Part 2 The Offerings in the Tabernacle: The Grain (Meal) Offering

"If we think of the Holy Spirit only as an impersonal power or influence,
then our thought will constantly be, how can I get hold of and use the Holy Spirit;
but if we think of Him in the biblical way as a divine Person,
infinitely wise, infinitely holy, infinitely tender, then our thought will constantly be,
"How can the Holy Spirit get hold of and use me?"
(Reuben Archer) R. A. Torrey

Part 2 The Offerings in the Tabernacle: The Grain (Meal) Offering

There were five principal offerings in the tabernacle
and these were given to Moses from the erected tabernacle
at the foot of mount Sinai.
The Lord had filled the tabernacle
with his presence (Exodus 40:34-38).

The cloud settled upon and covered the outside of the tabernacle,
while on the inside it was filled with the glory of the Lord.

It was from here the Lord gave to Moses the 5 principle offerings
that were to be given.
This is recorded in Leviticus chapters 1 - 7,
they are listed in some detail in chapters 1 - 5 as follows : -

chapter 1 the Burnt offering
chapter 2 the Grain or meal offering
chapter 3 the Peace or Fellowship offering

chapter 4 the Sin offering
chapter 5 the Trespass or Guilt offering

The five offerings fall into two classifications;
the first three being offerings
given when in communion with God.
They are offerings of worship
and could be called sweet-savor offerings.

They were a sweet and pleasant fragrance to God
that gave him pleasure,
they speak of :
fellowship,
worship,
surrender,
acceptance,
and satisfaction.

Sweet-savor offerings were burnt within the camp
and were given freely, a freewill offering given to God.

The second two were given
for communion with God
and were a sacrifice for sin.

These were not the sweet smelling savor
because they spoke of sin and were obnoxious to God.

They were not burnt upon the altar of God
but outside the camp.

The believer came before God as a sinner,
confessing his sin and seeking forgiveness.

He was commanded by God to bring them to obtain pardon,
the sense of sin and guilt being prominent.

In addition to the detailed explanation given in chapters 1 - 5,
God then in chapters 6 & 7 changes the order,
to the order he requires them to be performed in.

The peace or fellowship offering
is taken from third place and positioned last.

It may be that God is saying to us that
the peace offering does not cause us to make
the sin or trespass sacrifices that gain communion with God
but rather comes from the consequence of communion with God.

We will continue to deal with them
in the order they were to be observed.

The Grain (Meal) Offering –
Leviticus 2: 1-16
Note: the entirety of this Scripture
is included at the end of this study outline,
should you desire to read it first.


The grain or meal offering
is sometimes referred to as the meat offering
this comes from the King James Version of the Bible
and is some what a misnomer as no meat is offered,

The reason for using the word meat
was that in the days of king James,
a person would not be asked out for a meal,
he would be asked to meat.
Luther renderd the term as food offering.

In fact this is the only offering of the five
in which the flesh of an animal is not offered.

It was a sweet savor offering,
like the burnt and the peace offerings,
it was something pleasant and sweet to God
with no thought of sin-bearing or cleansing of sin
in the offering.

It was a freewill offering
given voluntarily not under compulsion,
Leviticus 2: 4 and 14 say:
“'if' you bring.”

The grain (meal) offerings were either public or private
and were either brought with a burnt or peace offerings
or by themselves,

but never with a sin or trespass offering.

The three public meal offerings were
the twelve loaves of shewbread,
the Omer, or sheaf of wheat, on the second day of the Passover, and the two wave loaves at Pentecost.

The four private meal offerings prescribed by law were,
the meal offering of the high priest,
at the consecration of priests,
in substitution for a sin offering in cases of poverty,
and that of jealousy.

There were four types of offerings,
again associated with circumstances or property of the believer.
The uncooked flour - verse 1
Bread baked in an oven - verse 4
Bread prepared on a griddle - verse 5
Bread cooked in a pan - verse 7

There are two things
or meanings expressed by the grain offering.
The first draws on the similarity to tithing
(first fruit and shewbread),
appears to be expressed
in the words of David from 1 Chronicles 29:10-14 ,
"for everything in heaven and earth is yours....
Everything comes from you, and we have given you only
what comes from your hand".

