Sacrifice in preparation for the sacrifice
Leviticus 2
One of the things that makes Leviticus hard to read is the incredible detail written into rituals that are to us now obscure at best and cryptic at worse.
We may understand some of what went on at a Tabernacle sacrifice with great patience and study. But in the end, it is still something of a difficult thing for us to understand.
For example, I’m not sure how many times I have heard someone say that Abel’s offering was acceptable to God because he brought a lamb and Cain brought produce from his fields. This is clearly not the case. Produce was acceptable to God in several respects as we can see from Leviticus 2.
"’When someone brings a grain offering to the LORD, his offering is to be of fine flour. He is to pour oil on it, put incense on it and take it to Aaron’s sons the priests. The priest shall take a handful of the fine flour and oil, together with all the incense, and burn this as a memorial portion on the altar, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD. The rest of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the offerings made to the LORD by fire.
"’If you bring a grain offering baked in an oven, it is to consist of fine flour: cakes made without yeast and mixed with oil, or wafers made without yeast and spread with oil. If your grain offering is prepared on a griddle, it is to be made of fine flour mixed with oil, and without yeast. Crumble it and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering. If your grain offering is cooked in a pan, it is to be made of fine flour and oil. Bring the grain offering made of these things to the LORD; present it to the priest, who shall take it to the altar. He shall take out the memorial portion from the grain offering and burn it on the altar as an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD. The rest of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the offerings made to the LORD by fire.
"’Every grain offering you bring to the LORD must be made without yeast, for you are not to burn any yeast or honey in an offering made to the LORD by fire. You may bring them to the LORD as an offering of the firstfruits, but they are not to be offered on the altar as a pleasing aroma. Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings. "’If you bring a grain offering of firstfruits to the LORD, offer crushed heads of new grain roasted in the fire. Put oil and incense on it; it is a grain offering. The priest shall burn the memorial portion of the crushed grain and the oil, together with all the incense, as an offering made to the LORD by fire.
(Leviticus 2:1-16 NIV)
The Grain offering
Grain offerings were expected at two of the 2 official religious festivals. At the Feast of First Fruits, it was the only acceptable sacrifice. There were several kinds of sacrifices, but one of them was the Sin Offering and a grain offering was acceptable for a poor person to bring.
The details are confusing, but it is worth picking apart and understanding. When we realize that it was the most common offering of a very poor person, it takes on real value for a significant part of the population in Moses’ day. This was an offering made by people who could only dream that someday they could sacrifice a lamb for a fellowship offering, maybe just once. When we look at it, it is all rather foreign.
It is not only confusing for us
Think of this. You have a modern education and own a copy of Leviticus. You also have a regular job with established leisure time you may use for reading and study.
These instructions are written for the primary benefit of people who
• did not have a copy of Leviticus
• could not have read it if they did
• and lived more of a hand to mouth existence than you do
In other words, the original ex-slaves who were expected to live by these details did not have the capacity for understanding and remembering them that you have.
They would have had this passage read to them periodically and would have to remember it. They probably had a much better capacity for rote memory than we have, as is often the case in poorer societies that do not have strong literacy, but if they needed clarification, they would have to ask a priest. However, I’m sure that practicing these details drove them home for the early Israelites.
Here is the point, and I believe it is a powerful part of the point God is making.
Sacrifice is not meant to be easy
If it was easy, we would not think of it as sacrifice
An Israelite who wanted to bring a sin offering had to go through some steps.
First: He had to take into account how he would make his bread, would it be baked or fried?
If it was to be baked, did he need to bake it in wafers or in cakes?
If it was to be fried would he fry it in a pan or on a griddle?
These details took into account the economic position of the person bringing the offering.
Could he afford an oven?
Second: What kind of pans or pottery did he have?
When we take into account that broken pottery was often used as writing paper, we see that the expense was important. Metal pans were rare.
The utensils the person owned dictated the procedure he used in making his offering. It had to be done right.
In general, the more expensive his utensils, the more liberally he had to use his oil. The most expensive metal pot required deep frying the offering in olive oil.
If he was baking it in small wafers on a scrap of pottery, he could simply and conservatively spread a little oil over them the way we would use butter.
The method was important, even for the poorest of the poor. A sacrifice was not just about the expense of the offering, it was about the attention it was given.
Third: Did he have the right ingredients?
You had to use, as the Century English Version puts it "only your finest flour." Salt was to be mixed into the batter of his cakes or wafers. A little extra oil and some frankincense was not to be mixed in but brought to the priest on top of the offering, because it was to be completely burnt, not eaten by the priest.
Some of this was an expense. Salt was not used liberally in the ancient world. Remember that somewhat later, it would become currency, used to pay soldiers.
Frankincense was an expensive resinous tree sap that was used as a perfume. It wasn’t something that poor people just had laying around.
