Message 13
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Scripture Reading: Lev. 2:4-7, 13-16
In this message we will cover further aspects of the meal offering.
There is no leaven in the meal offering (vv. 4-5). “No meal offering which you shall bring to Jehovah shall be made with leaven” (v. 11a). No leaven signifies that there is no sin or any negative thing in Christ (1 Cor. 5:6-8).
In the meal offering there is no honey, which will ferment (Lev. 2:11). This signifies that there is no natural affection or natural good in Christ.
Two things in the Lord’s recovery bother me. One is ambition, which I regard as leaven. The other is natural affection, which I regard as honey. Certain saints may claim that their love for one another is according to the Lord’s commandment (John 13:34). Actually, their love is a matter of natural affection and has nothing to do with the Lord’s commandment.
Nothing damages the church life, the Lord’s ministry, and the Lord’s work more than ambition and natural affection. Ambition for leadership is leaven, and leaven brings in corruption. Natural affection is honey, and honey brings in rottenness.
Ambition and affection are closely related. Suppose a brother has a particular ambition. If his ambition is fulfilled, he will be happy. If it is not fulfilled, he will be unhappy. He will love anyone who helps him to gain what he desires. But anyone who hinders him in fulfilling his ambition will be regarded as an enemy.
If we want to serve the Lord for a long period of time, we must look to the Lord to purify us from ambition and natural affection. No matter how well certain saints may treat us, and no matter how close we are or how long we have been together, we should not make friends in the church life. Rather, we should regard all the saints in the same way — as brothers and sisters in the Lord. We should not be ambitious, and we should not have natural affection, for such affection will bring in rottenness.
The meal offering must have neither leaven nor honey. We should take Christ as fine flour without adding leaven or honey. We need to ask the Lord to purify us so that in our living there will be no leaven and no honey.
“Every offering of your meal offering you shall season with salt; you shall not let the salt of the covenant of your God be lacking from your meal offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt” (v. 13). The salt here is not common; it is the salt of the covenant of God, the covenant which is incorruptible and unchangeable. This salt seasons, kills germs, and preserves.
What is the spiritual significance of the salt in the meal offering? Thus far, in the meal offering we have seen the Spirit (the oil), Christ’s resurrection (the frankincense), and Christ’s humanity (the fine flour), but we have not yet seen the death of Christ. The death of Christ, the cross, is signified by the salt. The salt in the meal offering therefore refers to the death of Christ, to the cross.
The reason there is so much ambition and natural affection in the church is that there is too little salt. We are short of the cross of Christ, short of the application of Christ’s death. If we have adequate salt in the church, ambition and natural affection will be crossed out. As long as the cross is here, salt is here; and as long as salt is here, the germs will die. As long as the cross is here, ambition and natural affection will be crossed out. I hope that this will be the experience of us all. We should not have ambition, and we should not have natural affection. We should have only the crossing out of the Lord’s death. Then we will have pure humility and pure love. We will be pure, and we will live a life like that of the Lord Jesus when He was on earth, a life without leaven and honey but full of salt.
“When you bring a meal offering baked in an oven as an offering, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil” (v. 4). The cakes of fine flour signify Christ’s humanity to be food for God and His serving ones.
Whereas fine flour has no form, the cakes of fine flour are solid and have a definite form. These cakes indicate a stronger experience of Christ. We may experience Christ as fine flour, as meal without a form. We may also experience Christ as the cakes, as something solid and with a definite form.
The cakes of fine flour are the biggest item of the meal offering. Thus, the cakes signify the biggest portion of Christ in our experience of Him. From this we see that the experience of the meal offering differs in degree. You may have a portion of a certain size, and another saint may have a portion of a different size.
The cakes of fine flour are perforated, or pierced. This perforating, this piercing, signifies a kind of Christ’s suffering in His humanity. In the Lord’s human life there were many different kinds of sufferings, and the cakes’ being perforated, or pierced, signifies one kind of Christ’s sufferings.
