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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/jim-smith/the-meal-offering/
Let us read together, beloved, please, in the book of Leviticus and chapter 2. It is remarkable as we read through the book of Leviticus and the book of Deuteronomy, we find that God required that this book be read once a week to all of Israel, the book of Leviticus.
So week by week, the offerings and the festivals of the Lord were brought to the attention of the Lord's people. And indeed, dear saints, it is a lesson for our hearts as we realize that these things that are in these books are intended indeed to occupy us with the person of the Lord Jesus.
Thank you, brother. And to help us to understand increasingly how God himself is finding a complete and continuous satisfaction and pleasure in the person of the one whom we're trusting this morning, the one whom we shall gather to remember in the breaking of bread.
So I'd like just to know this a little with you from the meal offering and how it is attendant to the two offerings that are before and after it. The burnt offering is first and the peace offering is the third offering.
And the meal offering is mentioned in between, very interestingly, because both the burnt offering and the peace offering were never complete without the meal offering. They were never offered alone. So as we look at the offerings, we think of the burnt offering in chapter one, and our hearts are occupied with the person of the Lord Jesus and what the father found in him.
That is marvelous and a very precious study as we go through the gospels. The father's delight in his son. When I come to the peace offering, we find that God is sharing his delight and his pleasure with the offerer and with the priesthood.
And again, we see how God is bringing us into the enjoyment of the person and the qualities and the greatness and the unchangeableness of the blessed one upon whom we are feeding and in whom we have relationship.
But when we come to the meal offering that is between these two offerings, we're looking at the person of the Lord Jesus in his humanity. Of course, his eternality of being is unquestionable, and it is really the background for the qualities that are going to be found in incarnation in the person of the Lord Jesus.
But we're going to be looking a little here today at the meal offering as to how it is manifested in the experience of the Lord Jesus. And I hope the spirit of God will most graciously help us. We want, brethren, what I have in my mind is just to take up this one little statement, a handful, just one handful.
And God says, it's a sweet savor. I would like, and I know that you would desire, here this morning as we shall gather at the later hour in the presence of the Lord Jesus himself, if I may have but one handful of appreciation of his glorious, unequaled, incomparable person.
We're able to add it to what he has given to the Father, what he has brought us into, and it will magnify his person. So I'm going to ask you to read with me the most of the chapter of two, chapter two of the book of Leviticus.
And keep in mind, we're wanting just a handful of what we see in all its detail given to us concerning the person of our Lord Jesus in his experiences and in his presentation of himself, making himself available to man.
That's the marvelous part of the meal offering. It's the Lord Jesus as he was made available to man and to able to be appropriated because it's a meal offering that the priest was to eat and also the offerer was to prepare at home.
So we'll read from verse one of chapter two of Leviticus. And when any will offer a meal offering unto the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour and he shall pour oil upon it and put frankincense thereon 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 savor unto the Lord. 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.
And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering, bacon in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. And if thy oblation be a meat offering, bacon in a pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened mingled with oil.
Thou shalt part it in pieces and pour oil thereon. It is a meat offering. And if thy oblation be a meat offering, bacon in the frying pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. 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. 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 savor unto the Lord.
And that which is left of the meat offering shall be Aaron's and his son's. It is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire. 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.
Let me note with you, first of all, please, just in verse 8. Verse 8 is going to be the background for this meal offering. 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. Now we're going to look at this verse, of course, relative to the practical application to ourselves, beloved, because all the materials that are found in this meal offering the people had in their homes.
It was at home where it was prepared. It's very interesting as well when we read concerning the time of the temple, when Solomon built the temple, there were rooms that were built around that temple. And one of the purposes of those rooms was that the Levites took the materials for the meal offering and went into those rooms and put them together.
And that is what we have, I want to notice in verse 8. For each of us who are here this morning, we soon will sit in the presence of the Lord Jesus with the purpose of putting a lot of praise upon that lovely brow.
It will be to the extent that I have gathered material at home. And when we look at the different materials, which we want to try and do, we can see. And may I just say again, I know they call it a weakness on my part, but let me just say for those of you who are younger, brethren, in particular, because of your responsibilities in the assembly to take public part, make sure that you make copious notes of what you find about the features of the person of the Lord Jesus.
Because that's what God wants to hear. He's not wanting to hear you say what brother so-and-so said. He wants to hear what you have gathered of the ingredients at home. Then we notice that they're brought and they're presented.
And the word for presented is interesting in verse 8. It's actually a formal presentation. Here is a man and he's bringing a bag of these broken cookies or this fine flour that's not been made into a cookie or a bun.
