Deeper Commentary
Lev 2:1 ‘When anyone offers-
"Anyone", literally "any soul / person", is a term carefully chosen.
For women as well as men were encouraged to offer- in contrast to the
generally male based system of offerings in the surrounding religions.
There is also no age limit- anyone and everyone was encouraged to offer,
even a grain offering if they could not manage an animal.
An offering of a grain offering to
Yahweh, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil on it,
and put frankincense on it-
Frankincense was a type of incense which would have given a pleasing
smell to the burning flour. This represented how pleased God was with the
offering even of a handful of flour (:2). Small sacrifices please Him
immensely. And they are what comprise daily life.
Lev 2:2 He shall bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests; and he shall take
his handful of its fine flour, and of its oil, with all its frankincense;
and the priest shall burn its memorial on the altar, an offering made by
fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh-
Paul writes often that he "makes mention" or 'remembers' his brethren in
regular prayer (Rom. 1:9; Eph. 1:16; 1 Thess. 1:2; Philemon 4). The Greek
mneia is the word used in the LXX for the "memorial" of the incense
or the meal offering (Lev. 2:2,16; 6:15; 24:7), or the constant fire on
the altar (Lev. 6:12,13). That fire, that flour, that incense, had to be
carefully and consciously prepared; it had to be the result of man's
labour. And likewise, Paul seems to be saying, he first of all thought
through the cases which he then presented to the Father.
Lev 2:3 That which is left of the grain offering shall be Aaron’s and his
sons’. It is a most holy thing of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire-
The language of "most holy" is juxtaposed against the fact that this
was referring to a simple grain offering, a 'little something' offered by
literally anyone within Israel (see on :1). But such tiny offerings were
"most holy" to God; we think of the Lord's attitude to the widow offering
her two small coins.
Lev 2:4 When you offer an offering of a grain offering baked in the oven,
it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened
wafers anointed with oil-
God was pleased to accept just flour; but there was the opportunity
to bake a cake from the flour and bring that to the altar. For the idea
was that the altar was the table of Yahweh, and they were eating with Him.
And you don't eat flour together at a meal table, you eat cakes. The
various possible levels within God's law reflect our opportunities to
serve on different levels, just as the good soil of the sower parable
brings forth different amounts. Some will make more of God's truth than
others. The very existence of these levels, rather than a simple binary
demand of obedience / disobedience, pass / fail, of itself inspires us to
serve God as extensively as we can. For who can be a minimalist in
response to His love. See on :14.
Lev 2:5 If your offering is a grain offering baked in a pan, it shall be
of unleavened fine flour, mixed with oil-
Lev 2:6 You shall cut it in pieces, and pour oil on it. It is a grain
offering-
Every part of our lives, including our most inward
parts, are to be offered to God. The process of splitting the offering
into its parts speaks of our self-examination, defining each part of our
lives and offering them to God consciously.
Lev 2:7 If your offering is a grain offering of the pan, it shall be made
of fine flour with oil-
The continual stress upon the usage of oil [shehmen] may
look ahead to the meshiach, the Christ, the anointed one. All
aspects of the offerings looked ahead to the Lord Jesus Christ. "The pan"
is LXX "the hearth".
Lev 2:8 You shall bring the grain offering that is made of these things to
Yahweh: and it shall be presented to the priest, and he shall bring it to
the altar-
We note how it was the priest who was to place the sacrifices upon
the altar. 1 Pet. 2:5 surely alludes to this; we are "to offer up
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (cp. Rom.
15:16).
Lev 2:9 The priest shall take from the grain offering its memorial, and
shall burn it on the altar, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma
to Yahweh-
“A pleasant aroma” is a very common phrase. This concept is important
to God. It first occurs in Gen. 8:21 where it means that God accepted
Noah's sacrifice and vowed that the pole of saving mercy in His character
was going to triumph over that of necessary judgment. Under the new
covenant, it is persons and not sacrifices or incense which are accepted
as a "pleasant aroma" (Ez. 20:41). The word for "pleasant" means strong
delight; this is how God's heart can be touched by genuine sacrifice.
Those pleasing offerings represented us, the living sacrifices (Rom.
12:1). And so it is applied to us in 2 Cor. 2:15- if we are in Christ, we
are counted as a pleasant aroma to God. The offering of ourselves to Him
is nothing of itself, but because we are in Christ and counted as Him, we
are a delight to God. Hence the colossal importance of being “in Christ”.
