The Savior In The Sacrifice

"The Savior in the Sacrifice"

Leviticus 2:1 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:

2 And he shall bring it to Aaron's sons the priests: and he shall take there out his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the LORD:

INTRODUCTION: One of the most things in the study of Scripture is that you can look for portraits of Jesus in type and shadow in the OT. Although at first glance you might not think so, there are many of these portraits in the Book of Leviticus which a friend of mine, Don Pegram, once referred to as a "...book of entrails!" One issue that I need to explain before we start our study is the meaning of the word "...meat..." found throughout this passage. It is from a Hebrew word used to describe any kind of food offerings. In this case it (the food) involves flour, oil, frankincense and if you read the entire passage salt.

Let's look at how the grain (food) offering is discussed. Verses one through three is about the grain offering uncooked. Verses four through 10 are about the grain offering cooked and the three ways you could have brought it. Verses 11, 12 and 13 talk about ingredients for the grain offering and 14 through 16 discuss a variation of the grain offering called the first fruits.

Now let me clarify one other thing about this particular offering. This offering is not about atonement like some of the others. The whole burnt offering that occurred before the meat (food) offering was about atonement; this offering point to something else. I believe the word "...memorial..." is key. When we observe a memorial we remember something. This is certainly true of the Lord's Supper where Jesus says; "...this do in remembrance of me..." In the Lord's Supper we remember the Lord body and blood which he gave for us. So when the offerer placed the flour, oil, frankincense and salt on the fire upon the altar he was looking back at the whole burnt offering which was an atoning sacrifice. It was therefore about remembrance, thanksgiving and gratitude. That brings me to my point; the Savior not only died for us, He also lived His life for us and the elements of this offering point to that! His entire life and ministry was a beautiful sacrifice and we can learn much from this meat (food) offering. Now there were some other aspects to this meat offering found in Leviticus 6:14-23 but we'll save that for another time.

I. The Elements of the Sacrifice

a. The Flour

This was to be of the finest of the wheat; for all offerings, whether private or public, were to be of the best, and to be brought from those places which were noted for having the best; and the best places for fine flour were Mechmas and Mezonicha, and the next to them were Caphariim, in the valley; and though it might be taken out of any part of the land of Israel and used, yet it chiefly came from hence (t); and according to the Jewish writers (u); the least quantity of fine flour used in a meat offering was the tenth part of an ephah, which was about three pints and a half, and a fifth part of half a pint. John Gill

The key word here is the word fine. It was finely ground wheat. The husk is removed in the threshing of the grain; the grain is ground by a millstone (we all have heard the expression, stone ground grain, usually corn) and the stone went round and round until the grain was pulverized into a fine flour. Any baker or chef will tell you that there are different grades of flour and the finer the flour the more luxurious the cake or pastry.

b. The Oil

This is the fruit of the olive-tree. This tree yielded oil which was highly valued. The best oil was from olives that were plucked before being fully ripe, and then beaten or squeezed Deu_24:20; Isa_17:6; Isa_24:13). It was called "beaten," or "fresh oil" (Exo_27:20). There were also oil-presses, in which the oil was trodden out by the feet (Mic_6:15). James (Jam_3:12) calls the fruit "olive berries." The phrase "vineyards and olives" (Jdg_15:5, A.V.) should be simply "olive-yard," or "olive-garden," as in the Revised Version. It was the best oil that was used; and though it might be brought from any part of the land of Israel, which was a land of oil olive, yet the chief place for oil was Tekoah, and the next to it was Ragab beyond Jordan, and from hence it was usually brought (w); and the common quantity was a log, or half a pint, to a tenth deal of fine flour. John Gill's Exposition of the Bible