A meat-offering. Leviticus 2 The meat-offering J. A. Seiss, D. D. 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 Creator's 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" ( Acts 10:38 ; John 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 ( Numbers 15:3, 4, 9, 11, 24 ; Numbers 28:4, 5, 12, 13, 27, 28 ; Numbers 29:6 ; Leviticus 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 (ver. 2, 9, 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" ( 2 Corinthians 9:15 ), Jesus? Component parts of meat-offering were most significant. 1. Fine flour (vers. 1, 4, 5, 7), well sifted, free from every unevenness, coarseness, or speck; or could not have typified Jesus, who was ( 1 Peter 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 (vers. 4-6). Jesus filled with Spirit from birth ( Luke 1:35 ; Matthew 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 ( Acts 10:38 ; Isaiah 61:1 ; Luke 4:18 ) at His baptism, when Spirit descended and abode upon Him ( Luke 3:22 ; John 1:33, 34 ). Given not "by measure," but in sevenfold power ( John 3:34 ; Isaiah 11:2 ). 3. Frankincense further illustrates this. It was white and fragrant. White betokens purity, innocence; striking characteristics of the Blessed One ( John 8:46 ; 1 Peter 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" ( Acts 13:28 ; Luke 23:1 . 4, 47). Fragrance was what Jesus truly ever shed around, as He spake the words ( Song of Solomon 5:13 ) and did the works of Him that sent Him ( Luke 4:40-44 : John 17:8 ; John 8:28 ; John 12:49, 50 ; John 14:10 ). The name of Jesus "is as ointment poured forth" ( Song of Solomon 1:3 ), and when He dwells within, the heart is filled with sweet fragrance — as was the house at Bethany ( John 12:3 ) — and He is to that soul, as to the Father, "a savour of rest" ( Genesis 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 Father's 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 (ver. 2, 16, 6:15), telling of the special fragrance, intended only for the Father, in whose service He was consumed by zeal ( John 2:17 ), and whom He "glorified on the earth" ( John 17:4 ; John 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..." ( Isaiah 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" (vers. 4, 7, 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 Father's will. Observe further — III. "THE SALT OF THE COVENANT" must not be lacking from the meat-offering (ver. 13). Salt typified both the incorruption and incorruptibility of our Blessed Lord ( Psalm 16:10 ; Acts 2:27 ). Salt thus betokens perpetuity. Hence the "covenant of salt" ( Numbers 18:19 ; 2 Chronicles 13:5 ) tells of the enduring character of Jehovah's "everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure" ( 2 Samuel 23 . 5-7; Isaiah 55:3 ). Assured in Jesus — given "for a covenant..." ( Isaiah 42:6 ; Isaiah 49:8 ), and Himself "the Amen" of God's covenant promises ( Luke 1:72 ; 2 Corinthians 1:20 ; Revelation 3:14 ). Again, see "speech,... with grace seasoned with salt" ( Colossians 4:6 ), exemplified in Him of whom it is written, "Grace is poured..." ( Psalm 45:2 ). Truly gracious words proceeded out of His mouth ( Luke 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..." ( Matthew 2:15 -46). The like is enjoined to His people ( Colossians 3:16 ; Mark 9:50 ), whom He calls "the salt of the earth" ( Matthew 5:13 ; see Proverbs 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 ( 1 Peter 1:14-16 ), "filled with the Spirit" ( Ephesians 5:18 ), testifying of Jesus, and thus made "unto God a sweet savour of Christ" ( 2 Corinthians 2:15 ). IV. Two THINGS FORBIDDEN in meat-offering. 1. Leaven. Used in Scripture as type of evil, of false doctrine ( Matthew 16:6, 12 ; 1 Corinthians 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" ( 1 Corinthians 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 Satan's 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 (vers 3, 10, 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 ( John 6:35, 47-54, 63 ; Jeremiah 15:16 ); to meditate on details of holy life of Him who was the Father's 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"( Leviticus 6:16 ), consecrated to the service of God. How can any feed on Jesus in places devoted to the world? ( Lady Beaujolois Dent ). The meat-offering I. THE MATERIALS. 1. Bread, corn, wheat, or barley ( 1 Chronicles 21:23 ; Ezekiel 45:13, 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 1 Corinthians 15:20 ).(3) Ground, sifted, baked, fried, beaten, &c. (see Isaiah 53:5 ; Colossians 1:24 ). Ignatius , when about to suffer martyrdom by being devoured of wild beasts, speaks of his body as the Lord's 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 ( Isaiah 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 God's 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 Psalm 20:3 ; Acts 10:4 ). 3. The remnant was Aaron's and his sons'.(1) The communion and participation of Christ by all believers ( Revelation 1:6 ; 1 Peter 2:9 ; John 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 ( Isaiah 66:20 ; Philippians 2:17 ; 2 Timothy 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 ( Philippians 4:17, 18 ; Malachi 1:10, 11 ). IV. THE ADDITIONS FORBIDDEN. 