Leviticus 2:1-16
The Grain Offering
1 ‘When anyone offers a grain offering to the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour. And he shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it. 2 He shall bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests, one of whom shall take from it his handful of fine flour and oil with all the frankincense. And the priest shall burn it as a memorial on the altar, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD. 3 The rest of the grain offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is most holy of the offerings to the LORD made by fire.
4 ‘And if you bring as an offering a grain offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. 5 But if your offering is a grain offering baked in a pan, 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 ‘If your offering is a grain offering baked in a covered pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. 8 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 Then the priest shall take from the grain offering a memorial portion, and burn it on the altar. It is an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD. 10 And what is left of the grain offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is most holy of the offerings to the LORD made by fire.
11 ‘No grain offering which you bring to the LORD shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the LORD made by fire.
12 As for the offering of the firstfruits, you shall offer them to the LORD, but they shall not be burned on the altar for a sweet aroma.
13 And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.
14 ‘If you offer a grain offering of your firstfruits to the LORD, you shall offer for the grain offering of your firstfruits green heads of grain roasted on the fire, grain beaten from full heads. 15 And you shall put oil on it, and lay frankincense on it. It is a grain offering. 16 Then the priest shall burn the memorial portion: part of its beaten grain and part of its oil, with all the frankincense, as an offering made by fire to the LORD.
The grain offering included Frankincense, an expensive incense that by burning it with the offering on the altar produced a “sweet aroma.” (Ephesians 5:2). It was offered with all the other offerings except the sin offering. And because we know that a pure sacrifice is pleasing and honoring to God, just as Christ surrendered His life to please His Father as a sacrifice, so should we offer ourselves as a sweet aroma to our Lord as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1) to Him. Such sacrifices are purified by fire as a handful was burned while the rest was consumed by the priests. We offer ourselves to the Lord but He still gives us more than enough to sustain us through the trials and purging by fire (1 Corinthians 3:13, 1 Peter 1:7) to refine and purify us in our ongoing sanctification as indicated with the prohibition of added leaven that symbolizes sin. These offerings were also seasoned with salt (Mark 9:49-50) as a sign of a preserved covenant made by God (Numbers 18:19) which is evidence of an unbreakable and everlasting covenant (Isaiah 55:3, Hebrews 13:20) with us. As to the sacrifices of the first fruits, they were not burned for a sweet aroma on the altar, but were offered as is to the LORD just as we offer ourselves as we are to Him, even those parts not purged with fire (1 Corinthians 3:12-13, 15), along with the grain offerings of the trials we endure to rid us of worthless chaff and leave the precious works that last to honor the Lord. These are the offerings of our lives as a sweet aroma to the Lord.
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