And this is the law of the oblation [one of] the sons of Aaron shall present it before Jehovah, before the altar.
Leviticus starts with offerings explained to any Israelite who wanted to draw near; from 6:8 onward the same offerings are explained again, this time to the men who handled them. That shift is what the word "law" signals here.
One writer describes exactly what this second round of teaching supplies:
From verse 8 of chapter 6 to the end of Leviticus 7 we have the law of the various offerings. In each case the "law" gives further details. It shows how the offering was to be brought to the Lord, and above all how the priests were to deal with the parts that were not burned before Him.
Older translations call this the "meat offering," using "meat" in its old sense of food. The name of the offering says what it is:
In Leviticus 6:14 we come to the law of the meat offering, or oblation. The name means "gift offering," or "food offering." The sons of Aaron offered it "before the LORD in front of the altar." What an acceptable offering to bring to God — one that speaks of Christ as the food of His people. And how wonderful that we can feed on Him who is so acceptable to God: Christ in all the perfections of His Manhood, the One conceived by the Spirit, and the anointed Man for God's pleasure in this world.
The verse names both the people and the place. One writer explains why the plural "sons" matters, and why only One was ever fit to stand there:
But the law opens with "the sons of Aaron" offering it "before the LORD in front of His altar." One of them might be the offering priest, who left the memorial (v. 8), but they were all involved. It was priestly food, not man's in the ordinary sense... Only One could meet this absolute fitness to be offered before the LORD, in front of His altar. Everyone else needed a sin offering first... From all His activity here below, the smallest act no less than the greatest, the fire of God drew out nothing but perfect fragrance before God. Only He could value it rightly, so "all the frankincense" with a sample of all the rest was burnt to God.
What was left of the offering fed the priests, under careful rules:
Once the memorial had been burnt on the altar, with all the frankincense, the offerer left the rest with the serving priest. All the males of the priesthood were to eat it, as part of God's provision for those who served Him... But here again God guarded the truth about the person of Christ. The fine flour was not to be baked with leaven when it was prepared for the priests. Aaron and his sons were to eat it with unleavened bread in the holy place. This traces out the perfect purity of Christ, and how He was separate from the least mixture with evil, or any connection with evil in Himself.
One writer takes the terms of that meal — a holy place, unleavened bread — as a picture of the Church now:
Here, then, we have a beautiful picture of the Church. It feeds "in the holy place," in the power of practical holiness, on the perfections of the Man Christ Jesus. This is our portion, through the grace of God. But we must remember, it is to be eaten "with unleavened bread." We cannot feed on Christ if we are indulging in anything evil... Our position, our practice, our persons, our associations, must be holy, before we can feed on the meat offering.
Since this food belonged to the sanctuary, how near a person lives to God decides how much of it he tastes:
The more we take as our own the place in His presence won by the work of Christ, the more we also enjoy Him as the food of our souls. This is no longer only as the One we need for life. It is now in the way of communion, and of appreciating in the Spirit all the perfection God found in Him when He was tested to the full in His path here below. So the Gospels give the spiritual mind a special delight and divine joy in what they show of Christ here below. Those who do not enter into their present nearness to God by His atoning work turn instead to the Epistles for comfort.
- Law — chapters 6 and 7 go over the offerings again for the priests. They spell out how the priests were to handle the parts not burned before God.
- Gift — the offering's name means gift or food. It speaks of Christ as the food of His people, the Man in whom God took pleasure.
- Altar — the sons of Aaron offered it before the LORD, in front of the altar. Only One was ever fit to be offered there; everyone else needed a sin offering first.
- Unleavened — God took His handful with all the frankincense. What was left had to be free of leaven, guarding the truth that in Christ there was no mixture with evil.
- Nearness — the more you take your place in God's presence, the more of Christ you enjoy as the food of your soul.
And he shall take of it his handful of the fine flour of the oblation, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is on the meat-offering, and shall burn [it] on the altar [it is] a sweet odour of the memorial thereof to Jehovah.
This verse tells the priest what to do with the grain offering once someone has brought it in. It turns on three details: a handful taken out, all the frankincense burnt, and a word translated "memorial."
The offering in view is the one made of fine flour, not of an animal, and its older English name has aged badly.
Since our Authorised Version appeared, the word "meat" has narrowed to mean flesh food instead of food in general. That has made a new name desirable for this offering. It was chiefly of fine flour, so "meal offering" would be a much more correct title.
The flour points to Christ — but not to His death.
The one great general truth is the shadow of Christ. It is not Christ giving Himself up in atoning death to Jehovah, without blemish and without reserve. It is Christ in the perfection of His life on earth, all pure and in the Holy Spirit's power, the fire only bringing out His matchless fragrance… Yet even the early chapter shows the marked difference from the burnt offering. From the meal offering the priest took out only a handful of the flour and oil, with all the frankincense. He burnt that on the altar as its memorial. The rest went to Aaron and his sons.
A handful is small, yet it stands for the whole offering.
From all His activity here below, from the smallest act as much as the greatest, the fire of God drew out nothing but perfect fragrance before God. Only He could value it rightly. So "all the frankincense" was burnt to God, along with a sample of all the rest.
The flour is shared; the frankincense is not. Every grain of it burns.
Let the reader note carefully that "all the frankincense" was consumed on the altar. Why? Because frankincense pictured the fragrance of Christ's manhood as enjoyed by God alone. There was that in Christ as a Man down here which only God could rightly appreciate. Every thought, every look, every word, every movement, every act of "the Man Christ Jesus" gave off a fragrance. That fragrance went up straight to the throne of God and refreshed the heart of Him who sat there. Not a single particle of Christ's perfection or preciousness was ever lost. It might be lost on a cold, heartless world, and even on earthly-minded disciples — but it was not lost on God.
The same detail also speaks about Christ's motive.
The frankincense always went wholly to God. It carries this thought: everything that Christ did in this world, He did first of all for the pleasure of God.
The word used for the burnt handful is rare.
Of this offering a handful of the flour, with all the frankincense, was burnt on the altar for a "memorial." That word is used elsewhere only of the very similar showbread (Lev. 24) and of the jealousy offering (Num. 5). It is a beautiful word in relation to this one perfect life on earth. Will God ever forget it? Tested by the fire of God's holiness, it was nothing but sweet savour. The rest became the portion of the priest — the worshipper.
The order matters: nothing is eaten until the memorial has gone up.
The offering had first to be presented to God. The memorial with all the frankincense had to ascend to God. Only then could anything be left as food for the priest who offered… I must first be led to appreciate what Christ is to the delight of the heart of God. Only then can I realise in some measure what that same blessed Man can be to me as food to sustain me in wilderness conditions.
The rest was not a leftover but a gift.
God says, "I have given it to them." Given what? The meal offering. To whom? To His priests, to us — "for their portion of My offerings." It was God's offering, all offered to God, as the life of the Lord Jesus here. Yet we have our portion in it.
- Fire, not blood. This offering pictures Christ's life on earth, and the fire only brings out its fragrance.
- Handful. A small sample stands for the whole; God alone can value what it represents.
- Frankincense. All of it burns. Part of Christ's perfection is for God's appreciation alone, and none of it was ever lost.
- Memorial. The rare word marks that life as kept before God. Will He ever forget it?
- Portion. Only after the memorial ascends is the rest given to the priests — God's delight first, then ours.
And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat unleavened shall it be eaten in a holy place; in the court of the tent of meeting shall they eat it.
The priest burns a handful of the grain offering on the altar as a memorial, and this verse deals with what is left. The rest becomes food for the priests, fenced in by rules of place, company, and purity.
This law tells the priests what to do with what is left, and its small details carry weight.
The law of the grain offering deals with what to do with the rest of it, after the memorial handful with all the frankincense has been burned on the altar... Now we know who and what this dry grain offering pictured — the man Christ Jesus in His life on earth, who bore divine judgment on the cross. So we understand why these orders were given: to keep the rest of it clear of leaven in any form. For in the Lord Jesus there was no trace of evil. So God guarded the truth about the holiness of the person of His Son. He went into these tiny details, never, as it were, taking His eye off the offering until it was all consumed... It was holy, most holy, and the priests were reminded of this. The priests fed on it, just as we who are priests are to find food for our souls in the life of Christ, and to have fellowship with God about Him.
The wording is not "Aaron's sons" alone. Aaron eats too, and commentators read the whole priestly house in that phrase.
But here the stress falls on what was left: "the rest of it Aaron and his sons shall eat" — not Aaron's sons only, but Aaron with them. It is the entire priestly house, Christ and His own, and we are His house, those who now share in a heavenly calling.
So who ate it, and who did not?
Once the memorial had been burned on the altar with all the frankincense, the man who brought the offering left the rest with the priest on duty. All the males of the priesthood would eat it, as part of God's provision for those who served Him. The man who brought it could not share in what was left; only God's priests were to feed on it.
The next verse puts it in God's own words. A worshipper brought the offering, yet God calls the priests' share a gift from Himself.
God says, "I have given it to them." I think that is beautiful. Given what? The grain offering. To whom? To His priests, to us — "for their portion of My offerings." It was God's offering, all offered to God, as the life of the Lord Jesus here, but we have our portion in it. We, as God's priests, can feed on that humbled One. Our souls can feed on Him and delight in Him in His perfection as a man going through this world.
The bread at this meal must have no leaven in it. Writers take that as a condition in the eater, not only in the food.
What is the holy place for us? Surely the presence of God. The priests' portion was to be eaten there without leaven — and no leaven means no allowed sin at all. In the presence of God, with the flesh judged and kept in the place of death, only there and in that way can we, as God's priests, feed on the spotless, holy Person of the Lord Jesus Christ in His life as a man here below.
He goes on to say what unjudged sin costs us.
If sin were unjudged in us, the Holy Spirit would be grieved and could not unfold to us the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ in His humiliation on earth. And it is the Holy Spirit alone who can do that.
The verse names the place twice: a holy place, and the court of the tent of meeting. The court walls mark off where this food may be eaten.
But it can only be eaten in a holy place — in the court of the tent of meeting, where the fine linen of practical righteousness shuts us in from the world. Whatever touches this becomes holy. Whatever we can connect with Christ finds that He is sanctification; whatever cannot be connected with Him is leaven, and must be shut out.
The next verse narrows the circle further, to every male among Aaron's children. One writer reads that as a matter of spiritual strength.
Our position, our practice, our persons, our associations must be holy before we can feed on the grain offering. Finally, it says, "all the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it." In other words, to enjoy this holy portion you need real priestly energy, as God defines it. Aaron's "sons" picture energy in priestly action. His "daughters" picture weakness in it.
Another writer puts the requirement in terms of cleanness rather than strength.
Today every believer is made a priest. But we need to be morally clean if we are to take in the excellencies of the life of our blessed Lord, a life so wholly offered to God.
- Rest. The fire does not take everything. What is left becomes food for the priests.
- Gift. A worshipper brought it, yet God says, "I have given it." The priest's share is a gift from God, not a leftover.
- Unleavened. No leaven at the table. The food is pure, and so must be the ones who eat it.
- Place. The meal belongs inside the court, shut off from the world. Food this holy has no place on common ground.
- Capacity. Priesthood opens the door. Strength and cleanness decide how much of the portion you enjoy.
It shall not be baken with leaven. As their portion have I given it [unto them] of my offerings by fire it is most holy; as the sin-offering, and as the trespass-offering.
This verse closes the rules for the grain offering, called the "meat offering" in older translations. It says three things about that offering: no leaven, a portion God hands over to His priests, and a rank — "most holy," like the sin offering and the guilt offering.
Leaven carries the same meaning all through Scripture, and that is why this offering must contain none of it.
Throughout Scripture, without a single exception, this ingredient stands for evil. In Leviticus 23 we find leaven allowed in the two loaves offered on the day of Pentecost. But from the meat offering, leaven was carefully shut out. The offering pictured "the Man Christ Jesus." So there was to be nothing sour in it, nothing that would puff up, nothing expressing evil. In Him there could be nothing of nature's sourness, nothing swollen, nothing inflated. All was pure, solid, and genuine. His word might at times cut to the quick, but it was never sour. … In the meat offering, sin is not in question. It is not the picture of a sin-bearer, but of a real, perfect, unblemished Man, conceived and anointed by the Holy Spirit, with an unleavened nature, living an unleavened life down here.
Another writer traces the absence of leaven back to the will behind the life.
It is the action of an independent will that is the principle of sin. Christ, as a divine Person, had the title of an independent will. "The Son gives life to whom He will"; but He came to do His Father's will. His will was obedience, sinless therefore, and perfect. Leaven, in the Word, is the symbol of corruption — "the leaven of malice and wickedness." In the cake, therefore, which was to be offered as a sweet savour to God, there was no leaven.
The offering was brought by a worshipper, yet God speaks of it as His own to give away.
After the memorial part was offered up to God, the rest went to Aaron and his sons. Jehovah Himself says: "I have given it to them", and moreover it was most holy. The worshippers had themselves provided the offering, but God says: "I have given it to them". For Aaron and his sons it was their privilege to feed upon that which represented Christ Himself, and Christ in His manhood.
The wording covers the high priest as well as the family under him.
But the stress here falls on what remained: "and the rest of it Aaron and his sons shall eat," not Aaron's sons only, but Aaron with them. It is the entire priestly house, Christ and His own, whose house are we, those who now share in a heavenly calling.
One writer draws two conditions from this meal: who may eat it, and what must be cleared out of them first.
But we read, first of all, that the priests shall eat of the meat offering. Only a converted person can understand and feed upon the Lord Jesus in His pathway through this world. Second, "it shall be eaten with unleavened bread." No sin may be allowed in us. If we leave sin unjudged in us, we grieve the Holy Spirit, and He cannot unfold to us the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ in His humiliation on earth. And it is the Holy Spirit alone who can do that. The priests of God feed upon a humbled Christ in the holy place.
Of all the offerings, this label falls on two — and they are the two a suspicious mind would question.
It is used about the cake-offering, which represents His life as man here below. That is the very thing in which man has dared to suspect a taint. But the same expression occurs again in the sin-offering — the very occasion where man would have suspected, if anywhere, that the perfection of His glory was stained. He was as really man on the one hand, as on the other our sins were really borne by Him. Nothing seems to exceed the perfect care of the Holy Spirit for the glory of Christ.
The same rank belongs to the sin offering, which sets His holy life beside His death for sin.
In the burnt offering, the Holy Spirit did not need to guard the personal holiness of Christ with such jealousy. But the soul might lose sight of that holiness while considering the place the Blessed One took in the sin offering. So again and again we are reminded of it by the words, "it is most holy." … Never was the Lord Jesus more fully seen to be "the Holy One of God" than when He was "made sin" upon the cursed tree. On the cross He stood identified with all that was vile and black, and this only showed more clearly that He was "most holy."
- Unleavened — leaven stands for evil everywhere in Scripture. So it has no place in the offering that pictures the Man Christ Jesus.
- Given — the worshipper supplied the offering, but God calls it His and says, "I have given it to them."
- Shared — the portion goes to Aaron together with his sons: the whole priestly house, Christ and His own.
- Holy place — the priests eat this food unleavened and in God's presence. Unjudged sin blocks the enjoyment of Christ.
