OFFERING: A STUDY OF LEVITICUS
The Grain Offering:
We Are Dedicated to God
Leviticus 2:1-16
DRAWING NEAR
The Lord expects his people to offer themselves
and the best they have as a token of their
dedication and gratitude.
THE GRAIN OFFERING
The grain offering appears always to have followed the
burnt offering (Num 28:1–8) and consisted of flour and oil
(Lev 2:1–2). Though it too provided a ―soothing aroma‖ (2:2,
9, 12), it was not totally consumed in fire but was shared with
the priests (2:3). Thus its purpose was not so much to secure
atonement. But as its name (minhah, that is, gift, tribute) and
the use of salt (2:13) imply, it attested to the covenant
relationship (re)established by atonement. That is, the grain
offering was a harvest tribute paid to the sovereign Lord (The
Holman Bible Handbook).
NEW TESTAMENT APPLICATION
The significance of this offering is also carried over to
New Testament teaching, especially in Rom. 12:1–2. After
elaborating on propitiation through the blood of Christ in the
first part of the book, Paul then calls for the dedication: ―I urge
you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to present your bodies
as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.‖ After receiving
full atonement with the substitutionary death of Christ,
Christians must confess that they are not their own, but have
been bought with a price and therefore must glorify the Lord
in everything (1 Cor. 6:19). When Paul saw such devotion in
the Philippian church, he said: ―The gifts you sent—they are a
fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God‖
(Phil. 4:18).
We can easily make the application from the grain
offering and its elements. That this offering was but a token to
be burned on the altar, with the rest being designated as ―most
holy‖ is fraught with significance. Once believers offer
themselves and their possessions to the Lord, everything in
that dedication becomes holy, separated from the world of sin
and set apart to God’s service. Though the Lord returns it to
them, they must remember that it is most holy; and though it
can be used by them, it must be used for holy and not for
ungodly or sinful purposes. This is what dedication at the altar
is all about. (Holiness to the Lord : A Guide to the Exposition
of the Book of Leviticus (108–109).)
Lighthouse Ministry Discussion Guide – Winter 2011
This study guide is produced to coordinate with the weekly sermon series ―Offering: A Study of Leviticus‖ by First Family Church, Ankeny, IA. More resources on this
series are available at www.firstfamilyministries.com. This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
January 15/16, 2011
THE IMPORTANCE OF SALT
Salt seems a simple substance, but you may be surprised
by some of the facts found in Salt: A World History by Mark
Kurlansky.
For instance, salt is present throughout the human body
and is needed for virtually every physical function. As another
example, it takes weeks of immersion in a salt bath to create
Parmesan cheese. And did you know that Gandhi’s nonviolent
drive for Indian independence began as a protest against a salt
tax? Or that the creation of liquid bleach became possible only
after scientists figured out the chemistry of sodium?
The salt industry boasts 14,000 different uses for salt! In
America, most salt, a prized commodity in world trade in ages
past, now goes to de-ice roads in winter.
So what exactly did God mean when He spoke of ―the salt
of the covenant‖ in verse 13? In the culture of that day, salt
probably symbolized permanence, purity, and value. By
putting salt in their grain offerings, the Israelites
acknowledged the eternal, perfect, and precious nature of
God’s covenant with them.
The grain offering, the second of the five main types of
sacrifice, was a voluntary recognition of God’s goodness. Also
called the meal offering or the cereal offering, it was the only
one that did not include blood, and so it was normally offered
alongside other types of sacrifices. As with every sacrifice
except the burnt offering, the priests ate designated portions of
this offering (cf. 1 Cor. 9:13–14).
Salt was required in the grain offering, but yeast and
honey were excluded. Yeast may have stood for sin and
rebellion, but more likely God ordered yeast omitted in order
to remind the Israelites of the Passover and how He had saved
them from slavery in Egypt. The reason for prohibiting honey
is unknown. Neither exclusion was across-the-board, since
both yeast and honey could be included in firstfruits offerings.
Try going without salt for a day as a personal object
lesson about its importance. Don’t add salt to anything you
eat, and try to avoid packaged food that lists salt as an
ingredient. You may find this rather difficult!‖
SACRIFICE IS NOT MEANT TO BE EASY
If sacrifice was easy, we wouldn’t think of it as sacrifice.
An Israelite who wanted to bring a grain offering had to go
through some steps. First, he had to take into account how he
would make his bread, would it be baked or fried? If it was to
be baked, did he need to bake it in wafers or in cakes? If it was
to be fried would he fry it in a pan or on a griddle? These
details took into account the economic position of the person
bringing the offering. Could he afford an oven?
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 Second, what kind of pans or pottery did he have? When
we take into account that broken pottery was often used as
writing paper, we see that the expense was important. Metal
pans were rare. The utensils the person owned dictated the
procedure he used in making his offering. It had to be done
right. In general, the more expensive his utensils, the more
liberally he had to use his oil. The most expensive metal pot
required deep frying the offering in olive oil. If he was baking
it in small wafers on a scrap of pottery, he could simply and
conservatively spread a little oil over them the way we would
use butter. The method was important, even for the poorest of
the poor. A sacrifice was not just about the expense of the
offering, it was about the attention it was given.
