Commentary - Leviticus 2:14-16

Bird's-eye view

In these closing verses of the second chapter of Leviticus, we are given the regulations for a particular kind of grain offering, specifically one brought from the firstfruits of the harvest. This is not just an agricultural bulletin. This is gospel from the ground up. The modern reader is tempted to skim these sections, thinking them archaic and irrelevant, but this is a grave mistake. If we have eyes to see, we find Christ everywhere, and that includes the granaries of ancient Israel. Every detail here is pregnant with meaning. This offering of the first ripened things speaks of beginnings, of consecration, and ultimately points to the one who was the Firstfruits from the dead, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul tells us that Christ is our firstfruits (1 Cor. 15:20), and so this entire ritual is a detailed portrait of Him, offered up to the Father.

The passage breaks down the process: the selection of the grain, its preparation through fire, the addition of oil and frankincense, and its final offering by the priest. Each step is a brushstroke in a masterpiece. The roasting in the fire speaks of purification and trial. The oil speaks of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The frankincense points to the fragrance of intercessory prayer. And the fact that it is a "memorial portion" that is burned reminds us that God remembers His covenant, a covenant fulfilled completely in His Son. This is not about appeasing a hungry deity with a field-to-table meal; it is about worshiping the covenant-keeping God through prophetic types that would find their ultimate substance in the person and work of Jesus.

Outline

Context In Leviticus

Leviticus chapter 2 deals with the minchah, or the grain offering. Unlike the burnt offering in chapter 1, this is not a blood sacrifice for the atonement of sin. Rather, it is an offering of tribute and thanksgiving, acknowledging God as the ultimate source of all provision and sustenance. It is an act of worship that flows from a life already covered by atoning blood. We must always keep the order straight: atonement first, then our works of thanksgiving. We do not give to God in order to be accepted; we give because we have been accepted in the Beloved.

This particular passage, vv. 14-16, specifies the form of the grain offering when it is brought from the "early ripened things," or firstfruits. The concept of firstfruits is central to the biblical worldview. The first part represents the whole, and the dedication of the first part to God is the consecration of the entire harvest to Him. This principle is carried straight into the New Testament, where Christ is the firstfruits, guaranteeing the resurrection of the whole harvest of believers. This offering is therefore a particularly potent picture of Christ and His church.

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 14 ‘Also if you bring near a grain offering of early ripened things to Yahweh, you shall bring near fresh heads of grain roasted in the fire, grits of new growth, for the grain offering of your early ripened things.

The occasion for this offering is the bringing of "early ripened things." This is the first of the harvest, the promise of the bounty to come. In an agrarian society, this was a profound act of faith. You are giving God the very first return on your labor, trusting Him for the rest. This is a direct repudiation of the anxious, grasping spirit of the world. God requires the first, not the leftovers. And in giving the first, the whole is sanctified. This points directly to Christ, the "firstborn from the dead" (Col. 1:18). Because He was raised, the resurrection of all who are in Him is assured. He is the firstfruits of the great harvest at the end of the age.

The grain itself must be "fresh heads...roasted in the fire, grits of new growth." The freshness speaks of vibrant life, the very opposite of decay and death. But this new life must pass through the fire. Roasting the grain purifies it, dries it, and makes it ready for offering. This is a picture of the afflictions and trials of Christ. He was the sinless Son of God, yet He was tested by fire, "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" (Is. 53:3). The grain is then made into "grits," or crushed kernels. The Hebrew word suggests it is coarsely ground. This points to the suffering of Christ, who was "crushed for our iniquities" (Is. 53:5). It is through His suffering, His trial by fire, that He becomes a pleasing offering to the Father.

v. 15 You shall then put oil on it and place frankincense on it; it is a grain offering.

Two elements are added here: oil and frankincense. Throughout Scripture, oil is a consistent symbol of the Holy Spirit. The offering, representing Christ, is anointed with oil. Jesus began His public ministry only after the Spirit descended upon Him like a dove at His baptism. He was conceived by the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, and empowered by the Spirit. This offering is not just a picture of suffering, but of Spirit-empowered suffering. The oil also has a soothing quality, which speaks of the comfort and grace of the Spirit in the midst of trial. It is a reminder that Christ's humanity was perfectly sustained by the Spirit throughout His earthly ministry and passion.

Frankincense was a costly, aromatic resin. When burned, it produced a fragrant smoke. Its purpose here is to create a pleasing aroma. This represents the prayers of Christ. The author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus "offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death" (Heb. 5:7). His entire life was an act of sweet-smelling communion with the Father. The frankincense, mingled with the offering, ascends to God as a fragrant aroma, just as the prayers of the saints, made acceptable through Christ, rise to God's throne (Rev. 8:3-4).

v. 16 And the priest shall offer up in smoke its memorial portion, part of its grits and its oil with all its frankincense as an offering by fire to Yahweh.

The priest takes a "memorial portion" of the grits and oil, and burns it on the altar. The word for memorial, azkarah, means "a reminder." This portion is burned to bring the worshiper to God's mind. But it is not that God is forgetful. Rather, it is a sacramental way of saying that God is remembering His covenant promises. When God sees this offering, this picture of His Son, He "remembers" His plan of redemption. It is a memorial of the covenant of grace.

Notice what is burned: a portion of the grits and oil, but "all its frankincense." While the substance of the offering is shared (part for God, part for the priest), the prayer, the worship, the fragrant communion represented by the frankincense, belongs entirely to God. All worship is directed to Him alone. The whole offering is an "offering by fire to Yahweh." The fire of the altar consumes it, and it ascends in smoke. This is a picture of complete consecration. Christ offered Himself up completely to the Father. And because of this perfect offering, we who are in Him are now called to present our bodies as "a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God" (Rom. 12:1). The fire of God does not consume us in wrath, but receives us in Christ as a pleasing aroma.

Application

So what does a two-thousand-year-old agricultural ritual have to do with us? Everything. First, it teaches us to see Christ as the fulfillment of all the Old Testament shadows. He is our firstfruits, our grain offering, crushed and tested by fire, anointed by the Spirit, whose whole life was a fragrant offering to the Father. When we read Leviticus this way, it is no longer a dry legal code but a vibrant gospel testimony.

Second, it instructs us in the nature of our own worship. Our lives, offered to God, are to be a kind of grain offering. We are to give God our first and our best, not our tired leftovers. We should expect to be tested by fire, as trials are the means by which God purifies His people. Our lives are to be saturated with the oil of the Holy Spirit, lived in dependence on His power. And our days should be filled with the frankincense of prayer and praise, a constant sweet aroma rising to our God.

Finally, this passage is a profound comfort. The offering was a "memorial" before God. When God looks at His people, He does not see our flawed and feeble offerings in themselves. He sees them through the lens of the one perfect offering of His Son. He sees Christ, our Firstfruits, and in Him, He remembers His covenant and accepts us. Our standing before Him is not based on the quality of our grain, but on the perfection of the One who offered Himself for us once for all.