Eating with God: The Law of the Grain Offering Text: Leviticus 6:14-18
Introduction: The Grammar of Worship
We live in an age that despises instructions, particularly instructions from God. Modern man wants his worship to be spontaneous, free-form, and, above all, self-expressive. He wants to come to God on his own terms, with a worship style that reflects his own heart, his own preferences, and his own definition of sincerity. The result is a worship that is often sentimental, shallow, and ultimately man-centered. It is a worship service where the chief participant is man, and the chief audience is also man.
Into this casual and cavalier atmosphere, the book of Leviticus lands with the force of a meteor. Leviticus is God's instruction manual for worship. It is detailed, it is specific, and it is deadly serious. It teaches us that one does not simply saunter into the presence of a holy God. You come in the way He prescribes, or you do not come at all. And if you come in the wrong way, as Nadab and Abihu discovered, you may be carried out (Lev. 10). This is not because God is a cosmic tyrant with a rule fetish. It is because He is holy, and holiness is a consuming fire. These laws were given, not to crush the worshiper, but to protect him. They were God's gracious provision for how a sinful people could draw near to a holy God and live.
The grain offering, or the Minchah, is unique among the five main Levitical offerings. It is the only one that did not involve the shedding of blood. For this reason, it was never offered by itself for atonement; it always accompanied a blood sacrifice, like the burnt offering. The burnt offering secured the worshiper's acceptance before God, atoning for his sin. The grain offering was the worshiper's response of thanksgiving and dedication. It represented the giving of one's life, one's labor, one's very substance, back to God. It was a tangible way of saying, "All that I am and all that I have is from you, and I dedicate it back to you." In these verses, God lays out the law for how the priests were to handle this offering, and in doing so, He teaches us profound truths about holiness, communion, and the nature of our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Text
‘Now this is the law of the grain offering: the sons of Aaron shall bring it near before Yahweh in front of the altar. Then one of them shall raise up from it a handful of the fine flour of the grain offering, with its oil and all the frankincense that is on the grain offering, and he shall offer it up in smoke on the altar, a soothing aroma, as its memorial offering to Yahweh. What is left of it Aaron and his sons shall eat. It shall be eaten as unleavened cakes in a holy place; they shall eat it in the court of the tent of meeting. It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their share from My offerings by fire; it is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering. Every male among the sons of Aaron may eat it; it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations, from the offerings by fire to Yahweh. Whoever touches them will be set apart as holy.’
(Leviticus 6:14-18 LSB)
The Divine Protocol (v. 14-15)
We begin with the proper procedure, the divine protocol for approaching God with this gift.
"‘Now this is the law of the grain offering: the sons of Aaron shall bring it near before Yahweh in front of the altar. Then one of them shall raise up from it a handful of the fine flour of the grain offering, with its oil and all the frankincense that is on the grain offering, and he shall offer it up in smoke on the altar, a soothing aroma, as its memorial offering to Yahweh." (Leviticus 6:14-15)
Notice first that this is "the law." Worship is not lawless. God establishes the rules of engagement. And the offering is brought by the "sons of Aaron," the priests. This establishes the principle of mediation. A sinner cannot approach God directly; he needs a representative, a go-between. The priests stood as representatives for the people before God.
The offering itself consists of fine flour, oil, and frankincense. The fine flour speaks of the worshiper's labor and substance, refined and prepared. The oil is a consistent symbol of the Holy Spirit, representing consecration and divine enablement. The frankincense, when burned, produced a fragrant smoke, symbolizing the prayers of the saints ascending to God. This is a picture of a consecrated life, empowered by the Spirit, offered up in prayerful devotion to God.
From this offering, the priest takes a "handful" as a "memorial offering" to Yahweh. This portion, along with all the frankincense, is burned on the altar. The smoke ascends as a "soothing aroma." This is crucial. This offering, when brought in faith according to God's command, is pleasing to Him. It is not that God needs our grain, but He delights in the obedient heart that brings it. The memorial portion brings the worshiper to God's mind, not because He forgets, but in the sense of covenantal remembrance. It is the worshiper asking God to remember him according to His promises.
This all points directly to Christ. He is the perfect grain offering. He is the "fine flour," His life perfectly refined, without any coarse sin. He was anointed with the oil of the Holy Spirit without measure. His entire life was a fragrant offering of prayer and obedience, a "soothing aroma" to the Father. He is our memorial before God, and it is on the basis of His offering that God remembers us with favor.
The Priests' Portion (v. 16-17a)
What is not burned on the altar is not thrown away. It has a holy purpose.