1. Leaven argues corruption. (1) False doctrine ( Matthew 16:6, 11, 12 ). (2) Scandalous and wicked practices ( 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 ). (3) Hypocrisy and secret sins ( Luke 12:1, 2 ). (4) Promiscuous communion and carnal mixtures in Church society ( 1 Corinthians 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 ( Philippians 2:27 ; 2 Timothy 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 Lord's acceptance of His people. ( S. Mather. ) Homage graced with excellencies W. H. Jellie. 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 John Gill, D. D. 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 God's preparing, the bread of God's 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 Christ's 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 ( Psalm 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 ( 1 Corinthians 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 Christ's sacrifice is said to be ( Ephesians 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 J. M. Gibson, D. D. 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 (ver. 1), or bread made of fine flour (vers. 4, 5, 7), with oil and frankincense (ver. 1), and salt (ver. 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" ( John 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" (ver. 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 ( Psalm 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" (vers. 2, 6): the rest was set apart for use by the priests (ver. 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 (ver. 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 C. S. Taylor, M. A. 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 Christ's work and sacrifice. The man looks with faith to Christ's 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 man's 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 God's 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

Benson Commentary Leviticus 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: Leviticus 2:1 . When any will offer a meat-offering — The word ???? , 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, ( Numbers 15:4 ; Numbers 15:7 ; Numbers 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, ( Leviticus 23:11 ,) and the two waved loaves, Leviticus 23:17 . Some, again, were for private persons; among which were that for the poor sinner who could not afford the more expensive sacrifices, Leviticus 5:11 , that, for the suspected woman, Numbers 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, ( Psalm 45:7 ; 1 John 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, Ephesians 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, Daniel 9:27 . Leviticus 2:2 And he shall bring it to Aaron's sons the priests: and he shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD: Leviticus 2:2 . He shall take — That priest to whom he brought it, and who is appointed to offer it. The memorial — That part thus selected and offered; which is called a memorial, either, 1st, To the offerer, who by offering this part was reminded, that the whole of that which he brought, and of all which he had of that kind, was God’s, to whom this part was paid as an acknowledgment. Or, 2d, To God, whom (to speak after the manner of men) this did put in mind of his gracious covenant and promises of favour, and acceptance of the offerer and his offering. A sweet savour unto the Lord — And so are our spiritual offerings, which are made by the fire of holy love, particularly that of alms-giving. With such sacrifices God is well pleased. Leviticus 2:3 And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire. Leviticus 2:3-6 . Shall be Aaron’s and his sons’ — To be eaten by them, Leviticus 6:16 . Most holy — Or such as were to be eaten only by the priests, and that only in the holy place near the altar. In the oven — Made in the sanctuary for that use. In pieces — Because part of it was offered to God, and part given to the priests. Leviticus 2:4 And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. Leviticus 2:5 And if thy oblation be a meat offering baken in a pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil. Leviticus 2:6 Thou shalt part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon: it is a meat offering. Leviticus 2:7 And if thy oblation be a meat offering baken in the fryingpan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. Leviticus 2:8 And thou shalt bring the meat offering that is made of these things unto the LORD: and when it is presented unto the priest, he shall bring it unto the altar. Leviticus 2:9 And the priest shall take from the meat offering a memorial thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD. Leviticus 2:10 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. Leviticus 2:11 No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the LORD made by fire. Leviticus 2:11 . No leaven — Namely, in that which is offered of free-will; for in other offerings it might be used, Leviticus 7:13 ; Leviticus 23:17 . This was forbidden, partly to remind them of their deliverance out of Egypt, when they were forced through haste to bring away their meal or dough (which was the matter of this oblation) unleavened; partly to signify what Christ would be, and