Leviticus 2

Laws for grain offerings....

He should bring an offering of "fine flour" and take a handful to give to the priests.  To that handful, he should add oil and frankincense.  The priest should burn this portion as a memorial offering to the Lord but may eat the rest.

No leaven or honey.  Add salt.  There are various reasons suggested for the qualification that honey or leaven not be used. Salt is a purifying and preserving agent, connected to Jesus and his words about the gospel as a preserving element.

Leviticus 1-3

Exodus 19-Numbers 10 All takes place on Mount Sinai.
Entire book of Leviticus covers a period of a month/30 days.
A month away from Canaan.
Jesus quotes more passages from this book more than any other.

Why Study It?
It will help you understand the rest of the books of the Bible.  It's essential to understanding the book of Hebrews.
Leviticus can drive you to a place to deeper worship. Leviticus demands a serious approach toward worship. It required a cost and personal involvement.

Cadesh--to be holy, sanctified

Two basic categories of offerings in the OT:

1. First group enabled a person to find communion/fellowship with God.
Proprietary, it had to happen first.
Sin offerings, trespass offerings

2. Second class offered by believer's who longed for fellowship with God.
Burnt offerings, peace offerings, thanksgiving offerings, drink offerings, heave offerings, wave offerings,
"sweet smelling savor" to the Lord--like a barbecue in your neighborhood.




The Lord gives Moses instructions for offerings from the tent of the meeting.  These are all for voluntary or free will offerings.

Burnt offering 

If it's a burnt offering, it should be from your livestock--herds and flocks.

If it's from the herd, it should be a  male without blemish. He should bring it to the door of the tent of the meeting and put his hand on it. Then he should kill and Aaron's sons should throw the blood on the sides of the altar.

Why, Lord? Why so bloody?  Throwing blood on the sides of the altar is disturbing.

Then he should flay and prepare the offering while Aaron's sons build the fire and set the offering on it.  But the entrails and legs are washed in water, then burned.

It's like a religious, bloody, barbecue.  I don't get it.  It's foreign and weird.

He goes through somewhat similar instructions for an offering of a sheep/goat, or bird.

What do I think?  This is weird.  No women involved.  All men. Aaron's sons particularly involved, creating a priesthood that has haunted us since.

Jesus is everything this system is not.  Is it kind of like you have to love a bad man to be able to appreciate a good one? lol.

JFB points out that this entire sacrifice is burnt--none of it eaten. They suggest is is an atonement sacrifice and so indicates their full submission of everything to atonement.  The door is the only place a non-Levite could stand.  They note that Egyptian culture was also obsessive about animals without defects.  Honestly, I can't say this is much different from the inspections I've seen at the county fair or in dog breeds.  We are obsessed with the ideal, nearest to perfect.

Yes, I was thinking along these lines too--that God makes accommodation for all in these sacrifices: "It is obvious, from the varying scale of these voluntary sacrifices, that the disposition of the offerer was the thing looked to - not the costliness of his offering." -JFB

Lord, give me eyes and a heart to see greater things about You in this text.  Give me hands that serve You and see those who need to be loved by You and therefore me, today.

Tracking time and place--Exodus

I've spent most of the last month working my way through Exodus via Jack Abeelen's Wednesday night series.  After loving his series on Genesis and experiencing such rich insights, Exodus has been a bit of a let down.  Why?  Not sure.  Is it the longer trajectory and story arc of Moses, the disappointing nature of the people?  Yes. Aspects of Moses used to resonate with me intuitively--primarily his hesitancy and anger.  This time through, I found myself distracted, covering familiar ground without caring very much.  The details of the delays, the people's shortsightedness all seemed too familiar.

And what's with all the fuss about the tabernacle itself?  Why spend so much time establishing the ritual of worship?  Yes, to teach the people I hear him say.  But, this type of distraction with the physical consumes too much, too many.  God needs to be worshiped.  We don't intuitively understand that.  The tabernacle was a tool for that.  I suppose I understand. But not really.

I find myself in a very dark and negative place with my Bible reading lately.  Not sure why.  Not sure I need to know why.  Lord, help me to get back to the text and to experience You.