And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
Leviticus 6:19 opens a short word from God about an offering for the priests alone (verses 20–23). Why did the men who normally ate other people's offerings have to bring flour and oil daily that no one could touch?
Where this instruction sits in the book tells us who it is for.
This fresh revelation came after the law of the grain offering and before the law of the sin offering. God gave it to Moses to instruct Aaron and his sons (6:19-23). It prescribed the daily grain offering that the high priest was to present for himself and his sons, from the day of his consecration to the end of his time in office. Since this concerns the priesthood alone, we understand why it comes in here. It was a special offering, though a daily one. It differed from any voluntary grain offering: God fixed the measure of the flour.
The ordinary grain offering left a share for the priests to eat. This one left them none.
But the essential difference of the grain offering before us is that it was wholly burnt to Jehovah. The measure was a tenth of an ephah, or an omer — the same amount as the manna for an Israelite (Ex. 16). No part of it was kept as food for the priests. As a perpetual grain offering, half went up in the morning and half in the evening. But not a scrap was to be eaten. The whole must be burnt on the altar. The reason is plain. It was for the priests, and therefore it went up wholly to Jehovah.
Both this offering and the daily burnt offering went up whole to God. They did not speak of the same thing.
The daily burnt offering for all Israel went up wholly to God, speaking to Him of the surrender of the Lord Jesus Christ to death to make atonement. This daily grain offering, by contrast, was offered for the priests. It did not picture atonement. It pictured the perfect service given to God on earth by the man Christ Jesus, who bore divine judgment — service tested by trials from men.
Compare it with the offering just before it. The contrast throws light on the Lord's own life.
In the grain offering (Lev. 6:14-18), the priest's share in it is presented. Our Lord's life is for His people to enjoy. Yet the memorial of that life went up in sweet savour to God upon the cross. When the grain offering is the priest's alone (Lev. 6:19-23), it is all consumed. So our Lord offered up His whole life to God, keeping back nothing for Himself to enjoy apart from His Father.
The priest presented this offering, and he was also the one it was offered for.
In the grain offering the frankincense went up to God entirely. The priests ate of the flour, but all the grace goes up to God. It was holy; and when the priests offered a grain offering, it was all burnt. It is Christ Himself: there He is offerer and offering; and it was for no one except God Himself, so to speak.
This offering belongs to the day the high priest was anointed.
Verses 19-23 deal with the special grain offering of Aaron and his sons on the day of his anointing... The priest could not eat until he was anointed and fully qualified. But at his anointing the sweet savour was to go up to God.
This daily offering pointed past the men who brought it.
Every day this offering presented to God, on behalf of the priests, what spoke of the Lord Jesus in His life of trial as He ministered here among men... Aaron and his sons were priests to God. But the One whose life of ministry on earth could be acceptable to Jehovah was not from Aaron's family. That grain offering, each morning and each evening, proclaimed it. The perfect Man had yet to come. Now He has come.
- Spoken apart. God gives a fresh word here for Aaron and his sons alone. It sets a daily offering with a fixed measure of flour, unlike the voluntary offerings anyone could bring.
- Given whole. A tenth of an ephah, the manna measure: half in the morning, half in the evening. Not a scrap was eaten. It was for the priests, so all of it went up to God.
- Christ whole. The earlier grain offering gave the priests a share; this one gives them none. It pictures not atonement but a whole life given to God, with nothing kept back to enjoy apart from the Father.
- Offerer and offering. The priest who presents it and the perfection it describes meet in one Person. The whole of it was for God alone.
- Anointed first, then fed. At the anointing the sweet savour rose to God, and only then could a priest eat holy things. Day after day the offering announced a perfect Man still to come.
This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall present to Jehovah on the day when he is anointed the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour as a continual oblation, half of it in the morning, and half thereof at night.
The priests lived on the offerings other people brought to God. Here God tells Aaron and his sons to bring one of their own, twice a day from the day of anointing on — and to eat none of it.
God gave this law by itself, and its place in the book is no accident.
God gave Moses a fresh revelation to instruct Aaron and his sons (6:19-23). It came after the law of the grain offering and before the law of the sin offering. It prescribed the daily grain offering which the high priest was to present for himself and his sons, from the day of his consecration to the end of his career as high priest. Since this concerns the priesthood alone, we understand why it comes in this place. It was a special offering, yet a daily one. It differed from any voluntary grain offering, because God prescribed the measure of the flour.
The grain offering never stands alone. It goes with the burnt offering, and that order carries meaning.
The grain offering always follows the burnt offering as its supplement, whatever might be the reversed order in the sequence of Christ and His work. How differently they speak who dwell on the Incarnation to belittle the Atonement! God sets aside what we might think of as the order of nature, even in Christ Himself and His work.
Another writer says what the flour itself pictures:
It speaks of Christ, not in His atoning sufferings, but in the purity of sinless Manhood in all His life on earth.
Two things mark this offering out: its exact size, and where all of it went.
