Leviticus 2:1-61And 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: 2And he shall bring it to Aaron's sons the priests: and he shall take thereout 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: 3And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire. 4And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. 5And if thy oblation be a meat offering baken in a pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil. 6Thou shalt part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon: it is a meat offering. (Leviticus 2:1‑6)
“AND HE shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense therein.” We were saying last week that the meat offering speaks of the life of the blessed Lord Jesus as Man here on earth. The oil is ever a type of the Spirit, and Jesus as a Man was “anointed with the Holy Ghost” (Matt. 3:16,1716And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:16‑17)).
In verse 5 we read, “it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil,” and the Lord Jesus in His nature as a man was conceived or begotten of the Holy Ghost. Then it says, “Thou shalt part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon.” v. 6. Every act of His was in the energy of the Holy Spirit of God.
There was to be no leaven in the meat offering, for leaven is the type of evil, and in Him there was no sin.
The frankincense was all for God and would remind us of the Father’s voice from heaven saying to Him, “Thou art My beloved Son, in whom is all My delight” (Mark 1:1111And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Mark 1:11)).
“And he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests: and he shall take thereout his handful of the flour.” v. 2. As another has remarked, “The `handful of the flour’ tells us that we can never take in all that Christ is, never fully apprehend all that He is to the heart of God, and all that He has accomplished for the glory of God. But we can each take our handful. Each may lay hold in his measure of that preciousness of the Person of the Lord Jesus and enjoy Him in his soul.”
“And the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar.” The fire here is not that wherewith God judges sin, but speaks of the trials and testings which the Lord Jesus passed through in His blessed life. He was tried in every step of that pathway, and the trial only brought out the perfection that was in Him. How often trial and pressure bring out in us the flesh, our failures and shortcomings, but with the Lord every trial brought out the fragrance and perfection of who He was, so that all went up to God as a sweet savor.
“And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons'.” Unlike the burnt offering which was all for God (except the skin which the priest could take for himself), part of the meat offering was for Aaron and his sons. This tells us that believers, as priests, can feed and delight in Christ in His perfection as Man going through this world.
The Lord could say, “The bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.... I am the bread of life: He that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.” John 6:33,3533For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. (John 6:33)
35And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. (John 6:35). “The bread of God” is that which God Himself enjoys — Christ Himself. How wonderful that He gives the same precious food of life to us to enjoy. We, as God’s priests, can feed upon that humbled One in His perfect life here below.
“It is a thing most holy.” This tells us of how the Spirit of God ever guards the truth of the Person of God’s dear Son, the Man Christ Jesus.
ML-05/23/1971