Leviticus 2:1-10, “When anyone brings a
grain offering as an offering to the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour.
He shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it (2)
and bring it to Aaron's sons the priests. And he shall take from it a
handful of the fine flour and oil, with all of its frankincense, and the priest
shall burn this as its memorial portion on the altar, a food offering with a
pleasing aroma to the LORD. (3) But the rest of the grain offering shall be
for Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the LORD's food
offerings. (4) "When you bring a grain offering baked
in the oven as an offering, it shall be unleavened loaves of fine flour mixed
with oil or unleavened wafers smeared with oil.
(5) And if your offering is a
grain offering baked on a griddle, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mixed
with oil. (6) You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on
it; it is a grain offering. (7) And if your offering is a grain offering
cooked in a pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. (8)
And you shall bring the grain offering that is made of these things to
the LORD, and when it is presented to the priest, he shall bring it to the
altar. (9) And the priest shall take from the grain
offering its memorial portion and burn this on the altar, a food offering with
a pleasing aroma to the LORD. (10) But the rest of the grain offering shall be
for Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the LORD's food offerings.”
The various offerings that the Lord command the people of Israel to
make, were all designed to be sacrificial. Sacrificial in the sense that they
were costly, a lamb, goat, calf, or bull were precious and valuable livestock.
In the case of this chapter, the offering up of grain, was to offer up that
which so many depended upon as their daily source of food. We fail to fully
appreciate this as we live in a time where there is an abundance, great variety
and availability of food. But for the people of Israel, and certainly for the
Exodus generation, something as simple as grain was very precious, it was
essential to their daily survival. Thus to take some of this precious grain and
offer it up to the Lord, to see some of it burnt on the altar and the remainder
left with the priest would have been a sacrificial offering.
What then was the purpose and design of this grain offering? Its
purpose and design was two-fold. Firstly, it was an offering of thanksgiving
and worship to God. It was to acknowledge that all they had was given to them
from the hand of God. Though they may have sowed the seed, God is the one who
gave the growth and increase. Thus they would offer up a grain offering as a
demonstration of their thankfulness towards God for His faithful provision, and
to worship Him for His greatness, power and love. Secondly, the purpose and
design of this offering was to teach the people to trust in God for their daily
needs. Offering up a grain offering required trust in God, for you were taking
something which your family needed and depended upon and giving it completely
to God. You would leave with the grain and return from the tabernacle or
temple, empty handed. Therefore for the vast majority of Israelites it was an
exercise of faith and trust in God to provide for them and their families.
We can discern the wisdom behind this offering, because we all need to
be reminded on a constant basis, that all things come from God and that we are
to live in faith, trust and dependence upon God. This keeps us from taking what
we have for granted, or becoming complacent and ungrateful. Although we may no
longer bring grain offerings to God, we seek to offer up to God that which He
has given us, out of the salary we receive on a monthly basis. We are wrong to
think of our salary as being that which is due to us and is ours to do with as
we please. It is given to us by God, and all of it, down to the last penny is
to be used for God and in a manner that glorifies and honours God. All that we
have and enjoy comes to us from God’s good hand, we need to keep ourselves
mindful of this and to be thankful every single day for the bread we eat. We
demonstrate this thankfulness and dependence in the manner and to the extent to
which we are willing to give to God, and how we then use the remainder of what
we have.
Generous Father, we thank You for Your
daily grace and provision for all our needs. We thank You most of all for the
provision of Christ, who has brought us a great salvation. We pray that we
might show our love, thankfulness and dependence upon You, through our
willingness to give back to You out of the abundance that You have given us. We
also pray that You might give us wisdom, guiding us by Your Holy Spirit, so
that we might use our money and resources in a manner that truly honours and
exalts You. Amen.
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