Leviticus 2:1-16 And when any will offer a meat offering to the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil on it… The meat-offering (so called by our translators because the greater part of it was used for food) represents the offerer's person and property, his body and his possessions. The mercies of God constrain him to give up all he has to the Lord. The meat-offering was generally, or rather always, presented along with some animal sacrifice, in order to show the connection between pardon of sin and devotion to the Lord. The moment we are pardoned, all we are, and all we have, becomes the property of Christ. A type that was to represent this dedication of body and property was one that behoved to have no blood therein; for blood is the life or soul which has been already offered. This distinction may have existed as early as the days of Adam. When God instituted animal sacrifice to represent the atonement by death He probably also instituted this other sort; the fact of this latter existing, and its meaning and use being definitely understood, would tend to confirm the exclusive use of animal sacrifice when atonement was to be shown forth. Cain's offering of firstfruits might have been acceptable as a meat-offering, if it had been founded upon the slain lamb, and had followed as a consequence from that sacrifice. This meat-offering was presented daily, along with the morning and evening sacrifice, teaching us to give all we have to the Lord's use, not by irregular impulse on particular exigencies, but daily. But we have still to call attention to the chief application of this type. It shows forth Christ Himself. And indeed this should have been noticed first of all, had it not been for the sake of first establishing the precise point of view in which this type sets forth its object. We are to consider it as representing Christ Himself in all His work of obedience, soul and body. And if it represent Christ, it includes His Church. Christ and His body, the Church, are presented to the Father, and accepted. Christ, and all His possessions in heaven and earth, whether possessions of dominion or possessions in the souls of men and angels, were all presented to, and accepted by the Father. Let us now examine the chapter in detail. The meat-offering must be of fine flour — the fine wheat of Palestine, not the coarser "meal," but the fine, boiled and sifted well. It must in all cases be not less than the tenth of an ephah (Leviticus 5:11); in most cases far more (see Numbers 7:13). It was taken from the best of their fields, and cleansed from the bran by passing through the sieve. The rich seem to have offered it in the shape of pure fine flour, white as snow, heaping it up probably, as in Numbers 7:13, on a silver charger, or in a silver bowl, in princely manner. It thus formed a type, beautiful and pleasant to the eye, of the man's self and substance dedicated to God, when now made pure by the blood of sacrifice that had removed his sin. For if forgiven, then a blessing rested upon his basket and his store, on the fruit of his body, and the fruit of his ground, the fruit of his cattle, and the increase of his kine (see Deuteronomy 28:3-6). Even as Jesus, when raised from the tomb, was henceforth no more under the curse of sin; but was blessed in body, for His body was no longer weary or feeble; and blessed in company, for no longer was He numbered among transgressors; and blessed in all His inheritance, for "all power was given Him in heaven and in earth." The oil poured on the fine flour denoted setting apart. It was oil that was used by Jacob at Bethel in setting apart his stone pillow to commemorate his vision; and every priest and king was thus set apart for his office. Oil, used on these occasions, is elsewhere appropriated to mean the Spirit's operation — the Spirit setting apart whom He pleases for any office. The frankincense, fragrant in its smell, denoted the acceptableness of the offering. As a flower or plant — the rose of Sharon or the balm of Gilead — would induce any passing traveller to stoop down over them, and regale himself with their fragrance, so the testimony borne by Christ's work to the character of Godhead brings the Father to bend over any to whom it is imparted, and to rest over him in His love. The Lord Jesus says to His Church, in Song of Solomon 4:6, "Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and the hill of frankincense." This spot must be the Father's right hand. In like manner, then, it ought to be the holy purpose of believing souls who are looking for Christ, to dwell so entirely amid the Redeemer's merits, that, like the maidens of King Ahasuerus (Esther 2:12), they shall be fragrant with the sweet odours, and with these alone, when the bridegroom comes. When Christ presented His human person and all He had, He was, indeed, fragrant to the Father, and the oil of the Spirit was on Him above His fellows (see Isaiah 61:1; Psalm 45:7; Hebrews 9:14). And equally complete in Him is every believer also. Like Jesus, each believer is God's wheat — His fine flour. (A. A. Bonar.) Parallel Verses KJV: And when any will offer a meat offering unto the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon: |
    |