of "fruit" is going through a similar change to that which "meat" has undergone. "Flour offering" might be used, but an alteration in the rendering is not imperative.
Vers. 1-16. The meat offering.
It consisted of a gift to God of the products of the earth most needed for the support of life flour and oil, to which were added salt and frankincense, and it was generally accompanied by the drink offering of wine. It was offered to God in token of the recognition of his almighty power which gave the corn, the olive, and the vine, and of the submission of the creature to him, the merciful Creator.
I IT WAS A GIFT OF HOMAGE. As such, it had a meaning well defined and well understood in the East, that meaning being an acknowledgment of the sovereignty of God, and a promise of loyal obedience on the part of the offerer.
II SCRIPTURAL EXAMPLES OF THE GIFT OF HOMAGE.
1. The sacrifices of Cain and Abel. Whether the sacrifice was of the fruits of the ground or of the flock made no difference. Each was the "minchah," or "gift," of the offerer, acknowledging God as his God one, however, offered loyally, the other hypocritically. (Gen_4:3, Gen_4:4)
2. The present sent to Esau by Jacob. (Ge 32 Ge 33) Jacob had sent a humble message to his brother, (Gen_32:3) but this was not enough, "The messenger"s returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him". (Gen_32:6) Then Jacob, terror-stricken, sent his gift of homage, (Gen_32:13) which symbolically acknowledged Esau as his suzerain lord. Esau, by accepting it (Jacob "urged him and he took it"), bound himself to give protection to his brother as to an inferior, and offered to leave some of his soldiers with him for the purpose. (Gen_33:15)
3. The present carried by Jacob"s sons to Joseph when they went down into Egypt. (Gen_43:11)
4. The present without which Saul felt that he could not appear before Samuel. (1Sa_9:7)
5. The gifts presented to the young Child by the Wise Men of the East. (Mat_2:11)
III EXAMPLES OF THE GIFT OF HOMAGE IN THE PRESENT DAY.
1. At an Indian durbar, every one of the dependent princes brings his present, and offers it to the representative of the Empress of India.
2. Presents are always brought by natives of India to British officials set over them, when they have a request to make, and ceremonially accepted by the latter by a touch of the hand.
3. In the Abyssinian war a present of a thousand oxen and five hundred sheep was sent by King Theodore of Abyssinia to Lord Napier of Magdala, in token of submission at the last moment, and rejected by the English general. Had he accepted it, he would have been bound to give the king protection.
IV LESSONS TO US FROM THE MEAT OFFERING.
1. To give to God of the worldly goods which God has given to us
(1) freely,
(2) cheerfully,
(3) loyally.
Our motive must not be self-ostentation, nor the praise of men, nor our own gratification. By our offering to God we must recognize God"s claims over us, and openly profess our loving submission to them. This throws a new light on the practice of almsgiving in the weekly offertory of the Church.
2. To give a hearty and loyal service to God in other respects besidesalmsgiving, such as obedience to his commandments, doing his will on earth.
V THE GIFT OF HOMAGE CALLS FORTH A REQUITING GIFT. Esau gave protection in return for cattle. Joseph gave sacks of corn in return for "a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds." The representative of the Crown of England gives back to each prince at a durbar a present greater than he has received. So we give to God repentance, and receive back from him forgiveness; we give faith, and receive grace; we give obedience, and receive righteousness; we give thanksgiving, and receive enduring favour; we give, in the sacrament of the Lord"s Supper, the "creatures of bread and wine," and we receive back "the strengthening and refreshing of our souls by the Body and Blood of Christ.
HOMILIES BY R.M. EDGAR Chapter Joh_4:34 Act_10:4 Php_4:18 Joh_6:27. The idea prominently presented in the burnt offering is, we have seen, personal consecration, on the ground of expiation and acceptance through a substitute. In the meat offering, to which we now address ourselves, we find the further and supplementary idea of consecrated life-work. For the fine flour presented was the product of labour, the actual outcome of the consecrated person, and consequently a beautiful representative of that whole life-work which results from a person consciously consecrated. Moreover, as in the case of the burnt offering there was a daily celebration, so in the case of this meat offering there was a perpetual dedication in the shew-bread. What we have in this chapter, therefore, is a voluntary dedication on the part of an individual, corresponding to the perpetual dedication on the part of the people. The covenant people are to realize the idea of consecration in their whole life-work. Lange has noticed that here it is the soul (vpn) which is said to present the meat offering, something more spiritual, as an act, than the presentation of the burnt offering by the man ( We assume, then, that the leading thought of this meat offering is consecrated life-work, such as was brought out in all its perfection when our Lord declared, "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work". (Joh_4:34)
I WORK DONE FOR GOD SHOULD BE THE BEST OF ITS KIND. The meat offering, whether prepared in a sumptuous oven (rWNt) such as would be found with the wealthy, or baken in a pan (tbjm) such as middle-class people would employ, or seethed in a common dish (tvjrm) the utensil of the poor, was always to be of fine flour (tlso), that is, flour separated from the bran. It matters not what our station in life may be, we may still present to God a thorough piece of work. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might" (Ecc_9:10) is an exhortation applicable to all. The microscopic thoroughness of God"s work in nature, which leads him to clothe even the grass, which is tomorrow to be cast into the oven, with more glory than Solomon, (Mat_6:28-30) is surely fitted to stimulate every consecrated person to the most painstaking work.
And here we are led of necessity to the life-work of Jesus Christ, as embodying this idea perfectly. How thoroughly he did everything! His life was an exquisite piece of moral mosaic. Every detail may be subjected to the most microscopic criticism, only to reveal its marvelous and matchless beauty.
II WORK DONE FOR GOD SHOULD BE PERMEATED BY HIS SPIRIT AND GRACE. The fine flour, be it ever so pure, would not be accepted dry; it required oil to make it bakeable. Oil has been from time immemorial the symbol of Divine unction, in other words, of the Holy Spirit"s gracious operation. Hence we infer that work done for God must be done in cooperation with the Spirit. It is when we realize that we are fellow-workers with God, that he is our Partner, that he is working in us and by us, and when, in consequence, we become spiritually minded, walking in the Spirit, living in the Spirit, it is then that our work becomes a spiritual thing.
And here, again, would we direct attention to the life-work of Christ, as spiritually perfect. The gift of the Spirit at his baptism, the descending dove, an organic whole, (Luk_3:22) signalizes the complete spirituality of Jesus. He was "filled with the Spirit," it was "in the power of the Spirit" he did all his work. Herein he is our perfect Example.
III WORK CAN ONLY BE DONE FOR GOD IN A PRAYERFUL SPIRIT. This follows naturally from what has been already stated, but it requires to be emphasized in view of the frankincense which had in every case to accompany the meat offering. This is admittedly the symbol of devotion (cf. Kalisch, in loco). A life-work, to be consecrated, be steeped in prayer; its Godward object must be kept constantly in view, and stated and circulatory prayer must envelop it like a cloud of incense.
It is, again, worth while to notice how the perfect life-work of Christ was pervaded by prayer. If any one since the world began had a right to excuse himself from the formality of prayer in consequence of his internal state of illumination, it was Jesus Christ. And yet we may safely say that his was the most prayerful life ever spent on earth. As Dr. Guthrie once said, "The sun as it sank in the western sea often left him, and as it rose behind the hills of Moab returned to find him, on his knees." We need not wonder why he spent whole nights in supplication, for he was bringing every detail of his work into Divine review in the exercise of prayer. There is consequently a most significant appeal issuing out of his holy life, to work prayerfully at all times if we would work for God.
IV WORK FOR GOD MUST BE DIVORCED FROM MALICE AND FROM PASSION, AND DONE IN CALM PURITY AND STRENGTH. Much of the world"s work has malice passion for its sources. These motives seem to be symbolized by the leaven and honey, which were forbidden as elements in the meat offering. Care should be taken in work for God that we do not impart into it worldly and selfish motives. Such are sure to vitiate the whole effort. The Lord with whom we have to do looks upon the heart and weighs the motives along with the work.
What a commentary, again, was the perfect life of Jesus upon this! Malice and passion never mixed with his pure motives. He sought not his own will, nor did he speak his own words, but calmly kept the Father"s will and glory before him, all through.
V WORK FOR GOD SHOULD BE COMMITTED TO HIS PRESERVING CARE. For it is to be feared we often forget to season our sacrifices with salt. We work for God in a consecrated spirit, but we do not universally commit our work to his preserving grace, and expect its permanency and purity. Work for God should endure. It is our own fault if it do not.
Our blessed Lord committed his work to the preserving care of the Father. He was, if we may judge from Isa_49:4, as well as from the Gospel, sometimes discouraged, yet when constrained to say, "I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for naught, and in vain," he could add, "Yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.
VI WORK DONE FOR GOD IS SURE TO BENEFIT OUR FELLOWMEN. The meat offering was only partially burnt on the altar a handful, containing, however, all the frankincense, was placed in the sacred fire, and thus accepted; the rest became the property of the priest. How beautifully this indicated the truth that when one tries to please God, his fellow-men, and especially those of the household of faith, are sure to participate in the blessing! The monastic idea was an imperfect one, suggesting the possibility of devotion to God and indifference to man coexisting in the same breast We deceive ourselves so long as we suppose so.
Our Master went about doing good; he was useful as well as holy; and so shall all his followers find themselves, if their consecrated life-work is molded according to the pattern he has shown us. Faithfulness in the first table of the Law secures faithfulness in the second. R.M.E.
HOMILIES BY S.R. ALDRIDGE Vers. 1-3. Mediate and immediate presentation.
The abrogation by Christianity of the rites and ceremonies of Judaism does not prevent the necessity nor dispel the advantages of becoming acquainted with the laws by which the ancient sacrifices were regulated. The mind of God may be ascertained in the precepts delivered in olden days, and underlying principles recognized that hold good in every age. The very fact that truth has thus to be searched for, and by patient induction applied to present conditions, should prove an incitement rather than a hindrance to investigation. Freeing the kernel from its husk, grasping the essence and neglecting the accidents, preferring the matter to the form, we shall behold in the Law prophecies of the gospel, and admit the likeness that proclaims both to have proceeded from the same God.
I A DISTINCTION IS MADE BETWEEN OFFERINGS ACCEPTED BY GOD DIRECTLY, AND THOSE PRESENTED TO HIM INDIRECTLY FOR THE USE OF HIS APPOINTED SERVANTS. The flour being brought to the priests, a handful was taken, and with frankincense was burnt upon the altar, rising to heaven in the form of smoke and perfume. The remainder of the flour was for the consumption of the priests. This distinction is applicable to many Christian offerings. The money given for the erection or support of a place of prayer, the surrender of time and thought for public worship, or for evangelistic work, the acknowledgment of Jesus Christ by baptism and by partaking of the Lord"s Supper, the devotion of our strength and influence to God"s service, these may be considered as gifts presented straight to God himself. They are laid upon the altar, enwrapped in the fire of holy love, perfumed with prayer, and are consumed with zeal of God"s house. But there are other oblations which must be regarded in the light of mediate presentations to God, such as, supporting the ministry at home and missionaries abroad, ministering to the need of the aged and feeble, and giving the cup of water to the disciples of Christ. This distinction is not meant to glorify the one class in comparison with the other, but to clarify our views, and to lead to the inquiry whether we are doing all we can in both directions. There is an idea in many minds that if the works of benevolence and charity be performed, the other duties of gathering together in the solemn assembly and of avowal of attachment to Christ are of little importance. The burning of a portion of the offering upon the altar rebukes such a conception. And similarly we learn that the punctual attendance upon the means of grace, and the regular offering of praise and prayer, must not exclude the exercise of hospitality and sympathy.
II Looking at these two classes separately, we remark, respecting the bestowment of the "remnant" upon the priests, that OFFERINGS TO GOD MUST BE PRESENTED IN THEIR ENTIRETY. All the flour brought was considered "most holy," and could not be employed thereafter except for the benefit of "sacred" persons. A man was at liberty to offer or withhold, but once having vowed, he could not withdraw even a portion of his present. God will not be satisfied with a share of a man"s heart. If it be given at all, it must be the whole heart. And once having engaged ourselves to be his, there can be no revocation of faculty, affection or time. To look back after taking hold of the plough is to mar religious dedication. The mistake of Ananias was in pretending to give the full price, and attempting to conceal a portion of it. Oh that we could make religion permeate our lives, hallowing even our secular employments by doing all to the glory of God!
III With respect to the portion burnt for a "memorial," observe that AN OFFERING HAS A DOUBLE INTENT; IT EVINCES A GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE BY THE WORSHIPPER OF GOD"S BOUNTY AND REQUIREMENTS, AND IT ENSURES A GRACIOUS REMEMBRANCE OF the WORSHIPPER ON THE PART OF GOD. The special significance of the "minchah" lay in its expression of thankfulness, and of desire by that expression to secure the favour of the God by whom our needs are supplied. To appreciate past kindness is to show a fitness to receive additional mercies in the future. To remember God is to be remembered in turn by God. At the Communion we take the bread and wine as Christ"s memorial, and he, the Master of the feast, approves the spirit and the act, and thinks upon us for good. Self-interest recommends us to honour the Lord. To save a handful of meal would be to lose a coming harvest, and to save ourselves temporally is to lose eternally.
IV ALL OFFERINGS MADE IN THE APPOINTED WAY ARE WELL PLEASING UNTO GOD. The meal oblation differed from the sacrifice of a lamb or bullock, perhaps was not so expensive, and all of it was not consumed by fire; yet it was also declared to be "of a sweet savour unto the Lord." We should not trouble ourselves because our kind of service is distinct from that which our fellows render, or is treated by the world as less important. The mites of the widow lie side by side in the treasury with the shekels of the wealthy, and will receive quite as much notice from the Lord of the sanctuary. If a niche in the temple of heroes is denied to us, or if the eloquence that sways the wills of men belongs not to our tongue, yet may we with kindly words and manly actions and loving tones do our little part in Christianizing the world, and our efforts will win the commendation of him who "seeth not as man seeth." And further, let us not be sad because at different periods we do not find ourselves able to render the same service. In the winter we may sacrifice from our herds and. flocks, but must wait till the summer for the firstfruits of the field. Youth, manhood, and age have their appropriate labours. Leisure and business, health and sickness, prosperity and adversity, may present to the Lord equally acceptable offerings. S.R.A.
HOMILIES BY J.A. MACDONALD Vers. 1, 2. The minchah, a type of Christ.
Because the minchah was an offering without blood, and therefore was not intended as a sacrifice for sin, (Heb_9:22) some have supposed that it was in use before the Fall. This opinion, however, has but little to sustain it. We certainly read of the minchah as having been offered by Cain; (Gen_4:3) but then Abel, at the same time, offered the holocaust, or sin offering, which no one dreams of having formed any part of the original worship in Eden. Cain"s fault was not in having offered the minchah, but in not associating with it some sin sacrifice. It is questionable whether the minchah, under the Law, was ever offered without such an accompaniment. Yet we may view the minchah as a type of Christ. For
I ALL THE HOLY BREAD TYPIFIED CHRIST.
1. The manna was of this class.
(1) It is called "bread from heaven". (see Neh_9:15)
(2) Compare Joh_6:31-35, Joh_6:41, Joh_6:48-51.
2. The shew-bread also was of this class.
(1) It was the bread of heaven, for it rested in the sanctuary, which was one of the typical "heavenly places.
(2) It rested under the splendours of the Shechinah, and therefore took its name, "Bread of Faces," viz. of God. The Bread of the Sacred Presence.
3. So was this bread of the minchah.
(1) This, indeed, was offered in the outer court; for there the altar stood. But so was Christ offered "outside the gate" of Jerusalem, and outside the courts of heaven.
(2) But it was, like the shew-bread, destined to be eaten in the sanctuary. So is Christ eaten by his spiritual priesthood in his kingdom of heaven upon earth.
So is he destined to nourish the joys of the glorified in the heaven of heavens. (Luk_22:30)
(3) This was an Eucharistic offering, and equivalent to the bread of the Christian Eucharist. (Mat_26:26 1Co_10:16)
II THIS BREAD HAD THE QUALITY OF EXCELLENCE.
1. As bread it was the staple of food.
(1) We can dispense with luxuries, but bread is necessary. It is "the staff of life." So is Christ.
(2) Bread is, by a figure of speech, put for everything needful for the body. (Mat_6:12) Christ is, by no figure of speech, everything needful to the soul.
2. This bread was of "fine flour.
(1) It may have been of barley as well as of wheat. (see Num_5:15) Every variety of spiritual nourishment may be found in Christ.
(2) But the flour must be "fine." The nourishment we find in Christ is of the finest order. Christ is God"s best Gift to us. So is Christ our best Gift to God. All secondary gifts are valuable as they are offered in his Name. (2Co_9:15)
III IT HAD NOTICEABLE ADJUNCTS.
1. Oil was poured upon it.
(1) The oil was from the olive, a tree full of fatness. (Jud_1:9:9) It is a symbol of the Holy Spirit"s grace. (Mat_25:4)
(2) The fine flour was anointed with it. Messiah is so named because anointed with the Holy Ghost without measure. The Greek synonym of the Hebrew Messiah is Christ. (Isa_61:1 Act_4:27 Act_10:38 Heb_1:9)
(3) We are called Christians because anointed by the Spirit of Christ. (see 2Co_1:21 1Jn_2:20, 1Jn_2:27)
2. It was offered with frankincense.
(1) This was a favourite spice, which appears not to have been yielded by one tree alone, but probably was compounded from several. We read of "spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense ". (Son_4:14)
(2) It is associated with the Bridegroom in the Song of Songs, to express the perfections of his holy character, by which he is infinitely attractive to his Spouse, the Church. He is there described as coming up out of the wilderness "like pillars of smoke," probably alluding to the Shechinah, and "perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the powders of the merchant". (Son_3:6)
(3) In these perfections he is no less grateful to God when offered up to him. (Mat_3:17 Mat_17:5 2Pe_1:17) As we become Christ-like, we are also well pleasing in his sight. The faithful minister of the Word is "unto God a sweet savour of Christ". J.A.M. (2Co_2:15)
Vers. 1-10. The feast upon the minchah.
In our remarks upon the two first of these verses, we viewed the minchah, or meat offering, as a type of Christ. Upon this point additional light may be incidentally thrown as we now proceed to consider the feast upon the minchah. For this we hold to be designed to represent our fellowship with God in Christ.
I FEASTS HAVE EVER BEEN REGARDED AS TOKENS OF FRIENDSHIP.
1. Secular history abounds in examples.
(1) These date back to very ancient times. The ancient Egyptians, Thracians, and Libyans made contracts of friendship by presenting a cup of wine to each other. Covenants were made by the ancient Persians and Germans at feasts. The Pythagoreans had a symbol, "Break no bread," which Erasmus interprets to mean "Break no friendship.
(2) Similar usages still obtain. It would be considered amongst us a most incongruous thing for persons at enmity deliberately to sit down at the same table. So according to our laws, if a person drinks to another against whom he has an accusation of slander, he loses his suit, because this supposes that they are reconciled.
2. Sacred history also furnishes examples.
(1) Isaac and Abimelech made a covenant with a feast; (Gen_26:30, Gen_26:31) so did Jacob and Laban; (Gen_31:54) so did David and Abner. (2Sa_3:20)
(2) The verb (hrb, bern) to eat, in the Hebrew, if not the root of the word (tyrb, berith), covenant, is at least a kindred word.
(3) Hence in apostolic times, Christians were forbidden to eat with wicked persons. (1Co_5:11; see also Gal_2:12) It must never be forgotten that the "friendship of the world is enmity against God.
II THE FEAST OF THE MEAT OFFERING WAS A SYMBOL OF FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD.
1. The "memorial of the minchah was God"s meat.
(1) The offerer separated a portion of the mass, which was called the memorial, or representation of the whole. Thus he took from the bulk of the fine flour a handful. To this he added a suitable proportion of oil. The whole of the frankincense was devoted.
(2) The priest then burnt the complete memorial upon the altar of burnt offerings.
(3) God signified his acceptance of it by consuming it in fire, which was not of human kindling, but had issued from his Shechinah. The portion thus consumed was regarded as "God"s food," or "meat," of the offering which he was pleased to accept. This was one part of the feast.
2. The remnant was then eaten by the priests.
(1) The priests here are not to be viewed as types of Christ. The high priest alone seems to have represented him. (Heb_3:1 Heb_8:1 Heb_9:11)
(2) The common priests were representatives rather of the holy people. Hence the whole nation of Israel were regarded as a "kingdom of priests". (Exo_19:6) The people, therefore, and in particular the offerer, representatively, feasted with God.
