Part Five of
The Earthly Sanctuary & its Services
The "meal" offering
But offering the life without the possessions would only be an empty shell. So the next step in the sanctuary service was to add another offering to the first in both the personal and the general situation. An offering of "fine flour", "oil" and "incense" was required. It is called a "meat" or "food" offering in the King James Version of the Bible but was really a cereal offering and can be called a "meal" offering. Composed of these items (which are man-made modifications of the natural), and with no blood showing the death of the Saviour associated with it, it could not be offered on its own, but was always attached to the "burnt" offering.
Leviticus 6:14-18
"And this is the law [or details] of the meat offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the LORD, before the altar. And he shall take of it his handful, of the flour of the meat offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat offering, and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour, even the memorial of it, to the LORD".
"And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it. It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it to them for their portion of My offerings made by fire; it is most holy, as is the sin offering, and as the trespass offering. All the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations concerning the offerings of the LORD made by fire: every one that touches them shall be holy".
Leviticus 10:14-15
"And the wave breast and heave shoulder shall you [the offering priest] eat in a clean place; you, and your sons, and your daughters with you: for they be your due, and your sons' due, [sons = daughters] which are given out of the sacrifices of peace offerings of the children of Israel".
Leviticus 2:1-3
"And when any will offer a meat [meal] offering to 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 out of it his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial [the handful] of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour to the LORD. And the remnant of the meat [meal] offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire".
So today, to offer our lives to Jesus without also allowing Him the use of, and consumption of, all our possessions and talents, would be a hollow gift.
The major request He makes of us is the 1st tithe. Here He asks us to return to Him 1/10th of that which He has given to us to look after for Him.
Leviticus 27:30-32
"And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S: it is holy to the LORD.... And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passes under the rod [the counting method], the tenth shall be holy to the LORD".
He does NOT ask us to give Him 1/10th of OUR increase. It is all His and what He is seeking is a realisation of that fact. ALL things come from Him and we need to know this. Not to return to Him His own is to steal from Him and this is how He wants us to see it.
Malachi 3:8-9
"Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me. But you say, Wherein have we robbed You? In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse: for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation".
During the meal offering the priest was instructed to take out a handful of the flour and burn it on the altar with a portion of the oil and all the incense. This was God’s share. The rest the priest could take and use for his own needs.
Leviticus 7:9-10
"And all the meat offering that is baked in the oven, and all that is dressed in the frying pan, and in the pan, shall be the priest's that offers it. And every meat offering, mingled with oil, and dry, shall all the sons of Aaron have, one as much as another". [See also Leviticus 10:14].
In this way Jesus supplied the necessities of His co-workers. The offering need not just be the bare ingredients, it could be varied by being made into cakes, baked in an oven or fried in a pan. Just so, the 1st tithe is not necessarily only money, the human touch of time and talent is also welcomed.
Leviticus 2:4-10
"And if you bring an oblation of a meat [meal] offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. And if your oblation be a meat [meal] offering baked in a pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil. You shall part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon: it is a meat [meal] offering. And if your oblation be a meat [meal] offering baked in the frying pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. And you shall bring the meat [meal] 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. And the priest shall take from the meat [meal] offering a memorial thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour to the LORD. And that which is left of the meat [meal] offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire".
Whatever our talents, if they are used as God directs then they are accepted.
What happened to the "meal" offering made by a priest? It was always completely burnt on the altar as a picture of the whole-hearted dedication Jesus expects from those who lead out in His work on earth.
Leviticus 6:19-23
"And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer to the LORD in the day when he is anointed; the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meat offering perpetual, half of it in the morning, and half thereof at night. In a pan it shall be made with oil; and when it is baked, you shall bring it in: and the baked pieces of the meat offering shall you offer for a sweet savour to the LORD. And the priest of his sons that is anointed in his stead shall offer it: it is a statute for ever to the LORD; it shall be wholly burnt. For every meat [meal] offering for the priest shall be wholly burnt: it shall not be eaten".
