Bird's-eye view
In this brief but potent passage, we are given the regulations for a very specific kind of grain offering: the one to be made by the high priest on the day of his anointing. This is not a sin offering, but rather a consecration offering, a tribute offering that marks the priest's formal dedication to his sacred office. The details are precise, as they always are in Leviticus, because God cares about how He is to be worshiped. The offering is to be perpetual, offered daily by the high priest, signifying his ongoing dedication. Most notably, unlike other grain offerings where the priests get a portion, this one must be entirely burned. It is wholly given over to God. This points us forward to the one great High Priest, Jesus Christ, whose offering of Himself was not for Himself, but was a complete and total consecration to the Father's will on our behalf. He did not hold anything back, and His entire life was a soothing aroma to God, a perfect offering that could not be shared or supplemented because it was complete in every way.
This passage, therefore, is a picture of ordination. It establishes a principle of priestly service: the priest's life and work belong entirely to God. He cannot "feed" on his own consecration; it is all for God's glory. For the Christian, who is part of a royal priesthood, this text reminds us that our initial dedication to Christ, and our daily renewal of that dedication, is not for our own consumption or self-congratulation. It is to be wholly offered up to God as a living sacrifice, consumed by the holy fire of the Spirit for His purposes alone.
Outline
- 1. The Priest's Consecration Offering (Lev 6:19-23)
- a. The Occasion and Substance of the Offering (Lev 6:19-20)
- b. The Preparation of the Offering (Lev 6:21)
- c. The Perpetual Nature of the Offering (Lev 6:22)
- d. The Final Disposition: Wholly Burned (Lev 6:23)
Context In Leviticus
This section of Leviticus 6 comes in the midst of a larger block of instructions concerning the various sacrifices. Chapters 1 through 5 laid out the five basic types of offerings from the perspective of the lay worshiper bringing them. Now, beginning in chapter 6, the focus shifts to the responsibilities of the priests in handling these offerings. God is giving Moses instructions for Aaron and his sons. We have already received the law of the burnt offering (6:8-13) and the law of the grain offering in general (6:14-18). This passage (6:19-23) is a special addendum, a unique grain offering tied directly to the priesthood itself. It is the priest's own tribute offering, distinct from the offerings he facilitates for the people. This placement highlights the high calling of the priesthood; before they can rightly handle the offerings of the people, their own consecration must be established and perpetually remembered before Yahweh.
Key Issues
- The Nature of a Consecration Offering
- The High Priest as Representative
- The Meaning of "Perpetual Statute"
- Why the Priest Could Not Eat This Offering
- The Typological Fulfillment in Christ
Wholly for the Lord
One of the central themes of Leviticus is the distinction between the holy and the common. Certain portions of the sacrifices were designated as "most holy" and were given to the priests as their food. This was God's provision for them, and their eating of it was part of the ritual itself. But here we have an exception, and exceptions are where we often find the sharpest theological point. The grain offering of the priest for his own anointing, and his subsequent daily offering, cannot be eaten. It must be entirely turned into smoke on the altar. Why?
Because the priest, in this moment of consecration, is not acting as a mediator who partakes of the sacrifice. He is the subject of the consecration. The offering represents him, and his life is to be wholly given over to God. There can be no thought of personal benefit or provision in this act. It is a pure act of dedication. If he were to eat it, it would be like he was consecrating himself to himself. But by turning it all to smoke, the offering ascends entirely to God, signifying that the priest's life and service belong completely to Yahweh. This sets the stage for Christ, our High Priest, who did not offer a sacrifice to gain something for Himself, but offered Himself entirely for the glory of His Father and the salvation of His people.
Verse by Verse Commentary
19 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
As always, the instructions for worship are not a human invention. They are not the result of a committee meeting on best practices for liturgy. They originate with God. Yahweh speaks, and Moses is the faithful mediator of that word. True worship is always a response to divine revelation. We worship God in the way He commands, not in the way we find most aesthetically pleasing or emotionally satisfying. This formula, repeated throughout the Pentateuch, is the foundation for all that follows. This is God's word, and therefore it is binding and good.
20 “This is the offering which Aaron and his sons shall bring near to Yahweh on the day when he is anointed; the tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a regular grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it in the evening.
