Leviticus 6:14-23

THE MEAL OFFERING 6:14-23
TEXT 6:14-23

14

And this is the law of the meal-offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before Jehovah, before the altar.

15

And he shall take up therefrom his handful, of the fine flour of the meal-offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meal-offering, and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savor, as the memorial thereof, unto Jehovah.

16

And that which is left thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: it shall be eaten without leaven in a holy place; in the court of the tent of meeting they shall eat it.

17

It shall not be baken with leaven. I have given it as their portion of my offerings made by fire; it is most holy, as the sin-offering, and as the trespass-offering.

18

Every male among the children of Aaron shall eat of it, as his portion for ever throughout your generations, from the offerings of Jehovah made by fire: whosoever toucheth them shall be holy.

19

And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

20

This is the oblation of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer unto Jehovah in the day when he is anointed: the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meal-offering perpetually; half of it in the morning, and half thereof in the evening.

21

On a baking-pan it shall be made with oil; when it is soaked, thou shalt bring it in: in baken pieces shalt thou offer the meal-offering for a sweet savor unto Jehovah.

22

And the anointed priest that shall be in his stead from among his sons shall offer it: by a statute for ever it shall be wholly burnt unto Jehovah.

23

And every meal-offering of the priest shall be wholly burnt: it shall not be eaten.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 6:14-23

115.

The regulations here are very similar to those in the second chapter. What verses here compare with those in chapter two?

116.

There are some dissimilarities. Indicate them.

117.

Why not leaven in the bread made from the meal offering? In what place were they to eat it? Why?

118.

Only a certain class of persons were permitted to eat. Who were they?

119.

What is meant by the thought that to touch one of the sons of Aaron was to make the person who touched holy?

120.

Are we to understand that Leviticus 6:14-18 discuss what to bring and Leviticus 6:19-23 discuss when to bring it? Explain.

121.

Broken bread baked or fried on the fire is the offering of priests. Is this a fair conclusion? Discuss.

PARAPHRASE 6:14-23

These are the regulations concerning the grain offering: Aaron's sons shall stand in front of the altar to offer it before the Lord. The priest shall then take out a handful of the finely ground flour with the olive oil and the incense mixed into it, and burn it upon the altar as a representative portion for the Lord; and it will be received with pleasure by the Lord. After taking out this handful, the remainder of the flour will belong to Aaron and his sons for their food; it shall be eaten without yeast in the courtyard of the Tabernacle. (Stress this instruction, that if it is baked it must be without yeast.) I have given to the priests this part of the burnt offerings made to Me. However, all of it is most holy, just as is the entire sin offering and the entire guilt offering. It may be eaten by any male descendant of Aaron, any priest, generation after generation. But only the priests may eat these offerings made by fire to the Lord.
And Jehovah said to Moses, On the day Aaron and his sons are anointed and inducted into the priesthood, they shall bring to the Lord a regular grain offeringa tenth of a bushel of fine flour, half to be offered in the morning and half in the evening. It shall be cooked on a griddle, using olive oil, and should be well cooked, then brought to the Lord as an offering that pleases Him very much. As the sons of the priests replace their fathers, they shall be inducted into office by offering this same sacrifice on the day of their anointing. This is a perpetual law. These offerings shall be entirely burned up before the Lord; none of it shall be eaten-'.

COMMENT 6:14-23

Leviticus 6:14 There is to be nothing secretive about this offering. It is to be made in the sight of all. The meal offering size and content are discussed in Leviticus 2:1 ff. Here we follow the actions and attitude of the priests as they make the offering. Before the people upon the altarhow meaningful are all our actions and attitudes when we know that first of all that it is done in the sight of God!

Leviticus 6:15 We learn nothing new in this verse from what we found in Leviticus 2:2 except we are standing with the priest and not the worshipper. The aroma of frankincense, the flash of the fire as the oil-mixed flour is consumed upon the altar; all of this says to the priest and to the worshipper and to all who see that God is well pleased with the thank offering of grain.