(3) Under the gospel even this official representation is changed. The people of God are now a holy priesthood, not by representation, but in right of their spiritual birth. (1Pe_2:9) They draw nigh unto God. (Heb_10:19-22) They feast with him at his table and in his very Presence.
(4) All this, amongst many other blessed things, is set forth in the Christian Eucharist, or Supper of the Lord.
III CHRIST IS THE MEDIUM OF THIS FELLOWSHIP.
1. Obviously so since the minchah was a type of Christ.
(1) This has been sufficiently shown (see Homily on verses 1, 2).
(2) We may add that the argument is sustained by the use of the term "memorial." When the firstling of the cattle was taken instead of the rest, it is called making a memorial to God. (Exo_34:19; see Hebrew text) This represented the taking of the Great Firstborn instead of all men, and the firstling of the cattle was only a memorial, not the real sacrifice.
(3) It is a great truth that Christ is our one way of access to God. (Joh_14:6) "He is our peace;" and it is through the frankincense of his presence that our offering becomes a "sweet savour a savour of rest, "unto the Lord" (verses 2, 9).
2. Christ is delectable food to faith.
(1) Sometimes in the minchah the flour was unbaked (verse 2). In this case the oil accompanying it was unmingled. The portion reserved for the priests might, therefore, be mingled by them in any way they pleased to render it most palatable.
(2) In other cases the bread was prepared to their hands. Sometimes baken in the oven in cakes, mingled with oil, or in unleavened wafers, with oil poured upon them (verse 4). Sometimes in a pan or fiat plate, mingled with oil or oil poured over it (verses 5, 6). Sometimes in the frying-pan or gridiron, with oil (verse 7).
(3) The bread of life is essentially good and nourishing. It is at the same time capable of being served up in such variety as to suit every taste that is not vicious. It is the privilege of the scribe instructed in the kingdom to bring out "things new and old," to set old things in new lights, and to show that there is "nothing new under the sun; for all things are as old as the councils of eternity. J.A.M.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON Vers. 1-16. Our recognition of the hand of God in the blessings of life.
The fact that the law of the meat offering follows that of the burnt offering is itself significant. It suggests
I THE TRUE ORDER OF THE DIVINE LIFE IN MAN. It is, indeed, a mistake for the human teacher to attempt to lay down precise lines of thought and feeling along which souls must move. "The progress of religion in the soul" varies with individual experience. The action of God"s Spirit is not limited, and while we should seek to lead all souls to walk in the road by which we are traveling, we should not be anxious that they should tread in our own steps. On the other hand, there is an order of thought and experience which may not be inverted. First the burnt offering, then the meat offering; first the soul"s presentation of itself as a sinner to ask forgive-Hess and to offer itself to God, then the service of recognition of him and gratitude for his gifts. It is a serious, and may be a fatal, spiritual error to attempt to gain God"s favour by doing those things which are appropriate to his children, without having first sought and found reconciliation through a crucified Saviour. Start at the starting-point of the Christian course, lest, when the goal is reached, the crown be not placed upon the brow.
II OUR GRATEFUL RECOGNITION OF GOD"S CONSTANT GOODNESS TO US. The meat offering was a sacrifice in which the worshipper acknowledged that the various blessings of his life came from God and belonged to him. He brought fine flour (verse 1), and oil (verse 1), also wine as the accompanying drink offering. (Lev_23:13) The chief produce of the land, the principal elements of food were, in a sacred hour, at the holy place, and, by a pious action, solemnly recognized as gifts of God, to be gratefully accepted from his hand, to be reverently laid on his altar. We are thankfully to acknowledge:
1. God"s kindness in supplying us with that which we need. Bread (corn) will stand for that food which is requisite, and when we consider the goodness of our Creator,
(1) in originally providing that which is so wholesome and nourishing to all men;
(2) in multiplying it so freely that there is abundance for all;
(3) in causing it to be multiplied in such a way as ministers to our moral and spiritual health (through our intelligence, activity, cooperation, etc.);
(4) in making palatable and pleasurable the daily meals which would otherwise be (as sickness occasionally proves) intolerably burdensome; we have abundant reason for blessing God for his kindness in respect of the necessaries of life.
2. His goodness in providing us with that which is superfluous. A very large part of the enjoyment of our life is in the use of that which is not necessary but agreeable; in the appropriation of that which is pleasant, the exquisite, the harmonious, the fragrant, the delicately beautiful, etc. This also is of God. He "makes our cup to run over;" from him come the fruits and the flowers, as well as the corn and the grass. Nay, he has closely associated the superfluous with the necessary in nature as in human life. The common potato does not grow without bearing a beautiful flower, nor the humble bean without yielding a fragrant odour. As the Hebrew brought his oil and his wine to the altar of gratitude, so should we bring our thanksgiving for the delicacies, adornments, and sweetnesses which come from the bountiful hand of Heaven.
III THE NECESSITY FOR PURITY IN OUR SERVICE, There might not be leaven nor honey (verse 11); there must be salt (verse 13). Everything associated with corruption must be avoided; that which was antiseptic in its nature should be introduced; "nothing which defileth" before him; the "clean hands and the pure heart" in "the holy place". (Psa_24:3, Psa_24:4) (See "Purity in worship," infra. )
IV THE ACCEPTABLENESS OF OUR GRATITUDE TO GOD. All the frankincense was to be consumed on the altar, and the burning of the other offerings with this fragrant incense accompanying it betokened that it was, as stated, a "sweet savour unto the Lord" (verses 2, 12). God is not to be worshipped with men"s hands, as though "he needed anything"; (Act_17:25) but he takes delight in his children:
1. Realizing his presence.
2. Recognizing his hand in their comforts and their joy.
3. Responding to his fatherly love with their filial gratitude andpraise.
V THE WHOLESOME INFLUENCE OF GRATEFUL SERVICE ON OUR OWN HEARTS. He who "knows what is in man," warned his people against saying in their heart, "My power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth". (Deu_8:17) Such a sacrifice as that of the meat offering a service of grateful acknowledgment of God"s hand is fitted to render us the greatest spiritual benefit, by:
1. Helping us to keep a humble heart before God.
2. Causing us to be filled with the pure joy of gratitude instead of being puffed up with the mischievous complacency of pride. C.
HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD Vers. 1-3. The meat offering.
The offering of meat or food, consisting of fine flour, with frankincense, cakes and wafers, parched grain, suited to all classes. The general meaning was probably eucharistic. A portion of bread, firstfruits, offered in the fire as a memorial of Divine goodness and pledge of the future life. Several particulars noticeable.
1. It was what made part of the daily meal of the house.
2. Frankincense mingled with it, and oil poured upon it; the prayers and thankful worship of the offerer, which were the work of God"s Spirit, returned to him.
3. It was partly consumed by fire, and partly "a thing most holy," or set apart to the Lord, eaten by the priests, supporting the temple worship.
4. If baked, no leaven in it nor honey, no corruption, a pure sacrifice.
5. Every offering seasoned with salt, "the salt of the covenant of thy God,i.e., the emblem of Divine grace, which, while it accepts man"s obedience, overlooks and pardons its imperfection. R.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v1 A meat-offering.
Lev_2:1-16
A meat-offering.
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The meat-offering
It is only when we have received Christ in His character of a sacrifice for our sins, that we are in a condition to render ourselves a living sacrifice, so as to be acceptable to God. The meat-offering illustrates the second great step in the process of salvation.
I. The Jew, for the substance of his meat-offering, was directed to bring fine flour, or cakes or wafers of fine flour, or fine flour baked on a plate, or fine flour fried in oil, or the firstfruits in advance of the harvest beaten out of full ears dried by the fire. Either wheat or barley would answer; but the requirement reached the very best grain, either whole, as in the case of the firstfruits, or in its very finest and best preparations. Thus are we to offer our very best to the Lord--our bodies and souls, our faculties and attainments--and in the highest perfection to which we can bring them. Holiness is not the mere saying of a few prayers, or the paying of a few weekly visits to the sanctuary, or the giving of a few pennies now and then for the Church or the poor. It is the rendering of fresh grain and fine flour to the Lord, our God and Benefactor. It is the presentation of our entire selves a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service.
II. Oil was to be poured upon, or mingled with, the flour of the meat-offering. This was not common oil, but the oil of unction, or holy oil. It was a material used in consecrating, or setting apart. It refers to the Holy Spirit, and the operations of that Spirit in setting apart whom He pleases. It typifies that unction of the Holy One, of which John speaks so largely. No offering of ourselves to God, no true sanctification can occur, without the oil of Divine grace, the principle of holiness and sacred power which is poured upon the believer by the Holy Ghost.
III. There was frankincense to be put on it. This circumstance identifies it at once with the burnt-offering, or holocaust. That burnt-offering represented Christ as the Sacrifice for our sins. The frankincense therefore plays the part here of representing the mediation and intercession of the Saviour--the grateful fragrance which comes up before God from the altar of burnt sacrifice. Our consecration to God, even with the gracious operations of the Spirit, could not be acceptable, except through Christ, and the sweet intercessorial perfume which arises from His offering in our behalf.
IV. It was to be kept clear of heaven and honey. Leaven indicates corruption. Its principle is a species of putrefaction. It tends to spoil and decay. We must be honest in these sacred things, and in real earnest, and not deal deceitfully with others or with ourselves. But wily keep away honey? Simply because it is a fermenter, a corrupter, and carries in it the principle of putrefaction. And as leaven represents the ugly, offensive, sour elements of depravity, so honey is the emblem of such as are sweet and attractive to the taste--the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Sensual indulgences and worldly pleasures, as well as hypocrisy and malice, will corrupt and destroy our best oblations.
V. Salt was to be used in it. What did this mean? Salt is just the opposite of leaven. The one corrupts, the other preserves. The one taints and hastens putrefaction, the other purifies and keeps wholesome. It was the custom in ancient times to ratify and confirm nearly every important bargain or contract by the eating together of the parties. This, of course, required the use of salt as an article invariably present on all such occasions. It thus, or in some other way, came to be regarded as a symbol of agreement and pure abiding friendship. If we are true in presenting ourselves to God, we come into harmony with God. We become His friends, and He our Friend. As we move to Him, He moves to us. As we come to terms with Him, He comes to terms with us. We agree to be His obedient and loving children, and He agrees to be our protecting and loving Father. We give ourselves up to be His people, and He brings Himself down to be our God. But this same salt tells also of a pure, healthful, pervading savour of virtue and grace. It was the principle of savoury purification to the sacrifice; and so the Saviour requires of us to have salt in ourselves. As every Christian is to be a living sacrifice--an accepted oblation unto God, he must comply with the law of sacrifice, and be salted with salt; that is, made savoury and incorruptible by being pervaded with unfaltering principles of righteousness.
VI. Its eucharistic nature. It was not so much a sacrifice as an oblation of praise. Many are the obligations by which we are bound to present ourselves as living sacrifices unto God. Viewed in whatever light, it is our reasonable service. But of all the great arguments which bind and move us to this surrender to our Maker, none stand out with a prominence so full and commanding as that drawn from the mercies of God. We were wrapped up with them in our Creators thought before our life began. They were present, breathing their blessings with our very substance, when we were fashioned into men. Before our appearance in the world, they had been at work preparing many fond affections for our reception, and arranging many a soft cushion to come between this hard earth and our youthful tenderness. They have tempered the seasons for our good, and filled the horn of plenty to make us blessed. Every day is a handful of sunbeams, kindled and cast down by the mercies of God, to gladden the place of our abode, and to light us to the paths of peace. Every night is a pavilion of the same making, set around us to give us rest, whilst God touches His fingers to our eyelids, saying, Sleep, My children, sleep. (J. A. Seiss, D. D.)
The meat-offering; or the Father honoured
Whereas in burnt-offering Christ is seen glorifying God in His death, in--
I. Meat-offering (or meal-offering, R.V.), the chief feature is Jesus honouring the Father in His life, each alike a sweet savour unto the Lord. The Blessed One must live as man before He could die for men; and here we have the perfect character of the sinless, holy Man Christ Jesus (Act_10:38; Joh_9:4). See, then, how the holy life and sacrificial death are inseparably connected; how former must culminate in latter. Hence meat-offering is found constantly in conjunction with burnt and peace offerings (Num_15:3-4; Num_15:9; Num_15:11; Num_15:24; Num_28:4-5; Num_28:12-13; Num_28:27-28; Num_29:6; Lev_7:12), but never with sin or trespass-offerings, each of which shadows forth some aspect of the death, and both are sweet savour offerings. Observe, too, that while life, not death, is the prominent feature in meat-offering, there is a thought of latter in memorial burned upon brazen altar (Lev_2:2; Lev_2:9; Lev_2:16), upon and around which blood had been sprinkled, and on which burnt and peace-offerings were consumed. Hebrew word. Mincha, translated meat-offering, signifies gift or present could any offer to the holy God that would be acceptable save His own unspeakable gift (2Co_9:15), Jesus? Component parts of meat-offering were most significant.
1. Fine flour (Lev_2:1; Lev_2:4-5; Lev_2:7), well sifted, free from every unevenness, coarseness, or speck; or could not have typified Jesus, who was (1Pe_1:19); every grace alike perfect; perfect evenness of character and temperament; every quality perfectly adjusted and evenly balanced; and this from birth, for He was the Holy One of God.
2. Oil, both mingled with and poured upon (Lev_2:4-6). Jesus filled with Spirit from birth (Luk_1:35; Mat_1:20). Spirit filled the human body that veiled Divinity, imbuing the whole nature with His graces; yet was Jesus anointed for service on earth (Act_10:38; Isa_61:1; Luk_4:18) at His baptism, when Spirit descended and abode upon Him (Luk_3:22; Joh_1:33-34). Given not by measure, but in sevenfold power (Joh_3:34; Isa_11:2).
3. Frankincense further illustrates this. It was white and fragrant. White betokens purity, innocence; striking characteristics of the Blessed One (Joh_8:46; 1Pe_2:22-23). His judge could find no cause of death in Him, and the centurion glorified God, and pronounced the Crucified One a righteous man (Act_13:28; Luk_23:4; Luk_23:47). Fragrance was what Jesus truly ever shed around, as He spake the words (Son_5:13) and did the works of Him that sent Him (Luk_4:40-44 : Joh_17:8; Joh_8:28; Joh_12:49-50; Joh_14:10). The name of Jesus is as ointment poured forth (Son_1:3), and when He dwells within, the heart is filled with sweet fragrance--as was the house at Bethany (Joh_12:3)--and He is to that soul, as to the Father, a savour of rest (Gen_8:21, mar.); and truly the Father could rest in the love and devotion of His beloved Son.
II. memorial, burned upon the altar, shows this still more. Fire brings forth more fully the sweetness, and tells of the Fathers delight in Jesus, and acceptance of that holy, consecrated life of devotion to His service, laid on His altar. Observe, too, that all the frankincense was to be burnt (Lev_2:2; Lev_2:16; Lev_6:15), telling of the special fragrance, intended only for the Father, in whose service He was consumed by zeal (Joh_2:17), and whom He glorified on the earth (Joh_17:4; Joh_13:31). The burning, as before said, seems likewise to point to death, in which the holy life culminated; but no question of judgment because no question of sin, as shown by word used for burning. Still, though judgment is not portrayed in meat-offering, yet is Jesus there seen as a Man of sorrows . . . (Isa_53:3), and such expressions as Baken in the oven, in the frying-pan, the firstfruits, green ears of corn dried by the fire, corn beaten out (Lev_2:4; Lev_2:7; Lev_2:14), surely tell of the grief and sufferings of the Holy One. But the more He was tried, the sweeter the fragrance that ascended, as in all things He showed Himself submissive to His Fathers will. Observe further--
III. the salt of the covenant must not be lacking from the meat-offering (Lev_2:13). Salt typified both the incorruption and incorruptibility of our Blessed Lord (Psa_16:10; Act_2:27). Salt thus betokens perpetuity. Hence the covenant of salt (Num_18:19; 2Ch_13:5) tells of the enduring character of Jehovahs everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure (2Sa_23:5-7; Isa_55:3). Assured in Jesus--given for a covenant . . . (Isa_42:6; Isa_49:8), and Himself the Amen of Gods covenant promises (Luk_1:72; 2Co_1:20; Rev_3:14). Again, see speech,. . . with grace seasoned with salt (Col_4:6), exemplified in Him of whom it is written, Grace is poured . . . (Psa_45:2). Truly gracious words proceeded out of His mouth (Luk_4:22), but ever seasoned with salt, its pungency, its enduring and incorrupting influence. See how He gave right answers to each, so that no man could entangle Him . . . (Mat_2:15-23). The like is enjoined to His people (Col_3:16; Mar_9:50), whom He calls the salt of the earth (Mat_5:13; see Pro_12:18); and while He would have them follow His example in this, as in all else, He Himself--the Unchangeable--preserves them from corrupting influences; He would have them pure (1Pe_1:14-16), filled with the Spirit (Eph_5:18), testifying of Jesus, and thus made unto God a sweet savour of Christ (2Co_2:15).
IV. Two things forbidden in meat-offering.
1. Leaven. Used in Scripture as type of evil, of false doctrine (Mat_16:6; Mat_16:12; 1Co_5:6-8); hence strictly forbidden in every Levitical type of our Lord. It also indicates sourness of temper and puffing up, not uncommon in man; but impossible in the perfect, spotless Man Christ Jesus, the second Man, the Lord from heaven (1Co_15:47).
2. Honey. Sweet to taste, but producing sourness afterwards, as sometimes is the case with the words and ways of man; and likewise with Satans tempting baits, by which he seeks to lure men to their destruction; but as impossible as the characteristics of leaven in the God-man of whom the meat-offering is type. Lastly, an important question arises: Who are--
V. Partakers of the meat-offering? Aaron and sons (Lev_2:3; Lev_2:10; Lev_6:16-18). They represent the Church; and the Church of God is to feast on Jesus, the Bread of Life; to feed on His words (Joh_6:35; Joh_6:47-54; Joh_6:63; Jer_15:16); to meditate on details of holy life of Him who was the Fathers delight. The remnant of the acceptable memorial burnt upon the altar of the Lord was given to the priests; that is, all that is not specially appropriated to the Father, who joys in the Son, is bestowed for the-sustenance of His people. Further mark, the priests were to feed on the meat-offering in the holy place(Lev_6:16), consecrated to the service of God. How can any feed on Jesus in places devoted to the world? (Lady Beaujolois Dent)
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The meat-offering
I. THE MATERIALS.
1. Bread, corn, wheat, or barley (1Ch_21:23; Eze_45:13; Eze_45:15).
(1) Fine flour, purged from the bran. The pure estate of Christ, and of all Christians, with their services in Him, being purged, as it were, from the bran of natural corruption.
(2) Firstfruits {see 1Co_15:20).
(3) Ground, sifted, baked, fried, beaten, &c. (see Isa_53:5; Col_1:24). Ignatius, when about to suffer martyrdom by being devoured of wild beasts, speaks of his body as the Lords corn, which must be ground by their teeth, to be prepared for Him.
2. Oil. This signified in general the Spirit of God in His graces and comforts (Isa_61:1), which Spirit Jesus Christ did receive above measure, and from Him all believers do partake of His anointing. There is, and must be, this sacred oil in all our offerings, the influence of the Spirit of God.
3. Frankincense. Signifying the acceptableness unto God of the persons and services of His people, through the mediation and intercession of Jesus Christ.
4. Salt. The perpetuity of the covenant of grace, and the wholesome and savoury carriage and walking of Gods people.
II. The actions to be performed about it.
1. It must be brought to the priest. Imports a voluntary act of the offerer, and a making use of Christ for acceptance in all our services and approaches unto God.
2. The priest is to burn the memorial of it upon the altar, before the Lord (see Psa_20:3; Act_10:4).
3. The remnant was Aarons and his sons.
(1) The communion and participation of Christ by all believers (Rev_1:6; 1Pe_2:9; Joh_6:33).
(2) Part of the priests maintenance.
III. The meaning.
1. It prefigured and shadowed forth the atonement or expiation of sin by the righteousness of Jesus Christ--both by His sufferings and actings, His active and passive obedience.
2. It signified also the persons of believers, who, through Christ, are sanctified and cleansed to be a pure oblation to God (Isa_66:20; Php_2:17; 2Ti_4:6).
3. It signified those fruits of grace and good works that believers perform, whether towards God or towards man.
(1) Prayer.
(2) Praise.
(3) Holy Communion.
(4) Alms.
4. It shadowed forth the acceptance of our persons and services with the Lord (Php_4:17-18; Mal_1:10-11).
IV. The additions forbidden.
1. Leaven argues corruption.
(1) False doctrine (Mat_16:6; Mat_16:11-12).