The instruction is specific. It is for Aaron, the first high priest, and for his successors ("his sons"). The occasion is the day of anointing, the day of ordination. This is the moment they are set apart for holy service. The substance is simple: fine flour, the basis of bread, representing the fruit of human labor, the stuff of daily life. This offering, however, is not a one-time event. It is to be a regular or continual grain offering. The initial anointing sets the pattern for the priest's entire life. Every single day, his consecration is to be renewed, half in the morning and half in the evening, bracketing the day with a reminder that all his work is for the Lord. His dedication is not a past event to be remembered, but a present reality to be lived out.
21 It shall be prepared with oil on a griddle. When it is well stirred, you shall bring it. You shall bring near the grain offering in baked pieces as a soothing aroma to Yahweh.
The details of preparation are given. The flour is mixed with oil, a constant symbol of the Holy Spirit's anointing and blessing. It is cooked on a griddle, then broken into pieces. This is not a raw offering, but a prepared one. It represents our life's work, cultivated and crafted, offered up to God. The breaking of the offering into pieces signifies total surrender; nothing is held back. And the purpose of it all is to be a soothing aroma to Yahweh. This phrase does not mean that God has a physical nose that enjoys the smell of baked goods. It is an anthropomorphism that speaks of God's covenantal pleasure and acceptance. When a life is wholly consecrated to Him in faith, He is pleased. This is what Christ's life was, a perfectly pleasing aroma to the Father.
22 And the anointed priest, who will be in his place among his sons, shall offer it. By a perpetual statute it shall be entirely offered up in smoke to Yahweh.
The responsibility is passed down through the high priestly line. Each new high priest takes up this same duty. This is declared to be a perpetual statute. Now, we know that the Levitical priesthood and the sacrificial system have been fulfilled and have passed away in Christ. So in what sense is this perpetual? It is perpetual in the principle it establishes. The principle of total consecration for the priest is an eternal one. It found its ultimate expression in Christ, our eternal high priest, and it continues in the Church, which is a kingdom of priests. The second half of the verse repeats the key point: it must be entirely offered up in smoke. It is wholly for God.
23 So every grain offering of the priest shall be burned entirely. It shall not be eaten.”
The text concludes by stating the general principle in the clearest possible terms. Any grain offering that a priest offers for himself must be completely burned. He is forbidden from eating it. The priest eats from the people's offerings, because in that capacity he represents God receiving their gifts and he is their mediator. But when the offering represents the priest himself, he cannot be his own mediator. He cannot "profit" from his own dedication. His consecration is not a means to an end for himself; it is the end itself, and that end is the glory of God. This law creates a sharp line, preventing any confusion in the priest's role. His life is not his own. It has been bought with a price, and in this case, the price is his anointing, his calling, his entire identity, which is now wholly owned by Yahweh.
Application
For the Christian, this passage is rich with application. Under the New Covenant, all believers are priests (1 Pet 2:9). Our anointing happened when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon us, uniting us to Christ. And so, the principle of this passage applies directly to us. Our lives are to be a kind of priest's grain offering.
First, our dedication must be continual. It is not enough to have a conversion experience in the past. That initial consecration must be renewed daily, morning and evening. We are to present our bodies as a "living sacrifice" every day (Rom 12:1). Our whole day, from beginning to end, belongs to God.
Second, our offering of ourselves must be wholly for God. We are not to live the Christian life with a view to what we can get out of it. We are not to serve God in order to get a reward from Him, as though we were putting Him in our debt. We are not to be righteous in order to feed our own self-righteousness. Like this offering, our lives are to be "entirely offered up in smoke." The goal is not our benefit, but God's glory. The great paradox is that when we live this way, holding nothing back for ourselves, we find that God provides for us more abundantly than we could ever provide for ourselves, just as He provided for the priests through the offerings of the people.
Finally, all of this is only possible because of Jesus, our great High Priest. His life was the perfect fulfillment of this offering. He was anointed by the Spirit at His baptism, and from that moment on, His entire life was an offering wholly consumed for the glory of the Father. He never did anything for His own benefit. He did not eat of His own sacrifice. He gave everything. And because His offering was perfect and complete, we who are in Him are accepted. Our broken, imperfect offerings of daily dedication are made a soothing aroma to God because they are offered up in the name and merit of the one perfect Priest and the one perfect Sacrifice.