Leviticus 2

Lev. 2 1 And when any one offereth an oblation of a meal offering unto the LORD, his oblation shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon: and he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests: and he shall take thereout his handful of the fine flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn it as the memorial thereof upon the altar, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD: and that which is left of the meal offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire.

And when thou offerest an oblation of a meal offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. And if thy oblation be a meal offering of the baking pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil. Thou shalt part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon: it is a meal offering. And if thy oblation be a meal offering of the frying pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.

8. And thou shalt bring the meal offering that is made of these things unto the LORD : and it 9 shall be presented unto the priest, and he shall bring it unto the altar. And the priest shall take up from the meal offering the memorial thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar : an 10 offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD. And that which is left of the meal offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’ : it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD 11 made by fire. No meal offering, which ye shall offer unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven : for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, as an offering made by fire unto the LORD. 12 As an oblation of firstfruits ye shall offer them unto the LORD : but they shall not come up for 13 a sweet savour on the altar. And every oblation of thy meal offering shalt thou season with salt ; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meal offering : with all thine oblations thou shalt offer salt. 14 And if thou offer a meal offering of firstfruits unto the LORD, thou shalt offer for the meal 15 offering of thy firstfruits corn in the ear parched with fire, bruised corn of the fresh ear. And 16 thou shalt put oil upon it, and lay frankincense thereon : it is a meal offering. And the priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the bruised corn thereof, and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof : it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

Lev. 6 14 And this is the law of the meal offering : the sons of Aaron shall offer it before 15 the LORD, before the altar. And he shall take up therefrom his handful, of the fine flour of the meal offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meal offering, and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour, as the memorial thereof, unto 16 the LORD. And that which is left thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat : it shall be eaten 17 without leaven in a holy place ; in the court of the tent of meeting they shall eat it. It shall not be baken with leaven. I have given it as their portion of my offerings made by fire ; it is 18 most holy, as the sin offering, and as the guilt offering. Every male among the children of Aaron shall eat of it, as a due for ever throughout your generations, from the offerings of the LORD made by fire : whosoever toucheth them shall be holy.

Nu. 15 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and 2 say unto them, When ye be come into the land of your habitations, which I give unto you, 3 and will make an offering by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or as a freewill offering, or in your set feasts, to make a sweet savour unto the LORD, 4 of the herd, or of the flock : then shall he that offereth his oblation offer unto the LORD a meal offering of a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of oil : 5 and wine for the drink offering, the fourth part of an hin, shalt thou prepare with the burnt 6 offering or for the sacrifice, for each lamb. Or for a ram, thou shalt prepare for a meal offer- 7 ing two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mingled with the third part of an hin of oil : and for the drink offering thou shalt offer the third part of an hin of wine, of a sweet savour unto 8 the LORD. And when thou preparest a bullock for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice, to 9 accomplish a vow, or for peace offerings unto the LORD : then shall he offer with the bullock a meal offering of three tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mingled with half an hin of oil. 10 And thou shalt offer for the drink offering half an him of wine, for an offering made by fire, 11 of a sweet savour unto the LORD. Thus shall it be done for each bullock, or for each ram, or 12 for each of the he-lambs, or of the kids. According to the number that ye shall prepare, so 13 shall ye do to every one according to their number. All that are homeborn shall do these things after this manner, in offering an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD. 14 And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whosoever be among you throughout your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD ; as ye do, so he shall 15 do. For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you, a statute for ever throughout your generations : as ye are, so shall the stranger be 16 before the LORD. One law and one ordinance shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.

THE MEAL OFFERING (Lev. 2 : 1-16 ; 6 : 14-18).

The Heb. minhâh or minchâh originally is a GIFT of any kind ; and appears to be used gen- erally as a gift from an inferior to a superior, whether God or man. Afterward this general sense became attached to “CORRAN ;” and minhâh or minchâh was restricted to an unbloody offering. It was composed of fine flour, sea- soned with salt, and mixed with oil and frankin- cense, but without leaven ; and generally ac- companied by a drink-offering of wine. A por- tion of it, including all the frankincense, was to be burned on the altar as a “memorial ;” the rest belonged to the priest; but the meal-offerings offered by the priests themselves were to be wholly burned. Its meaning appears to be exactly expressed in the words of David (1 Ch. 29:10-14), “Of thine own have we given thee.” It recognized the sovereignty of the Lord and his bounty in giving all earthly blessings, by dedicating to him the best of his gifts. This meaning involves neither of the two main ideas of sacrifice—the atonement for sin and self-dedication to God. It takes them for granted, and is based on them. Accordingly, the meal-offering, properly so called, seems always to have been a subsidiary offering, needing to be introduced by the sin-offering, which represented the one idea, and forming an appendage to the burnt-offering, which represented the other. The unbloody offerings offered alone did not properly belong to the regular meal-offering. They were usually substitutes for other offerings (compare Lev. 5:11; Nu. 5:15.) Dic. B.

