LESSON 7 Meat (Meal/Cereal) Offering
LESSON 7
Meat (Meal/Cereal) Offering
Objective: By understanding the significance of the meal offering and the example of the holy life that Jesus Christ offered in the presence of God, we submit ourselves to be holy.
Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
Introduction
Sin separates man from God. What does the holy God desire from man? (1 Peter 1: 15, 16). We see the example of a holy life in Jesus Christ alone. The meal offering symbolizes the holy and consecrated life that Jesus presented before man and God.
Materials for the offering
A meal offering is a sacrifice without blood, and three types of materials can be used for it.
1. Fine Flour: The flour should be finely grounded. It points to the attitude of Christ under suffering, where he is meek and without sin or deceit and does not insult or threaten. (1 Peter 2: 21-23).
2. Unleavened cakes and wafers baked with oil: The cakes and wafers are made with finely ground flour. Fine flour represents purity of character, while oil represents the Holy Spirit. There should not be any leaven, which represents wickedness.
3. Green ear of corn dried by fire: Jesus Christ, the good corn of wheat, was baked in the fire of the wrath of God and became a meal offering.
Materials to be added
1. Oil:
Olive oil was poured on the material being offered. In the case of cakes and wafers, they should be baked in oil, and cut into small pieces. Oil should then be poured on them. In other words, the offering should be covered with oil. Oil represents Holy Spirit. Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit (Matt 1: 18-20). He was filled with the Holy Spirit before his public ministry (Matt 3:16-17; Luke 4:1). His ministry was in the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38). His death and His resurrection were by the Holy Spirit (Heb. 9:14; Rom. 1:3-6). The lives of all the believers also must be like this. We must both imbibe the purity of character found in Jesus Christ and be led by the Holy Spirit. Just as the meat offering is soaked in oil, our lives and services should be filled with the Holy Spirit.
2. Frankincense:
Frankincense is sprinkled on the sacrificial material. A sweet aroma fills the air when it is burned in the fire. Jesus Christ walked through the villages and towns, preached the gospel, and healed all manner of sickness (Matt. 9:35). His fame spread all over Galilee (Mark 1:28). He spread the sweet aroma of joy and healing all over the land. In the 9. He mannerizes the children of God to spread the sweet scent in their surroundings, too. Paul declares: We are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved and in them that perish (2 Cor. 2: 14-15).
Are you able to spread the sweet fragrance of Christ?
3. Salt:
Salt is a symbol of the confirmation of the covenant (Num. 18:19). Moreover, salt is a purifier and a preserving agent. One of the main attributes of salt is that it adds flavor. Jesus cleansed many sinners and made them acceptable and useful to society. For example: (1) Samaritan woman (John 4:5-42), (2) Sinner woman (Luke 7:36 - 50) and (3) Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1- 10). He gave comfort and joy to many by His gracious words and loving actions (Luke 4:22; John 7:46). All believers must endeavor to add flavor to others by their words and deeds (Col. 4:6). Remember the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, "You are the salt of the earth" (Matt. 5:13).
Materials that are forbidden to use
1. Leaven:
Leaven is equated in the Word of God with wickedness, hypocrisy, and false doctrines (1 Cor. 5:8; Luke 12:1; Matt. 16:12). There was no trace of any such leaven in Christ. Children of God must observe holiness in their lives. We must be examples to others in our words, deeds, love, faith, and purity. Hypocrisy should not have any place in us. We must hold fast to the true doctrines of the word of God.
2. Honey:
Jesus lived on the earth. He had no form, comeliness, or beauty, and honey represents the natural sweetness in its original form. When desired. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrow and acquainted with guilt (Isa. 53: 2-3). Let us not crave for external outward beauty or comeliness, but let our inner beauty be pleasing as a meal offering before the Lord (1 Peter 3: 3-4; 1 Tim. 2:9, 10).
Specialties of the meal offering
1. Meal offering was a bloodless sacrifice. Sacrifices with blood show what Jesus Christ has done for us through His death. But the bloodless meal offering shows what He has done for us before His death through His pure life. It shows the blessing that flows towards us from His spotless life.
2. The Material offered for this sacrifice is made from fine flour, produced by man's labor, while the animals used for sacrifices are not through man's labor. He just takes care of them. Hence, meal offerings point to the necessity of making diligent efforts towards holiness in life (2 Tim. 4:4-7; 2:3-6; 2 Thes. 2:14-15; 1 Cor. 15:58).
3. Only a part of the meal offering is burned, while the priest eats the remaining. The worshipper does not eat out of his offering. God is pleased by the meal offering presented by the pure life of Jesus Christ. Moreover, the redeemed believers who are priests also become partakers of the offering of Christ.
Meal offering teaches us many spiritual lessons, touching our practical lives. We must present ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God (Rom. 12:1). Let us crucify our fleshly and selfish desires. Let us dedicate ourselves to the presence of God to live a life filled with the Holy Spirit, spreading the sweet fragrance of Christ in the world and adding flavor to other people's lives. Let our lives also be sweet and savor offerings to God, as is the life of Jesus Christ.
Questions
1. Name the materials used for meal offerings? What do they signify? What are the items to be added to the meal offering?
2. Explain the spiritual meaning of each.
3. What are the specialties of meal offerings?
4. What are the things forbidden in meal offerings? What do they point to?
5. Describe what you have benefited from the study of the various aspects of meal offerings.
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