(2) Scandalous and wicked practices (1Co_5:6-8).
(3) Hypocrisy and secret sins (Luk_12:1-2).
(4) Promiscuous communion and carnal mixtures in Church society (1Co_5:6).
2. Honey cloys and loads the stomach, and turns to choler and bitterness.
(1) God will be worshipped according to His own institution and command. His will is the rule, though we cannot well see the reason of it. We must not follow any invention of our own, though to our carnal thoughts it seem as sweet as honey, though it seem never so decent, never so orderly.
(2) Learn that holy temper and equability of spirit, which becometh saints in all the conditions and vicissitudes they pass through. We must take heed of extremes. There must be neither leaven nor honey; neither too much sour nor too much sweet; neither inordinate sorrow nor inordinate pleasures in the meat-offering of the saints.
(3) Some apply it to Christ Himself: that there is in Him, our Meat-offering, no such sweetness which turns to loathing, no such pleasure whereof a man can take too much, no such delight as proves bitter in the latter end.
V. The appurtenance of drink-offerings.
1. Wine, in typical and allegorical Scriptures, sometimes signifies the joys and consolations of the Holy Ghost.
2. We find the saints pouring out their blood in the cause of Christ, compared to a drink-offering (Php_2:27; 2Ti_4:6). And so, in a much higher sense, the blood of Christ is represented by wine in the Holy Communion.
3. It shadowed forth the Lords acceptance of His people. (S. Mather.)
Homage graced with excellencies
I. Every element of worth and attractiveness should concentrate in our worship and service of god. Fine flour--oil--frankincense. By all these combined ingredients a total result would be produced which constituted the offering one of a sweet savour unto the Lord.
1. Solitary graces are not despised by Him we worship.
2. Yet worship should he the outflow of all noble affections and aspirations of the soul.
3. Preparation for such a blending of graces in worship is our evident duty.
II. Adorable presentations to god secure his gracious appreciation and lavish praise. Sweet savour. A thing most holy.
1. No poverty of approval ever repels a fervent worshipper.
2. Offering such excellency of homage, we shall assuredly realise that God is well pleased.
III. Excellencies in typical offerings foreshadowed the beauties and worthiness of Jesus.
1. The quality of the flour bespeaks the intrinsic excellence of Christ.
2. The pouring oil thereon denotes the anointing of the Spirit.
3. The added frankincense tells of the delightfulness of Christ. (W. H. Jellie.)
The meat-offering typical of Christ and His people
I. Consider the principal ingredient of it. There were two things of which it consisted, one of which was fine flour. This fine flour was of wheat, as is clear from various accounts we have of this offering.
1. This may denote the excellency of Christ: the superior excellency of Him to all others, not only as a Divine person, but as God-man and Mediator; He is preferable to angels and to men.
2. But this meat-offering, being of fine flour, of wheat the choicest of grain, may also denote the purity of Christ: fine flour of wheat being the purest and cleanest of all others. As He is a Divine person, He is a rock and His work is perfect: a God of truth, and without iniquity, just and true is He. As man, His human nature was entirely free from all contagion and corruption of sin: from original taint, as the fine flour of which this meat-offering was, free from all bran, so He was free from the bran of original corruption. Pure and free was He from any iniquity in life: He did none, neither was guile found in His mouth.
3. Moreover, as fine flour of wheat is the principal part of human sustenance, and what strengthens the heart of man, and nourishes him, and is the means of maintaining and supporting life, it may fitly shadow and figure out our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the bread of God, which came down from heaven. The bread of Gods preparing, the bread of Gods giving, and the bread which God blesses for the nourishment of His people. Thus this meat-offering, as to the substance of it, being of fine flour of wheat, is a very special and particular representation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
4. It may also, with great propriety be applied unto His people, who are represented in Scripture frequently as wheat. These may be signified hereby, because of their peculiar choiceness; being the excellent in the earth, in whom is the delight of the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as of His Divine Father, whom He has chosen from all others, to be His peculiar people. And they being compared to wheat, may denote also their purity. Not as considered in themselves, but in Christ.
II. Consider the things which were to be made use of along with this meat-offering; and the things which were forbidden to be used in it. There were some things to be made use of in it, such as oil, frankincense, and salt. Oil was to be poured upon it, frankincense put thereon, and every oblation was to be seasoned with salt. The oil that was poured upon the meat-offering, or to be mingled with it, may denote, either the grace of God in Christ, or the grace of God communicated to, and bestowed upon His people. Frankincense put upon the meat-offering, may denote either the acceptableness of the Lord Jesus Christ to God and His people, or the acceptableness of His people unto God and to Christ. Salt was another thing that was used in it, which makes food savoury, and preserves from putrefaction, and may denote the savouriness of the Lord Jesus Christ to believers. Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? says Job (Job_6:6). Now Christ, as a meat-offering, is to His people savoury food, such as their souls love: pleasing, delightful, comfortable, refreshing, nourishing, and strengthening. Salt is an emblem of perpetuity. Now this may denote the perpetuity of Christs sacrifice, which always remains; and the perpetuity of Him, as the meat-offering. For He is that meat which endures to everlasting life; and Him has God the Father sealed. And this, as it respects the people of God, may be an emblem of the savour of their life and conversation. There were two things which the Jews were forbidden to use in the meat-offering; the one was leaven, and the other was honey. There was to be no leaven in it. This, as it may respect our Lord Jesus Christ, the Antitype of the meat-offering, may denote His freedom from hypocrisy, and all false doctrines, which were the leaven of the scribes and Pharisees. He is truth itself--the Way, the Truth, and the Life: and the doctrines preached by Him were grace and truth. To apply this to the people of God, as no meat-offering was to be made with leaven, it may denote that they should take heed of communing with profane and scandalous persons. And it may denote that they should be clear of malice and wickedness; they ought to lay aside, as new-born babes, all superfluity and naughtiness. Another thing forbidden in the meat-offering is honey. The reason of this is because it was made use of among the heathens in their offerings, and the people of God were not to walk in their ordinances, but in the ordinances appointed of the Lord. Besides, honey, like leaven, is of a fermenting nature,, and which, when burned, gives an ill smell; and no ill smell was to be in the offering. It was to be, as our text says, of a sweet savour unto the Lord; which it could not have been if the honey had been in it. Besides, it is of a cloying nature, it causes a loathing when persons eat too freely of it. Now there, is nothing of this to be found in the antitypical Meat-offering, our Lord Jesus Christ. No, the true believer that feeds by faith upon Him, the language of his soul is, Lord, evermore give us this bread; let me always feed upon this provision. Moreover, honey may be considered as an emblem of sin, and sinful pleasures; which are as a sweet morsel rolled under the tongue of a wicked man, though it proves the poison of asps within him at last: and so denotes unto us, that such who would feed by faith on Christ ought to relinquish sinful lusts and pleasures. As well it may also further denote that the people of God must not expect their sweets without their bitters. They that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution of one kind or another. So the passover was to be eaten with bitter herbs as the representation of the same thing.
III. As to the composition thereof, and the different manner of dressing this meat-offering. It was to be made of fine flour, made of wheat, beaten out of the husk, and ground; it was to be mingled with oil, kneaded, baked in an oven, fried in pans; or parched by the fire. Now all this may be an emblem of the dolorous sorrows and sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ. And as it may be applied to the people of God, it may denote not only their separation from others, but the trials and exercises they meet with, which are sometimes called fiery trials.
IV. The use that was made of this offering. Part of it was burnt as a memorial unto the Lord, either to put the Lord in mind of His loving-kindness to His people, and of His covenant with them, and promises unto them, to which the allusion is (Psa_20:3), or to put the offerer in mind of the great sacrifice of Christ, who was to be offered for his sins, and to be a meat-offering to him. And the other part of it was to be eaten by the priests, which shows the care taken by the Lord for the maintenance of the priests, and from whence the apostle argues for the support of the ministers of the gospel (1Co_9:13-14). And this may denote that such who are made priests unto God by Christ have a right to feed upon Christ, the meat-offering by faith; who is the altar and meat-offering, which none but such have a right to eat of.
V. The acceptableness of it. It is said to be of a sweet savour unto the Lord, as Christs sacrifice is said to be (Eph_5:2). And so His people also, their persons are an offering of a sweet-smelling savour to God, in Christ; being accepted in Him the Beloved and as are their sacrifices both of prayer and praise. (John Gill, D. D.)
The meat-offering
The meat-offering (or rather bread-offering, for the word meat has changed its meaning since our translation was made) was an accompaniment of the burnt-offering, and therefore must be looked at in its connection with it. It consisted in the offering of fine flour (Lev_2:1), or bread made of fine flour (Lev_2:4-5; Lev_2:7), with oil and frankincense (Lev_2:1), and salt (Lev_2:13). Its symbolic meaning is quite obvious. Just as the burnt-offering symbolised the dedication of the man himself to God, with all his powers and faculties, the bread-offering signified the dedication to God of the fruit of his labours, the produce of his industry. In its fullest sense it symbolised the dedication of his life-energy to God in holy obedience. The close association of bread with, life throughout the Scriptures is quite familiar to us, and perhaps our Lord had this offering in mind when He said: My meat (bread) is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work (Joh_4:34). But while in its fullest sense the bread-offering may be understood as symbolising the entire new life which is the result of our dedicating of ourselves to God, its most obvious application is to the dedication of our substance to Him, to whom we have dedicated ourselves. The oil to be poured upon the offering has here its invariable significance of heavenly grace, and the frankincense the devotional spirit in which the offering should be presented. The salt is spoken of as the salt of the covenant of thy God (Lev_2:13); and the caution never to allow it to be lacking seems to guard against the danger of supposing that our gifts to the Lord can find acceptance in any other way than through the provisions of the covenant which He has made with us by sacrifice (Psa_50:5). The things prohibited are equally suggestive with the things enjoined. They are leaven and honey: leaven, the symbol of corruption, and honey, of a sweetness which was in the Hebrew mind especially associated with fermentation. The disposal of the offering was also significant. Part of it was to be burnt upon the altar as a memorial (Lev_2:2; Lev_2:6): the rest was set apart for use by the priests (Lev_2:3). Inasmuch as the priests in these transactions represented the people, while the altar represented God, the idea of fellowship or sharing is here conveyed, as if to suggest the thought that while all our energies and all our substance should be consecrated to God in the first place, the sum is nevertheless in the issue divided between the more sacred and the more personal uses. In the matter of property, for instance, the true idea is not to give a portion to the Lord and to keep the rest for ourselves, but to give all to God; and then, with His approval, to expend so much on personal use, and set aside so much for consumption on the altar. But while The offering is to be thus divided, the frankincense is to be all burnt upon the altar (Lev_2:2). The devotional element is for God alone. You have heard, perhaps, of the newspaper writer who, referring to the devotional part of the service in one of the churches in Boston, spoke of his having had the privilege of listening to the most eloquent prayer that was ever addressed to a Boston audience. We are too apt to forget that our prayers are not for Boston audiences or London audiences, but for the audience of Heaven, for the ear of God. The frankincense was all to be burnt upon the altar. (J. M. Gibson, D. D.)
The meat-offering
First, the meat-offering was one of the offerings commanded by the law of God; it consisted of fine flour, oil, and frankincense. A handful of this flour, with the oil and all the frankincense, was to be burnt by the priest on the altar as an offering to God, the remainder of the flour and oil was to belong to the priest. Afterwards we read of three kinds of meat-offerings, of which the first was baked in an oven, the second in a pan, the third in a frying-pan, which is thought by some expositors not to mean what we call a frying-pan, but a coarse earthen pot in which the poorer sort in the East cook their food. These three kinds of meat-offerings were all of the same materials, but probably different in quantity from one another, as well as in mode of preparation. The meat-offering in the oven was intended as the offering of the rich; that in the pan for the middling class; that in the frying-pan for the poorest sort. God requires an offering from all, both rich and poor, and will accept the offering of the poorest as well as that of the richest. The meat-offering seems to mean the entire giving up of a man, his body and soul, and all he has to God, which follows his believing acceptance of Christs work and sacrifice. The man looks with faith to Christs sacrifice (this is the burnt-offering), this sight of Christ crucified fills all his heart with love and gratitude to his kind and loving Saviour, this causes him to give himself and all that he has to God and His service (this is the meat-offering). The fine flour, probably meant the mans self, his property and services. It was not only flour, but fine flour, the best part of the flour, the flour cleansed from bran, dirt, &c. When the believer offers himself to God, he offers that new man which is created in him by the Holy Spirit, and which is most pleasing and precious in Gods sight through Christ. The remains of sin in the believer are like the bran, dirt, &c., in the flour; these are cleansed out of and destroyed in the believer by the Spirit, and are not offered to God. The oil in the meat-offering probably denoted the Holy Spirit. He was poured without measure on Christ the Head of the Church, and flows down to the skirts of His clothing, so that the meanest believer shares in this Divine oil which adorns and beautifies the soul. Frankincense was also a part of the meat-offering. Now, frankincense was a type of the prayers of Christ and His intercession, by which the sacrifices and services of believers are offered to, and accepted by the Father. Just as man is delighted with the sweet smell of frankincense, so the Father is most delighted with Christ, and His prayers for believers, which are always sweet smelling and fragrant to Him. The man was to offer the whole quantity of the meat-offering, but the priest was only to take a handful of it for the Lord. The part that God took was to be offered up as a memorial, to teach a man that all he had belonged to God, and that He had a right to take the whole, or any part of it He pleased. All the frankincense was to be taken, since the prayers of Christ are all so precious to the Father that not one of them can be left out by Him from His own peculiar offering. All the remainder that was not offered on the altar became most holy. This teaches us that when once we have offered ourselves to the Lord, everything of ours becomes separated from the world and sin, and set apart to Gods service, and though He returns it to us, yet we must remember that it is most holy, and though it may be used by us, yet it must be used as a most holy thing, and not for ungodly or sinful uses. Secondly, let us consider the two things that were forbidden to be used in meat-offerings, and in most sacrifices. They were
(1) leaven; and
(2) honey.
Leaven is a striking figure of decay and corruption. It is often used in Scripture as a figure of sin, which is the corruption and decay of the soul from the original state of righteousness and holiness in which man was created to a state of ungodliness and wickedness. Any sin, then, wilfully indulged and allowed is the leaven which is positively forbidden to be offered in any of our spiritual sacrifices to God. The second thing forbidden to be offered in the meat-offering was honey. And by honey being forbidden in the sacrifices, we are taught that in all our spiritual sacrifices of praise and prayer and good works and all others, we should carefully avoid set, king the pleasure or gratification of the natural heart, instead of or in addition to Gods glory and approval. Thirdly, let us observe what was to be put not only in the meat-offering, but in every Jewish sacrifice--that was salt. Whatever else was wanting, the salt was never to be wanting from any sacrifice made to God. By salt is meant grace in Scripture, and that work of the Spirit in the heart which is a fruit and effect of the grace or undeserved love of the Godhead. Just as salt preserves from natural corruption, so the Holy Spirit and His grace preserves from spiritual corruption--that is, the departure of the heart from the love and fear of God. It was not only salt that was to be in the meat-offering and other sacrifices, but the salt of the covenant of thy God. The salt in believers must be the salt of the covenant--the Holy Spirit--not mere human principles of endurance, temperance, philosophy, and virtue. This covenant is the covenant of grace made between the Father and the Son, its object is to give eternal life and blessings to those who are in it, who are all true believers on account of and in consideration of the work of Christ in His life and death. God gives believers the Spirit as the certain mark and sign of the covenant of grace into which He has admitted them through Christ. Lastly, consider the application of this to ourselves. Take heed that there is no leaven, no tolerated, or indulged, or ruling sin in your heart or conduct, or God will abhor and curse your offerings and sacrifices, for the sacrifice of the wicked is abomination to the Lord (Pro_15:8). Weakness and sins of infirmity there will always be in all your offerings to God; but the blood of Christ will wash out all these if you go to that fountain. But no sin must be wilfully indulged, or suffered to rule in your heart or life; no sin must be inwardly loved and cherished by you. Take heed also that there is nothing of what the law of God condemns as honey in your offerings to God. Many only seek to please themselves, or to get the praise of men in their service or worship of God; but this is the honey God forbids in the sacrifices. Above all, take heed that you have the Holy Spirit. (C. S. Taylor, M. A.)
The meat-offering
I. In its contrast to the other offerings. Five points here at once present themselves, which bring out what is distinctive in this offering. The apprehension of these will enable us to see the particular relation which Jesus filled for man as Meat-offering.
1. The first point is that the meat-offering was a sweet savour. In this particular it stands in contrast to the sin-offering, but in exact accordance with the burnt-offering.
2. The second point in which the meat-offering differed from the others is seen in the materials of which it was composed. These were flour, oil, and frankincense; there is no giving up of life here. It is in this particular, especially, that the meat-offering differs from the burnt-offering. Life is that which from the beginning God claimed as His part in creation: as an emblem, therefore, it represents what the creature owes to God. Corn, the fruit of the earth, on the other hand, is mans part in creation; as such, it stands the emblem of mans claim, or of what we owe to man. What we owe to God or to man is respectively our duty to either. Thus in the burnt-offering the surrender of life to God represents the fulfilment of mans duty to God; man yielding to God His portion to satisfy all His claim. In the meat-offering the gift of corn and oil represents the fulfilment of mans duty to his neighbour: man in his offering surrendering himself to God, but doing so that he may give to man his portion. Thus the burnt-offering is the perfect fulfilment of the laws of the first table; the meat-offering the perfect fulfilment of the second. Of course, in both cases the offering is but one--that offering is the body of Jesus; but that body is seen offered in different aspects: here in the meat-offering as fulfilling mans duty to man. The one case is man satisfying God, giving Him His portion, and receiving testimony that it is acceptable. The other is man satisfying his neighbour, giving man his portion as an offering to the Lord.
3. The meat-offering was not wholly burnt. In this it differed from the burnt-offering. Christ as performing mans duty to God--that is, the burnt-offering--was wholly the food of God, wholly put upon His altar, wholly consumed by Him. But Christ as performing His duty to man--that is, the meat-offering--is also mans meat, the food of the priests: The remnant of the meat-offering shall be Aarons and h s sons; it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire. Yet even here He satisfies God. A handful, the memorial of the offering, is put upon the altar to teach us, that even in fulfilling mans duty to his neighbour, Christ fulfilled it as an offering unto the Lord. But though God had thus a portion in the meat-offering, it is nevertheless specially the food of man; primarily to be viewed as offered for us to God, but also as given to us, as priests, to feed on. For us, as meat-offering, Jesus fulfilled what was due to man. He did this as our representative, as the substitute of those who trust Him--in this aspect of the offering our souls find peace; here is our acceptance--but this, though securing peace, is but a part of our blessed portion. If Jesus did all this for us, will He not do it to us? As righteous in Him, we still have wants, we need daily food and anointing; and for these as much as for righteousness, we are debtors to His abounding grace. The law is that the priests should be fed at the altar; they may not work for their bread as others. The faithful Israelite is the appointed channel of their subsistence; on his faithfulness, under God, do they depend for their food. Jesus, as the faithful Israelite, will not fail the priests who wait at the altar. Let His priests (ye are a royal priesthood) be but found where they should be, and His offering will be there to feed them. He will abundantly bless the provision, He will satisfy His poor with bread.
4. The fourth point I notice in the meat-offering is, that, though intended for, and for the most part consumed by, man, it was, nevertheless, offered unto the Lord. In the meat-offering the offerer gives himself as mans meat; yet this is yielded as an offering unto Jehovah. The offering indeed fed the priests; but it was offered, not to them, but to the Lord. The first Adam took for man not only what was given him, but what God had reserved for Himself. The second Adam gave to God not only Gods portion, but even of mans part God had the first memorial. Jesus, as man, in satisfying mans claim on Him, did it as an offering unto the Lord. With us how much even of our graces is offered to man rather than to God. Even in our most devoted service, what a seeking there is, perhaps unconsciously, to be something in the estimation of others: some secret desire, some undetected wish, even by our very service to be greater here. The very gifts of God and the power of His Spirit are sought the better to give us a place in this world. Surely this is one of the reasons why God can trust us with so little, for with His gifts we build up our own name, instead of His name. But how unlike all this to our Master.