The cakes of fine flour are unleavened. Being unleavened signifies being without sin or any negative thing.
The cakes of fine flour are mingled with oil. Being mingled with oil signifies being mingled with the Holy Spirit. Christ’s humanity was always mingled with His divinity. In our experience and enjoyment today, the meal offering cannot be separated from God the Spirit.
A meal offering may also be of “unleavened wafers anointed with oil” (v. 4b).
Wafers are hollow and easy to eat. This signifies Christ in His humanity enjoyed and experienced by the younger believers. Christ as cakes is good for the strong ones, and Christ as wafers is good for the young ones. He is available to all ages. Praise the Lord that He is so edible!
Again, being unleavened signifies that Christ as the meal offering is without sin or any negative thing.
The wafers are anointed with oil. This signifies that Christ is anointed with the Holy Spirit, having the Holy Spirit poured upon Him.
“And if your offering is a meal offering on the griddle, it shall be of fine flour mingled with oil, unleavened. You shall break it into pieces and pour oil on it; it is a meal offering” (vv. 5-6). In this kind of meal offering, the fine flour is without form. It is not even dough but simply flour on the griddle.
Once again, being unleavened signifies being without sin or negative things.
The fine flour was mingled not with water but with oil. Although this mingling did not produce dough, it did cause the meal offering to be of a single piece. Here again, being mingled with oil signifies being mingled with the Holy Spirit.
This meal offering was broken into pieces. This signifies that Christ’s humanity is perfect but is never kept whole. It is always broken. This breaking refers to another kind of suffering which Christ passed through in His humanity.
The pieces with oil poured upon them signify Christ’s being anointed with the Holy Spirit.
Here we have a picture of Christ’s experience of the Spirit of God. First, He was born of the Spirit of God (Matt. 1:18, 20). This was a matter of His being mingled with the Spirit. Then, at the age of thirty, He was anointed with the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit was poured upon Him after His water baptism (Matt. 3:16). Therefore, even in this small meal offering we can see the two aspects of Christ’s experience of the Holy Spirit.
“And if your offering is a meal offering in a pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil” (Lev. 2:7). The fine flour in a pan signifies Christ’s humanity in another kind of suffering. All the other items in this offering are the same in significance as those in the offering of fine flour on the griddle.
In verses 14 through 16 we read of another category of meal offering — green ears.
The green ears are produced of the harvest of the labor on the field. This signifies that our labor on Christ produces the harvest with green ears. Green ears are very tender, very fresh, and very tasty.
The firstfruit of the green ears signifies the fresh enjoyment of Christ in His resurrection. Christ was the grain sown into the earth; He died and grew up in resurrection to produce green ears (John 12:24). These green ears are the firstfruit of His resurrection.
Leviticus 2:14 speaks of “crushed grain from fresh ears.” The word crushed signifies being dealt with by the cross of Christ. The green ears had to be crushed; that is, they had to pass through the crossing out of Christ’s death. This indicates that if we would live a life by Christ as the meal offering, we cannot avoid the cross. We need to experience the crushing; this is the experience of being crossed out by Christ’s death.
“And you shall put oil on it and place frankincense upon it; it is a meal offering” (v. 15). The oil upon the meal offering signifies the Holy Spirit poured upon Christ’s humanity.
Frankincense was to be placed upon the meal offering. As we have pointed out, this signifies the fragrance of Christ’s resurrection upon His humanity.
“And the priest shall offer up in smoke as its memorial portion some of its crushed grain and its oil, with all its frankincense, as an offering by fire to Jehovah” (v. 16). The burning on the altar of some ears, some oil, and all the frankincense signifies that Christ’s humanity in its freshness, with the Holy Spirit and the fragrance of Christ’s resurrection, is offered to God as food for His satisfaction. Again we see that a portion of the meal offering — the best portion — is for God’s food.
God’s portion of the meal offering is offered up as a memorial. It is a memorial because of its satisfying effect. This portion is so satisfying to God’s taste that it becomes a memorial.