And he's bringing them and he's making a formal presentation. This is for the Lord to be put a handful of memorial upon the altar. He's presenting it. Therefore, beloved, when we take our place in the Lord's day morning in the presence of the Lord Jesus, it is our holy privilege, sisters and brethren alike, to be able just to present it and give it unto him from our hearts.
We're giving that which we have prepared of ingredients which are listed for us here, making it specific what we should be looking for and studying in relation to the person of our blessed Lord. So we'll take time just to notice a little, first of all, concerning the ingredients that we have in the meal offering.
And then I would like to notice with you the experience of the different ingredients that are found here relative to the frying pan and the oven and the open pan of fire that is baking and making these cakes and crackers and pancakes.
That's the way they would look. And the only thing is that they each had holes in them, just like the soda crackers that you have at home for your soup. That's what they would look like. They all had holes in them.
And then they took after they were made and broke them up into pieces. And that's the way they brought them. Brethren, we've got to get to see the wonders of our blessed Lord as we see these different particulars that God was so careful of that we might be able to magnify him and every Lord's Day and every day, not just on the Lord's Day, but every day to gather ingredients and bring them in presentation in priestly fashion onto the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The first thing, of course, that we have before us as defined in verse 1, his offering shall be of fine flour. And again, let me emphasize that there is the difference between a sacrifice and an offering.
When you come to the epistles of the Hebrews, you find both sacrifice and offering. When God is mentioning sacrifice, it's a life laid down. There's bloodshed. When he is speaking of an offering, he's bringing that which is in its entirety.
There is no death involved in it. It's the savor of the living one, the qualities of the living one, the blessed person of our Lord Jesus in his ministry, in his personality, in his character, what he is in his person as he is seen and as he is revealing divine image to the heart of men, as we find in the gospels.
And so the first thing that we find here is this is an offering. So we're looking at our Lord Jesus in his person, in his life, and in his expression of his heart and the heart of God toward the people.
And the first ingredient that we have noticed in our verse is fine flour. Very, very instructively, this word fine is a complicated word. We immediately think of something that is fine like talcum powder, something very, very fine.
But that's really not the idea behind this word fine. It has a threefold application that can be made. And what we're looking at is the person of our Lord Jesus. Take a look at the kernel. Within that kernel is every feature that's related to life and the propagation of life, the manifestation of fruitfulness in life.
One kernel of wheat. And that is what we have in the word fine here. The word fine is really a word that's defining the fact that it's not to be put through a sieve. There is nothing to be distracted from what was in the original kernel.
And when we think of the incarnation of the Son of God, we realize again and we rejoice in the fact that all that he ever was is who he was when he was here in our world. Oh, the wonder of it beloved.
How it shows to us that our blessed Lord Jesus, as we read down Philippians chapter 2, we see the fine flour. He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. He eternally was God and never ceased to be who he ever was.
But what we see in incarnation is he is bringing toward man and making God available to be seen, to be appreciated, and to be able to be received, appropriated by humanity. And that is again the idea of being fine flour, that which he eternally was.
He never in any degree or in any quality was ever diminished or failed to be in the eternality of the greatness of his eternal person. So as we move through the gospels, and that is emphasized beloved, look at the way Matthew's gospel commences so beautifully, the way Mark's commences.
I love the way the gospels commence introducing the person of the Lord Jesus. Listen to what Mark says. He was not even a disciple, but he has learned and he's a worshiper of the glorious person of his Savior.
And he starts right out, the gospel of the Son of God. Marvelous brethren, that's what our gospel is, bringing our Lord Jesus in all the glory of his person, equality with the Father, and in every feature, in fullness, and never diminished.
But what we have in the word fine is that that kernel has been ground. It has been processed in order for two things. In order, number one, that it may be made into something palatable for man. And again, that it may be able to be used, as we find in these offerings, and in incarnation, the person of our Lord Jesus is made available and appreciable to man.
Man may be able to appreciate God. That's what God has made in this. And so we see in the word fine that there is a presentation of our Lord Jesus in incarnation. May I just mention this concerning incarnation for the sake of my younger brethren again?
There are three things that God underlines in relation to incarnation, beloved, when we're looking at the person of our Lord Jesus. The eternal Son of God. God tells us he was made flesh. You know, you must be very careful about that word made, because in our English language, the idea of the word made is that someone took him and made him something.
That is not a good, that is not a right translation of that thought. It's he became. He took it himself. He was not forced into it. He took humanity. That's what God is underlining. Dearly beloved, it's an expression of the love of the Father and the love of the Lord Jesus.