5. In the last place, the contrast between the meat-offering and the offering of firstfruits at Pentecost. The distinction is stated in the twelfth verse--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. The contrast is this--the meat-offering was a sweet savour: the oblation of firstfruits, though very like the meat-offering, was not so. For the key to this we must turn to chap. 23., where the law respecting the oblation of firstfruits is given to us. In that chapter we have a list of the feasts. First in order comes the Passover, on the fourteenth day at even; then the wave-sheaf of firstfruits, on the morrow after the Sabbath; and then, fifty days after, the oblation of the firstfruits on the day of Pentecost. The sheaf of firstfruits, on the morrow after the Sabbath, might be burnt to the Lord as a sweet savour; but the oblation of the firstfruits at Pent cost might not be burnt on the altar. The reason for this distinction is found in the fact that the sheaf of firstfruits was unleavened, while the oblation of firstfruits at Pentecost was mixed and made with leaven. The typical application of all this is too obvious to need any comment. Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us, and sacrificed on the predetermined day. Then on the morrow after the Sabbath, the next ensuing Sabbath, that is, on the appointed first day of the week, Christ rose from the dead, and became the firstfruits of them that slept. In Him there was no sin, no leaven; He was in Himself a sweet savour to Jehovah. With this offering, therefore, no sin-offering was coupled; it was offered only with a burnt-offering and meat-offering. But fifty days after this, when the day of Pentecost was fully come, the Church, typified by the leavened oblation of firstfruits, is offered unto the Lord: for we, as well as Jesus, are firstfruits; we are, says James, a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. But this offering, having sin in it, being mixed with leaven, could neither stand the test of the fire of the altar, nor be an offering made by fire of a sweet savour unto the Lord. Yet it was to be both offered and accepted--Ye shall offer it, but it shall not be burnt. And why, and how, was this leavened cake accepted? Something was offered with it, for the sake of which the leavened firstfruits were accepted. They offered with the leavened bread a burnt-offering, a meat-offering, a peace-offering, and a sin-offering; for leaven being found in the oblation of firstfruits, a sin-offering was needed with it. And the priest waved all together: the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave-offering before tile Lord. The Church comes with Christ before God; it is offered with all the value of His work attached to it.
II. In its different grades or varieties. These are three in number, and represent the different measures of apprehension with which a saint may see Jesus in any of His relations.
1. The first contrast is, that while in the first grade each article of the materials is enumerated, the second describes the offering more generally as unleavened wafers anointed. The import of this distinction is at once and easily discoverable. How many saints are there, who, in thinking or speaking about Jesus, can fully assert that He is unleavened, who know anti believe He is sinless, while yet they cannot see all His perfectness. But absence of evil, the being without leaven, is a lower thought than the possession of perfect goodness. We can say, He did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth, long before we can tell what was in Him, and the way in which He spent it all for others.
2. A second point of contrast between the different grades of the meat-offering is too remarkable to be omitted. In the first class it is observed that the offerer himself takes the memorial for God out of the offering; in the second, the priest is said to take it; while in the last class--in the dried ears--no mention is made who takes it. The difference is obvious and instructive. The one view shows Christ in His person as offerer, the other in His appointed office as the priest. The first, Christ as offerer personally giving to God, is a higher view than Christ offering as priest officially. The latter view loses, at least, one precious object in the precious offering of Jesus; the office is indeed seen, but the person of the Lord quite lost sight of.
3. But there is a third contrast, and one which may be more generally apprehended, between the first class of the meat-offering and tile others. In the first class Christs offering is seen as flour: He is the fine flour bruised. In the other classes this particular is almost merged: He is rather bread, either loaves or wafers. The distinction here is very manifest. We may see Jesus as our bread, or even as Gods bread, without entering into the thoughts which are suggested by the emblems of fine flour and frankincense. The perfect absence of all unevenness, and the deep bruisings which He endured that He might satisfy us; the precious savour also of the offering, only more fragrant when tried by fire; these are not our first views of Jesus; for as they are the most perfect apprehensions, so are they generally the last.
4. The difference between the first class of the meat-offering and the third is even more striking and manifest; this latter offering giving us a thought of Christ as firstfruits, the first sheaf of the ripening harvest, rather than the bread already prepared for food, or the fine flour as seen in the first grade. (A. Jukes.)
The meat-offering
The meat-offering (so called by our translators because the greater part of it was used for food) represents the offerers person and property, his body and his possessions. The mercies of God constrain him to give up all he has to the Lord. The meat-offering was generally, or rather always, presented along with some animal sacrifice, in order to show the connection between pardon of sin and devotion to the Lord. The moment we are pardoned, all we are, and all we have, becomes the property of Christ. A type that was to represent this dedication of body and property was one that behoved to have no blood therein; for blood is the life or soul which has been already offered. This distinction may have existed as early as the days of Adam. When God instituted animal sacrifice to represent the atonement by death He probably also instituted this other sort; the fact of this latter existing, and its meaning and use being definitely understood, would tend to confirm the exclusive use of animal sacrifice when atonement was to be shown forth. Cains offering of firstfruits might have been acceptable as a meat-offering, if it had been founded upon the slain lamb, and had followed as a consequence from that sacrifice. This meat-offering was presented daily, along with the morning and evening sacrifice, teaching us to give all we have to the Lords use, not by irregular impulse on particular exigencies, but daily. But we have still to call attention to the chief application of this type. It shows forth Christ Himself. And indeed this should have been noticed first of all, had it not been for the sake of first establishing the precise point of view in which this type sets forth its object. We are to consider it as representing Christ Himself in all His work of obedience, soul and body. And if it represent Christ, it includes His Church. Christ and His body, the Church, are presented to the Father, and accepted. Christ, and all His possessions in heaven and earth, whether possessions of dominion or possessions in the souls of men and angels, were all presented to, and accepted by the Father. Let us now examine the chapter in detail. The meat-offering must be of fine flour--the fine wheat of Palestine, not the coarser meal, but the fine, boiled and sifted well. It must in all cases be not less than the tenth of an ephah (Lev_5:11); in most cases far more (see Num_7:13). It was taken from the best of their fields, and cleansed from the bran by passing through the sieve. The rich seem to have offered it in the shape of pure fine flour, white as snow, heaping it up probably, as in Num_7:13, on a silver charger, or in a silver bowl, in princely manner. It thus formed a type, beautiful and pleasant to the eye, of the mans self and substance dedicated to God, when now made pure by the blood of sacrifice that had removed his sin. For if forgiven, then a blessing rested upon his basket and his store, on the fruit of his body, and the fruit of his ground, the fruit of his cattle, and the increase of his kine (see Deu_28:3-6). Even as Jesus, when raised from the tomb, was henceforth no more under the curse of sin; but was blessed in body, for His body was no longer weary or feeble; and blessed in company, for no longer was He numbered among transgressors; and blessed in all His inheritance, for all power was given Him in heaven and in earth. The oil poured on the fine flour denoted setting apart. It was oil that was used by Jacob at Bethel in setting apart his stone pillow to commemorate his vision; and every priest and king was thus set apart for his office. Oil, used on these occasions, is elsewhere appropriated to mean the Spirits operation--the Spirit setting apart whom He pleases for any office. The frankincense, fragrant in its smell, denoted the acceptableness of the offering. As a flower or plant--the rose of Sharon or the balm of Gilead--would induce any passing traveller to stoop down over them, and regale himself with their fragrance, so the testimony borne by Christs work to the character of Godhead brings the Father to bend over any to whom it is imparted, and to rest over him in His love. The Lord Jesus says to His Church, in Son_4:6, Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and the hill of frankincense. This spot must be the Fathers right hand. In like manner, then, it ought to be the holy purpose of believing souls who are looking for Christ, to dwell so entirely amid the Redeemers merits, that, like the maidens of King Ahasuerus (Est_2:12), they shall be fragrant with the sweet odours, and with these alone, when the bridegroom comes. When Christ presented His human person and all He had, He was, indeed, fragrant to the Father, and the oil of the Spirit was on Him above His fellows (see Isa_61:1; Psa_45:7; Heb_9:14). And equally complete in Him is every believer also. Like Jesus, each believer is Gods wheat--His fine flour. (A. A. Bonar.)
Christ the true Meat-offering
That Christ is the true Meat-offering is manifest from its materials. These clearly represent features of character found nowhere else but in Him. In the bruising of the corn necessary to the formation of the flour--the baking of the cakes or wafers in the second division of the offering--the scorching of the green ears of corn in the oblation of the firstfruits--in each of these particulars we have a type of His sufferings, who was bruised for our iniquities, and by whose stripes we are healed. For, while the meat-offering chiefly directs our attention to Christ in life, exhibiting a faultlessness of character to be seen in none else, it does not step short of the Cross. True, no life was taken, it was a bloodless sacrifice. It was, however, burned upon the altar (not the altar of incense, but of burnt-offering), and was usually, and I am inclined to think always--accompanied by an animal sacrifice. Does not this prove how closely in its typical application this offering is connected with those which more especially set forth Christ as making atonement in death? It is, in fact, but another aspect of the great sacrificial work of Christ--a work, to the accomplishment of which the unblemished life of the Saviour was as needful as His death. Full of grace and truth; the unction of the Holy Ghost, the oil, was ever, and without measure, upon Him. Every incident in His precious life was redolent with the fragrant frankincense; whilst the healthful savour of the salt impregnated everything He did and said. No corrupting leaven! no mere superficial honey-like sweetness (which in us is often called, or mis-called, our good nature) characterised the conduct and conversation of the Anointed Man. View Him under what circumstances you will, whether in the society of those by whom He was loved, or surrounded with men who went about to kill Him, He is ever the pure, perpetual Meat-offering. True, while we are in the flesh, neither our conduct nor our gifts can fully answer to the pure, unleavened Meat-offering. God has, however, provided a perfect offering in Jesus to supply our lack, to ascend as a sweet-smelling savour for us. Yet, as we are exhorted to be like Jesus in being whole burnt-offerings, presenting our bodies living sacrifices, holy and acceptable unto God, so must we seek to imitate Him in the purity and perfectness of His walk as our Meat-offering. (F. H. White.)
The meat-offering
1. Its main material is flour. Earth yields the grain; repeated blows thresh it from the husks; the grinding mill reduces it to powder. This thought glides easily to Christ. He stoops to be poor offspring of poor earth. And then what batterings assail Him!
2. The quality of the flour is distinctly marked. It must be fine. All coarseness must be sifted out. No impure speck may stain it. See the lovely beauties of the Lord. His charms bring comfort to the anxious soul.
3. Oil is added (Lev_2:3). Emblem of the Spirits grace.
4. Frankincense is sprinkled on the mass. And is not Christ the incense of delight, in heaven, in earth? The precious merits of His work regal each attribute of God. He brings full honour to their every claim. He, too, is perfume to His peoples hearts. Say, ye who know Christ Jesus, is not His name as ointment poured forth?
5. No leaven and no honey may be brought. The first is quick to change and taint the meal. It rapidly pervades. It casts a savour into every part. Hence it is evils emblem. For sin admitted will run wildly through the heart. Its course pollutes. The latter is must luscious to the palate. But is it harmless? Nay, it soon proves a sickening and fermenting pest. Its sweetness tempts. But bitterness ensues. Here is a symbol of sins flattering bait.
6. But salt must be infused. Its properties repel corruption and defy decay. Where it is sprinkled freshness lives. At its approach time drops its spoiling hand. Again behold the Lord. His essence and His work are puritys bright blaze.
7. The use of the meat-offering. A part is cast upon the altars hearth. The fire enwraps it in devouring folds. It is the prey of the consuming blaze. The burning meal exhibits Jesus in the furnace of keen anguish. What awe, what peace live in this wondrous sight! The meat-offering had further use. The remnant shall be Aarons and his sons: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire. Here is another view of Christ. It shows most tender and providing love. The gospel truth is bread of life to hungry souls. They, who serve Christ, sit down at a rich board. A feast is spread to nourish and regale. Christ gives Himself--heavens richest produce--as substantial food. (Dean Law.)
The meal offering
Israels bodily calling was the cultivation of the ground in the land given him by Jehovah. The fruit of his calling, under the Divine blessing, was corn and wine, his bodily food, which nourished and sustained his bodily life. Israels spiritual calling was to work in the field of the kingdom of God, in the vineyard of his Lord; this work was Israels covenant obligation. Of this, the fruit was the spiritual bread, the spiritual nourishment, which should sustain and develop his spiritual life. (J. H. Kurtz, D. D.)
The offering of consecrated labour
In the meal-offering we are reminded that the fruit of all our spiritual labours is to be offered to the Lord. This reminder might seem unneedful, as indeed it ought to be; but it is not. For it is sadly possible to call Christ Lord, and, labouring in His field, do in His name many wonderful works, yet not really unto Him. A minister of the Word may with steady labour drive the ploughshare of the law, and sow continually the undoubted seed of the Word in the Masters field; and the apparent result of his work may be large, and even real, in the conversion of men to God, and a great increase of Christian zeal and activity. And yet it is quite possible that a man do this, and still do it for himself, and not for the Lord; and when success comes, begin to rejoice in his evident skill as a spiritual husbandman, and in the praise of man which this brings him; and so, while thus rejoicing in the fruit of his labours, neglect to bring of this good corn and wine which he has raised for a daily meal-offering in consecration to the Lord. And so, indeed, it may be in every department of religious activity. But the teaching of the meal-offering reaches further than to what we call religious labours. For in that it was appointed that the offering should consist of mans daily food, Israel was reminded that Gods claim for full consecration of all our activities covers everything, even to the very food we eat. The New Testament has the same thought (1Co_10:31). And the offering was not to consist of any food which one might choose to bring, but of corn and oil, variously prepared. That was chosen for the offering which all, the richest and the poorest alike, would be sure to have; with the evident intent that no one might be able to plead poverty as an excuse for bringing no meal-offering to the Lord. From the statesman who administers the affairs of an empire to the day-labourer in the shop, or mill, or field, all alike are hereby reminded that the Lord requires that the work of every one shall be brought and offered to Him in holy consecration. And there was a further prescription, although not mentioned here in so many words. In some offerings barley-meal was ordered, but for this offering the grain presented, whether parched, in the ear, or ground into meal, must be only wheat. The reason for this, and the lesson it teaches, are plain. For wheat in Israel, as still in most lands, was the best and most valued of the grains. Israel must not only offer unto God of the fruit of their labour, but the best result of their laborers. Not only so, but when the offering was in the form of meal, cooked or uncooked, the best and finest must be presented. That, in other words, must be offered which represented the most of care and labour in its preparation, or the equivalent of this in purchase price But, in the selection of the materials, we are pointed toward a deeper symbolism, by the injunction that, in certain cases at least, frankincense should be added to the offering. But this was not of mans food, neither was it, like the meal and cakes and oil, a product of mans labour. Its effect, naturally, was to give a grateful perfume to the sacrifice, that it might be, even in a physical sense, an odour of a sweet smell The symbolical meaning of incense, in which the frankincense was a chief ingredient, is very clearly intimated in Scripture (see Psa_141:2; Luk_1:10; Rev_5:8). The frankincense signified that this offering of the fruit of our labours to the Lord must ever be accompanied by prayer; and further, that our prayers, thus offered in this daily consecration, are most pleasing to the Lord, even as the fragrance of sweet incense unto man. But if the frankincense, in itself, had thus a symbolical meaning, it is not unnatural to infer the same also with regard to other elements of the sacrifice. Nor is it, in view of the nature of the symbols, hard to discover what that should be. For inasmuch as that product of labour is selected for the offering, which is the food by which men live, we are reminded that this is to be the final aspect under which all the fruit of our labours is to be regarded; namely, as furnishing and supplying for the need of the many that which shall be bread to the soul. In the highest sense, indeed, this can only be said of Him who by His work became the Bread of Life for the world, who was at once the Sower and the Corn of Wheat cast into the ground; and yet, in a lower sense, it is true that the work of feeding the multitudes with the bread of life is the work for us all; and that in all our labours and engagements we are to keep this in mind as our supreme earthly object. And the oil, too, which entered into every form of the meal-offering, has in Scripture a constant and invariable symbolical meaning. It is the uniform symbol of the Holy Spirit of God. Hence, the injunction that the meal of the offering be kneaded with oil, and that, of whatever form the offering be, oil should be poured upon it, is intended to teach us that in all work which shall be offered so as to be acceptable to God, must enter, as an inworking and abiding agent, the life-giving Spirit of God. It is another direction, that into these offerings should never enter leaven. In this prohibition is brought before us the lesson that we take heed to keep out of those works which we present to God for consumption on His altar the leaven of wickedness in every form. In Lev_2:13 we have a last requisition as to the material of the meal-offering: season with salt. As leaven is a principle of impermanence and decay, so salt, on the contrary, has the power of conservation from corruption. Accordingly, to this day, among the most diverse peoples, salt is the recognised symbol of incorruption and unchanging perpetuity. Among the Arabs, when a compact or covenant is made between different parties, it is the custom that each eat of salt, which is passed around on the blade of a sword; by which act they regard themselves as bound to be true, each to the other, even at the peril of life. In like manner, in India and other Eastern countries, the usual word for perfidy and breach of faith is, literally, unfaithfulness to the salt; and a man will say, Can you distrust me? Have I not eaten of your salt? Herein we are taught, then, that by the consecration of our labours to God we recognise the relation between the believer and his Lord, as not occasional and temporary, but eternal and incorruptible. In all our consecration of our works to God, we are to keep this thought in mind: I am a man with whom God has entered into an everlasting covenant, a covenant of salt (S. H. Kellogg, D. D.)
The burnt-offering and the meat-offering contrasted
In Lev_2:3 we find one of the points of contrast between the burnt-offering and the meat-offering. No part of the burnt-offering was to be eaten. It was called the Holah (ascending offering) because it was all made to ascend upon the altar, whereas in the meat-offering all that remained after the burning of that which the priests hand had grasped, was allowed to be eaten by the priests. The great thoughts connected with these offerings are--first, the satisfaction of the claim of Gods holiness by expiatory death; secondly, the presentation of that which by its perfectness satisfies the claim of Gods altar, as it seeks for an offering of sweet savour; thirdly, the provision of something to comfort, feed, and strengthen us. In the two first eases the thought is directed from the altar towards God; in the latter case we are taught to consider that which God from His altar ministers to us. In the burnt-offering the two first of these, viz., expiation and acceptableness, are made the prominent thoughts; but in the meat-offering the second and third, viz., acceptableness and provision of food for us predominate. (B. W. Newton.)
The meat-offering
As the burnt-offering typifies Christ in death, the meat-offering typifies Him in life. In neither the one nor the other is there a question of sin-bearing. In the burnt-offering we see atonement but no sin-bearing--no imputation of sin--no outpoured wrath on account of sin. How can we know this? Because it was all consumed on the altar. Had there been aught of sin-bearing it would have been consumed outside the camp. But in the meat-offering there was not even a question of bloodshedding. We simply find in it a beauteous type of Christ as He lived and walked and served, down here, on this earth. There are few things in which we exhibit more failure than in maintaining vigorous communion with the perfect manhood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hence it is that we suffer so much from vacancy, barrenness, restlessness, and wandering. In the examination of the meat-offering it will give clearness and simplicity to our thoughts to consider, first, the materials of which it was composed; secondly, the various forms in which it was presented; and thirdly, the persons who partook of it.
I. As to the materials, the fine flour may be regarded as the basis of the offering; and in it we have a type of Christs humanity, wherein every perfection met. Every virtue was there, and ready for effectual action, in due season. The oil, in the meat-offering, is a type of the Holy Ghost. But inasmuch as the oil is applied in a twofold way, so we have the Holy Ghost presented in a double aspect, in connection with the incarnation of the Son. The fine flour was mingled with off; and there was oil poured upon it. Such was the type; and in the Antitype we see the blessed Lord Jesus Christ, first, conceived, and then anointed, by the Holy Ghost. When we contemplate the Person and ministry of the Lord Jesus, we see how that, in every scene and circumstance, He acted by the direct power of the Holy Ghost. Having taken His place as man, down here, He showed that man should not only live by the Word, but act by the Spirit of God. The next ingredient in the meat-offering demanding our consideration, is the frankincense. As has been remarked, the fine flour was the basis of the offering. The oil and frankincense were the two leading adjuncts; and, truly, the connection between these two latter is most instructive. The oil typifies the power of Christs ministry; the frankincense typifies the object thereof. The former teaches us that He did everything by the Spirit of God, the latter that He did everything to the glory of God. It now only remains for us to consider an ingredient which was an inseparable adjunct of the meat-offering, namely, salt. The expression, salt of the covenant, sets forth the enduring character of that covenant. God Himself has so ordained it in all things that nought can ever alter it--no influence can ever corrupt it. In a spiritual and practical point of view, it is impossible to overestimate the value of such an ingredient. Christs words were not merely words of grace, but words of pungent power--words Divinely adapted to preserve from all taint and corrupting influence. Having thus considered the ingredients which composed the meat-offering, we shall now refer to those which were excluded from it. The first of these was leaven. No meat-offering which ye shall bring unto the Lord, shad be made with leaven. No exercise can be more truly edifying and refreshing for the renewed mind than to dwell upon the unleavened perfectness of Christs humanity--to contemplate the life and ministry of One who was, absolutely and essentially, unleavened. But there was another ingredient, as positively excluded from the meat-offering as leaven, and that was honey. The blessed Lord Jesus knew how to give nature and its relationships their proper place. He knew how much honey was convenient. He could say to His mother, Wist ye not that I must be about My Fathers business? And yet He could say, again, to the beloved disciple, Behold thy mother. In other words, natures claims were never allowed to interfere with the presentation to God of all the energies of Christs perfect manhood.