what they should be, pure and free from all error in the faith and worship of God, and from all hypocrisy, and malice or wickedness, all which are signified by leaven. Nor any honey — Either, 1st, Because it hath the same effect with leaven in paste or dough, making it sour, and swelling. Or, 2d, In opposition to the sacrifices of the Gentiles, in which the use of honey was most frequent. Or, 3d, To teach us that God’s worship is not to be governed by men’s fancies and appetites, but by God’s will. Leviticus 2:12 As for the oblation of the firstfruits, ye shall offer them unto the LORD: but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet savour. Leviticus 2:12 . Ye may offer them — Or either of them, leaven or honey. They shall not be burnt — But reserved for the priests. Leviticus 2:13 And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt. Leviticus 2:13 . Salt — To signify that incorruption of mind, and sincerity of grace, which in Scripture is signified by salt, ( Mark 9:49 ; Colossians 4:6 ,) and which is necessary in all them that would offer an acceptable offering to God. Or in testimony of that communion which they had with God in these exercises of worship; salt being the great symbol of friendship in all nations and ages. The salt of the covenant of thy God — It is so called, either, 1st, Because it represented the perpetuity of God’s covenant with them, which is designed by salt, Numbers 8:19 ; Numbers 2 Chronicles Leviticus 13:5 . Or, 2d, Because it was so particularly required as a condition of their covenant with God; this being made absolutely necessary in all their offerings; and as the neglect of sacrifices was a breach of covenant on their part, so also was the neglect of salt in their sacrifices. Leviticus 2:14 And if thou offer a meat offering of thy firstfruits unto the LORD, thou shalt offer for the meat offering of thy firstfruits green ears of corn dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears. Leviticus 2:14 . First-fruits — Of thine own free-will; for there were other first- fruits, and that of several sorts, which were prescribed, and the time, quality, and proportion of them appointed by God. Leviticus 2:15 And thou shalt put oil upon it, and lay frankincense thereon: it is a meat offering. Leviticus 2:16 And the priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the beaten corn thereof, and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD. Leviticus 2:16 . Made by fire — The fire denotes the fervency of spirit which ought to be in all our religious services. Holy love is the fire by which all our offerings must be made; else they are not of a sweet savour to God. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Leviticus 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: THE MEAL OFFERING Leviticus 2:1-16 ; Leviticus 6:14-23 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 Genesis 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 man’s 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 ( Leviticus 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 man’s 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. "Israel’s 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. Israel’s spiritual calling was to work in the field of the kingdom of God, in the vineyard of his Lord; this work was Israel’s 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 Master’s 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 Men’s 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 God’s 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 man’s daily food, Israel was reminded that God’s 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 man’s 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 God’s 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 God’s 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 man’s food, neither was it, like the meal, and cakes, and oil, a product of man’s 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 David’s prayer: {Psa 141:2} "Let my prayer be set forth as incense; the lifting up of my hands, like the evening oblation." So, in Luke 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. Isaiah 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 ( Leviticus 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 ( Leviticus 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 ( Leviticus 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 Leviticus 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 ( Leviticus 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 ( Leviticus 2:1-3 ), of uncooked meal; the second ( Leviticus 2:4-11 ), of the same fine meal and oil, variously prepared by cooking; the third ( Leviticus 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 ( Leviticus 2:3-10 ), "that which is left of the meal offering"-which was always much the larger part-"shall be Aaron’s 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 God’s 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 ( Leviticus 2:2 , Leviticus 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 God’s 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. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . 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