Leviticus 2

Leviticus 2

The grain offering

The grain offering is offered either in conjunction with other animal sacrifices or by itself as a free will offering to Yahweh. The grain offering formed a part of the ritual offerings at festivals too and at other times but was often offered as an offering of one’s income and necessities to Yahweh.

vs 1 The grain is never offered but only the flour obtained after grinding the grain into a fine flour. It is always offered with oil and frankincense, except in case of sin offerings (Chapter 5).  Only a handful was burnt (vs 2) and the rest was given to the priest (vs 3), and had to be consumed within the Temple or Tabernacle (Lev 6:16) by the male descendants of Aaron or the priests and was not for their family. So their partaking of the sin offering was a ritual requirement probably signifying their identification with the people.

The grain offering also reminds us that when we give to God we need to give to His ministers as well. We cannot come to God without giving support for the workers in ministry.

The concept of the priesthood of all believers should not cloud the fact that the church and mission organizations need people who work their ‘full-time’ and they need our support.

Frankincense was added to the flour and all of it was burnt as an offering to Yahweh. This frankincense provided the aroma of the offering. Paul says that our witness and testimony is the aroma of the sacrifice before God 2 Corinthians 2:15f. In Ephesians 5:2 Paul says that our love within the fellowship is the aroma before God. We cannot come to God without bringing the ‘frankincense’ of our love for the members of the church before God. Ultimately the aroma looks forward to the aroma of Jesus Christ and His offering.

Oil was poured on the flour and signified the presence of the Holy Spirit sanctifying the motive for the gift and the gift itself by its anointing.

The grain could be cooked as either in an oven (vs 4), open pan (vs 5) or covered pan (vs 6). It was never leavened (vs 11), as leaven represented putrefaction and hence decay. While this is symbolic, it teaches us that our offerings need to be holy and what has been earned with proper relationships with people and not have anything evil in it as black-marketing, oppression, bribes etc.

The baked flour was broken into pieces and a portion was then burnt on the altar and the rest given to the priesthood (vs 10).

Interestingly honey was seen also like leaven and not offered to God.  It could be because it fermented when left for long.

Salt was also to be added (vs 13) representing the covenant they made with God on the basis of which these offerings were being made.

First-fruits were different from grain offerings and not burnt on the altar (vs 12). These were offerings which went to the Levites and the priesthood. However, a memorial portion of the first-fruits could be burnt (vs 16) at the altar.