Of the tenth part of the ephah, or the omer prescribed here — the same measure as the manna for an Israelite (Ex. 16) — no part was reserved for priestly food. As a perpetual grain offering, half of it went up in the morning and half in the evening. No one was to eat a morsel of it. The whole of it had to be burnt on the altar. The reason is plain. It was for the priests, and therefore it went wholly up to Jehovah. When an Israelite brought an offering for himself, the priests had the privilege of eating it — all the males, in a holy place. But their own offering on the day of anointing went entirely to Jehovah, like the burnt offering. It was not a question of fellowship with others. It was Christ wholly offered up as a sweet savour to Jehovah on their own behalf.
Nothing in this daily routine ever grew stale to God.
How precious to God was everything that spoke of Him! He had it brought daily in remembrance before Him. He never grew tired of the daily burnt offering, with the grain offering and drink offering that went with it, nor of the priest's special grain offering. And God allows us to have communion with Him about the One in whom He has unchanging delight.
Another writer draws out what this daily offering means for those who serve God.
It is striking that God assigned them an offering without blood. They should know well the power of the blood-shedding at their consecration. From then on it is the Person of the Lord Jesus that should remain their life-object. They are taken up with Him in His personal character, the One who became an entire sweet savour to God on the altar.
One writer finds meaning in a further detail: the oil is mixed in, but never poured over it.
Oil was mixed with it, but oil was not poured on it… The oil poured on the fine flour pictured the Holy Spirit coming on Christ at His baptism. Since that pouring of the oil is left out here, this grain offering seems to picture the blessed life of our Lord before His public ministry began. The hidden years, as we call them, were given completely to God. The Holy Spirit has not given us a record of those years, so we cannot feed on them.
- Anointed — the offering starts on the day the priest is set apart. His service begins with something given to God, not taken from Him.
- Measured — a tenth of an ephah is the omer, one man's daily manna. God fixed the amount; the priest did not choose it.
- Fine flour — the flour pictures Christ in the purity of sinless manhood. It speaks of His life on earth, not His atoning sufferings.
- Wholly burnt — this offering was for the priests, so none of it was theirs to eat. All of it went up to God on their behalf.
- Morning and evening — twice a day, without a break, God asked to be reminded of the One He delights in. He invites His priests into that same delight.
It shall be prepared in the pan with oil saturated with oil shalt thou bring it baken pieces of the oblation shalt thou present [for] a sweet odour to Jehovah.
These instructions (verses 19–23) are for the priests themselves, not for the people: a grain offering the high priest brought every day from the day he was anointed. Commentators read each detail — the griddle, the oil, the broken pieces, the aroma — as a picture of Christ.
One writer notes what makes this daily offering different, and what it pictures.
This comes after the law of the grain offering and before the law of the sin offering. God gave Moses a fresh revelation to instruct Aaron and his sons (6:19-23). It prescribes the daily grain offering the high priest was to present for himself and his sons, from the day of his consecration to the end of his time in office... It differed from them all on one essential point: he offered half of it in the morning, and half in the evening. Baked with oil on (not in) a frying pan, or flat plate, it was wholly burnt... It did not picture atonement. It pictured the perfect service on earth for God of the man Christ Jesus, tested though it was by trials from men.
Baking takes fire, and fire suggests suffering. One writer marks the limit of that idea.
The process of baking suggests the idea of suffering. But the grain offering is called "a pleasing aroma" — a term never used of the sin offering or trespass offering. So there is clearly no thought here of suffering for sin. There is no thought of suffering the wrath of God because of sin, and no thought of suffering at the hand of infinite Justice as the sinner's substitute.
The choice of vessel carries its own meaning. One writer compares the closed oven with the open pan.
The cakes baked in the oven were enclosed, so they were not open to the eyes of men. They were hidden, and I think they would represent the sufferings that no man knew about, but God alone knew. In verse five the offering is baked in a pan, and that is an open vessel. Here everyone could see the sufferings our Lord endured.
(Both writers are commenting on Leviticus 2, which describes the oven and the pan. Older translations read "baken in a pan" there; the ESV says "on a griddle".)
Other grain offerings were mixed with oil or brushed with it. This one goes further, and the timing of the two halves has a lesson in it.
Half was to be offered in the morning, the other half at night, showing that the day was to begin and finish with thoughts of Christ. The normal offering was either mixed with oil or anointed with oil; this offering was to be saturated with oil, a more intensive thought. As J. N. Darby said, this speaks of the Son of God in power, who walked by the Spirit in divine and absolute holiness in the middle of a world of sin.
The offering came to the altar in pieces, not as one whole cake. One writer says what that division stands for.
Parted in pieces means in every detail, words, works, everything.
Usually the priests ate the rest of a grain offering. Here they ate none of it, and the reason turns on who the offering was for.
Of the tenth part of the ephah, or the omer prescribed here, the same measure as the manna for an Israelite (Ex. 16), no part was kept back as food for the priests... but not a morsel was to be eaten: the whole must be burnt on the altar. The reason is plain. It was for the priests, and therefore it wholly went up to Jehovah... This was not a question of fellowship with others. It was Christ wholly offered up as a pleasing aroma to Jehovah on their behalf.
The aroma was not a one-off. God had this reminder brought before Him every single day.
How all that spoke of Him was precious to God! He had it brought daily in remembrance before Him. He never grew tired of the daily burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering, nor of the priest's special grain offering. And we are permitted to have communion with God about the One in whom He has unchanging delight.
- Whose offering — The priest's own daily grain offering, from the day he was anointed. It pictures not atonement, but a perfect life of service to God under trial.
- What the griddle says — An open pan, not a closed oven: suffering that everyone could see. Yet because it is a pleasing aroma, it is never suffering for sin.
- What the oil says — Not just mixed or brushed on, but soaked right through. Half went up at dawn, half at dusk: the day begins and ends with Christ.
- What the pieces say — Broken up and brought in parts, so that every detail can be valued — words, works, everything.
- Where it all goes — None of it was eaten. The offering made for the priests went up whole to God, and God never tired of receiving it.
And the priest who is anointed of his sons in his stead shall prepare it [it is] an everlasting statute; it shall be wholly burned to Jehovah.
Leviticus 6:19–23 sets one offering apart for the priests alone: a grain offering the anointed priest brought every day, half in the morning and half in the evening. Verse 22 makes it a lasting rule for each anointed priest who follows him, and states what marks it out — the whole of it is burned.
These verses sit apart from the laws around them. They deal only with the men who served at the altar.
After the law of the grain offering, and before the law of the sin offering, God gave Moses a fresh revelation to instruct Aaron and his sons (6:19-23). It prescribed the daily grain offering the high priest was to present for himself and his sons, from the day of his consecration to the end of his time in office. Since this concerns the priesthood alone, we understand why it comes in this place. It was a special offering, though a daily one. But it differed from every other grain offering on one essential point: half of it was offered in the morning, and half in the evening. Baked with oil on a flat plate, it was wholly burnt. Under the law no one could eat of their own offering unless it was an offering of thanksgiving... It did not picture atonement. It pictured the perfect service on earth for God of the man Christ Jesus, who bore divine judgment — service tested by trials from men.
Why was the whole of it burned? The answer lies in who it was for. In other grain offerings the priests ate what was left. Here the offering stood for the priests themselves.
But the essential difference of the grain offering before us is that it was wholly burnt to Jehovah. Of the tenth part of the ephah prescribed here — the same measure as the manna for an Israelite (Ex. 16) — the priests kept back no part to eat... The reason is plain. It was for the priests, and therefore it wholly went up to Jehovah. What an Israelite offered for himself, the priests had the privilege of eating — all the males, in a holy place. But their own offering on the day of anointing was all for Jehovah, like the burnt offering. It was no question of fellowship with others, but of Christ offered up whole to Jehovah, a pleasing aroma, on their own behalf.
Nothing is left over. Writers see in that the shape of Christ's own life.
When the grain offering is the priest's alone (Lev. 6:19-23), it is all consumed. So our Lord offered up His whole life to God, reserving nothing to be enjoyed by Himself apart from His Father.
Some writers link this offering to the years of Christ's life that the Gospels leave unrecorded. God treasured that life, even though no one else could share it.
To what did it testify? To the preciousness of thirty years of human life which, one may say, has no place in the inspired history... It stays completely hidden, and will stay hidden for us until we hear it perhaps in the speech of heaven — a grain offering to God alone... Half offered in the morning, half at night, it may show us His lasting perfectness all through, whether in sunshine or in shadow. Things test us equally, yet in such different ways; in Him they all bore equal witness to unchangeable goodness.
The rule passed to each anointed priest in turn. So the same witness went up twice a day for generations, and it pointed away from the priests who made it.
So this offering set before God each day, on behalf of the priests, what spoke of the Lord Jesus in His life of trial as He ministered here among men... Aaron and his sons were priests to God. But the One whose life of ministry on earth could be acceptable to Jehovah was not of Aaron's race. That grain offering each morning and each evening proclaimed it. The perfect Man had yet to come.
Writers take the morning-and-evening pattern as a model for how a believer's own day may open and close.
Is this the Blessed One with whom we begin the day?... And when the busy day is over, can we still tell God how much we value that wondrous Person, in all the freshness of unbroken communion, and in the same measure as we began the day? A day that begins and ends like this will be full of the fragrance of what belongs to the Father's delight alone, for this offering "shall be wholly burned. It shall not be eaten."
- Whose offering. The anointed priest brings this one for himself and his sons. That is why it stands apart from the laws around it.
- Wholly to God. The priests were the ones it stood for, so no one was left to eat it. The whole of it went up to God.
- Nothing reserved. Writers read it as Christ's life given whole to the Father, with nothing kept back for Himself.
- Hidden and valued. Some connect it to the thirty unrecorded years of His life — hidden from us, precious to God alone.
- Forever repeated. Every anointed priest who followed brought it too, morning and evening. It announced that the perfect Man had not yet come.