Leviticus 2:1-3 The Grain Offering Part 1 of 2
1 'When anyone offers a grain offering to the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour. And he shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it. 2 He shall bring it to Aaron's sons, the priests, one of whom shall take from it his handful of fine flour and oil with all the frankincense. And the priest shall burn it as a memorial on the altar, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD. 3 The rest of the grain offering shall be Aaron's and his sons'. It is most holy of the offerings to the LORD made by fire.
This section is filled with the covenant name— Yahweh. “‘When anyone offers a grain offering to the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour.’ (1a) 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 Pulpit Commentaries) It is not explicitly stated here, but this offering is "an appendix to the burnt offering. We do not read of a meal offering ever being offered alone, but in connection with the burnt offering or the peace offering. For this was not a blood sacrifice, and in approaching God a blood sacrifice was imperative.” (L. M. Grant)— “’And he shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it.’ (1b) The grain offering has three components:
1. “Flour.” — This comes from the [finest] wheat. This speak of the end-time harvest and therefore the resurrection of the dead. “That reminds us of John 12 (John 12:24).”(G. de Koning) Jesus said: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” 2. “Oil.” —Oil is used for example for the ointment of priests and kings. It is a picture of the Holy Spirit (1 John 2:20; 2 Corinthians 1:21; 1 John 2:27).” (G. de Koning) 3. “Frankincense.”— for embalming the dead bodies. Ironically it was one of the gifts of the wise men to pay homage to the newborn King. He was born to die! And they knew it! Speaking of added ingredients: “The former (Oil of the Spirit) made them rich, the latter fragrant.” (Jospeh Sutcliffe)
“'He shall bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests, one of whom shall take from it his handful of fine flour and oil with all the frankincense. And the priest shall burn it as a memorial on the altar, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.' The grain offering in its general character is called ‘memorial’ There are also two psalms that David has specially written ‘for a memorial’ (Ps 38:1; 70:1). The expression ‘memorial’ determines that when we bring a grain offering, we remember the life of the Lord Jesus on earth and remind God of that as it were.” (G. de Koning) It is only sweet because of the destruction of the burnt offering in the place of the offer, as his substitute. The animal is dead and he is now alive unto God.
“‘The rest of the grain offering shall be Aaron's and his sons. It is most holy of the offerings to the LORD made by fire.’ I believe that this prefigures the Holy Communion, as follows:
“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” (1 Cor 11:23-26)
Let us eat “the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. The sour leaven of factions and parties in the church, spoils the unity of the spirit, and breaks the bonds of peace. In doctrine and discipline, in life and temper we must be simple and upright before the Lord, and being found as little children, we shall be admitted into His kingdom.” (Joseph Sutcliffe)
It is believed that Cain offered a grain offering. Why was the LORD not pleased with it? And what should have been the remedy? "In fact, the clue to what, exactly, was wrong with Cain's sacrifice may lie right here. If indeed the food-offering was meant to be accompanied by a burnt-offering, the latter being an acknowledgment of sin and a plea of forgiveness, while the former was essentially an offering of thanksgiving, then Cain's great error might well have consisted primarily in his omission of the sin-offering, or burnt-offering. There is powerful evidence of this very thing in Genesis 4:7, where the word for ‘sin’ should more properly be rendered as ‘sin-offering’ (Lev. 4)”(as is the case in Hos 4:8; Heb 9:28). (Jamieson, Faussett, Brown… Adam Clarke affirmed that, ‘I have observed more than a hundred places in the Old Testament where the word here (Gen 4:7) is used for sin-offering.’ (Coffman Commentary)
“If you (Cain) do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin (that is, the “sin-offering”) is crouching at the door (as a remedy); and its desire is for you, but you must master it.’ (Genesis 4:7) “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame. They feed on the sin (sin offering) of My people and direct their desire toward their iniquity.” (Hosea 4:6-8) “So Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin (offering), to those who eagerly await Him.” (Hebrews 9:28)
"Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come." (1 Corinthians 11:27-34)
Leviticus 2:4-16 The Grain Offering Part 2 of 2
“Just like the burnt offering, the grain offering also has some forms in which it can be brought. And just as with the burnt offering, God begins here with the greatest grain offering and then the smaller forms: 1. the grain offering in the oven (Leviticus 2:4); 2. the grain offering on the griddle (Leviticus 2:5-6); 3. the grain offering in the pan (Leviticus 2:7)." (G. de Koning)
‘You shall bring the grain offering that is made of these things to the LORD. And when it is presented to the priest, he shall bring it to the altar. Then the priest shall take from the grain offering a memorial portion, and burn it on the altar. It is an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD. And what is left of the grain offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is most holy of the offerings to the LORD made by fire.’ (8-10) It accompanied animal victims. "The Lord did not forget his priests, who were not allowed vineyards and lands: they were partakers of the altar. Let those engaged in the ministry, and on that account deprived of trades and lands, learn to trust in the Lord; He will give them food and raiment, and by some means provide for their children. Nor let them murmur and faint in the time of difficulty, but be thankful that God has counted them faithful, and put them into the ministry." (Jospeh Sutcliffe)
“‘No grain offering which you bring to the LORD shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven, nor any honey in any offering to the LORD made by fire.’ (11) Leaven nor honey had no place on the brazen altar. “God here forbids leavened cakes to be offered to Him, by which rite the ancients were taught that God’s service is corrupted if any strange invention be mingled with it. It be doubted but that Christ alluded to this when He warned His disciples to ‘beware of the leaven of the Pharisees,’ (Mat 16:11) We understanding by that word the fictions whereby they had corrupted religion…" (John Calvin) We seek the leaven or faith of Jesus. "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 why keep away honey? Simply because it is [also] 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.'" (J. A. Seiss, D. D.) These cannot be found in the Substitute. His body saw no corruption.
