Le 2
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In chapter two the next offering that we have is the meal offering. And this they would take the fine flour, mix it with oil and frankincense, and make up a dough that they would put on the fire to more or less bake unto the Lord. Now, these things bespeak the work of man's hand. I am bringing flour, mixing it with oil. Where did I get the flour? I had to till the soil. I had to plant the seed. I had to harvest the seed. I had to thresh the seed. I had to grind the seed into flour itself. And so it was the work of my hands. I picked the olives and put them in the olive press and got the oil. It was the work of my hands. So I am offering to God in the offering, in the meal offering, I am offering to God my service, dedicating the work of my hands unto God, giving unto God my service. And thus this meal offering again was a sweet smelling savor. And what smells better than home baked bread? You know, that smell of bread baking is always just a great smell.
When we were kids in Ventura just a block and a half from the church, on Sunday nights there was a bakery that would bake bread. And, oh, we were overcome by the neat aroma. We would go up and buy a quarter pound of butter and get a loaf of bread right off the rack as it was coming out of the oven, so hot you would have to juggle it from hand to hand and break the thing in two and drop the butter down in and eat it. In those days I didn't worry about weight. I was running so much that I ran the thing off. Oh boy, I'll tell you the smell of home baked bread is really great.
And the idea is that of, again, that it might be a pleasant odor unto the Lord. It might arise as a pleasant aroma before Him and an offering to God. "Here it is, Lord, my service. I'm giving now my labor unto you. I am offering you myself as a servant to do your work." And thus was the significance of this meal offering. The idea was the offering unto God, the work of my hands as service unto the Lord. And so, in chapter two it deals with this meal offering.
Now there were two things that were never to be mixed with the flour; one was leaven and the other was honey. The leaven, of course, always through the scripture is a type of sin, and thus, it was never to be mixed. It causes a putrefaction actually, or it causes a decay is what leaven does. And honey can also have that same effect, but honey really represents a natural sweetness. Now some of you are naturally sweet, but it is interesting that doesn't buy you any points with God. It is only that sweetness that comes from Him that is acceptable. And so honey or leaven were two forbidden additions to these little loaves of bread.
But there was one thing that it had to always be offered with: salt, because salt has the opposite effect of putrefaction. Salt was used in those days as a preservative and, of course, to make things really more tasty. If you forget to put salt in your rolls, you'll find they taste very flat. Potatoes without salt can be very flat. And so the salt was to give the flavor. It is being a preservative. They were to use salt in the meal offerings, but never the leaven or the honey. And again the idea is offering to God service. Giving to God my life to serve Him. Offering Him the work of my hands.
Now the final of the sweet savor offerings was the peace offering. And again this could be the ox, or actually, it could be out of the herd. It could be a cow also. It had to be without blemish. It could be from the flock, a lamb or again, if you are poor, it could be a turtledove. But this is the offering of communion and fellowship with God. In this offering a part of it would be returned to you to eat; and thus, the idea was here, "God, I have given this to you", and part of it is burned. That's for God. But then part of it is given back to me that I might sit down and eat of it so that I am actually fellowshipping with God, eating together with God is the idea. God is eating part of it. I am eating part of it. I am becoming part with God. And it was called the peace offering, but it was that of fellowship with God, the idea of eating together with God.
It is interesting in the New Testament how often Jesus sought to eat with people. In fact, the last message of Jesus to the church, in the Lord's epistle to the church—what was His very last message? "Behold I stand at the door and knock and if any man will hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat supper with him," (Revelation 3:20) because the Lord always enjoyed eating with people.
It spoke to them in their culture of the deepest possible fellowship when we ate together. We were entering into such a deep fellowship that we were actually becoming a part of each other, because in those days it was really family style. You have the big, old leg of lamb out there and you don't have utensils. Your fingers are your utensils. And so you reach out and grab and pull off a piece of the meat and your friend reaches in and grabs a piece of meat. And you're eating together having pulled off from the same leg of lamb that portion that you're eating. And you're eating of that same leg of lamb. Thus, that leg of lamb that is nourishing you is also nourishing me. That leg of lamb that is becoming a part of your body is becoming a part of my body; thereby I am becoming a part of you, you're becoming a part of me. We are becoming related through this common eating together.
And then as we would finish the meal, we would take the bread and we would break it. And they didn't have napkins in those days so they used the bread for a napkin. You wipe the lamb grease off your fingers and all the juices, and then you ate the bread or quite often that bit of bread was thrown to the little puppies that were around the table. The last piece that was used to sort of clean up. But by eating the same bread, by eating of the same meat, by partaking from the same table, from the same bowls, we were becoming part of each other. And they looked at it as that. For that reason they would never eat with their enemies. They didn't want to become a part of their enemy. And for that reason a Jew was always extremely careful never to eat with a Gentile. There is no way that he wanted to become one with a Gentile. So that's why that strict separation. The Jew never eating with the Gentile, because of the fear of becoming a part of a Gentile or a Gentile becoming a part of him.
And so here is the idea in the peace offering of offering the sacrifice unto the Lord. And part of it goes up unto the Lord, roasted for Him and all, but part of the roast given back to me, and I eat of it myself. So I sit down to eat with God.
And in the great feast days most of the offerings that were brought by the people in the great feast days were peace offerings. So that they were just what they say—they were feast days. The Passover Feast, The Feast of Pentecost, The Feast of Tabernacles—they were feasts, great feasts. People would come in and you'd have just all kinds of meat, all kinds of feasting together. They were holidays of feasting for seven days. With all of these sacrifices, these peace offerings would be offered, and then you'd receive yours back to eat. And thus, people were just sitting and feasting with God was the idea. And really it is a very beautiful thought in deed.
Man, it would be great if we had a seven-day feast with God around here sometime. You know, just the idea of here we are to sit with the Lord, just to feast together with Him realizing the oneness that is ours with Him, feasting together with the Lord, God's people.