II. The second point in our theme is the mode in which the meat-offering was prepared. This was, as we read, by the action of fire. It was baken in an oven--baken in a pan--or baken in a frying-pan. The process of baking suggests the idea of saffering. But inasmuch as the meat-offering is called a sweet savour--a term which is never applied to the sin-offering or trespass-offering--it is evident that there is no thought of suffering for sin--no thought of suffering the wrath of God, on account of sin--no thought of suffering at the hand of infinite Justice, as the sinners substitute. The plain fact is this, there was nothing either in Christs humanity or in the nature of His associations which could possibly connect Him with sin or wrath or death. He was made sin on the Cross; and there He endured the wrath of God, and there He gave up His life as an all-sufficient atonement for sin; but nothing of this finds a place in the meat-offering. The meat-offering was not a sin-offering, but a sweet savour offering. Thus its import is definitely fixed; and, moreover, the intelligent interpretation of it must ever guard, with holy jealousy, the precious truth of Christs heavenly humanity, and the true nature of His associations. As the righteous Servant of God He suffered in the midst of a scene in which all was contrary to Him; but this was the very opposite of suffering for sin. Again, the Lord Jesus suffered by the power of sympathy; and this character of suffering unfolds to us the deep secrets of His tender heart. Human sorrow and human misery ever touched a chord in that bosom of love. Finally, we have to consider Christs sufferings by anticipation.
III. The persons who partook of the meat-offering. As in the burnt-offering, we observed the sons of Aaron introduced as types of all true believers, not as convicted sinners but as worshipping priests; so, in the meat-offering, we find them feeding upon the remnant of that which has been laid, as it were, on the table of the God of Israel. This was a high and holy privilege. None but priests could enjoy it. Here, then, we are furnished with a beauteous figure of the Church, feeding, in the Holy Place, in the power of practical holiness, upon the perfections of the Man Christ Jesus. This is our portion, through the grace of God; but, we must remember, it is to be eaten with unleavened bread. We cannot feed upon Christ if we are indulging in anything evil. (C. H. Mackintosh.)
Self-consecration
Consecration is not wrapping ones self in a holy web in the sanctuary, and then coming forth after prayer and twilight meditation, and saying, There, I am consecrated. Consecration is going out into the world where God Almighty is, and using every power for His glory. It is taking all advantages as trust funds--as confidential debts owed to God. It is simply dedicating ones life, in its whole flow, to Gods service. (H. W. Beecher.)
We should offer to God what we like best ourselves
A reporter thus mentions his visit to a Chinese Joss-house in San Francisco. The place where they held their religious services was a chamber in one of their best houses. An intelligent Chinese man, who could speak a little English, was in charge of this room. I asked him why they put tea-cups of wine and tea and rice before their god; did they believe that the god would eat and drink? Oh, no, he said. Thats not what for. What you like self, you give God. He see, He like see. Too many Christians, instead of giving to God what they like themselves, offer Him only what they would as lief spare as not.
Labour consecrated to God
T. A. Ragland, an eminent mathematician and a devoted Christian, gained the silver cup at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, four years in succession. One of these was dedicated to God for the communion service of a small native Church, mainly gathered by him, in Southern India, and all were set apart for the same purpose in connection with his itinerating missionary service. (J. Tinling.)
Offering the best to God
An aged minister advised the people of a neighbourhood in Wales, where he laboured for the Master, to hold cottage prayer-meetings, taking the houses in regular order up the mountain-side. One day a poor woman went to a store and asked for two penny candles. The storekeeper said to her, Why, Nancy, what do you want with penny candles? Is not the rushlight good enough for you? Her answer was, Oh yes, rushlight is good enough for me, but the prayer-meeting will soon be coming to my house, and I want to give the Lord Jesus Christ a good welcome. Is there not a lesson here for each Christian? Are we always ready to give the Lord Jesus a good welcome? Or do we keep the candles for self, and give the rushlight to Him?
Offering God the true end of man
As we see birds make their nests and breed up their young, beasts make a scuffle for their fodder and pasture, fishes float up and down rivers, trees bear fruit, flowers send forth their sweet odours, herbs their secret virtues, fire with all its might ascending upward, earth not resting till it come into its proper centre, waters floating and posting with their waves upon the neck of one another, till they meet in the bosom of the ocean, and air pushing into every vacuity under heaven. Shall we then think, or can we possibly imagine, that God, the great Creator of heaven and earth, having assigned to everything in the world some particular end, and, as it were, impressed in their nature an appetite end desire to that end continually, as to the very point and scope of their being; that man (the most noble creature) for whom all things were made, should be made in vain, as not having His peculiar end proportionably appointed to the nobleness of His quality? Yes, doubtless, that God that can never err, nor oversee in His works, hath allotted unto man the worship and service of Himself as the main object and aiming point whereto he ought to lead and refer himself all the days of his life. (J. Spencer.)
Oil as a symbol: service permeated by the Holy Spirit
Two women used to come to my meetings, and I could tell from the expression of their faces that when I began to preach they were praying for me. At the close of the meetings they would say to me, We have been praying for you. You need the power. I thought I had power. There were some conversions at the time, and I was in a sense satisfied. I asked them to come and talk with me, and we got down on our knees. They poured out their hearts that I might receive an anointing from the Holy Ghost, and there came a great hunger into my soul. I did not know what it was. The hunger increased. I was crying all the time that God would fill me with His Spirit. Well, one day, I cannot describe it, it is almost too sacred an experience to name, God revealed Himself to me, and I had such an experience of His love that I had to ask Him to stay His hand. I went to preaching again. The sermons were not different. I did not present any new truths, and yet hundreds were converted. (D. L. Moody.)
The Holy Ghost needed
I was speaking one day with a young minister of the gospel, who told me that on one occasion during his college days he was present when a number of students delivered trial sermons for criticism in the presence of their professor. One very talented young man distinguished himself by the freedom of his delivery and the great eloquence with which he spoke. All present were charmed by the power and beauty of his sermon. As a work of art it was practically faultier. At the conclusion the professor put his hand kindly on the young mans shoulder, solemnly saying to him, My young friend, your sermon only requires to be baptised by the Holy Ghost. That is just what we all want, in order that we may be able to overcome all temptations, or coldness of heart, and work cordially and continuously for Christ. Happily if we ask the Lord Jesus to send the Comforter, He will come and bless us. (J. Davidson.)
Frankincense as a symbol: prayer the true help in service
As Michael Angelo says, The prayers we make will then be sweet indeed, if Thou the Spirit give by which we pray. Our own desires may be hot and vehement, but the desires that run parallel with the Divine will, and are breathed into us by Gods own Spirit, are the desires which, in their meek submissiveness, are omnipotent with Him whose omnipotence is perfected in our weakness. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The aroma of the Christian life
If one should ask you to explain the odour which fills your room from that beautiful climbing honeysuckle, you could not do it; but you are conscious of the fragrance none the less. Just, so there is a quality, a kind of aroma which pervades the personality of certain Christians which is as clearly recognised as the fragrance of the honeysuckle, but which you can as little define or describe.
When one who holds communion with the skies
Has filled his urn where those pure waters rise
And once more mingles with these meaner things,
Tis een as if an angel shook his wings.
Immortal fragrance fills the circuit wide
And tells us whence these treasures are supplied.
Attractive fragrance
As I passed through a glade of trees upon a summers day I heard the hum of bees. Ah! thought I, there is sweetness near! Presently I smelt the lime, the odour of the flowers which had attracted the bees. They did not stop at the other trees, but made direct for their favourite. What a bright little lesson, Christian, for us! Are we sought after because there is the savour of Christ in us, or are we passed by like the scentless trees? (From Witherbys Scripture Gleanings.)
Every Christians life ought to be fragrant: fragrance more than beauty
I saw, says one, a bank covered with violets. The sun was shining full upon it, and its genial warmth had opened the flowers, and caused them to exhibit the most beautiful colours. But when I began to gather them, I found, with the exception of very few, that their colour was all they had to recommend them; they were not the sort of violets which afford the sweet fragrance which we expect to find in that flower. It struck me forcibly that this was an emblem of the Church, the professing Church of Christ. How many are there of fair and promising appearance, professing, and seeming to be of the truth, who yet fail to send up a sweet-smelling savour to God--who are wanting in those holy and devout, and grateful dispositions and affections, which their profession indicates. I bid my heart take the lesson home. What fragrance have I diffused abroad? What incense have I sent upwards? Are not my words and thoughts, is not my whole profession and character, like those scentless violets? There is beauty even in the outward profession of religion and holiness, but if the inward principle be wanting or deficient, there will be no fragrance shed around, no incense wafted upwards. And yet I have been situated, as it were, on a green, sunny bank; my opportunities and means of grace have been many.
Fine enough to be fragrant
A company was assembled to see some incense burned; the incense which ascended from the altar morning and evening like the prayers of Gods people, a sweet-smelling savour unto the Lord. A gentleman placed the incense in a mortar and proceeded to grind it. When it was fine he placed some upon the coals which were ready, and all anxiously awaited the perfume which was to be the result. They sat hushed for some minutes, when a murmur of disappointment arose. It was a failure. The gentleman took up the mortar and ground the remainder of the incense to powder; it was exceedingly fine. Then it was placed upon the coals, when immediately the room was filled with the delightful odour. Thus with our prayers; when we get them fine, when we have ground out all the generalities, and simply go to the Lord with every little thing of joy, of sorrow, as we would tell to a friend, never forgetting to thank Him for even the little blessings of life, then our prayers ascend unto heaven as a sweet-smelling savour to a loving and gracious God. (Sarah Smiley.)
Offerings to God must be simple and sincere
In all Buddhist temples a tall and broad-leaved lily stands directly on the front of the altar. Its idea is as beautiful as its workmanship. This pure white emblem suggests that all offerings on Gods altar should at once be simple and sincere. And it applies with tenfold force to the service of the Christian sanctuary, and the worship of that God who is a Spirit, and seeketh only such as worship Him in spirit and in truth.
All sin must be excluded from our offerings to God
There is no man in his right wits would come as a suitor to his prince, and bring his accuser with him, who is ready to testify and prove to his face his treason and rebellion; much less would any present himself before so great a majesty to make petition for some benefit after he had killed his sovereigns only son and heir, having still in his hand the bloody weapon wherewith he committed that horrid act; there is no adulteress so shamelessly impudent as to desire pardon of her jealous husband having her lover still in her arms, with whom she hath often had wanton dalliance in times past, and is resolved to have the like for the time to come; if any be so mad, so shameless to make suits in this odious manner, they are sure to be repulsed, and find wrath and vengeance where they look for grace and mercy. But thus do they behave themselves towards God, who, remaining polluted with their sins, do offer up their prayers unto Him; for they bring their accusers, even their defiled consciences and crying sins, which continually accuse and condemn them, and call for that due judgment and punishment which they have deserved. (J. Spencer.)
Firstfruits of our young years to be consecrated
The Jews presented the firstfruits of their ears of corn, early, about Easter; the second was primitiae panum, the firstfruits of their loaves, and that was somewhat early too, about Whitsuntide; and the third was primitiae frugum, the fruits of all their latter fruits in general, and that was very late, about the fall of the leaf, in September. In the two first; payments, which were offered early, God accepted a part for Himself, but in the third payment, which came late, God would have no part at all. Even so, if we offer the firstfruits of our young years early unto God, He will accept of them as seasonably done; but if we give our best years unto Satan, sacrifice the flower of our youth unto sin, serve the world, and follow after the lusts of our flesh while we are young, and put all the burden of duty upon our weak, feeble, and decrepit old age, give our first years to Satan, and the last unto God, sure it is, that as He then refused such sacrifices under the law, He will not easily receive them now in the time of the gospel. (J. Spencer.)
Self-dedicated
It was Christmas morning. The door-bell rang, and two young girls were ushered into the study. One of them was about eight years old, and the other ten. After the usual Christmas salutations, the elder of them said, We have come to make Christ a Christmas present. Have you? I asked. Well, what are you going to give Him? We are going to give Him our hearts, she said. After conversing with them awhile, I found this was no mere childish freak, but a serious purpose. We then kneeled together in prayer, closing with a formal dedication of those young hearts to Him who was Gods great Christmas Gift to mankind. From that time those children lived the lives of Christians, and not long after, at the communion-table, they sealed the vow they made that bright Christmas morning. They are faithful Christian women now. (J. Breed, D. D.)
The time of offering the firstfruits
A young lady in a Sabbath School a few mornings since asked her class, How soon should a child give its heart to God? One little girl said, When thirteen years old; another, ten; another, six. At length the least child in the class spoke: Just as soon as we know who God is. Could there be a better reply?
Youth the time for religious offering
There is one obstacle which affects us in the dedication of our lives to this work, and that is the passing of time. It is very natural that we should think that when we grow older it will be easier to dedicate ourselves to this work. It reminds me of what Holman Hunt, the great artist, said on one occasion when he was congratulated by a friend on his selection to paint the historical frescoes for the House of Commons: Yes, he said, with sadness, but I began with my hair grey. It will not be easier for us to wait until our hair is grey. Our opportunities and our strength are greatest in our youth, and it is now that we should make our decision. (Professor Drummond.)
Why such varieties of offering?
It speaks in one place of the meat-offering with oil and frankincense; the next place, of flour baked in the oven; in the next place, of green corn. Why this variety? It is just one of those traits which indicate that the God that made creation has inspired the Bible. He is here providing for the poor man as minutely as for the rich. He says, If yon are a rich man, and can give a valuable and a costly offering, it is your duty to do so; but if you are a poor man, then offer that offering which agrees with your position; and be sure that the poor mans offering of twenty seeds of corn will be as acceptable to God as the rich mans offering of the finest flour perfumed with costly frankincense, and anointed and consecrated with the most precious oil. It is a beautiful thought of our heavenly Father, that the archangel that is nearest to His throne is not dearer to Him nor more watched by Him than the poorest widow or orphan that weeps and prays, and looks and leans on Him in the streets of this great metropolis. It is one of those traits that come cut incidentally in the Bible, indicating the harmony between a God that made the now torn and stained book--the earth--and that inspired the perfect and holy Book--His own gracious Word. (J. Caroming, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Lev_2:1-16; Lev_6:14-23
THE MEAL OFFERING
Lev_2:1-16; Lev_6:14-23
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THE word which in the original uniformly stands for the English "meal offering" (A.V "meat offering," i.e., " food offering") primarily means simply "a present," and is often properly so translated in the Old Testament. It is, for example, the word which is used {Gen_32:13} when we are told how Jacob sent a present to Esau his brother; or, later, of the gift sent by Israel to his son Joseph in Egypt; {Gen_43:11} and, {2Sa_8:2} of the gifts sent by the Moabites to David. Whenever thus used of gifts to men, it will be found that it suggests a recognition of the dignity and authority of the person to whom the present is made, and, in many cases, a desire also to procure thereby his favour.
In the great majority of cases, however, the word is used of offerings to God, and in this use one or both of these ideas can easily be traced. in Gen_4:4-5, in the account of the offerings of Cain and Abel, the word is applied both to the bloody and the unbloody offering; but in the Levitical law, it is only applied to the latter. We thus find the fundamental idea of the meal offering to be this: it was a gift brought by the worshipper to God, in token of his recognition of His supreme authority, and as an expression of desire for His favour and blessing.
But although the meal offering, like the burnt offering, was an offering made to God by fire, the differences between them were many and significant. In the burnt offering, it was always a life that was given to God; in the meal offering, it was never a life, but always the products of the soil. In the burnt offering, again, the offerer always set apart the offering by the laying on of the hand, signifying thus, as we have seen, a transfer of obligation to death for sin; thus connecting with the offering, in addition to the idea of a gift to God, that of expiation for sin, as preliminary to the offering by fire. In the meal offering, on the other hand, there was no laying on of the hand, as there was no shedding of blood, so that the idea of expiation for sin is in no way symbolised. The conception of a gift to God, which, though dominant in the burnt offering, is not in that the only thing symbolised, in the meal offering becomes the only thought the offering expresses.
It is further to be noted that not only must the meal offering consist of the products of the soil, but of such alone as grow, not spontaneously, but by cultivation, and thus represent the result of mans labour. Not only so, but this last thought is the more emphasised, that the grain of the offering was not to be presented to the Lord in its natural condition as harvested, but only when, by grinding, sifting, and often, in addition, by cooking in various ways, it has been more or less fully prepared to become the food of man. In any case, it must, at least, be parched, as in the variety of the offering which is last mentioned in the chapter (Lev_1:14-16).
With these fundamental facts before us, we can now see what must have been the primary and distinctive significance of the meal offering, considered as an act of worship. As the burnt offering represented the consecration of the life, the person, to God, so the meal offering represented the consecration of the fruit of his labours.
If it be asked, why it was that when mans labours are so manifold, and their results so diverse, the product of the cultivation of the soil should be alone selected for this purpose, for this, several reasons may be given. In the first place, of all the occupations of man, the cultivation of the soil is that of by far the greatest number, and so, in the nature of the case, must continue to be; for the sustenance of man, so far as he is at all above the savage condition, comes, in the last analysis, from the soil. Then, in particular, the Israelites of those days of Moses were about to become an agricultural nation. Most natural and suitable, then, it was that the fruit of the activities of such a people should be symbolised by the product of their fields. And since even those who gained their living in other ways than by the cultivation of the ground, must needs purchase with their earnings grain and oil, the meal offering would, no less for them than for others, represent the consecration to God of the fruit of their labour.
The meal offering is no longer an ordinance of worship, but the duty which it signified remains in full obligation still. Not only, in general, are we to surrender our persons without reserve to the Lord, as in the burnt offering, but unto Him must also be consecrated all our works.
This is true, first of all, regarding our religious service. Each of us is sent into the world to do a certain spiritual work among our fellow men. This work and all the result of it is to be offered as a holy meal offering to the Lord. A German writer has beautifully set forth this significance of the meal offering as regards Israel. "Israels bodily calling was the cultivation of the ground in the land given him by Jehovah. The fruit of his calling, under the Divine blessing, was corn and wine, his bodily food, which nourished and sustained his bodily life. Israels spiritual calling was to work in the field of the kingdom of God, in the vineyard of his Lord; this work was Israels covenant obligation. Of this, the fruit was the spiritual bread, the spiritual nourishment, which should sustain and develop his spiritual life." And the calling of the spiritual Israel, which is the Church, is still the same, to labour in the field of the kingdom of God, which is the world of men; and the result of this work is still the same, namely, with the Divine blessing, spiritual fruit, sustaining and developing the spiritual life of men. And in the meal offering we are reminded that the fruit of all our spiritual labours is to be offered to the Lord.
The reminder might seem unneedful, as indeed it ought to be; but it is not. For it is sadly possible to call Christ "Lord," and, labouring in His field, do in His name many wonderful works, yet not really unto Him. A minister of the Word may with steady labour drive the ploughshare of the law, and sow continually the undoubted seed of the Word in the Masters field; and the apparent result of his work may be large, and even real, in the conversion of men to God, and a great increase of Christian zeal and activity. And yet it is quite possible that a man do this, and still do it for himself, and hot for the Lord; and when success comes, begin to rejoice in his evident skill as a spiritual husbandman, and in the praise of man which this brings him; and so, while thus rejoicing in the fruit of his labours, neglect to bring of this good corn and wine which he has raised for a daily meal offering in consecration to the Lord. Most sad is this, and humiliating, and yet sometimes it so comes to pass.