“‘As for the offering of the firstfruits [in the feast of the LORD], you shall offer them to the LORD, but they shall not be burned on the altar for a sweet aroma.’ (12) The lump may have leaven and other corrupting agents for it is not denied, as evidences by the offering of the firstfruits (as well as the two loaves of shewbread), that the redeemed church will consists of leavening agents. Yet we must purge. Jesus told them after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, "You are not all clean." (John 13:11) "For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.” (Rom 11:16-18)
Jesus died as the Passover Lamb. Thus the grain with the burnt offering had no leaven. And therefore His body therefore saw no corruption. Mary found the empty tomb and wept. Jesus caught her unaware and asked: "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" She thought He was the gardener and replied, "Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away." He replied: "Mary!" She turned and said, "Teacher!" He said: "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.'" (John 20:17) In "The Laws of the Second Coming," Dr. Steven E. Jones explains, "The ascension to which He referred was not His ascension on the fortieth day from the Mount of Olives, which is recorded in Acts 1:3-9. We know this, because Jesus allowed His disciples to touch Him later that same day (John 20:19, 20; Luke 24:39) So, Jesus must have ascended to His Father some time AFTER He talked with Mary and BEFORE that same evening when He appeared to the disciples." He suggests that it was the day for the wave sheaf offering of barley. On that day, it is waived by the high priest at the third hour to be "accepted on your behalf." At that hour, Jesus ascended and was presented alive in heaven. After all, if we are redeemed by His blood, then He was "accepted on our behalf."
“‘And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt.’ (13a) “Salt was the opposite to leaven, for it preserved from putrefaction and corruption, and signified the purity and persevering fidelity that were necessary in the worship of God.” (Adam Clarke)— “’You shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your [animal] offerings you shall offer salt.” (13b) According to Calvin and other traditionalists, Christ deduced an exhortation from this ceremony. But they draw a wrong conclusion. “Every one” says He, “shall be salted with fire. “The most generally received interpretation of the first clause is that which eliminates from the process of salting the idea of purifying, or preserving from corruption, and sees in it only the symbol of perpetuation. So taken, the words become an emphatic assertion of the endlessness of future punishment… Against this, however, it may be urged that it arbitrarily limits the ‘every one’ of the sentence to those who are finally condemned and are cast into Gehenna.” (C. J. Ellicott)
Rather in support of the salt of the covenant theology of Leviticus 2:13, to make it to final salvation, at the consumption of all things, a person must have been salted. But salt is only the type. The Holy Ghost is the antitype. In Matthew 3:11, John the Baptist said, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
In the feasts, after the high priest waived the sheaf of barley to be accepted on our behalf, in due time, the people could bring a grain offering of the firstfuits. “If you offer a grain offering of your firstfruits to the LORD, you shall offer for the grain offering of your firstfruits green heads of grain (corn) roasted on the fire, grain beaten from full heads.’ Pentecost is known as the Feast of Weeks or Shavuot (meaning weeks or sevens). It is 50 days after the waiving of the firstfruits – seven weeks plus a day. It marks the end of the barley harvest and the start of the wheat harvest in the land of Israel. “The Feast of Harvest,’ or the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost, stood at the beginning of harvest (Spring), and was meant to awaken gratitude for earth’s wealth then breaking forth upon them, ‘The Feast of Ingathering’—or Tabernacles—at the end of the harvest. (Fall) It was the Harvest Thanksgiving of the entire nation… Hence the great law common to each of these thanksgiving festivals:—‘None shall appear before Me empty.’ Review these facts, and see what pains the Lord took to train His people in the habit of remembrance, thanksgiving, and thank offering..’”(James Nisbet)— “And you shall put oil on it (the Spirit) , and lay frankincense (sweet savor of the death of Christ) on it. It is a grain offering. Then the priest shall burn the memorial portion: part of its beaten grain (as was Christ) and part of its oil (Spirit), with all the frankincense (the sweet savor of His death) , as an offering made by fire to the LORD.” (14-16) God “represents himself as partaking with them of all the aliments that were in use, and even sitting down with the poor to a repast on parched corn! We have already seen that these green ears were presented as a sort of eucharistical offering for the blessings of seed time, and the prospect of a plentiful harvest.” (Adam Clarke)