In
Leviticus 1, God shows what a worshipper must do when he wants to draw near to
worship Him. He must begin with the burnt offering. In this offering, the whole
animal, except for the skin and entrails or guts, would be burnt on the
altar. It represents the yielding of one’s whole life to the LORD.
And we all must begin that way in our relationship with God. We begin by
surrendering and consecrating our lives to Him. Leviticus 2 then introduces us
to the second of five offerings. It’s called the grain offering. In the King
James version, this offering is referred to as the meal offering. Another
translation called it the cereal offering. In the New American Standard Bible,
this offering is referred to as the grain offering.
More
important than what this offering is called, it is what it symbolizes. The
grain offering speaks of the dedication of one’s life, especially one’s labor.
As a worshipper brings a portion of his grain as an offering, that portion
would represent all the grain was offered to God. It was to be given as a
memorial. Why a memorial? It was a feast to recall the blessings God had
poured out on the worshipper’s life. And we all need such a feast to constantly
remind us of our blessed relationship with God. Our partaking of the monthly
communion is a memorial feast to remind us of our blessed relationship with God
through Christ. In the grain offering, one would also be signaling to God that
he is wholly present before the Lord.
Notice
also three types of grain offering are described here: in verses 1-3 the
offering of uncooked gran; verses 4-13 the offering of cooked grains; and
verses 14-16, the offering of the first fruit of one’s grain. If cooked grain
was to be offered, there were also three ways it could be prepared. It could be
baked in the oven, or baked using a baking pan for those who were not rich, the
offering could be prepared with the frying pan. Again, like the burnt offering what
is prescribed here is also for economic reason. God only expects of
us to offer according to what we can give.
Coming
to the ingredients to be added to the grain offering, God wants it to be leaven
free. Leaven speaks of corruption. It’s a reminder for us to offer to God a
life free from the corruption of the world. Besides, the offering must be
seasoned with salt. It is speaking of being faithful to God’s call to holy
living. Here God reminded them to offer the first fruit of their grain. The
first fruit speaks of an early harvest that often took place before the season
of harvest. God wanted the offering to be made with incense, which speaks of joy. Giving to God must be a delight. God
loves a cheerful giver.
How
then are we to offer our life in dedication to Him? We give the best. We offer
it with our being wholly present before Him. Don’t just be in the service but
our minds are elsewhere. Be wholly conscious before the Lord. We also offer
ourselves free of the leaven of the decaying influence of the world. We
offer him a “salted” life, a life faithfully lived to model the holiness we are
called into. And we give to Him as sweet incense, joyfully offered to a God
who is worthy of our best.
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