And so, indeed, it may be in every department of religions activity. The present age is without its like in the wonderful variety of its enterprise in matters benevolent and religious. On every side we see an ever-increasing army of labourers driving their various work in the field of the world. City Missions of every variety, Poor Committees with their free lodgings and soup kitchens, Young Mens Christian Associations, Blue Ribbon Societies, the White Cross Army and the Red Cross Army, Hospital Work, Prison Reform, and so on; -there is no enumerating all the diverse improved methods of spiritual husbandry around us, nor can anyone rightly depreciate the intrinsic excellence of all this, or make light of the work or of its good results. But for all this, there are signs that many need to be reminded that all such labour in Gods field, however God may graciously make use of it, is not necessarily labour for God; that labour for the good of men is not therefore of necessity labour consecrated to the Lord. For can we believe that from all this the meal offering is always brought to HIM? The ordinance of this offering needs to be remembered by us all in connection with these things. The fruit of all these our labours must be offered daily in solemn consecration to the Lord.
But the teaching of the meal offering reaches further than to what we call religious labours. For in that it was appointed that the offering should consist of mans daily food, Israel was reminded that Gods claim for full consecration of all our activities covers everything, even to the very food we eat. There are many who consecrate, or think they consecrate, their religious activities; but seem never to have understood that the consecration of the true Israelite must cover the secular life as well, -the labour of the hand in the field, in the shop, the transactions of the office or on change, and all their results, as also the recreations which we are able to command, the very food and drink which we use, -in a word, all the results and products of our labours, even in secular things. And to bring this idea vividly before Israel, it was ordered that the meal offering should consist of food, as the most common and universal visible expression of the fruit of mans secular activities. The New Testament has the same thought: {1Co_10:31} "Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
And the offering was not to consist of any food which one might choose to bring, but of corn and oil, variously prepared. Not to speak yet of any deeper reason for this selection, there is one which lies quite on the surface. For these were the most common and universal articles of the food of the people. There were articles of food, then as now, which were only to be seen on the tables of the rich; but grain, in some form, was and is a necessity for all. So also the oil, which was that of the olive, was something which in that part of the world, all, the poor no less than the rich, were wont to use continually in the preparation of their food; even as it is used today in Syria, Italy, and other countries where the olive grows abundantly. Hence it appears that that was chosen for the offering which all, the richest and the poorest alike, would be sure to have; with the evident intent, that no one might be able to plead poverty as an excuse for bringing no meal offering to the Lord.
Thus, if this ordinance of the meal offering taught that Gods claim for consecration covers all our activities and all their result, even to the very food that we eat, it teaches also that this claim for consecration covers all persons. From the statesman who administers the affairs of an Empire to the day labourer in the shop, or mill, or field, all alike are hereby reminded that the Lord requires that the work of everyone shall be brought and offered to Him in holy consecration.
And there was a further prescription, although not mentioned here in so many words. In some offerings, barley meal was ordered, but for this offering the grain presented, whether parched, in the ear, or ground into meal, must be only wheat. The reason for this, and the lesson which it teaches, are plain. For wheat, in Israel, as still in most lands, was the best and most valued of the grains. Israel must not only offer unto God of the fruit of their labour, but the best result of their labours. Not only so, but when the offering was in the form of meal, cooked or uncooked, the best and finest must be presented. That, in other words, must be offered which represented the most of care and labour in its preparation, or the equivalent of this in purchase price. Which emphasises, in a slightly different form, the same lesson as the foregoing. Out of the fruit of our several labours and occupations we are to set apart especially for God, not only that which is best in itself, the finest of the wheat, but that which has cost us the most labour. David finely represented this thought of the meal offering when he said, concerning the cattle for his burnt offerings, which Araunah the Jebusite would have him accept without price: "I will not offer unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing."
But in the meal offering it was not the whole product of his labour that the Israelite was directed to bring, but only a small part. How could the consecration of this small part represent the consecration of all? The answer to this question is given by the Apostle Paul, who calls attention to the fact that in the Levitical symbolism it was ordained that the consecration of a part should signify the consecration of the whole. For he writes, {Rom_11:16} "If the first fruit is holy, then the lump"-the whole from which the first fruit is taken-"is also holy"; that is, the consecration of a part signifies and symbolically expresses the consecration of the whole from which that part is taken. The idea is well illustrated by a custom in India, according to which, when one visits a man of distinction, he will offer the guest a silver coin; an act of social etiquette which is intended to express the thought that all he has is at the service of the guest, and is therewith offered for his use. And so in the meal offering. By offering to God, in this formal way, a part of the product of his labour, the Israelite expressed a recognition of His claim upon the whole, and professed a readiness to place, not this part merely, but the whole, at Gods service.
But in the selection of the materials, we are pointed toward a deeper symbolism, by the injunction that in certain cases, at least, frankincense should be added to the offering. But this was not of mans food, neither was it, like the meal, and cakes, and oil, a product of mans labour. Its effect, naturally, was to give a grateful perfume to the sacrifice, that it might be, even in a physical sense, "an odour of a sweet smell." The symbolical meaning of incense, in which the frankincense was a chief ingredient, is very clearly intimated in Holy Scripture. It is suggested in Davids prayer: {Psa_141:2} "Let my prayer be set forth as incense; the lifting up of my hands, like the evening oblation." So, in Luk_1:10, we read of the whole multitude of the people praying without the sanctuary, while the priest Zacharias was offering incense within. And, finally, in the Apocalypse, this is expressly declared to be the symbolical significance of incense; for we read, {Rev_5:8} that the four-and-twenty elders "fell down before the Lamb, having golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints." So then, without doubt, we must understand it here. In that frankincense was to be added to the meal offering, it is signified that this offering of the fruit of our labours to the Lord must ever be accompanied by prayer; and, further, that our prayers, thus offered in this daily consecration, are most pleasing to the Lord, even as the fragrance of sweet incense unto man.
But if the frankincense, in itself, had thus a symbolical meaning, it is not unnatural to infer the same also with regard to other elements of the sacrifice. Nor is it, in view of the nature of the symbols, hard to discover what that should be.
For inasmuch as that product of labour is selected for the offering, which is the food by which men live, we are reminded that this is to be the final aspect under which all the fruit of our labours is to be regarded; namely, as furnishing and supplying for the need of the many that which shall be bread to the soul. In the highest sense, indeed, this can only be said of Him who by His work became the Bread of Life for the world, who was at once "the Sower" and "the Corn of Wheat" cast into the ground; and yet, in a lower sense, it is true that the work of feeding the multitudes with the bread of life is the work of us all; and that in all our labours and engagements we are to keep this in mind as our supreme earthly object. Just as the products of human labour are most diverse, and yet all are capable of being exchanged in the market for bread for the hungry, so are we to use all the products of our labour with this end in view, that they may be offered to the Lord as cakes of fine meal for the spiritual sustenance of man.
And the oil, too, which entered into every form of the meal offering, has in Holy Scripture a constant and invariable symbolical meaning. It is the uniform symbol of the Holy Spirit of God. Isa_61:1 is decisive on this point, where in prophecy the Messiah speaks thus: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord God hath anointed me to preach good tidings." Quite in accord with this, we find that when Jesus reached thirty years of age, -the time for beginning priestly service, -He was set apart for His work, not as the Levitical priests, by anointing with symbolical oil, but by the anointing with the Holy Ghost descending on Him at His baptism. So, also, in the Apocalypse, the Church is symbolised by seven golden candlesticks, or lamp stands, supplied with oil after the manner of that in the temple, reminding us that as the lamp can give light only as supplied with oil, so, if the Church is to be a light in the world, she must be continually supplied with the Spirit of God. Hence, the injunction that the meal of the offering be kneaded with oil, and that, of whatever form the offering be, oil should be poured upon it, is intended, according to this usage, to teach us, that in all work which shall be offered so as to be acceptable to God, must enter, as an inworking and abiding agent, the life-giving Spirit of God.
It is another direction as to these meal offerings, as also regarding all offerings made by fire, that into them should never enter leaven (Lev_2:11). The symbolical significance of this prohibition is familiar to all. For in all leaven is a principle of decay and corruption, which, except its continued operation be arrested betimes in our preparation of leavened food, will soon make that in which it works offensive to the taste. Hence, in Holy Scripture, leaven, without a single exception, is the established symbol of spiritual corruption. It is this, both as considered in itself, and in virtue of its power of self-propagation in the leavened mass. Hence the Apostle Paul, using familiar symbolism, charged the Corinthians {1Co_5:7} that they purge out from themselves the old leaven; and that they keep festival, not with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Thus, in this prohibition is brought before us the lesson, that we take heed to keep out of those works which we present to God for consumption on His altar the leaven of wickedness in every form. The prohibition, in the same connection, of honey (Lev_2:11) rests upon the same thought; namely, that honey, like leaven, tends to promote fermentation and decay in that with which it is mixed.
The Revised Version-in this case doubtless to be preferred to the other - brings out a striking qualification of this universal prohibition of leaven or honey, in these words (Lev_2:12): "As an oblation of first fruits ye shall offer them unto the Lord; but they shall not come up for a sweet savour on the altar."
Thus, as the prohibition of leaven and honey from the meal offering burned by fire upon the altar reminds us that the Holy One demands absolute freedom from all that is corrupt in the works of His people; on the other hand, this gracious permission to offer leaven and honey in the first fruits (which were not burned on the altar) seems intended to remind us that, nevertheless, from the Israelite in covenant with God through atoning blood, He is yet graciously pleased to accept even offerings in which sinful imperfection is found, so that only, as in the offering of first fruits, there be the hearty recognition of His rightful claim, before all others, to the first and best we have.
In Lev_2:13 we have a last requisition as to the material of the meal offering: "Every oblation of thy meal offering shalt thou season with salt." As leaven is a principle of impermanence and decay, so salt, on the contrary, has the power of conservation from corruption. Accordingly, to this day, among the most diverse peoples, salt is the recognised symbol of incorruption and unchanging perpetuity. Among the Arabs of today, for example, when a compact or covenant is made between different parties, it is the custom that each eat of salt, which is passed around on the blade of a sword; by which act they regard themselves as bound to be true, each to the other, even at the peril of life. In like manner, in India and other Eastern countries, the usual word for perfidy and breach of faith is, literally, "unfaithfulness to the salt"; and a man will say, "Can you distrust me? Have I not eaten of your salt?" That the symbol has this recognised meaning in the meal offering is plain from the words which follow (Lev_2:13): "Neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be wanting from thy meal offering." In the meal offering, as in all offerings made by fire, the thought was this: that Jehovah and the Israelite, as it were, partake of salt together, in token of the eternal permanence of the holy covenant of salvation into which Israel has entered with God.
Herein we are taught, then, that by the consecration of our labours to God we recognise the relation between the believer and his Lord, as not occasional and temporary, but eternal and incorruptible. In all our consecration of our works to God, we are to keep this thought in mind: "I am a man with whom God. has entered into an everlasting covenant, a covenant of salt."
Three varieties of the meal offering were prescribed: the first (Lev_2:1-3), of uncooked meal; the second (Lev_2:4-11), of the same fine meal and oil, variously prepared by cooking; the third (Lev_2:14-16), of the first and best ears of the new grain, simply parched in the fire. If any special significance is to be recognised in this variety of the offerings, it may possibly be found in this, that one form might be suited better than another to persons of different resources, it has been supposed that the different implements named-the oven, the baking pan or plate, the frying pan-represent, respectively, what different classes of the people might be more or less likely to have. This thought more certainly appears in the permission even of parched grain, which then, as still in the East, while used more or less by all, was especially the food of the poorest of the people; such as might even be too poor to own so much as an oven or a baking pan.
In any case, the variety which was permitted teaches us, that whatever form the product of our labour may take, as determined either by our poverty or our riches, or by whatever reason, God is graciously willing to accept it, so the oil, frankincense, and salt be not wanting. It is our privilege, as it is our duty, to offer of it in consecration to our redeeming Lord, though it be no more than parched corn. The smallness or meanness of what we have to give, need not keep us back from presenting our meal offering.
If we have rightly understood the significance of this offering, the ritual which is given will now easily yield us its lessons. As in the case of the burnt offering, the meal offering also must be brought unto the Lord by the offerer himself. The consecration of our works, like the consecration of our persons, must be our own voluntary act. Yet the offering must be delivered through the mediation of the priest; the offerer must not presume himself to lay it on the altar. Even so still. In this, as in all else, the Heavenly High Priest must act in our behalf with God. We do not, by our consecration of our works, therefore become able to dispense with His offices as Mediator between us and God. This is the thought of many, but it is a great mistake. No offering made to God, except in and through the appointed Priest, can be accepted of Him.
It was next directed that the priest, having received the offering at the hand of the worshipper, should make a twofold use of it. In the burnt offering the whole was to be burnt; but in the meal offering only a small part. The priest was to take out of the offering, in each case, "a memorial thereof, and burn it on the altar"; and then it is added (Lev_2:3-10), "that which is left of the meal offering"-which was always much the larger part-"shall be Aarons and his sons." The small part taken out by the priest for the altar was burnt with fire; and its consumption by the fire of the altar, as in the other offerings, symbolised Gods gracious acceptance and appropriation of the offering.
But here the question naturally arises, if the total consecration of the worshipper and his full acceptance by God, in the case of the burnt offering, was signified by the burning of the whole, how is it that, in this case, where also we must think of a consecration of the whole, yet only a small part was offered to God in the fire of the altar? But the difficulty is only in appearance. For, no less than in the burnt offering, all of the meal offering is presented to God, and all is no less truly accepted by Him. The difference in the two cases is only in the use to which God puts the offering. A part of the meal offering is burnt on the altar as "a memorial," to signify that God takes notice of and graciously accepts the consecrated fruit of our labours. It is called "a memorial" in that, so to speak, it reminded the Lord of the service and devotion of His faithful servant. The thought is well illustrated by the words of Nehemiah, {Neh_5:19} who said: Think upon me, O Lord, for good, according to all that I have done for this people; and by the word of the angel to Cornelius: {Act_10:4} "Thy prayers and thine alms are gone up for a memorial before God"; for a memorial in such wise as to procure to him a gracious visitation.
The remaining and larger portion of the meal offering was given to the priest, as being the servant of God in the work of His house. To this service he was set apart from secular occupations, that he might give himself wholly to the duties of this office. In this he must needs be supported; and to this end it was ordained by God that a certain part of the various offerings should be given him, as we shall see more fully hereafter.
In striking contrast with this ordinance, which gave the largest part of the meal offering to the priest, is the law that of the frankincense he must take nothing; "all" must go up to God. with the "memorial," in the fire of the altar (Lev_2:2, Lev_2:16). But in consistency with the symbolism it could not be otherwise. For the frankincense was the emblem of prayer, adoration, and praise; of this, then, the priest must take naught for himself. The manifest lesson is one for all who preach the Gospel. Of the incense of praise which may ascend from the hearts of Gods people, as they minister the Word, they must take none for themselves. "Not unto us, O Lord, but unto Thy name be the glory."
Such then was the meaning of the meal offering. It represents the consecration unto God by the grace of the Holy Spirit, with prayer and praise, of all the work of our hands; an offering with salt, but without leaven, in token of our unchanging covenant with a holy God. And God accepts the offerings thus presented by His people, as a savour of a sweet smell, with which He is well pleased. We have called this consecration a duty; is it not rather a most exalted privilege?
Only let us remember that although our consecrated offerings are accepted, we are not accepted because of the offerings. Most instructive it is to observe that the meal offerings were not to be offered alone; a bloody sacrifice, a burnt offering or sin offering, must always precede. How vividly this brings before us the truth that it is only when first our persons have been cleansed by atoning blood, and thus and therefore consecrated unto God, that the consecration and acceptance of our works is possible. We are not accepted because we consecrate our works, but our consecrated works themselves are accepted because first we have been "accepted in the Beloved" through faith in the blood of the holy Lamb of God.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 Bloodless Sacrifices: The food-Offerings
Bloodless Sacrifices: The food-Offerings
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Lev_2:1. His offering shall be of fine flour.—Sacrifices for the “meat offering” were from the vegetable, not animal, kingdom. Food offering more expresses the idea. Prepared from wheat, and presented in various forms; fine flour, and cakes of four different kinds, and wheat in the grain. These were products of husbandry, not spontaneous growths entailing no anxiety in provision, or labour in preparation; they represent human labour; were the daily food of man, essential to his life; suggestive, therefore, of his dependence on God, to whom he offered them, his gratitude to God, from whom he received them, his dedication to God, whom he worshipped in the act of sacrifice. As typical of Christ: His excellency is indicated in the quality of the flour, “fine,” and His sufferings in the disposal of it. God looks for grateful returns from those who share the gifts of His bounty in Providence: “What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits towards me?” How much more He should receive responses of our thankful love for His greatest Gift whose worth and virtue are prefigured in this “fine flour burned upon the altar” as “a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire.”
Oil and frankincense.—Symbolic of the Holy Spirit’s grace, and the sacred joy of a consecrated life. If “flour” suggests the product of human labour, the “oil” points to the added sanctity of the Spirit, needful in order to our offering being worthy a place on God’s altar; and “frankincense” denotes the devout gladness with which we should make fragrant every act of sacrifice and service to the Lord. Compass God’s altar, enriched by the Spirit’s unction, and inspired with holy fervour; thus our consecration becomes “a sweet savour unto the Lord.”
Lev_2:2. Burn the memorial of it.—As a heavenward appeal to God that He would remember both the offerer and His “word unto His servants on which He had caused them to hope.” So David pleads—the Lord “remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice” (Psa_20:3); and thus the prayers and alms of Cornelius rose up “for a memorial before God.” We may send up to Heaven our “incense of a pure offering,” and keep a memorial continually before God of our enduring hope in Him and of His covenant engagements for us.
Lev_2:3. The remnant.—The priests of the tabernacle lived upon these consecrated gifts. As “priests unto God” (Rev_1:6) we Christians have a share in all the provisions of God’s house: the Bread of Life, the grace of the Spirit, the delights of Divine fellowship. This is “the feast of fat things” which they within the Church enjoy. “Eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness” (Isa_55:2).
Lev_2:8. Bring the Meat Offering.—Choose which kind of offering you prefer (three kinds are specified in Lev_2:4-7), then come with it “unto the Lord”; through the mediation of our Divine “Priest”; and He who prizes the “prayers of the saints” and loves the “sacrifices of joy,” will seal our offerings with acceptance, and “hear from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand” (Psa_20:6).
Lev_2:11. No offering with leaven nor any honey.—They would produce fermentation. “Leaven” is symbolic of pride and hypocrisy, malice and wickedness; and “honey,” though sweet to the taste, soon begets sickness, thus suggesting a soul quickly satiated and nauseated. God desires “truth in the inward parts,” worship from a “honest heart,” sacrifices from those whose delight in Him is not quickly reversed, whose love changes not. A mingling of corruption and insincerity spoils our finest offerings. What need to pray, “Create in me a clean heart,” etc., and to examine ourselves and our motives when employed in sacred occupations, lest we offend with leaven and honey.
Lev_2:13. Season with salt.—It preserves from putrefaction; renders food savoury; denotes uncorruptedness, durability, constancy; was and is an oriental symbol of hospitality and amity. “Every sacrifice shall be salted with salt,” says Christ (Mar_9:49): there must be no corruptness allowed in the individual Christian life; and all our services should be savoured with the precious qualities of enduring fidelity and constant love. Salt, too, betokens the perpetuity of the Spirit’s grace; and because of His abiding presence (glad fact in the Christian’s experience, “He dwelleth with you and shall be in you”) the consecrated soul retains its sweetness with God and its healthful influence on men. “Ye are the salt of the earth.”
SECTIONAL HOMILIES
Topic: HOMAGE GRACED WITH EXCELLENCIES (Lev_2:1-3)
In seeking God it should be our aim to press much into the act of adoration: not to approach Him with a poverty of graces, but with every virtue combined in the service; thought and feeling, desire and devotion all being of the highest, the finest and most fragrant. Not with one excellency alone beautifying our homage, but with manifold excellencies combined. “The preparations (plural) of the heart” are desirable; all our resources of devout feeling and intelligence; the soul’s fulness of gracious yearnings and aspirations; so that our offerings are rich in excellent qualities of homage: these make worship and servico “things most holy” unto the Lord.
I. EVERY ELEMENT OF WORTH AND ATTRACTIVENESS SHOULD CONCENTRATE IN OUR WORSHIP AND SERVICE OF GOD. “His offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon.” By all these combined ingredients a total result would be produced which constituted the offering one “of a sweet savour unto the Lord.”
1. Solitary graces are not despised by Him we worship. We may take Him gratitude, as did Noah when he burnt his sacrifice upon quitting the Ark; our appeasement sacrifices, as did Balaam on Pisgah; our penitential oblation, as David did in the threshing-floor of Araunah; we may take Him our look of faith, as did the Israelites suffering from the serpent-bite; our tears, as did Peter when he “wept bitterly”; and none of these sacrifices are rejected. For he condescends to our low estate, and accepts the one ruling feeling or desire which prompts us to seek His face.