"What is left of it Aaron and his sons shall eat. It shall be eaten as unleavened cakes in a holy place; they shall eat it in the court of the tent of meeting. It shall not be baked with leaven." (Leviticus 6:16-17a)
The remainder of the offering belongs to the priests. This is their food, their provision from the Lord. This act of eating the offering is profoundly significant. It is an act of communion and identification. By eating the offering, the priests are identifying with the worshiper and his gift. They are, in a sense, taking his devotion into themselves. It is a meal shared between God (who receives the smoke on the altar) and His priests. This is fellowship with the Holy One.
But there are strict conditions. It must be eaten as "unleavened cakes." Leaven, or yeast, throughout Scripture is a symbol of sin and corruption. It puffs up, and it spreads silently and pervasively. The prohibition of leaven signifies that our fellowship with God, and the work of those who minister before Him, must be characterized by purity, sincerity, and truth. As Paul says, we are to "celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Corinthians 5:8).
Furthermore, it must be eaten "in a holy place," specifically "in the court of the tent of meeting." This is not a casual meal to be taken anywhere. The location underscores the sanctity of the act. The priests are on holy ground, eating holy food, as part of their holy service. This reminds us that there is a necessary separation between the holy and the common. Our worship, our fellowship with God, is not to be dragged down and mixed with the profane standards of the world. We are to be a people set apart.
A Most Holy Statute (v. 17b-18)
God concludes this law by emphasizing its gravity and permanence.
"I have given it as their share from My offerings by fire; it is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering. Every male among the sons of Aaron may eat it; it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations, from the offerings by fire to Yahweh. Whoever touches them will be set apart as holy.’" (Leviticus 6:17b-18)
God declares that this portion is His gift to the priests from "My offerings." The offerings belong to God first, and He, in His generosity, provides for His servants from His own table. This elevates the ministry. The priests are not beggars; they are pensioners of the King.
The offering is designated "most holy." This is the highest category of sanctity. It is on par with the sin and guilt offerings, which dealt directly with atonement. This tells us that our dedicated service and thanksgiving are taken just as seriously by God as the sacrifices for sin. To treat our worship, our dedicated lives, as a common thing is a grave offense.
Participation is restricted to "every male among the sons of Aaron." This points to the representative nature of the priesthood and the principle of male headship that God has woven into the fabric of His covenant dealings. This was a "perpetual statute," meaning it was binding for as long as that covenant order stood.
The final line is startling: "Whoever touches them will be set apart as holy." This is the principle of contagious holiness. In the Old Covenant, holiness was like a spiritual high-voltage charge. If an unauthorized person touched a most holy thing, that holiness was transferred to them, consecrating them to God. This sounds like a good thing, but it was dangerous. It meant you were now God's property and subject to His direct judgment if you were not qualified to be so. You could not simply go back to your common life. This is why Uzzah was struck dead for touching the Ark (2 Sam. 6:7). He touched a most holy thing and was not a priest qualified to do so. The holiness of God is not to be trifled with.
Christ, Our Bread and Our Priest
As with all the Levitical law, this finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. He is not only the grain offering, but He is also the High Priest who offers it and partakes of it. And He invites us to the table with Him.
Jesus is the true Bread from Heaven, the one who was without leaven, without sin (John 6:35). His life was a "soothing aroma" to the Father. But the pattern of the grain offering is that it is eaten. Jesus Himself said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves" (John 6:53). This is not cannibalism; it is the language of the sacrificial system. To eat the sacrifice is to identify with it, to take its benefits into yourself, to have communion with the one to whom it was offered.
We do this by faith, certainly. But we also do this physically, in the way He commanded, at the Lord's Table. When we take the Lord's Supper, we are eating a "most holy" meal in a "holy place", the gathered church. We are partaking of the benefits of Christ's perfect offering.
And the good news of the New Covenant is that the contagious holiness of God in Christ no longer consumes us in judgment, but cleanses us in grace. When the unclean woman touched the hem of Jesus' garment, she was not struck dead. Her uncleanness did not make Him unclean. Rather, His holiness flowed out and made her clean (Mark 5:25-34). Jesus is the fulfillment of that which was "most holy," and now, when we touch Him by faith, His holiness is transferred to us, not for judgment, but for justification. He sets us apart as holy.
Under the New Covenant, all believers are made priests to God (1 Peter 2:9). We are all "sons of Aaron" in Christ. And so we are all invited to eat from the altar. We have a share in Christ's perfect offering. He is our provision. He is our communion. He is our bread. Let us therefore come to His table, not with the leaven of hypocrisy and pride, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, feasting on the one who gave Himself for us.