As the burnt-offering symbolized 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 labors, the produce of his industry. In its fullest sense it symbolized the dedication of his life-energy to God in holy obedience. J M G. —As the Israelite added to his animal offerings at the altar in the court those of meal and wine, he would see visibly expressed the giving of his substance as well as himself to the Lord; and as those offerings rose in smoke he would know—now that atonement had been previously made by the aspersed blood—that, free as they were from the old leaven of sin and wickedness, sanctioned as they were by the salt of the covenant (2:13), accompanied as they were by the oil of consecration and the incense of prayer (verse 15), these products of steady human toil were acceptable to God. Cave.

2:1. Shall pour oil upon it. There were three principal uses of oil familiar to the Hebrews. It was employed to anoint the surface of the body in order to mollify the skin, to heal injuries, and to strengthen the muscles; it was largely used as an ingredient of food; and it was commonly burned in lamps. In each of these uses it may be taken as a fit symbol of Divine grace. It might figure it as conferring on each believer the strength and faculties required to carry on his work (1 Cor. 12:4); as supporting and renewing him day by day with fresh supplies of life (1 Cor. 3:16); and as giving light, comfort, and guidance into all truth (John 14:16). The offering of oil on the altar involved an acknowledgment on the part of the worshipper that his spiritual gifts were from Jehovah and belonged to him. It was in this that it became specially connected with the minchah. Clark.

And put frankincense thereon. The frankincense, like the oil, had a symbolical allusion. It represented that Divine intercession of Christ, by which he perfumes all the prayers, praises, good works, and holy affections, of his servants. That the frankincense is applicable primarily and mainly to Christ is evident from its being wholly consumed by fire. No part of his work is borne by any but himself; nothing renders our services acceptable but his atoning, justifying, interceding grace. But when this fact is cordially admitted by us, and all the favor with which we meet attributed to the merit and mediation of Christ, then our services for his glory, our oblations to his priests or his poor, our works of beneficence and kindness wrought for his sake, “come up as an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God.” As the sacrifice of Christ himself was most pleasing unto God, so are the services of all his people for Christ’s sake. Bush.

It is manifest that the oil is the emblem of the spirit’s influence, as the incense is the symbol of the Redeemer’s work. The bread also bears a relation to the Father, who giveth bread to his children. It is obvious, also, that the Messiah, as a prophet gives light to the mind, as a priest makes intercession for the soul, and as a king bestows the bread of life on his people. M.

2. Memorial, “remembrance,” means generally the part of every sacrifice which was burned; because (to speak after the manner of men) God, smelling the sweet savor, was moved to think graciously of the sacrificer. The meaning therefore is: the offering of man to God in a new obedience, sanctified by the Holy Ghost, supported by prayer, makes him partaker of all the promises of grace of the covenant of God. It is well to consider that these gifts were an addition to other sacrifices, and never stood by themselves. This therefore excludes the notion of men’s own righteousness. Gerl.—The part of the offering which the priest took out with his hand is called the “memorial” of the meal or bread-offering, because it was a remembrancer of God’s supreme dominion, a grateful acknowledgment that they held and enjoyed everything of him as sovereign Proprietor, and by this act supplicated the continuance of it. It was designed to put him in mind of his covenant promise to accept the services of his people rendered to him according to his commandment; in allusion to which it is said by the Psalmist (Ps. 20:4), “The Lord remember all thine offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifices.” Acts 14:4, “Thy prayers and thine alms come up for a memorial before God.” The sin and jealousy-offerings, on the other hand, had no oil or incense mixed with them, because they were no offerings of gracious memorial, but such as brought iniquity to remembrance, and were therefore devoid of those elements which made them come up as a sweet-smelling savor before the Lord. Bush.

3. A thing most holy. Literally, a holy of holies. As there was a distinction between the places dedicated to the Divine service into holy and most holy, so was there a similar distinction in what was offered to Jehovah. All offerings were holy, including the portions of the peace-offerings which were eaten by the laity; but that was most holy of which every part was devoted either to the altar or to the use of the priests. Such were the minchahs, the shew-bread, the incense, and the flesh of the sin and trespass offerings. Clark.