2. Yet worship should be the outflow of all noble affections and aspirations of the soul. “Fine flour, oil and frankincense,” all should mingle, all should blend into an offering “of sweet savour.” As when the woman “who was a sinner” brought her “alabaster box of ointment” and besides this, “washed His feet with tears,” yea, and “kissed His feet,” and then “anointed them with the ointment” (Luk_7:37-38)—all passions of penitence, gratitude, adoration, trust, love, combining and concentrated on Jesus!
3. Preparation for such a blending of graces in worship is our evident duty. We ought not to enter God’s presence with a poverty of homage, with hearts cold and heedless, with no affection astir, with no sacred graces alert; but with all holy emotions and desires awake, and intelligent perceptions quickened by forethought and pre-vision. God emphatically directs this preparatory arrangement for a right offering: “When any will offer, etc., he shall take thereout the flour and the oil and the frankincense” (Lev_2:1-2). [See Addenda, p. 29, Sweet Incense.]
So David arouses and prepares himself: “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name.” Having no occasion in this age of the Spirit to seek God with material presents, we may and should take Him the realities they symbolised; so that as from “golden vials full of odours” the prayers of saints might “ascend up before God” (Rev_5:8; Rev_8:5). All this should enforce upon worshippers a deeply earnest concern to go in unto the King with their purest, holiest, devoutest feelings and thoughts. “Let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God” (Ecc_5:1-2). He asks of us “whatsoever things are true, venerable, just, pure, lovely,” etc.
II. ADORABLE PRESENTATIONS TO GOD SECURE HIS GRACIOUS APPRECIATION AND LAVISH PRAISE.
What a richness of approving words we have here! “An offering … of a sweet savour unto the Lord.” “It is a thing most holy of the offerings,” etc. (Lev_2:2-3).
1. No poverty of approval ever repels a fervent worshipper.
Affection may be wasted upon the unappreciating; pearls cast before swine will be trodden under foot; Art’s beauties are insipid to the unsympathetic soul. To the imbecile and the eye void of discernment,
“A primrose by the river’s brim
A yellow primrose is to him,
And it is nothing more.”
Much that is beautiful in the world, and in human life, misses recognition; eyes and hearts are closed to their preciousness. But “God knoweth the heart”; sees the motive of action, the meaning of sighs and tears, the graces of desire and design in our feeblest and frustrated efforts. “It is well that it was in thine heart.” “The Lord loveth a cheerful giver.” “It is accepted according to that a man hath.” Nothing escapes Him. Jesus so instantly saw the charm of Mary’s act, though against it the “disciples murmured” (Mar_14:6; Mar_14:8-9). God “smelled a sweet savour” when Noah sacrificed.
2. Offering such excellency of homage we shall assuredly realise that God is well pleased. If “the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering,” because “by faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gift,” will He fail to seal His favour upon the soul who “worships Him in spirit and in truth,” seeing “the Father seeketh such to worship Him”? Did there not come transfiguration glories upon Jesus “as He prayed” (Luk_9:29), followed by the inspiring testimony, “This is My beloved Son”? “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God; and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Php_4:6-7). God will make us glad, assured that we are “accepted of Him.”
III. Excellences in typical offerings FORESHADOWED THE BEAUTIES AND WORTHINESS OF JESUS.
1. The quality of the flour bespeaks the intrinsic excellence of Christ. He is the faultless One, “holy, harmless, undefiled”; God’s most gracious Son; “fairer than the children of men.” Inheriting His virtues by faith, we are beauteous in His beauty, faultless in His perfection, “accepted in the Beloved,” “made the righteousness of God in Him,” so as to stand at last “perfect before Him in love.”
2. The pouring oil thereon denotes the anointing of the Spirit. For the Holy Ghost descended on Him; “baptised with the Holy Ghost,” Jesus was enriched with the Spirit’s grace. And as “heirs of Christ” we also “have an unction from the Holy One”; and “the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you” (1Jn_2:27).
3. The added frankincense, creating a pleasing odour through the tabernacle, tells of the delightfulness of Christ; His joy-inspiring grace. Is not His name “as ointment poured forth”? He gladdens all who share in His sacrifice. And He adds the beauty of spiritual delightfulness to the believer, so that God joys in us; and we are both to Him and among men as “the sweet savour of Christ.”
Our approach to God in the excellences of worship becomes acceptable and well-pleasing to Him only because of Jesus’ merits and virtues, which add all the worth to every accepted service men can render to the Lord. [See Addenda, p. 28, The Beautiful in Worship.]
Topic: MAINTENANCE OF PRIESTLY MINISTRATION (Lev_2:8-10)
I. APPROACH TO GOD’S ALTAR THROUGH GOD’S PRIESTHOOD.
1. Their office and ministers were Divinely ordained. (a) As to the office: “No man taketh this honour to himself but he that is called of God” (Heb_5:4). Christian preachers must hear God’s call to the ministry. “Christ glorified not Himself to be made an high priest, but He that said unto Him, Thou art My Son” (Heb_5:5). (b) As to the ministrations: Every act of the priests is here minutely prescribed. So of Christian ministers (1Co_9:16-23). And our Lord’s ministrations equally so. (See Heb_7:24. &c.)
2. Without their mediation none could approach God. Nor may any come nigh His presence now except through the priesthood of Jesus Christ (Joh_14:6), “No man cometh to the Father but by Me”; and (Heb_4:15-16), “Having a High Priest, &c., let us therefore come boldly,” &c. The Christian ministry does not reproduce and perpetuate a human priesthood. No sacrifices are now offered (Heb_10:11-12); but “we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us … be ye reconciled to God.”
II. MAINTENANCE OF GOD’S PRIESTS BY THE PEOPLES’ GIFTS.
1. A Divine ordinance that they should be generously supported while sacredly employed. Not supernaturally. God did not feed them with angels’ food, nor from the skies, nor from other than human resources, but by the offerings of individual worshippers It left them free for their hallowed work. It called out the generous thoughtfulness of those whom they sacredly served. It knit priest and people together in mutual dependence and mutual helpfulness.
2. Individual responsibility to support God’s servants and maintain His sanctuary. Not a single sacrifice could be laid on the altar, of any kind, without tome part being assigned to the priests. This affirms our duty to give of our life and love to Christ while we approach His Sacrifice to draw atonement from Christ. It also pronounces against a selfish spirit, concerned only for personal gain, in seeking salvation. The offerer must consider others’ wants as well as care for his own soul. And equally it teaches that they who enter God’s house and benefit by the ministration of the Christian pastor should contribute to his comfort and support (1Co_9:11; 1Co_9:13-14; Php_4:18). [See Addenda, p. 29, God’s Ministers.]
III. PRIESTLY MINISTRATIONS PROTECTED WITH UTMOST SANCTITY.
1. Closed within the sacred precincts of God’s house, they lived apart from the world. God’s witnesses to a spiritual life, and to a “life hid with Christ in God.” “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate”
2. Ceaselessly employed in sacred services, they summoned men to a self-surrendered career, glorifying God in their body and their spirit which are His.” “Ye are a holy priesthood, a peculiar people” (1Pe_2:5-9), “zealous of good works.”
3. Living in the very scene where God dwelt, they pledged to all sanctified souls a home with God. “These are not of the world.” “I will that they be with Me where I am” (Joh_17:16-24). “Therefore are they before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple,” &c. (Rev_7:15).
Topic: SUGGESTIVENESS OF THE MEAT OFFERING (Lev_2:8-10)
I. ITS HUMAN ASPECT.
The Burnt Offering indicated consecration to, reconciliation with God; transferrence of guilt to victim slain. The meat offering points to restoration after reconciliation, the introduction of the worshipper to favour and friendship of the Lord. At the Lord’s Table, we may remember, the associations are Eucharistic as well as Sacrificial. What did the meat offering teach the offerer concerning himself?
1. That he was dependent upon God. As he prepared and presented the finest of the wheat, made the pure white flour into cakes such as formed his daily meal, he would be reminded of his dependence upon God who makes the corn to grow, and crowns the year with His goodness. This offering, suggestive of the social meal, would remind the worshipper that he sat at the board of his heavenly Father who gave him daily food, and loaded him with life’s bounteous blessings.
2. That he was under obligation to God. The offering acknowledged his duty and indebtedness. Though small, yet it was of the best. Not chaff, husks, or bran, but “fine flour.” The obligation was to be discharged with (a) Cheerfulness. Oil was to mingle with offering, suggesting gladness in the worshipper, grace and favour in the worshipped. (b) Devoutness. “Frankincense,” an emblem of prayer and praise ascending like sweet incense to the sky.
We are prone to forget the goodness of God as exercised and exhibited in our unceasing Providential supplies. He gives us necessaries and luxuries. Yet some (a) forget Him amid the excitements and enjoyments of life. Some (b) ignore Him in their exclusive attention to the laws and agencies of nature. Some (c) insult Him by denying His existence, and attributing all phenomena and providence to chance. But some (d) adore Him by grateful hearts and obedient lives. We should thankfully partake of His temporal mercies, but with supreme gratitude accept “His unspeakable gift,” the true Bread from heaven.
II. ITS SACERDOTAL ASPECT; or, What did the meat offering teach concerning the Priests?
1. Their office was worthy of respect. Selected by the Lord, they were His special servants, and were appointed to perform sacred duties which the people could not do for themselves. They were God’s priests, and as such deserved the considerate regard of the people. Though Christian ministers are not priests, yet they are ambassadors for Christ, and stand, as it were, in His stead, beseeching men to be reconciled unto God; and, as such, are to be held in high esteem for their work’s sake.
2. Their services commanded recompense. Being withdrawn from secular engagements, and giving their time and thoughts to sacerdotal duties, they had a cogent claim (a) to live in the affections and sympathies of the people; and (b) to be supported by them (Eze_44:27-30; 1Co_9:13). In connection with the sacrifices there was the priest’s portion (Lev_2:3), so that their physical wants might be supplied. The New Testament teaches that “the labourer is worthy of his hire,” and “those who preach the Gospel should live by the Gospel.”
3. Their sacredness claimed for them no worship. No sacrifice was offered to the priests. They had to seek forgiveness and offer sacrifices for themselves. Till the worship had been completed they partook of nothing offered in sacrifice to God; then it was their privilege to share what remained. Under the New Testament dispensation ministers are not priests. They occupy no such unique position, and have no priestly functions to fulfil. Yet, the minister of the Cross—if he be true and faithful—is worthy of the highest esteem, as well as worthy of his hire, though unworthy of worship, as the Levitical priests. Through relationship to our Great High Priest the whole company of the faithful become “kings and priests unto God”; though not even “the glorious company of the apostles” would receive homage, but would exclaim with one voice, “Worship God.”
III. ITS THEOLOGICAL ASPECT; or, What did the meat offering teach the offerer concerning God?
1. That He greatly valued His own gifts to man. “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein”; and yet He holds His smallest works and common gifts to man in great esteem. His directing the priests about their offerings with such minuteness of detail shows that the works His hands had made are worthy being presented with scrupulous care and order in His service.
2. That He reclaims and accepts His own gifts from man. He had the right to do so, and to have them offered and disposed of as He saw fit. All objections about waste and uselessness in the sacrifices vanish when we remember this. When the people offered of their flocks and crops they only gave back a small portion of what they had received in abundance; so that their offerings were (a) provided by God; (b) belonged to Him; and (c), however great, were below His deserts. We cannot offer to the Lord anything that is absolutely our own, for all we have and are belong to Him. “Not your own, bought with a price.” God has a right to our service and sacrifice. If we present ourselves as living sacrifices He will accept and appreciate them as His own gifts restored.
3. That He may be propitiated by such offerings of His gifts by man. Offerings of the produce of the earth (such as Cain’s), unassociated with substitutionary sacrifice, fall below what God requires of man. Hence the Deist leaves out of his worship the essential element to efficiency and acceptability. The hand of faith must first be laid upon the head of the burnt offering, and an atonement be accepted for him, before other services and sacrifices can be well pleasing to God. We cannot enrich the Lord by our gifts, yet He accepts them as expressions of our fealty and faith. Such offerings of our gratitude and trust will be unto Him a “sweet savour.”—F. W. B.
Topic: CHARACTER AS QUALIFYING SACRIFICE (Lev_2:1-3; Lev_2:11-13)
“Fine flour, oil, frankincense, it is a thing most holy unto the Lord. No leaven nor any honey. Every oblation season with salt.” Beyond all dispute the frankincense and salt indicate certain moral features of good; and leaven, honey, &c., certain moral features of evil. This specification of the excellent, this prohibition of the deleterious, denotes how the qualities which enter into our sacrifices and services are considered by God.
I. Symbolised here we behold THE GRACES AND FAULTLESSNESS WHICH DISTINGUISHED JESUS
1. His life was sacrificial. Bruised corn suggests suffering, and our Redeemer knew such bruising from God and man “It pleased the Lord to bruise Him,” &c., “Reproach hath broken My heart.” But a crushed and suffering Jesus is man’s salvation. “By His stripes we are healed.”
2. Yet His sacrifice was full of grace. “Fine flour, oil, frankincense, salt.” (a) Highest qualities of person and character distinguished Jesus. No husk, no common quality in the flour; “that Holy Thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luk_1:35). “It is a thing most holy.” (b) The sacred oil of the Spirit enriched the character of Christ. “Pour oil” (Lev_2:1). “Grace is poured into thy lips.” “The Word became flesh, full of grace and truth.” “The Father giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him.” “Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost,” &c. [See Act_10:38.] (c) The delightfulness of a perfect willinghood, the fragrance of a zealous consecration crowned His sacrifice: “Frankincense.” “Thy law is within my heart.” “His zeal it consumed me.” “My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”
3. In His character there was no fault. (a) No corruption tainted His sinless nature and sacrifice. “No leaven.” “Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.” “I find no fault in this man.” (b) No mere earthly sweetness which might become sickly; no week sentiments of feeling; no low or fitful affections of the heart; no private preferences or fleeting fantasies. His soul was moved alone by loyalty and love to God and His high work for man.
4. Perpetuity and unchangeableness of excellence distinguished Christ’s character and sacrifice. “Seasoned with salt.” His devotion to man was an incorruptible and invariable principle. His saving grace is an enduring and inexhaustible quality in His sacrifice.
II. Indicated here we recognise THE QUALITIES OF CHARACTER GOD DESIRES IN SACRIFICIAL LIVES.
This offering was to present on the Lord’s altar what would be grateful and savoury to Him. Such is the aim of the Christian life: to consecrate to Him a “sweet savour of Christ.”
1. An even devotion, genuine and excellent throughout, like “fine flour.”
2. An anointed character, beautified by the Spirit; for “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His.”
3. A sweet fervour of soul. For as the fire brought out the aroma of frankincense, so should affliction exhibit Christian sweetness and grace. God desires, too, a glad and grateful spirit in service. “Giving thanks to His name.” Also qualities which spread pleasure around, as did the frankincense. “To do good and communicate forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”
4. Uncorruptedness of heart. “No leaven, nor honey.” Void of selfishness and guile; neither insincerity nor mere natural sweetness, which may decay: but the abiding graces of the Holy Spirit; having an “unction from the Holy One.”
5. Enduring integrity of heart and life. “Salt.” Counteracting the putrefactions of sin. Maintaining perpetuity of sacred love and consecration. “Showing forth the virtues of the Lord.”
Holy and consecrated lives; the noblest qualities of heart; the incorruptible graces of the Spirit; these make our services and sacrifices “in the sight of God of great price.” [See Addenda, p. 29, Character.]
Topic: RESURRECTION EMBLEMS. “The oblation of the first-fruits” (Lev_2:12-16)
The order in which this offering came is given in chap. 23. First the Passover, then the Wave-sheaf, then the Pentecost. The “sheaf of the first-fruits” might be burnt as a sweet savour to the Lord, but the “oblation of the first-fruits” might not be burnt on the altar (Lev_2:12). The reason for this being that the “sheaf” was unleavened, whereas the “oblation” was mixed and made with leaven (Lev_23:17).
1. OUR LORD’S RESURRECTION presented the “Sheaf of the first-fruits” unto the Lord.
“Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that sleep” (1Co_15:20).
I. “In Him was no sin”—no leaven.
2. He was Himself a “sweet savour” to God.
3. He therefore rose to God in His pure humanity as incense from the sacrifice.
II. THE CHURCH OF CHRIST was the “oblation of the first-fruits.” “We are a kind of first-fruits of His creatures” (Jas_1:18).
1. This offering, having sin in it, “mixed with leaven,” could not stand the test of fire, God’s searching holiness.
2. Yet it was to be consecrated to God. “Ye shall offer it, but it shall not be burnt” (Lev_2:12).
3. And was both offered and accepted. For along “with it” was presented a burnt offering, a meat offering, a peace offering, and a sin offering: symbols of Christ’s propitiatory atonement. The Church comes before God with the merits of Christ; and is offered with all the value of His work associated with it. Though in itself unable to stand the fire of God’s holiness; yet, with Christ’s virtue added, it is accepted even as the Sheaf was accepted.
4. All the merits of the propitiatory sacrifices were needful to secure the acceptance of the leavened oblation. All the virtues of Christ’s sacrifice and offices of His priesthood are needful to ensure our acceptance with God, in consequence of the sin intermixed with our redeemed humanity. “The priests shall wave them with the bread of the first-fruits” (Lev_23:20). [Compare Jukes on the Offerings]
III. ALL THE OFFERINGS OF FIRST-FRUITS APPEARED BEFORE THE LORD.
1. Christ Himself entered into the Holy Place before the Lord. He ascended to the heavenly places.
2. His redeemed Church also entered accepted into the very presence of the Lord. “These were redeemed from among men, being the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb” (Rev_14:4).
3. Identified with Him in consecration to God, we shall be united with Him in the temple of God. “Where I am there also shall My servants be.” “Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am.” “By Man came also the resurrection of the dead.” “So shall they be for ever with the Lord.” [See Addenda, p. 29, Resurrection Emblems.]
OUTLINES ON VERSES OF CHAPTER 2
Lev_2:1.—Theme: THE PERFECT SUBDUEDNESS AND MEEKNESS OF CHRIST. “Fine flour.”
The types supply various aspects of Christ’s one work. “The Holy Spirit takes truth in portions, and seems sometimes to turn our eyes away from one portion of truth to let us see better some other portion, by keeping our attention for a time fixed on that alone” (Bonar). The Burnt offering has shown us Christ as the Devoted One, dedicating Himself and all His powers always to God. Now the Meat offering will reveal to us Christ in meek subduedness.
I. CHRIST WAS HERE TO DEVELOP A CHARACTER OF PERFECT SUBJECTION TO GOD.
1. Men had through all their history been marked by self will and arrogant insubordination to God. “Cedars of Lebanon high and lifted up.” “Pride compassed them about,” &c.
2. Among such Christ came to manifest implicit obedience and subjection. “Lo I come to do Thy will, O God.”
“Not My will but Thine be done.” Cheerful subservience to Another’s will, even through bitterness of suffering; meek submission to insult and reproach; gentle patience and kindness even to enemies—such were His characteristics.
II. CHRIST’S QUALITIES OF MEEKEST SUBDUEDNESS ARE TYPIFIED IN THE FOOD OFFERING. “Fine flour.”
1. There is no suggestion in the type of subduedness conferred. No millstone is seen grinding the corn into its smoothness. The flour is brought perfected in its fineness. Such was Christ as He came into the world: perfect in meekness and lowliness and every quality of submission. Affliction and suffering found these qualities in Him, as the fire on the altar found them in the flour; it did not produce them.
2. The invariable evenness of Christ’s submission is suggested. The meekness He manifested in the judgment hall and on the Cross was not more perfect than that which marked Him as He grew up in the home of Joseph and Mary, sharing their low estate. “He was subject unto them.” The excellencies of His character were intrinsic and essential. “Fine flour.”
(a) How contrasted is this excellency of Christ with the variable spirit and behaviour of His followers. John wished to call fire from heaven on others! Paul spake in anger, “God shall smite thee thou whited wall!” But the equability of Jesus never failed.
(b) Yet we may cultivate “the meekness and gentleness of Christ.” Guard against the hinderances to graciousness of character and the irritations which molest the spirit, and “learn of Him who was meek and lowly of heart.” [Compare Newton’s Thoughts on Leviticus.]
Lev_2:3—Theme: CHRIST THE FOOD OF PRIVILEGED SOULS. “The remnant of the Meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons.”