It recognises the sovereignty and majesty of God
and that in his bounty he bestows all earthly blessings,
by dedicating to him the best of these gifts.

The second meaning ascribed to these offerings
the symbol of the spiritual food
for which Israel strove after as the fruit of its spiritual labor,
or those good works in which
true sanctification must necessarily embody itself.

There was a symbolism in the ingredients
used for the grain (meal) that emphasizes
the first of the two meanings.

Let us look at these ingredients in detail

FLOUR
Flour was the basis of the offering
it represented the bread of life
as bread was the main support to life.

The sacrifices burnt on the altar are called the bread of God,
Jesus described himself as the Bread of life.

The flour was to be of the finest quality, 'fine flour'
fully ground and finely sifted,
free from any coarseness, unevenness, and empty husks.
The mill stones must grind the wheat to an absolute fineness.

Christ's life was one
of passing through the grinding millstone
of suffering, trial, and temptation.

In Christ's perfect life
there was no trace of unevenness or coarseness,
in public or private he was the same the perfect character,
fine flour - finely sifted, fine gold - refined pure metal.

OIL
The oil was poured upon the flour,
it is spoken of as being 'anointed' with oil in Lev. 7:12.

Oil is of course a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
If the fine flour is seen as
Christ's perfect life anointed with the Oil of the Holy Spirit,
we easily see the sense of
the Messiah being the anointed one visible in the offering.

The anointing is also for the believer,
yet it is necessary
for the preparation of the millstones grinding.

There was oil on and oil in the cakes (verse 5,6).


The 'anointing' was to do with
the outward working of the Holy Spirit.

While the 'mingling' speaks of
the inward working of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling.

Just as every part of Christ's life,
every thought,
every word,
every deed, was mingled (saturated)
with the Holy Spirit,
so should ours.

FRANKINCENSE
There must be frankincense on the offering,
probably burning in a censer,
placed on top of cakes emitting fragrant smoke.

The twelve shewbread cakes (Lev.24:5-7)
arranged in two piles had frankincense on top of each pile
in such a way.

Christ's perfect life
was a sweet smelling savor to God (Ephesians 5:2)

and we are to be a sweet savor to God (2 Cor.2:15).

There are three things to be remembered about frankincense
1 ) Frankincense was exclusively for God ( verse 2 'all')
2 ) Frankincense gave a sweet fragrance that is pleasing to God
3 ) It was fire that drew forth the fragrance

The thought is that while going through the fiery trials of life,

we submit ourselves to God
and conduct ourselves in a way
that is pleasing to God that
He receives as a sweet smelling savor.
1Peter 2:19-21,23
1 Peter 4:12-19

SALT
Another necessary ingredient was salt,
salt must be added to every sacrifice.

Salt has a purifying influence,

Christ's influence purified the lives of those he contacted,

believers are called to be the salt of the earth.

Salt is the emblem of incorruption
and Christ's body saw no corruption (Psalm 16:10).

Salt is also the emblem of Divine grace
and Christ's words are always health-giving and wholesome.

Finally it is called 'the salt of the covenant' in verse 13.

The believer was in a covenant relationship with God
and salt was seen as the seal of friendship.

God has made an everlasting covenant of friendship with us.

Servants kissed the master’s feet

Friends kissed the cheeks

The kiss on the lips reserved for marriage

Kiss the Son

Jesus calls us from servant-hood to friendship
and from friendship to intimacy.

Wine was not mentioned here,
but was the basis of the drink offering
and was symbolic of vigor and refreshment (Psalm 104:15).

There were
also two substances that were particularly excluded from use
in the offering.

Leaven was forbidden (verse 11)
Where as salt was an emblem of incorruption,
a preservative against corruption,

leaven is the emblem of corruption.

To mix the holy things of God with leaven (evil)
is an abomination to the Lord.

(Hophi and Phinehas, 1 Sam.2:12)

The leaven of hypocrisy - Luke 12:1
The leaven of pride - 1 Cor. 5:6
The leaven of sin - 1 Cor. 5:7,8
The leaven of false teaching - Gal.5:9
The leaven of self-indulgence - Mark 8:15 (worldliness)

Honey was also forbidden (verse 11).