11. No leaven nor any honey. Here also we trace a moral meaning. Leaven is a well-known emblem of pride and hypocrisy. These swell the heart, and puff it up with self importance and self-deceit. Leaven is also used as an emblem of malice and wickedness, as we learn from 1 Cor. 5:8. Honey may well be considered as the emblem of the unwholesome sweetness of sensual indulgence and worldly pleasure. And these we are well assured are perfectly inconsistent with the acceptance of any offering which we may profess to bring to God. Bush.

The prohibition of leaven and honey was only for the usual meal-offering, and did not apply to the first-fruits, as the first-fruits of everything had to be presented to the Lord. Hence the wave-loaves were leavened (Lev. 23:17); and honey is mentioned among the first-fruits presented in 2 Ch. 31:5. These, however, did not come upon the altar, but were only presented to the Lord and given to the priests. P. F.

13. Salt of the covenant of thy God. Eating salt together is in the East a pledge of amity and friendship. Hence the “covenant of salt” was an indissoluble pact; and “salted with the salt of the palace” (Ezra 4:14) meant not maintenance, but the sign of faithfulness to the king. Salt was used in the sacrifices and offerings of the Israelites, probably with the same idea of honor and fidelity. Deane.

With all thine oblations thou shalt offer salt. Not only every minchah, but every animal offering was to be accompanied by salt. Considering the emphatic form of this command, and the importance subsequently ascribed to it, it is remarkable that this appears to be the only reference to salt in the ceremonial law. The significance of it, as a sacrificial symbol, is set forth in the expression “the salt of the covenant of thy God” (cf. Nu. 18:19; 2 Ch. 13:5). It was the one symbol which was never absent from the altar of burnt-offering, showing the imperishableness of the love of Jehovah for his people. In its unalterable nature, it is the contrary of leaven. Clark.—Salt is the great preservative of animal nature, opposing the tendency to putrefaction and decay. It was therefore well fitted to serve as a symbol of that moral and religious purity which is essential to the true worship of God, and on which all stability and order ultimately depend. Hence, also, it is called “the salt of the covenant of God,” being an emblem at once of the perpetuity of this and of the principles of holy rectitude, the true elements of incorruption for the maintenance of which it was established. P. F.—On the other hand, all leaven was as expressly excluded from the offerings to the Lord, because containing an element of corruption, and so was utterly alien to the pure worship established in Israel. D. M.—Especial care is to be taken not only that our religious services be cleansed from the leaven of hypocrisy, but that they be thoroughly pervaded by the “salt” of grace. Col. 4:6, “Let your speech be always with salt, seasoned with grace.” Bush.

The oil, symbol of the grace of God’s Spirit, with which the meal-offering was to be intermingled, implied that every good work must be inwrought by the Spirit of God. And that frankincense was to be put upon it bespoke the connection between good works and prayer, and that all righteous action should be presented to God in the spirit of devotion. So that “the good works of the faithful are represented by the oil, as prompted, quickened, and matured by the Holy Spirit—by the frankincense, as made acceptable and borne heavenward in prayer—and by the salt, as incorruptible, perpetually abiding signs and fruits of God’s covenant of grace” (Kurtz). P. F.

DRINK-OFFERINGS (Nu. 15:1-16).

5,7,10. With the meal-offering there was always connected a suitable quantity of wine for a drink offering. The latter is not mentioned in Lev. 2, which expressly treats of the meal-offering, but is here spoken of as a usual accompaniment, and was probably omitted in the second chapter of Leviticus for the same reason that it is also noticed only by implication with the shew bread—viz, that it formed quite a subordinate part of the offering, and was merely a sort of accessory. P. F.

15. One ordinance for you and for the stranger.** Natives and strangers are here set upon a level, in this as in other matters (verses 13–16), “One law shall be for you and for the stranger that is proselyted to the Jewish religion.” This was an invitation to the Gentiles to become proselytes. God declares that the sons of the stranger were as welcome to him as the sons of Jacob; no man’s birth or parentage shall turn either to his advantage or his prejudice in his acceptance with God. This likewise intimated, that as believing strangers should be accounted Israelites, so unbelieving Israelites should be accounted strangers. It was a happy presage of the calling of the Gentiles and of their admission into the Church. If the Law made so little difference between Jew and Gentile, much less would the Gospel make, which broke down the partition wall and reconciled both to God in one sacrifice, without the observance of the legal ceremonies. H.