Leviticus 2:1-16
And the priest shall take from the grain offering its memorial portion and burn this on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. – Leviticus 2:9
To read the full passage click on the link below:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus%202&version=ESV
The second offering that the Lord commands Moses about is the grain offering. This one is unique among the five major offerings in that (1) there is no meat offered, no blood shed, so no reference to atonement; (2) a memorial portion is offered to God, while the rest of the offering is given to the priests; (3) the offering was “processed” before being brought to be offered, meaning the grains were ground to fine flour or even baked into bread before being brought to God. It was mixed with oil and salt, and in 2 of the 3 cases mixed also with incense.
Flour was such a common, every-day ingredient. Planting, harvesting, threshing, grinding, kneading flour was a mundane part of the people’s lives. But this is precisely the value and significance of this offering, the way it may symbolise the consecration of our daily work unto the Lord.
Even our secular jobs, our academic assignments, and our household responsibilities can be offered to the Lord as a gift to be found pleasing to him. We are not trying to earn salvation through our works. Rather, we are acknowledging that it is God who gives us work as a blessing, enables us to work, and causes the work of our hands to bear “fruit”—in the case of an employee: a salary and a livelihood; in the case of a student: knowledge that culminates in a degree or diploma; in the case of a homemaker: a well-cared-for home and family.
Hence for the worshipper, work is never an end in itself, nor is it for the worker to enjoy the fruits of his labor by himself only. But the fruit, as well as the effort that goes into producing that fruit, are offered up on the altar as a pleasing sacrifice unto God. In our every mundane and routine acts, we are not serving ourselves but the Lord.
Notice how oil and salt were present in every kind of grain offering. The oil of the Holy Spirit is the power by which we are able to offer every part of our lives as an offering to God, even the boring parts. The salt of covenant is the consecrated way by which we live our lives, different from the world that seeks to glorify themselves through their work and to enjoy the fruit of their labour all by themselves. It may sound absurd to think that we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit to wash our dishes (the chore I dislike the most). But through the Spirit’s empowerment is the only way we can offer that simple task as an offering to God. Only the Holy Spirit can make even a dreaded chore into worship.
The grain offering often accompanies the burnt or peace offering, as an act of thanksgiving for God’s forgiveness. And this is exactly what God desires from us—when he says, “Go and sin no more.” We don’t just come to God when we’ve done wrong. We are to live before him, live unto him in all that we do.
Reflection:
What mundane work, routine tasks, or even dreaded chores can we offer unto God as an act of worship? How can these every day parts of our lives be a pleasing aroma to God?
Prayer:
Sovereign God, we thank you that you’ve given us life this morning. The breath that we breathe is new life from you. Today, as we go about doing our big jobs and small tasks, help us to serve you in the way we work. Fill us with your Spirit so that we can complete the work you’ve blessed us with, with gratitude in our hearts (not reluctance) and praise on our lips (not complaints). In the name of our Living Bread we pray. Amen!