Originally posted: 04/29/2019
“No grain offering, which you bring to the Lord, shall be made with leaven…” (2:11).
The grain offering, a thing most holy, of the offerings to the Lord (2:3, 10), was not a means to accomplish atonement, for there was no blood sacrifice involved. The grain offering was a freewill opportunity to worship.
The requirements for the grain offerings were not as rigid as those of the blood sacrifices. God permitted some personal choice (baked in an oven, made on a griddle, made in a pan or as wafers) in the way a person prepared the grain offering, but there were still His Absolutes.
Consider His Absolutes
- No grain offering shall be made with leaven.
- “No grain offering, which you bring to the Lord, shall be made with leaven…” (2:11).
- Every grain offering shall be seasoned with salt.
- “Every grain offering of yours, moreover, you shall season with salt, so that the salt of the covenant of your God shall not be lacking from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt,” (2:13).
How do we respond to His Absolutes?
Our times of Bible study, worship, and prayer do not atone for our sin. Only the blood of Jesus, our perfect atoning sacrifice accomplishes so great an impossible feat. But in response to His great grace, don’t we desire to spend time in His Word and in prayer, for how can we not bring our freewill offerings?
As we consider His Absolutes, let us also be careful to consider our worship offerings.
- Leaven (or yeast) most often symbolizes sin in Scripture.
- “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy,” (Luke 12:1).
- For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, (1 Corinthians 5:7-8).
- We must be careful and intentional to bring our offerings without the leaven of sin.
- If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened; (Psalm 66:18). - Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, (1 Corinthians 5:8).
- If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness, (1 John 1:9).
- If I had cherished sin in my heart,
- Jesus called His disciples to be the salt of the earth. In Jesus’ day, salt was valued for its three properties: preserving, medicinal, and flavor.
- “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot,” (Matthew 5:13).
- The loss of these properties rendered the salt as no longer good for anything. Our worship is not to be confined to a morning appointment with God or a gathering on Sunday morning. Our offering of worship is in everything we do and must never lack salt.
- Are we preserving His truth?
- What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us, (2 Timothy 1:13-14).
- Are we bringing healing to others?
- We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God, (2 Corinthians 5:20).
- Are we adding the flavor of Christ in all we say and do?
- Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone, (Colossians 4:5-6).
- Are we preserving His truth?
Let us pray and commit our whole selves, that by the indwelling power of His Holy Spirit, our worship offerings would become “a thing most holy, of the offerings to the Lord.”
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship, (Romans 12:1).