We are in a section now where the Lord spells out the rules regarding how the priests are to handle the various offerings that we've already studied. We've been told which offerings are to be brought for which occasion but until now we didn't know everything the priests did with these offerings once they arrived at the tabernacle.
"These are the regulations for the grain offering: Aaron's sons are to bring it before the Lord, in front of the altar. The priest is to take a handful of the finest flour and some olive oil, together with all the incense on the grain offering, and burn the memorial portion on the altar as an aroma pleasing to the Lord." (Leviticus 6:14-15) We learned earlier in Leviticus that this was an offering even the poorest citizen could bring. The Lord accepts it from the poor in the same spirit with which He accepts the finest ram from a rich person.
As with many types of offerings, the priests are to retain the remainder that's left after burning the memorial portion to the Lord. "Aaron and his sons shall eat the rest of it, but it is to be eaten without yeast in the sanctuary area; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the tent of meeting. It must not be baked with yeast; I have given it as their share of the food offerings presented to Me. Like the sin offering and the guilt offering, it is most holy." (Leviticus 6:16-17) Yeast must be omitted because it symbolizes sin. The priests can eat bread baked with this flour offering but it must be eaten on the "church grounds", so to speak, because the bread itself is consecrated since a portion was dedicated to the Lord. This is a sacred and reverent meal eaten at the Lord's house. These men are sharing in what was offered to the Lord and in that sense they are "breaking bread" with the Lord and enjoying a meal of fellowship with Him.
It's not only Aaron and his sons who lived in the times of Moses who can eat this bread. Aaron's tribe is the priestly tribe of Levi and all Aaron's descendants after him are to serve the Lord as priests and are to be allowed to eat this bread. "Any male descendant of Aaron may eat it. For all generations to come it is his perpetual share of the food offerings presented to the Lord. Whoever touches them will become holy." (Leviticus 6:18) A better and revised translation of the final sentence of verse 18 is, "Whoever touches them must be holy." It was not lawful for anyone but these priests to touch or eat the grain offerings. These men are referred to as "holy" because they are ordained to do the Lord's work. It's not that eating the bread makes these men holy; it's that this bread is considered holy because a portion (which represents the whole) has been offered to the Lord. The hands that touch the bread and the mouths that eat the bread must also be holy to the Lord---sanctified and consecrated to serve Him.
We need to keep in mind that the Lord is giving these instructions right after the construction of the tabernacle but before any of the tabernacle business has begun to take place. Aaron and his sons have not yet been ordained but they need to know ahead of time what they are to do once they have been ordained. We will study their ceremony later in the book of Leviticus, but for now since He is on the subject of the grain offering, the Lord speaks of the grain offering Aaron and his sons are to bring on the day they are anointed as priests. "The Lord also said to Moses, 'This is the offering Aaron and his sons are to bring to the Lord on the day he is anointed.'" (Leviticus 6:19-20a) Verse 20 reads in English as if it is speaking only of Aaron's anointing but the word "he" actually stands for "each", as in, "This is the offering Aaron and his sons are to bring to the Lord on the day each of them is anointed," or, "This is the offering each of the priests is to bring on the day he is anointed."
The offering is to be, "A tenth of an ephah of the finest flour as a regular grain offering, half of it in the morning and half in the evening." (Leviticus 6:20b) A ephah is believed to have weighed about 3.5 pounds and they are to bring a tenth of this weight as an offering.
"It must be prepared with oil on a griddle; bring it well-mixed and present the grain offering broken in pieces as an aroma pleasing to the Lord." (Leviticus 6:21) When I read of this bread being broken as it's offered to the Lord I can't help thinking of Jesus Christ who, on the night before the crucifixion, broke the unleavened bread and handed the pieces out to the disciples and said, "This is My body given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." (Luke 22:19) The Lord Jesus made an offering of Himself to God the Father in our behalf. He allowed Himself to be broken for our sake. This is why we take unleavened bread in our communion services, because the bread symbolizes the body (the life) He gave for us.
Aaron is not the one who prepares the bread to be offered to the Lord. The son who will succeed Aaron as high priest prepares the bread and makes the offering. "The son who is to succeed him as anointed priest shall prepare it. It is the Lord's perpetual share and is to be burned completely. Every grain offering of a priest shall be burned completely; it must not be eaten." (Leviticus 6:22-23) The priests could share in the grain offerings brought by other people but their own grain offerings must be completely surrendered to the Lord. We see another picture of Christ in verses 22 and 23. Just as the son who is to succeed Aaron as high priest is the one who prepares the offering, the Son who is to inherit all the riches of God the Father is the One who prepared the offering He gave (His own body on the cross). Like the grain offering that is completely burned up, the offering Jesus made was a complete surrender. He held nothing back.
Why did Jesus give all He had? To save you and to save me! He loved us so much that He considered no price too high to pay to redeem us from our sins.
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