Third, did he have the right ingredients? You had to use,
as the Century English Version puts it "only your finest flour."
Salt was to be mixed into the batter of his cakes or wafers. A
little extra oil and some frankincense was not to be mixed in
but brought to the priest on top of the offering, because it was
to be completely burnt, not eaten by the priest. Some of this
was an expense. Salt was not used liberally in the ancient
world. Remember that somewhat later, it would become
currency, used to pay soldiers. Frankincense was an expensive
resinous tree sap that was used as a perfume. It wasn’t
something that poor people just had laying around. The details
were important.
Here is what you could not do:
 You could not just grab the ends of your leftovers
and bring them along to the tabernacle.
 You could not just drop in a buy a loaf of Wonder
Bread while you were out shopping.
 You could not just bake any loaf you liked and
expect it to be acceptable.
 You could not use any old recipe or leave out the
seasonings.
No, you had to plan.
You had to have all the right ingredients and seasonings
on hand. You had to be careful not to slip into autopilot and
make the bread the way you always did. You had to associate
the right details with the right recipe. You had to arrange it
just so to be brought to the priest. Only then would the
sacrifice be acceptable.
In other words, the event of the sacrifice, standing before
the priest near the altar at the Tabernacle was not the only
important part of the sacrifice. You had to sacrifice other
things too: Money, Time, Care, Skill, Valuable ingredients,
Attention.
This applied to everyone. The rules were different for
different kinds of sacrifices, but even if you were destitute,
you had to give appropriate care to your sacrifice.
Why is this significant to us?
We sometimes glibly think of the several hours we spend
at church every week as a "sacrifice." We think of the hand me
downs we donate to the church or to the poor as a "sacrifice."
We think of the relatively minor simplicity with which we
conduct our lives as a "sacrifice." But are they really
sacrifices? Do they cost us anything at all? Do they require
care or attention? Do we really miss the time or the materials
that go into our "sacrifices?" A sacrifice to the Israelites was
not appropriately offered unless time, care, money, and
attention were sacrificed before ever approaching the altar.
Lighthouse Ministry Discussion Guide – Winter 2011
This study guide is produced to coordinate with the weekly sermon series ―Offering: A Study of Leviticus‖ by First Family Church, Ankeny, IA. More resources on this
series are available at www.firstfamilyministries.com. This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
KEYS TO THE TEXT
(From the MacArthur Study Bible)
Handful (v. 2)–Unlike the whole burnt offering (1:9), only a
representative or memorial portion was given to the Lord.
“Aaron’s and his sons” (v. 3)–Unlike the burnt offering (cf.
1:9, 13, 17), this offering supplies provision for the
priests. most holy. This was unique from the others
because it was not limited to God alone, like the burnt
offering, nor eaten in part by the worshiper, like the peace
offering. Only the priest could eat the portion not burned
(see 7:9). The sin offering (6:17, 25) and the trespass
offering (6:17; 7:1) are also called ―most holy.‖
Containers (4–13)–This variation of the grain offering
involved baked flour. The kinds of containers discussed
are: 1) oven (2:4); 2) griddle (2:5, 6); and 3) covered pan
(2:7–10). The manner of preparation is discussed in 2:11–
13.
Unleavened cakes (v. 4)–The notion of leaven as a symbol
representing the presence of sin remains valid beyond the
context of the Passover and continues to the NT (cf. Matt.
16:6; 1 Cor. 5:6, 7). Anointed with oil. Anointing is
usually reserved for human appointments by God. Here, it
was applied to the preparation of a holy sacrifice, set apart
as a memorial to the Lord.
No Leaven nor any Honey (v. 11)–This applies to the
offerings of 2:4–10, all of which were to be burned on the
altar. Both yeast and honey were edible foods, but were
never to be used with a grain offering, since both could
induce fermentation, which symbolized sin.
“Not Offered on the Altar” (v. 12)–This applies to the
offering of 2:14–16, which was not to be burned on the
altar, but rather roasted by the worshiper (v. 14) before
going to the tabernacle.
Firstfruits (vs. 12, 14)–These would be offered at the Feast of
Firstfruits (23:9–14) and the Feast of Weeks (23:15–22).
The salt of the covenant (v. 13)–This was included in all of
the offerings in 2:4–10, 14–16 since salt was emblematic
of permanence or loyalty to the covenant.
Frankincense (v. 15)–A gum resin with a pungent, balsamic
odor, used for the incense in the tabernacle sacrifices (cf.
Ex. 30:34).
ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION
1. What did the grain offering signify?
2. What is the significance of oil? Of leaven? Of honey?
3. How is leaven the opposite of salt? What does this
remind you of?
4. What do we need to remind ourselves of when
decided to dedicate ourselves to the Lord?
FOR FURTHER STUDY
To dig in deeper to many of the key concepts and
teachings found in Leviticus 1, be sure to enroll in the
companion site for this study found at
elearning.firstfamilyministries.com.
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