The details were important
Here is what you could not do.
You could not just grab the ends of your leftovers and bring them along to the tabernacle
You could not just drop in a buy a loaf of Wonder Bread while you were out shopping
You could not just bake any loaf you liked and expect it to be acceptable
You could not use any old recipe or leave out the seasonings
No, you had to plan
• You had to have all the right ingredients and seasonings on hand
• You had to be careful not to slip into autopilot and make the bread the way you always did
• You had to associate the right details with the right recipe
• You had to arrange it just so to be brought to the priest
Only then would the sacrifice be acceptable
In other words, the event of the sacrifice, standing before the priest near the altar at the Tabernacle was not the only important part of the sacrifice. You had to sacrifice other things too:
• Money
• Time
• Care
• Skill
• Valuable ingredients
• Attention
This applied to everyone. The rules were different for different kinds of sacrifices, but even if you were destitute, you had to give appropriate care to your sacrifice.
Why is this significant to us?
• We sometimes glibly think of the several hours we spend at church every week as a "sacrifice"
• We sometimes think of the hand me downs we donate to the church or to the poor as a "sacrifice"
• We sometimes think of the relatively minor simplicity with which we conduct our lives as a "sacrifice"
But are they really sacrifices?
Do they cost us anything at all?
Do they require care or attention?
Do we really miss the time or the materials that go into our "sacrifices?"
A sacrifice to the Israelites was not appropriately offered unless time, care, money, and attention were sacrificed before ever approaching the altar.
I am reminded of two ideas from the First Testament
David was experiencing a time of God’s judgement. He wanted to bring it to an end and decided that sacrifice was the way to go. He found the most appropriate site and he approached the owner:
David said to him, "Let me have the site of your threshing floor so I can build an altar to the LORD, that the plague on the people may be stopped. Sell it to me at the full price." Araunah said to David, "Take it! Let my lord the king do whatever pleases him. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give all this." But King David replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing." (1 Chronicles 21:22-24 NIV)
David understood the personal cost of sacrifice. Even as the king who could take what he wanted and was respected enough to be given it openly. He was determined to keep it personal between him and God.
The sacrifice for our sins has been paid
We no longer sacrifice on altars. Jesus paid the price for our sin. That sacrifice is the most important, the most over reaching and significant sacrifice of all time. It applies even to us, now, 2000 years later. Our sins may be washed away by the simple acceptance of Jesus forgiveness, bought for us on the cross.
Every year in the Spring, we commemorate His sacrifice and resurrection in the holidays we call Good Friday and Easter. In the broader sense, we remember His sacrifice in the season called Lent, that 40 days that precedes Easter, a time of self-denial and repentance.
In this regard, we give ourselves a living sacrifice to Jesus. This is an attitude that we should be about all year, but it is particularly important to us in the time leading up to Holy Week.
Review your sacrifice
Your discipleship
As you reflect in this season on what you give in your discipleship to Christ, remember that He does not require a tithe, He requires everything.
Discipleship to Christ is freely received, but costly to practice.
Your financial giving
The offerings we take here are not about the budget. They are about the work of God in our region. They are about the releasing of the flood plain, in your lives and in the lives of those you love.
• Do you give what is left over?
• Do you give whatever is small and in your pocket on Sunday morning
• Do you plan at all what you will give before the prayer is offered before the offering on Sunday morning?
• Have you considered what the Bible says about proportional, generous and cheerful giving?
Every dime of the offerings is dedicated to seeing the work of God go forward in one capacity or another. Some of it, like my income, is geared for local and congregational work, some of it is geared for outside ministry, some if it is geared for international ministry. Some of it is geared to make your own discipleship and worship experiences meaningful and substantial. Give with a mind, not to meeting the bills. That is a meager way to see it. Give with a heart to expressing to God your participation in His great plan.
Your commemoration of Jesus’ sacrifice
We make light sometimes of what a person may or may not be "giving up for Lent." I encourage the practice. It is not to be disregarded.
When we approach Jesus’ sacrifice and realize that our own lives must be sacrificed to Him to make the plan complete, it is appropriate for us to focus on a small piece of it.
• Perhaps it is a bad habit
• Perhaps it is an over indulgence
• It may even be something that is necessary to life but able to be curbed
• Perhaps it is a luxurious, physical pleasure
In the sense that fasting is a symbol of a larger self denial, it is sound exercise for us to fast in some specific and noticeable capacity as a sacrifice of ourselves for our God.
The truth that we receive from Leviticus 2 and the excruciating detail of the sacrificial offerings of the Israelites, is that we must give it attention. It is not only the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross that has significance, or even our acceptance of that sacrifice, though they are of vital and primary importance. The smaller everyday sacrifices we can make, even in our poverty, are important.
They are gifts to God
And as such, they deserve our undivided attention and care