He took humanity. And you have that very clearly brought before us in the epistle to the Hebrews. But there is another thing about humanity that has hit the humanity of our Lord Jesus that is very important.
We must stress he is virgin born. Not just born of a woman, he is virgin born. Ah, dearly beloved, that magnifies for us the absolute singular wonder of the impeccable humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Totally impossible to sin. Not a question of whether he could or couldn't. Impossible. Virgin birth. It must be underlying. We must indeed recognize the wonder of that. And that is what we're looking at as we ponder the person of our Lord Jesus this morning.
And the third thing that God emphasizes is that he took humanity never to relinquish it. Never to give it up. He is a man today. He ever shall be in a relationship with us. We who are failing sinful humans, we shall be made like unto his glory forever and forever.
That's who he is eternally. That's the value of incarnation. So we're looking at the humility of our Lord Jesus and the grace of our Lord Jesus as we look at fine flour. Put it through your fingers, brethren.
God wants you to have a handful of it. To get to be a student of the wonders of that man born of the virgin. Coming into a world cluttered with human sin and self-will and iniquity and all the impeccable purity and holiness of his eternal person.
Fine flour. But then God says there is something that's going to indwell that flour. There is oil. Oil that is mixed with the flour. That is very precious. I think we're, I know that we are all aware that oil is a type in the Old Testament concerning the divine person of the Holy Spirit.
There never was a moment, never, never was there a moment when the glorious person of Jesus was not in absolute harmony and indwelling by the divine person of the Holy Spirit. It's not something when the Spirit of God came upon him, that's his ordination for his service.
That's the oil poured upon it. That's to be seen of men. But ah beloved, he ever was in the fullness of oneness with the Holy Spirit of God. And that is essential in our gospel and as well as in our understanding of the preciousness of the person of the Lord Jesus in his character of ministry.
Never was there an independence of the Spirit of God. Ah that is so precious brethren. It unveils for us the wonder of the absoluteness of the Lord Jesus in obedience. He is not forced to be obedient, this fine flour.
He's not going to go into the oven because he is forced to. He is doing it and allowing it and entering into the experiences of the same in order that he might be more palatable to men. That men might see in him.
That we might have a better grasp of who he really is in his relationship toward us. And so we're looking at the fine flour mingled with oil, anointed with oil. Let me notice with you then quickly and briefly too also that we have brought before us in this passage these different occasions of experience in verse 4, bacon in the oven.
In verse 5, bacon in a pan. And in verse 7, in the frying pan. Now we're looking at the fine flour beloved and it's taken an experience. Now it is very evident there are many thoughts that my beloved brethren will have and they probably may be a little different than what I have here and they certainly will probably be more extensive than what I have.
But I want to notice with you just again it will allow me please to say for you who are younger men. I want to provoke you to study in the gospels. To look at the Lord Jesus through in the experiences and how he revealed the qualities of this person.
In the first one we have in the oven. It seems as though that that really is the internal character of suffering and grief that the Lord Jesus experienced when he was here. Let me point it out to you again from three different words that are used concerning him.
We read of the Lord Jesus groaning within himself. We need to ponder that beloved. He is God. He did not need to groan. He could have stated in every form and and accosting him for grief and giving him this groaning within could have been dissipated and gone forever.
But he accepts it. He is groaning. He groaned by Lazarus grave. Yes he groaned for two reasons. He groaned because he loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. He groaned with them. Beautiful. That's my Savior.
That's your Savior. He's a real man. His feelings are genuine. His emotions are real. Such a tender, compassionate, groaning. But he groaned for another reason. He groaned because of the greatness of the power of sin.
As he saw the effects of sin, and there were others that were around about him which were unbelievers, it created a groan within that holy heart. Our beloved, our Lord Jesus grieved and he groaned as he saw the effects of sin.
He never changed in all the experiences of his life, in his attitude toward sinners, in the bondage and the grip and the power of sin, he groaned. Another word that's used that I've mentioned already is the word grieved.
He was grieved with people. What grieved him was the unbelief of their heart. But what it's expressing about his person is that the person of the Lord Jesus, he yearned for the people to believe God. He yearned for the people to be in reconciliation to God.
That's the one, brethren, whom we're remembering. He was one who yearned in his love for the people who were in bondage. The third word that's used about him is grieving and his groaning, and we read about him weeping.
The weeping of our Lord Jesus again was the evidence of a love that longed, longed to embrace. And brethren, we are here today because of that meal offering love. In the oven, within the heart of the Lord Jesus, he yearned for you and he yearned for me.
