Verses 1-3 And 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: 2 And 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 savour unto the LORD: 3 And 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.
A meat offering was not one of animal flesh. Meat in the Bible usually refers to food other than animal muscle or organ meat. It can be fruits, vegetables or grains. In the offering above it was to be a grain offering in the form of finely ground flour with oil and frankincense to be added when given to the priests. Frankincense could be a resin or an oil and it was and is very expensive and it has a lovely fragrance. What wasn’t used in the offering became the property of the priests. They relied upon the different sacrifices and offerings to support themselves and their families.
Verses 4-10 And 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. 5 And if thy oblation be a meat offering baken in a pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil. 6 Thou shalt part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon: it is a meat offering. 7 And if thy oblation be a meat offering baken in the fryingpan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. 8 And thou shalt bring the meat offering that is made of these things unto the LORD: and when it is presented unto the priest, he shall bring it unto the altar. 9 And the priest shall take from the meat offering a memorial thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD. 10 And that which is left 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.
All the different offerings in the verses above consisted again of fine flour mixed with oil. Notice the different preparation methods. This writer cannot cook anything well and so prefers to eat cold and uncooked foods. So it seems that God allowed many different preparation methods of the flour and oil perhaps because He understood that some people would be challenged in the food preparation area. This writer, if living in Moses’ day, would definitely stick to the fine flour mixed with oil and not baked or fried. But from a priest’s perspective, it must have been nice to have the offering already prepared for consumption with no preparation or cooking needed.
Verse 11 No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the LORD made by fire.
Leaven represents sin in Scripture. Some pastors will try to get around the verses indicating this and so they have no difficulty providing communion to their flock using regular, leavened bread. In essence, they are saying that the leavened bread symbolically represents the body of Christ and therefore Christ was a sinner. This is blasphemy. Think about what your church does at communion time. Is it correct or is the ritual sending a false message?
Verse 12 As for the oblation of the firstfruits, ye shall offer them unto the LORD: but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet savour.
The firstfruits were the first to be harvested, they were the best and they were to be given to the LORD before the rest of the crop was eaten, sold or preserved. These were not burnt. Most likely they supported the Levites in their service to the tabernacle and then to the temple when it was built. The Levites were not given land like the rest of the 11 Hebrew tribes. They were to work for the LORD and to be supported by the Hebrew people who were not of the tribe of Levi.
Verse 13 And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.
Salt was and is a preservative against microorganisms and a flavor enhancer. Adding salt to the offering may have been pointing to the fact that Jesus’ body did not see decay in the tomb but resurrected. His body was holy and set apart and no decomposition occurred.
Application: Matthew 5:13 says, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?” In other words, believers bring a savour to the world and provide a preservative against the things of the world that corrupt the hearts and minds of people. Just as salt or sodium is essential for the human body to function and remain healthy, the believer is essential to help keep the church body functioning and healthy spiritually.
Verses 14-16 And if thou offer a meat offering of thy firstfruits unto the LORD, thou shalt offer for the meat offering of thy firstfruits green ears of corn dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears. 15 And thou shalt put oil upon it, and lay frankincense thereon: it is a meat offering. 16 And the priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the beaten corn thereof, and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD.