Out of your dwellings shall ye bring two wave-loaves, of two tenths of fine flour; with leaven shall they be baken; [as] first-fruits to Jehovah.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And ye shall present with the bread seven he-lambs without blemish, yearlings, and one young bullock, and two rams they shall be a burnt-offering to Jehovah with their oblation, and their drink-offerings, an offering by fire of a sweet odour to Jehovah.
At this feast the priest brought God two loaves baked with leaven — yeast — and with them ten animals without blemish for a burnt offering. The loaves picture God's people rather than Christ, which raises a sharp question: how can anything with leaven in it come before God at all?
The feast of weeks pointed forward to a day the New Testament records, and the offerings listed here belong to that picture. One writer ties the loaves and the animals together in a single thought:
In the two loaves waved before the Lord, baked with leaven, we have a clear picture of the Church presented to God. It is made up of Jew and Gentile, and in both of them the leaven of the old nature is there. Yet they are presented to God not in themselves, but in connection with that perfect sacrifice pictured by the seven lambs, one bull, and two rams offered to God as a burnt offering.
The wording matters. Earlier in the chapter the priest waved the sheaf of firstfruits on its own. Here he never waves the loaves alone, and one writer weighs that difference:
The priest waved these sacrifices with the loaves, but he waved the sheaf by itself. The Lord Jesus was acceptable to God in Himself, apart from any question of sacrifice… With the wave loaves it was completely different. The appointed sacrifices were waved with them. The loaves could not be waved without them… There are saints whose standing before God is in resurrection, for the loaves were the firstfruits of the new harvest. God can receive them, and they are to be for God — but only in the closest connection with the sacrificial death of the Holy Son of God. Apart from Him and His death they would not be presented to God.
The loaves had leaven. The lambs had no blemish. Both stood before God at the same moment. One writer draws the lesson from that contrast:
So here, right alongside the leavened loaves, stands an unblemished sacrifice. It pictures the great and all-important truth that it is Christ's perfectness, and not our sinfulness, that is always before the view of God. Notice the words, "you shall present with the bread seven lambs… without blemish." Precious truth!… May the reader enter into it, make it his own, rest his conscience on it, feed and refresh his heart with it, and delight his whole soul in it. Not I, but Christ.
At the earlier feast a single lamb was enough. Here the list grows to ten animals, and that increase is read as meaning:
In the feast of firstfruits the focus is on Christ alone, so only one lamb was sacrificed (v. 12). But Pentecost involves the large number who are identified with Christ. So seven lambs — the complete number — were offered, besides a bull and two rams. The bull speaks of the strength of the offering and its power to atone for large numbers. The two rams stand for the witness that redemption is accomplished.
The verse ends by calling the whole thing a food offering with a pleasing aroma — and adds the grain and drink offerings that go with each animal. Each element is given a distinct sense:
All the offerings in this verse are said to be "of a pleasing aroma." This sets before our hearts what Christ always was in His pathway of obedience to death, in submission to His Father's will. The bull speaks of His patient endurance. He never once turned aside, but went on till the will of God was done at the cross… The two rams speak of His devotion to the will of God. The bull sets out His power to do that will, and the ram His desire to do it. "With their grain offering" speaks again of His perfect Manhood, which made everything He did effective… The drink offering again shows the joy God has received as the fruit of what Christ has done. We, dear friends, stand linked with all of this, for they were presented "with the bread."
Verse 18 gives acceptance; the sin offering of the next verse deals with the leaven. Writers hold the two side by side without letting one cancel the other:
Perfect acceptance is emphasized very strongly here, but so is the presence of sin in the accepted ones. That sin does not touch their acceptance, since God's grace puts it away according to perfect righteousness.
- With — the loaves never go up alone. The sacrifices rise with them, and apart from that death the loaves could not be presented at all.
- Without blemish — at the moment of presentation God looks at Christ's perfectness, not at our sinfulness.
- More — one lamb was enough where Christ alone was in view. Here the number rises to cover the many who are identified with Him.
- Each animal — the bull speaks of strength and patient endurance. The rams speak of devotion and of redemption accomplished. The seven lambs speak of completeness.
- Joy — the grain and drink offerings close the picture. They speak of Christ's perfect Manhood and of God's joy in what He has done. All who are presented "with the bread" share in it.