How can we imagine the love of the heart of the Son of God as we look at that oven and we see the fine flour grieving and groaning and weeping? The wonder of the tenderness and the trueness and the faithfulness of that love of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ.
But the second one that we notice is more open and is open to the eye of people. And we find that the Lord Jesus really here is the burning of the fire and the character of suffering which he experienced in the rejection of the people.
And the third one, I must mention it because I'm taking too long with my thoughts this morning, and I do trust that it will just help to generate within you at least thoughts concerning himself. The fire in the open frying pan is really the occasion, let me use the occasion of when he was sold by Judas.
In the book of the Psalms, we read of his feelings. He grieved. You know, it's touching to me when Judas came into that garden with all those men. The Lord Jesus could have said to him, Judas, you fool.
You know what he said to him? Friend, why are you come? My Savior, brethren, that's the way he acted towards me. He voluntarily, mercifully, graciously, he accepted me in all my sin. That's the heart of the meal offering in the frying pan.
He accepted spittle upon his lovely face without a word of reproach. He felt the plummeting of a human fist against his own cheek and turned the other one to receive it on the other side. He accepted a crown of thorns.
He was reviled and he reviled not again. The piercing of those cakes is the evidence that there was absolutely no regret in the heart of the Lord Jesus. It's the deflating of the thing. He did not require that, but that's what the cakes are intimating, the deflating of those cakes and breaking them into pieces.
But listen, brethren, that's all in view of one handful. One dear brother, one dear sister, on their knees with an open Bible reading John 19, reading Matthew 27, reading Mark or Luke, and they're gathering a little concerning the tenerness, the emotions, the love, the faithfulness, the unchangeable, impeccable nature and character of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And they come on a Lord's day morning and a hymn is given out that extols that blessed one in the midst of his sufferings. We sing 402 sometimes, a beautiful handful, brethren, beautiful handful. The fine flour in verse one, the cake in verse two.
That's the character of the meal offering and it's presented and the priest takes his handful over that little bag of broken cookies and he brings it over to the burnt offering that's already upon the fire and he puts that upon the fire.
God's appreciation of his son in the burnt offering and my gathering of my appreciation of him from the gospels. I bring it and add it to the burnt offering and God says it's holy, it's a sweet savor unto the Lord.
One thing that he required, two things rather that he required of the people. One is no leaven and no honey. We realize that leaven speaks of no sin and what it really is telling us that not only is it impossible for our blessed Lord Jesus to sin, but it's the beauty of the fact there never was a sin.
Oh the holiness, the holiness that pervaded all the ways of our blessed Lord. Brethren, no holiness is so beautiful. Not only is it spotless through and through, but it is the very cradle of every righteousness that's seen in his person and his action.
All his ways are cradled in holiness. No leaven and then God says no honey. The idea of course of the honey is that which is drawn from natural sources. The Lord's joy was not drawn from a good meal. It wasn't drawn just from a friendship.
No brethren, the sweetness was the frankincense and the only occasion that that frankincense was sweet was when it was on the fire. A sweet savor, that which was eternally, singularly, uniquely the joy of the Lord Jesus.
Always Godward, unintelligible even to man, can't understand, cannot fathom the marvel of that glorious one. When going to Golgotha's tree, he cried brethren, it is finished. Not with a groan, but with a shout of triumph.
The joy of no honey. His joy was divine. It was not gathered from normal manners as bees would. So we see just a little handful and I trust each one of us just give our little handful this morning beloved.
What you've gathered as you've looked at his precious word, I trust it will encourage us and will provoke us that we may have to give unto him this morning as we sit in his presence. We are humbled. I love those words of 427, especially the last two lines.
The Lamb of God, the Son of Man, the Lamb of God, how good to meet thee here. That is our holy opportunity and privilege this morning. Let us close with prayer. Our Father in heaven, our confession to thee is that we are so poor in our appreciation of the glories of our wondrous Redeemer.
We thank thee for the glory that is his at thy right hand. One day we shall see it and it will provoke from us a ceaseless chorus of praise and wonder and adoration. In the meanwhile, we would like to learn all we can about him before we see him.
And so we pray to provoke our spirits and even help us. May each of our songs and each of our thoughts this morning just lay upon him thanksgiving as he has given to thee in the burnt offering the full pleasure of thy heart.
We would like to say amen by having just a little handful of appreciation of his person. Receive our thanks, we pray. Guide throughout the remainder of this day to the praise of the Lord Jesus and the edification of God's people, we pray in his precious name.
Amen.