Leviticus 6:16 We are in this verse introduced to the exact action observed by Aaron's sons as they take of their portion of the altar (Cf. 1 Corinthians 9:13-14). Careful, repeated instructions relate to this bread being unleaven. There must not be anything in it that would intimate sin or corruption; for since the memorial has been offered, the remainder is reckoned pure, so pure that it may be put into the hands of the priests as food, and eaten on holy ground. It may present to us the fact, that when Jesus was once offered as a -sweet savor of rest,-' then what remained, i.e. His body the church, was pure, and might be freely admitted to holy groundto heaven, and to all heavenly employments. (Ibid.)

Leviticus 6:17 If the meal offering takes the form of cakes instruction is given that no leaven is to be Used. We like the thought that the enjoyment of eating is to come from their knowledge that the gift came from God and not in the flavor of the cake. There must be no leaven in it, for it is a gift to them from Me. Let it, then, derive its sweetness and relish to their taste from the consideration that it is my gift to them. There are two grand truths taught here: (1) any place becomes a holy place when we sense the presence of God. Calvary was a holy mount 2 Peter 1:18; the ground by a bush was holy ground Exodus 3:5; the outer court was called the most holy place Numbers 18:10 (depending upon what happened as related to the presence of God); (2) We should rejoice more in the giver than the gift. Hannah rejoiced more in God than in Samuel 1 Samuel 2:1; so did Mary and Elizabeth; It teaches us of the deep joyful communion which can exist between God and His people. Cf. Colossians 2:1-2.

Leviticus 6:18 While this food is available to all male members of the tribe of Levi they must not eat without thought and recognition of the giver because God has counted them holy or sanctified and therefore everyone who touches them or the altar or any of its utensils or garments is also holy. Even inanimate objects touched by the priests were thus set-aside as holy. All such items must be cleansed by washingspersons must also cleanse themselves of this ceremonial defilement. The purpose of such prohibitions was to teach respect, reverence for the Holy One of Israel. God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of His saints, and to be held in reverence of all that are about Him. Psalms 79:7. Nothing is more happy or holy than the presence of God!

Leviticus 6:19-20 Here is information we have not had before. This is part of the ceremony used in the ordination of a man to the priesthood, whether it be the ordinary priests or the high priest. It is interesting to notice that neither the richest nor the poorest of the kinds of meal offerings is chosen. The priest is to relate himself to all peoplethe rich and the poor. The amount is the same as that chosen by God for the daily portion of manna. The same amount as placed in the golden pot in the ark of the covenant. Thus the priest is to remember he is a servant of both God and man.

Leviticus 6:21 The cakes are prepared with oil and baked in a pan just as if they were to be eaten. They are to be consumed, but not by man, This could teach the priest that what he prepares for himself he also first prepares for God. What he prepares for himself is neither more nor less than what he prepares for God. God will accept what he has prepared. Our offerings to God must be as important and as basic as our everyday food.

Leviticus 6:22-23 Actually the priest is offering himself in this offering. His total, whole self is given up to God. As our great high priest gave Himself to God on our behalf, we give ourselves to Him and others in our commitment to Him. We are all priests and all have received the anointing of the Holy One (Cf. 1 John 2:21; 1 John 2:27) and belong to Him. Please remember whose you are!

FACT QUESTIONS 6:14-23

153.

What is meant by saying there is nothing secretive about this offering?

154.

What makes the actions and attitudes meaningful?

155.

What is the one message we get from Leviticus 6:15?

156.

Why was it so important that not only the memorial portion but the whole be unleavened ?

157.

Why eat it in the holy place? What lesson is in this for us?

158.

There are two grand truths taught in Leviticus 6:17. What are they?

159.

Was there an advantage or disadvantage to the non-Levite to be counted holy by touching one of the priests or some portion of the tabernacle?

160.

How was the meal offering used in the ordination service of the priests?

161.

What lesson is in the fact that the priest is to prepare cakes as if they were to be eaten and then burn them?

162.

The priest is offering himself in the meal offering. Show how and why.