Lev 2:10 That which is left of the grain offering shall be Aaron’s
and his sons’. It is a thing most holy of the offerings of Yahweh made by
fire-
The "most holy" nature of the humble grain offering is stressed (:3).
The grain offering was just a little flour, a 'little something' offered
by literally anyone within Israel (see on :1). But such tiny offerings
were "most holy" to God; He has a particular interest in those 'little
somethings' we offer to Him, and they are very holy to Him.
Lev 2:11 No grain offering, which you shall offer to Yahweh, shall be made
with yeast; for you shall burn no yeast, nor any honey, as an offering
made by fire to Yahweh-
Even though leaven was prohibited in offerings (Lev. 2:11), God was
willing to accept a peace offering with leaven in it (Lev. 7:13). Yeast
represented sin (1 Cor. 5:8). Honey and yeast would’ve made the grain
pleasing to men; but the lesson was that what pleases people isn’t what is
necessarily pleasing to God. He wants a person as they are, from the
heart, and wanted to teach that He wants us as we are without any element
of fermentation (which yeast and honey produced).
Lev 2:12 As an offering of firstfruits you shall offer them to Yahweh: but
they shall not ascend for a pleasant aroma on the altar-
The "them" refers to leaven and honey, which could be offered as
firstfruit offerings (Lev. 23:17; 2 Chron. 31:5). But they were not to be
burnt, but given to the priests. As noted on :11, leaven and honey are
associated with fermentation and therefore moral corruption. We may
discern here that less than perfect offerings are still welcomed and
encouraged by God; such is His desire for engagement with man, and His
wish to accept the imperfect offering we bring.
Lev 2:13 Every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt;
neither shall you allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking
from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt-
The altar was understood as the table of Yahweh, where He ate
together with the offerer. To eat bread and salt was a sign of fellowship
and acceptance in covenant, and the presence of salt in the sacrifices was
therefore insisted upon (Lev. 2:13). A "covenant of salt" was an eternal
covenant (Num. 18:19). The reminder therefore was that our relationship
with God is eternal, not a passing phase in our lives, nor just a mere
religious crutch to help us get through this life. For truly, God is man's
friend and accepts us at His table. The salt represents gracious speech (Col. 4:6) and
peace with one another (Mk. 9:50); without these things, no matter how
great our sacrifice, it cannot be accepted by God. Hence Jesus taught that
we should not offer our sacrifices to God until we have done what we can
to get at peace with our brother (Mt. 5:24).
Lev 2:14 If you offer a grain offering of first fruits to Yahweh, you
shall offer for the grain offering of your first fruits grain in the ear
parched with fire, bruised grain of the fresh ear-
"Grain in the ear" is Abib, the month of Passover which
was at the time of grain harvest. But "grain in the ear" is literally
green ears; just before harvest, some of the immature grain could be
offered as a freewill offering. This was an opportunity for higher level
of devotion from those eager to show personal gratitude for redemption
from Egypt in addition to the Passover. As discussed on :4, here was
another opportunity to serve God on the highest level.
Lev 2:15 You shall put oil on it, and lay frankincense on it: it is a
grain offering-
The incense gave the offering a sweet smell, portraying God's
acceptance of it and how pleasing are such 'little things' of freewill
sacrifice. The offering of the frankincense was therefore to teach the
offerer this. And we must ever remember that God Himself was not in need
of such sacrifices of incense. If He were hungry, He would not tell us
(Ps. 50:12). The legislation and concepts were therefore purely for our
benefit, and that of His people at the time. We therefore need to discern
the teaching.
Lev 2:16 The priest shall burn as its memorial portion part of its crushed
grain, and part of its oil, along with all its frankincense: it is an
offering made by fire to Yahweh’-
The "memorial portion" of the offerings was to serve as a reminder to
God, as it were, of the covenants which He "remembered". He of
course doesn't forget His covenant but ever remembers it (Ps. 105:8 etc.),
yet He is presented in human terms as having His memory rekindled, as it
were, by human prayer, faith, situations and sacrifices so that He
"remembers the covenant" (Gen. 8:1; 9:15; Ex. 2:24; 6:5; Lev. 26:42,45;
Num. 10:9 and often). The regular sacrifices were such a "memorial" or
'reminder'- both to God and to His people. The place of prayer, regular
sacrifice of giving, breaking of bread at the "memorial meeting" etc., are
all equivalents for us under the new covenant.
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