- Most holy — the same stamp covers His life and His sin-bearing. It guards His glory just where people are tempted to doubt it.
All the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it. [It is] an everlasting statute in your generations, [their portion] of Jehovah's offerings by fire whatever toucheth these shall be holy.
This verse closes the rules for the grain offering, which older translations call the "meat offering" or "meal offering." It names who may eat the part the fire did not take — Aaron's sons, Israel's priests — and ends with a startling line about holiness passing by touch.
This offering pictures Christ from a different angle than the burnt offering. One writer starts with His sinlessness and sets the two side by side:
Scripture declares of Christ that not only was there no sin in Him, but that He knew none. The burnt offering witnessed to the perfection of His work in death. The meal offering shows us something no less perfect: what He Himself was here below, under every conceivable trial. What a privilege to feed on Him, given by God as our portion of His fire-offerings! Surely it is "most holy," like the sin offering and the trespass offering. In these there must be absolute freedom from any taint.
In the verse just before, God says He has given this food as the priests' portion. One writer presses on the word "given," and finds a gift that reaches believers now:
God says, "I have given it to them." Given what? The meat offering. To whom? To His priests, to us — "for their portion of My offerings." It was God's offering, all offered to God, as the life of the Lord Jesus here, but we have our portion in it. We, as God's priests, can feed upon that humbled One.
Two limits go with this food: who may eat it, and what may go into it. Both guard the truth about the Person the offering pictures:
The one who brought the offering could not eat what was left; God's priests alone were to feed on it. Here again God carefully guarded the truth about the person of Christ. They were not to bake the priests' portion of fine flour with leaven. Aaron and his sons were to eat it with unleavened bread in the holy place. This traces out the perfect purity of Christ, and His separation from the least mixture with evil, or any connection in Himself with evil. And it plainly rebukes all undue familiarity and lack of reverence towards Him as a man.
The rule also makes a demand on the one who eats:
Today God makes every believer a priest. But we need to be morally clean to digest the excellencies of the life of our blessed Lord, which were so wholly offered to God.
One writer points out where attacks on the truth are aimed:
In almost all false doctrines, Satan's efforts against the truth aim, directly or indirectly, at the Person or the work of the blessed Lord. The target is not so much what He is now in glory, but what He was as man down here on earth. A humbled Christ seems to be the object of the enemy's attack in all false doctrine.
The verse names the males, not the whole priestly family. One writer takes that as a picture of energy:
Finally, it is "Every male among the children of Aaron may eat of it." That is to say, enjoying this holy portion calls for real priestly energy, as God defines it. Aaron's "sons" set forth the idea of energy in priestly action. His "daughters," weakness in it. There were some things the sons could eat which the daughters could not. Our hearts should long for the highest measure of priestly energy. Then we may carry out the highest priestly functions and share in the highest order of priestly food.
The closing clause fixes this privilege for ever, and lets holiness pass by touch:
This verse solemnly repeats a surpassing privilege. Jehovah secures it for ever to all the males among the children of Aaron: they share the meal offering and so feed on Christ in communion with Him. "Whatever — or whoever — touches them shall become holy." Not only was the meal offering "most holy," but everything that touched it passed out of common use and belonged to Jehovah.
This feeding shows in daily life, and it ends with a question:
Feeding on Christ produces moral separation from the world, from sin, and from the flesh. So what are we nourishing our affections on? Is it Christ, or the worthless, draining things of the world?
- Given. What is left is not a scrap. It is a portion God gives His priests for ever — and every believer is now one of them.
- Most holy. This food pictures the flawless life of Christ on earth. It ranks with the sin and trespass offerings.
- Unleavened. No leaven goes into this food. The ban guards Christ's purity, and the reverence of those who feed on Him.
- Every male. Real priestly energy, not just family membership, takes in this highest order of food.
- Holy by touch. Whatever touches the offering leaves common use, and feeding on Christ separates us from the world.