Honey represents things that are sweet and pleasing
and attractive to the flesh to the natural man.

In fact it often represents that which is natural,
in the spiritual sense it is that which is self-pleasing.

When honey is burnt it begins to ferment and turns sour,
the smell of burning honey is very different
to the fragrance of burning incense.

In presenting the offering the believer
simply came to the door of the tabernacle
having prepared it as instructed
and gave it to the priests.

There was no ceremony just simple submission,

Our highest priority must always be
to be in the presence
and to be moved by the presence of God

Moses: "We will not go, if you don’t go with us!”

Jesus only did “what He saw the Father doing.”

There is a difference between “having devotions”
(‘fulfilling our “daily required” Bible reading – time with God’
TRADITION, LABORING AND RITUAL)

and being devoted to God!

there was nothing meritorious in his action
only obedience.

The priest received the meal offering from him,
took a handful of the grain or cakes,
with all the frankincense and burned it on the altar.

The remainder belonged to the priests.
It was eaten by Aaron and his sons in the court of the tabernacle.

Only a small portion of this offering belonged to God,
but it was a memorial,
which means that the handful represented
the whole in the sight of God
and was accepted by Him as the whole.

We give our gifts and our service to God
yet we know that man is the recipient.

Our tithe goes into the offering
yet it pays the ministers salary or for the building, etc.
after a while it is easy to think
that God receives nothing from our giving
but that which is given is the recognition
that all came from God and is the memorial
of the whole all we possess.

Not only money
but also service can be self-centered.

We can be so busy with church activities
that a comparatively small portion
of our time and productivity is exclusively Gods.

Yet if that handful of our time
is spent in worship of Him,
spent in adoration
He take that part as a memorial of our life.

This meal offering symbolizes
the consecration of gifts and service.

We cannot give our gifts or our service
if we have not first given ourselves,
many people try to do this in the reverse order
by giving things or time.

These good works
the Bible talks of as being worthless
in the purchasing of a relationship with God,
how can you buy love ?

(Song of Songs 8:7).

The very first gifts offered to Jesus
was by the wise men
yet we read in Matthew 2:11
that they fell down and worshipped
before presenting their gifts.

They gave themselves
so that their gifts may be acceptable to Jesus.

Leviticus 2: 1-16

1 WHEN ANYONE offers a cereal offering to the Lord, it shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil over it and lay frankincense on it.
2 And he shall bring it to Aaron's sons the priests. Out of it he shall take a handful of the fine flour and oil, with all its frankincense, and the priest shall burn this on the altar as the memorial portion of it, an offering made by fire, of a sweet and satisfying fragrance to the Lord.
3 What is left of the cereal offering shall be Aaron's and his sons'; it is a most holy part of the offerings made to the Lord by fire.
4 When you bring as an offering cereal baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers spread with oil.
5 If your offering is cereal baked on a griddle, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mixed with oil.
6 You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on it; it is a cereal offering.
7 And if your offering is cereal cooked in the frying pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.
8 And you shall bring the cereal offering that is made of these things to the Lord; it shall be presented to the priest, and he shall bring it to the [bronze] altar.
9 The priest shall take from the cereal offering its memorial portion and burn it on the altar, an offering made by fire, a sweet and satisfying fragrance to the Lord.
10 What is left of the cereal offering shall be Aaron's and his sons'; it is a most holy part of the offerings made to the Lord by fire.
11 No cereal offering that you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven or honey in any offering made by fire to the Lord.
12 As an offering of firstfruits you may offer leaven and honey to the Lord, but they shall not be burned on the altar for a sweet odor [to the Lord, for their aid to fermentation is symbolic of corruption in the human heart].
13 Every cereal offering you shall season with salt [symbol of preservation]; neither shall you allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your cereal offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.
14 If you offer a cereal offering of your firstfruits to the Lord, you shall offer for it of your firstfruits grain in the ear parched with fire, bruised and crushed grain out of the fresh and fruitful ear.
15 And you shall put oil on it and lay frankincense on it; it is a cereal offering.
16 The priest shall burn as its memorial portion part of the bruised and crushed grain of it and part of the oil of it, with all its frankincense; it is an offering made by fire to the Lord.

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