However, there were a few restrictions regarding this offering. No "meal" offering could be made with leaven [yeast] for God does not want any other substance added to our gift to make it look larger than it really is. Similarly, the addition of honey to "sweeten" the offering was also not needed. Whatever we have and wish to share is what God wants. One great essential was the application of salt, representing the following of the guidelines of the Bible under the direction of the Holy Spirit, for without His instruction the offerer is bound to make mistakes.
Leviticus 2:11-13
"No meat offering, which you shall bring to the LORD, shall be made with leaven: for you shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the LORD made by fire".
"As for the oblation of the firstfruits, you shall offer them to the LORD: but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet savour".
"And every oblation of your meat offering shall you season with salt; neither shall you suffer the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your meat offering: with all your offerings you shall offer salt".
Review & Herald 1897-09-14.009
Genuine conversion is needed, not once in years, but daily [i.e. continually]. This conversion brings man into a new relation with God. Old things, his natural passions and hereditary and cultivated tendencies to wrong, pass away, and he is renewed and sanctified. But this work must be continual; for as long as Satan exists, he will make an effort to carry on his work. He who strives to serve God will encounter a strong undercurrent of wrong. His heart needs to be barricaded by constant watchfulness and prayer, or else the embankment will give way; and like a mill-stream, the undercurrent of wrong will sweep away the safeguard. No renewed heart can be kept in a condition of sweetness without the daily application of the salt of the word. Divine grace must be received daily, or no man will stay converted.
RH.1897-09-14.010
The sufferings of the Redeemer, in his life and in his death, make it possible for man to return to his loyalty, and become refined and elevated. As his substitute and surety, Christ elevates man, and brings his mind into sympathy with the divine mind. Through faith, that faith that works by love and purifies the soul from all moral defilement, we may overcome every evil trait of character. By accepting the provision made for us, we may represent the character of Christ. Thus we are identified with the Son of God, being one with him as he is one with his Father. So we may overcome the enemy who would lead us away from our loyalty. We may become more than conquerors through him that loved us. ....
RH.1897-09-14.013
Test and trial will come to every soul that loves God. The Lord does not work a miracle to prevent this ordeal of trial, to shield his people from the temptations of the enemy. If they are tempted severely, it is because circumstances have been so shaped by the apostasy of Satan that temptations are permitted. Characters are to be developed that will decide the fitness of the human family for the heavenly home, - characters that will stand through the pressure of unfavorable circumstances in private and public life, and that will, under the severest temptations, through the grace of God grow brave and true, be firm as a rock to principle, and come forth from the fiery ordeal, of more value than the golden wedge of Ophir. God will endorse, with his own superscription, as his elect, those who possess such characters.
RH.1897-09-14.014
All who love God and are loyal to his government, will be tempted to change leaders. But God has said, "You shall have no other gods before me." "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." The Lord accepts no half-hearted service. He demands the whole man. Religion is to be brought into every phase of life, carried into labor of every kind. The whole being is to be under God's control. We must not think that we can take supervision of our own thoughts. They must be brought into captivity to Christ. Self cannot manage self; it is not sufficient for the work. Whoever tries to do this will be worsted. God alone can make and keep us loyal.
RH.1897-09-14.015
Do we keep before our minds as a fact that every endowment of sense and reason and intuition belongs to the undying fulness of our nature, and that we shall carry all these, with their fruits of use and misuse, before the judgment-seat of God?
[Most of this is also quoted in Our High Calling, page 215.]
First Fruits
The place of the offering of firstfruits is also mentioned in Leviticus chapter two. They were not be classed as "meal" offerings, and therefore should not be burnt on the altar. They were to be given directly to the priests for their use. The only acceptable offering of first fruits as a "meal" offering was to be of "green", or fresh corn, made into a flour and mixed with the oil and frankincense as normal for a "meal" offering.
Leviticus 2:14-16
"And if you [really want to] offer a meat offering of your firstfruits to the LORD, you shall offer for the meat offering of your firstfruits green ears of corn dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears".
"And you shall put oil upon it, and lay frankincense thereon: it is a meat offering. And the priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the beaten corn thereof, and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: it is an offering made by fire to the LORD".
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