Before any portion went to supply the necessities of the ministering priests, note—
I IN THE OFFERING OF CHRIST WHICH IS DESIGNED TO SUSTAIN MAN’S LIFE, GOD HAD A PORTION. “A handful,” “the memorial” of the offering was first burned upon the altar. Even in devoting Himself to meet the hunger and wants of humanity, Christ did it as “an offering unto the Lord” He did all with His Father in first and highest thought.
II. IN THE OFFERING OF CHRIST PROVISION IS MADE FOR THE SPIRITUAL WANTS AND NEEDS OF MEN
1. In Christ Jesus will be found man’s sufficiency. The soul’s wants are all supplied in Him. Whoever drew upon Him and went away unsatisfied? What need, what trial, what demand of our manifold life does Christ not meet? He will satisfy us in every condition: when poor to give us succour, when weary to give us strength, when sorrowful to give us joy. Christ is our Food.
2. Yet it is limited to those who are in priestly relation to Him. Those who are “priests unto God”; all sanctified souls, who live to God, they will find in Jesus every true need met. Others may wander elsewhere crying, “Who will show us any good?” but “they who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts,” and these find “Christ is all in all.”
Lev_2:9.—Theme: A MEMORIAL ON GOD’S ALTAR. “The priest shall take of the meat offering a memorial thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar.” Consider—
I. ITS CONTRAST WITH A MEMORIAL OF INIQUITY.
In Num_5:11 we read of “an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.”
That was a food offering of barley meal, without oil, and without frankincense.
No intrinsic virtue, no sacred anointing, no pleasing grace.
The memorial was associated with sin, and the forerunner of a curse (Num_5:18).
How appalling if Christ’s offering were to—
1. Memorialise our guilt before God; and
2. Evoke a curse upon our conviction of wrong.
II. THE GRACIOUS SIGNIFICANCE IN CHRIST’S MEMORIAL OFFERING.
In this instance of the “memorial”—
1. It was rendered sweet to God by admixture of oil, frankincense and salt. A pleasant offering to Him, therefore. And assuredly no memorial of iniquity could be pleasant to God; it was a remembrance of the sacred grace of Christ for man.
2. It was designed to bring righteousness to remembrance. Christ’s precious merits. And going up before the Lord for us they represent the truth that by imputation those merits become ours, on whose behalf “the memorial” is burned on the altar.
Lev_2:9.—Theme: THOROUGHNESS IN SERVICE FOR THE LORD. “It is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.”
I. COMPLETE CONSECRATION. Fire absorbs, transforms all.
II. ARDENT ENTHUSIASM. Fire intense, demonstrative, aggressive.
III. DIVINE APPROBATION. “The Lord.”
(a) Recognises such thorough service.
(b) Rejoices in such thorough service; “a sweet savour.”—F. W. B.
Lev_2:11.—Theme: PURITY IN SERVICE OF THE LORD. “Ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey.”
Service for the Lord to be—
I. Unmixed with impure influences. “Leaven” penetrates, and permeates, and transforms the meal into its own nature; evil spreads rapidly when entertained, has power to vitiate the heart, and corrupt religious work and worship.
II. Unmixed with sensual indulgences. “Honey” suggestive of self-gratification, of luxury to satiety. Appetites must be curbed, selfishness crucified; not the sweet and safe sought so much as the right and true. We need the thoughts of our hearts cleansed by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, that motives and desires may be pure; for the outward act of service, however costly, is only an abomination if not offered from a sincere and sanctified heart.—F. W. B.
ILLUSTRATIVE ADDENDA TO CHAPTER 2
THE BEAUTIFUL IN WORSHIP
No sacred lore, howe’er profound,
Nor all the long and varied round
Of sacred rites, can bliss procure
For worthless man, in heart impure.
Altho’ a man with zeal and skill
Should all external rites fulfil,
He reaps no fruit of all his toil
If sin his inner man should soil.
E’en he his all in alms who spends,
With heart defiled, secures no meed;
The disposition, not the deed,
Has value—on it all depends.
Vayu Purana, viii. 190.
See Bonar’s
“’Tis first the true and then the beautiful,
Not first the beautiful and then the true.”
“Onward, onward may we press
Thro’ the path of duty;
Virtue is true happiness,
Excellence true beauty
Minds are of supernal birth,
Let us make a heaven of earth.”
James Montgomery.
The merely beautiful, external and œsthetic in worship is not enough, and is perilous when, as expressed in Aurora Leigh,
“The beautiful seems right
By force of beauty.”
“In the spirit of that significant Oriental usage which drops its sandals at the palace door, the decent worshipper will put off his travel-tarnished shoes, will try to divest himself of secular anxieties and worldly profits, when the place where he stands is converted into holy ground by the words, “Let us worship God!”—Dr. Jas. Hamilton.
SWEET INCENSE. Worship is the compound of many gracious ingredients—repentance, faith, contrition, desire, love, joy in God, and other graces Offered daily and inspired by the Spirit, such worship is no intrusion, but welcome before the Eternal Throne, performed with all the precious sweetness of the meritorious grace of Christ.
GOD’S MINISTERS
“The man who has adopted the Church as a profession, and goes through the routine of his duties with the coldness of a mere official—filled by him the pulpit seems filled by the ghastly form of a skeleton, which, in its cold and bony fingers, holds a burning lamp.”—Dr. Guthrie.
“A minister’s credentials as a pastor will be most readily accepted who shows himself the follower of One who turned and said to His disciples, ‘But I have called you friends’ ”—Anon.
“The Apostle saith that they are worthy of double honour, an honour of reverence and an honour of maintenance; and, doubtless, the very heathen shall rise up in judgment against many who profess the truth in this respect; for the heathen themselves did show such honour to their devilish priests that one of the Roman consuls seeing a priest and some vestal virgins going on foot, and he riding in his chariot, descended, and would not go into it again till those votaries were first placed.”—Bishop Reynolds.
“The spirit and manner of a minister often affects more than the matter.”—Cecil.
It is said of Whitefield, “So close was his communion with God before preaching, that he used to come down to the people as if there were a rainbow about his head.” And of the Rev. J. H. Stewart, “He was a precious box of ointment in a wounding world.” And of the Rev. J. H. Forsyth, “He did what thousands do, but he did it as not one in a thousand does.”
RESURRECTION EMBLEMS. “The very first employment of Israel in Canaan was preparing the type of the Saviour’s resurrection, and their first religious act was holding up that type of a risen Saviour.”—Bonar.
“The wheat sheaf was an earnest that the whole field should be reaped, as well as a sample of the harvest.… The ideas of pagans respecting the dead are suggested by the broken Corinthian pillar or the stringless harp.… The word cemetery, which means a sleeping-place, gives us the Christian idea for He ‘giveth His beloved sleep.’ ”—Pilkington.
CHARACTER. “Character is higher than intellect.”—Emerson.
“A soul of power, a well of lofty thought,
A chastened hope that ever points to heaven.” J. Hunter.
“When character is lost all is lost.”—German Motto.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 The Meal Offering
The Meal Offering
The rendering of AV meat offering is liable to misunderstanding, as meat now suggests flesh meat. But this is a vegetable, or bloodless, sacrifice, a consecration to God of the produce of the field. Its principal constituent is fine flour, which may be presented either raw (Lev_2:1-3), or baked into cakes in the oven (Lev_2:4), or in a pan (Lev_2:5-6), or boiled in a pot (Lev_2:7). The meal is mixed with oil and salt, as when used for food, but no leaven or honey must be used, as these cause fermentation and are symbolical of uncleanness (Lev_2:11). As an offering of firstfruits, parched ears of wheat or barley are presented along with oil (Lev_2:14-15). Incense is always an accompaniment of a meal offering (Lev_2:2, Lev_2:15). Part of the meal offering and all the incense are burned upon the altar (Lev_2:2, Lev_2:9, Lev_2:16). What remains becomes the portion of the priests, and is eaten by them in the sanctuary (Lev_2:3, Lev_6:16). A meal offering might be presented independently, but was frequently an accompaniment of an animal sacrifice (Exo_29:40; Num_15:1-15). A meal offering might be used as a substitute for a sin offering in the case of a poor person, but without oil or frankincense (Lev_5:11-13). A special form of meal offering is the Shewbread: see Lev_24:5-9; Exo_25:30.
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1. Frankincense] see on Exo_30:1-10, Exo_30:34-38.
2. Memorial of it] The term applied to that part of a meal offering burned upon the altar (cp. Lev_24:7), so called probably as intended to bring the offerer to the favourable remembrance of God. But the exact meaning is doubtful: cp. Psa_20:3; Act_10:4
3. A thing most holy] The materials of the offerings are of two degrees of holiness. Some, as e.g. the peace offerings, are 'holy' (Lev_23:20) and may be eaten in any clean place by the priests and their families (Lev_10:14; Lev_22:10-13; Num_18:11); others, as the sin and guilt offerings (Lev_6:17, Lev_6:25-28; Lev_7:1-6;) and the shewbread (Lev_24:9), are 'most holy,' and may only be eaten in the court of the tabernacle by the priests alone (Num_18:9-10). The latter, moreover, communicate 'holiness' to whatever comes in contact with them: cp. Exo_29:37; Lev_6:18, Lev_6:27-29.
13. Salt of the covenant] see on Exo_30:35.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v1 fine flour
fine flour
The meal-offering. The fine flour speaks of the evenness and balance of the character of Christ; of that perfection in which no quality was in excess, none lacking; the fire, of His testing by suffering, even unto death; frankincense; the fragrance of His life Godward (see) Exo 30:34 absence of leaven, His character as "the Truth" (see) Exo 12:8 absence of honey;--His was not that mere natural sweetness which may exist quite apart from grace; oil mingled, Christ as born of the Spirit Mat 1:18-23 oil upon, Christ as baptized with the Spirit; Joh 1:32; Joh 6:27 the oven, the unseen sufferings of Christ--His inner agonies; Heb 2:18; Mat 27:45; Mat 27:46 the pan, His more evident sufferings (e.g.) Mat 27:27-31 salt, the pungency of the truth of God--that which arrests the action of leaven.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 2. The Meal Offering
2. The Meal Offering
CHAPTER 2
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1. The general instruction (Lev 2:1-3)
2. Baked in the oven (Lev 2:4)
3. Baked in a pan (Lev 2:5-6)
4. Baked in a frying pan (Lev 2:7)
5. Presented unto the priest (Lev 2:8-11)
6. The oblation of the firstfruits (Lev 2:12-16)
The word “meat” should be changed throughout this chapter to “meal.” This offering or oblation is closely connected with the burnt offering. No doubt it could not be brought apart from the sacrificial animal. The meal offering is the type of Christ in His perfect humanity and holy, devoted character. It was not for atonement even as the holy humanity of Christ and devotedness of His life could not atone for sins. It is called “most holy” for in His humanity He was “that holy thing.” The fine flour, sifted and pure, coming from the corn of wheat, is the apt and beautiful type of His perfect humanity. The oil, so prominent in this offering, is the type of the Holy Spirit. The oil was connected in a twofold way with this offering. The fine flour was mingled with oil. This is typical of the incarnation, His conception by the Holy Spirit, His whole being Spirit-filled. It is a blessed illustration of Luk 1:35. Leaven was entirely absent. “Unleavened fine flour” and “no leaven” is repeatedly stated by Jehovah. It had to be excluded, for leaven is a type of evil, and no evil was in Him.
Nor was any honey permitted in the fine flour. Honey is the type of the sweetness of human nature apart from grace; the picture of fallen nature in an amiable character, yet sin connected with it. Leaven is fermentation; and the sweet honey is the cause of it. It was not allowed in the fine flour, for nothing of an unholy sweetness was in Christ. Only the oil was mingled with the flour. But the oil was also poured upon the flour. This is the type of the Holy Spirit, as He came upon Christ, the anointed One. He was on earth the One whom the Father had sealed (Joh 6:27); in the meal offering “salt” had likewise a place. It is the type of the separating power of holiness. Believers, born again, have the Holy Spirit in the new nature, and by the Spirit are sealed. Thus we are enabled to walk even as He walked, and show forth His excellencies. We add here a beautiful tribute to the perfect humanity and the moral glory of Christ:
This meal offering of God, taken from the fruit of the earth, was of the finest wheat; that which was pure, separate and lovely in human nature was in Jesus under all its sorrows, but in all its excellence, and excellent in its sorrows. There was no unevenness in Jesus, no predominant quality to produce the effect of giving Him a distinctive character. He was, though despised and rejected of men, the perfection of human nature. The sensibilities, firmness, decision (though this attached itself also to the principle of obedience), elevation and calm meekness, which belong to human nature, all found their perfect place in Him. In a Paul I find energy and zeal; in a Peter, ardent affection; in a John, tender sensibilities and abstraction of thought, united to a desire to vindicate what he loved which scarce knew limit. But the quality we have observed in Peter predominates and characterizes him. In a Paul, blessed servant though he was, he did not repent, though he had repented.... In him in whom God was mighty toward the circumcision, we find the fear of man break through the faithfulness of his zeal. John, who would have vindicated Jesus in his zeal, knew not what manner of spirit He was of, and would have forbidden the glory of God, if a man walked not with them.
But in Jesus, even as man, there was none of this unevenness. There was nothing salient in His character, because all was in perfect subjection to God in His humanity, and had its place, and did exactly its service, and then disappeared. God was glorified in it, and all was in harmony. When meekness became Him He was meek; when indignation, who could stand before His overwhelming and withering rebuke? Tender to the chief of sinners in the time of grace; unmoved by the heartless superiority of a cold Pharisee (curious to judge who He was); when the time of judgment is come, no tears of those who wept for Him moved Him to other words than ‘Weep for yourselves and for your children,’--words of deep compassion, but of deep subjection to the due judgment of God. The dry tree prepared itself to be burned. On the cross, when His service was finished, tender to His mother, and entrusting her in human care, to one who (so to speak) had been His friend, and leaned on His bosom; no ear to recognize her word or claim when His service occupied Him for God; putting both blessedly in their place, when He would show that, before His public mission, He was still the Son of the Father, and though such, in human blessedness, subject to the mother that bare Him, and Joseph His father as under the law, a calmness which disconcerted His adversaries; and in the moral power which dismayed them at times, a meekness which drew out the hearts of all not steeled by opposition. Such was Christ in human nature. (J.N. Darby, Synopsis of the Bible.)
And frankincense was thereon. This is the fragrance, unspeakable in its value, as it went up from His blessed life to God.
But the meal offering was baked in an oven, in a pan and in a frying pan or cauldron. These are the types of the testings and trials in His holy humanity. He was made perfect through suffering as the captain of our salvation (Heb 2:10). The oven typifies the temptations from the side of Satan--known only to the Lord Himself. The pan tells of the more evident testings and trials through which He passed, enduring the contradiction of sinners and all the opposition and hatred heaped upon Him. The frying pan or cauldron speaks of the combining trials and sorrows of an outward and inward nature. But all, whether the oven, the pan or the cauldron, brought out His perfection.
The meal offering was then burnt upon the altar, a sweet odor to Jehovah. The priests could eat the remainder of the meal offering. As priests of God, constituted thus through the grace of God, it is our holy and blessed privilege to feed on Himself, and the feeding on Christ will ever keep us in conscious nearness to God, and wean us away from earthly things.
The oblation mentioned in verse 12 refers to the “new meal offering” in which leaven was permitted, and which was not to be burnt. This we shall find more fully mentioned in chapter 23:15-20. When we reach that chapter we shall speak of its significance as the wave offering. The oblation of the firstfruits (verses 14-16) consisted in green ears of corn dried by fire, even corn beaten out of full ears. He again is typified here as the green corn, which was dried (roasted) in the fire. It points to His holy life, His death and His resurrection. However, all this is more fully revealed in the wave sheaf after Passover in connection with Pentecost. This we shall find in the contents of the twenty-third chapter of the book.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 The Various Kinds of Meat-offerings. —
The Various Kinds of Meat-offerings. —
v. 1. And when any will offer a meat-offering unto the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour. This also was an oblation, or gift, brought near to the Lord with the purpose of establishing true fellowship, and could be made by any member of the congregation, no matter whether man or woman. Only the finest wheat flour was to be used in these oblations. And he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon. The incense was not mixed with the flour and the olive-oil, but added in such a manner as to permit its entire removal from the vessel in which it was offered.
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v. 2. And he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests; and he (the officiating priest) shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof and of the oil thereof with all the frankincense thereof, as much as the hand would hold of flour and oil; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to cause Jehovah to remember the worshiper in His mercy, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord, well-pleasing and acceptable to the Lord, as the burnt offering had been, Exo 1:9-13.
v. 3. And the remnant of the meat-offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons; all of it was offered to the Lord, who, in turn, bestowed the bulk of it upon the priests as a part of the emoluments due them; it is a thing moat holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire. This is said of all sacrificial gifts which were wholly devoted to God, but of which portions were hallowed to Him by being given to the priests. These gifts the priests used for food in a place in the court of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, near the altar of burnt offering, Exo 6:26; Exo 10:12.
v. 4. And if thou bring an oblation of a meat-offering baken in the oven, a small portable earthen oven in the form of a pot or jar, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour, mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers, anointed with oil. The unleavened dough used in making these cakes was mixed with olive-oil, and the thick, biscuitlike cakes were pierced with holes.
v. 5. And if thy oblation be a meat-offering baken in a pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil, the only difference between this sacrifice and the preceding one being this, that it was fried in an open pan.
v. 6. Thou shalt part it in pieces and pour oil thereon; it is a meat-offering. The finished cakes were to be broken into small fragments and then saturated with olive-oil.
v. 7. And if thy oblation be a meat-offering baken in the frying-pan, boiled in a pot,it shall be made of fine flour with oil, apparently cooked in the oil. The olive-oil, which figures so prominently in these sacrifices, is a symbol of the Holy Ghost. The good works of the believers are done in the power of the Holy Ghost. If these sacrifices are accompanied with the incense of prayer, they will be wellpleasing in the sight of the Lord.
v. 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, as the representative of God,he shall bring it unto the altar.
v. 9. And the priest shall take from the meat-offering a memorial thereof, to bring the worshiper in remembrance before God, and shall burn it upon the altar; it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord.
v. 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. The men that served in the Sanctuary were to receive their sustenance from these gifts, just as today they that preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel.
v. 11. No meat-offering which ye shall bring unto the Lord shall be made with leaven, leaven being considered an impure addition in this case on account of its fermenting property; for ye shall burn no leaven nor any honey, against which the same objection was made as against the leaven, in any offering of the Lord made by fire. There were certain offerings in which leavened bread was included, Lev 7:13-14; Lev 23:17-20, and also honey, 2Ch 31:5; but in the meat-offering they were strictly forbidden. Thus the believers will avoid all impurity and hypocrisy in word and deed.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4, 6, 8 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues telling Moses what the people must do.
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be fine flour
"be the finest flour" or "be the best flour"
flour
a powder made from wheat
He is to take
"He must take"
take out a handful
"take out what he can hold in his hand"
a representative offering
The handful of the grain offering represents the whole grain offering. This means the whole offering belongs to Yahweh.
It will produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh
Yahweh being pleased with the sincere worshiper who offered the sacrifice is spoken of as if God were pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice. See how you translated this in Leviticus 1:9. (See: Metaphor)
it will be an offering made to him by fire
This can be translated in active form. AT: "it will be a burnt offering to him" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
grain offering
Yahweh
oil
incense
Aaron
priest
altar
fire
holy
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 2:1-16 The grain offering (Hebrew minkhah, “gift, present”) was…
2:1-16 The grain offering (Hebrew minkhah, “gift, present”) was a way to express worship to the Lord through a gift, recognizing him as Lord over the life of the worshiper. The grain offering was to accompany each whole burnt offering (Num 28:3-6, 12-13), sin offering (Num 6:14-15), and peace offering (Lev 9:4; Num 6:17). The grain offering supplied the priest with bread for his daily sustenance, because no farmland was allocated to priests.
2:1 Choice flour was fine wheat flour (in contrast with common barley flour). See also 1 Kgs 4:22; Ezek 16:13, 19. • Israelites used olive oil as shortening in their cooking, as lamp fuel, and for medicinal and cosmetic purposes. Accordingly, it was associated with the rich produce of the land and with God’s provision (Deut 8:8). • Like choice flour, frankincense was frequently connected with the Tabernacle (Exod 30:34; Lev 24:7) or the Temple (1 Chr 9:29). This fragrant tree resin was also used by individuals on special occasions (Song 3:6; Matt 2:11). It was a primary ingredient of the holy incense burned in the Holy Place as a tangible expression of worship (Exod 30:34-38).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.