SCRIPTURE: Leviticus 2
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
1. Give us today our daily bread. [Matthew 6:11, see Proverbs 30:7-9] The symbolism of bread is important here. It represents our basic needs. Through these sacrifices we acknowledge that we do not live by bread alone, but by God’s grace and truth. We need the Lord, He is our true bread [John 6:35].
2. These grain offerings were voluntary acts of submission and devotion, a person’s way of committing or recommitting oneself to the Lord.
3. I do not know why the distinctions between unbaked grain and grain prepared in an oven, on a griddle or in a pan. From where I sit today, these distinctions seem tedious and tiring. But God must have had His reasons.
4. Yeast came to symbolize deception and bondage [Matthew 16:6,11-12], though originally unleavened bread reminded the people of their quick escape from Egypt, no time to wait for the bread to rise. Not sure why honey was forbidden. And salt becomes a symbol of the influence of God’s people in the world.
5. There were 3 kinds of offerings: CONFESSION (sin, guilt offerings), CONSECRATION (fellowship, grain offerings) and COMMUNION (fellowship, thank offerings). This describes the shape of our new relationship with God: we repent, we believe, and we live in fellowship with Him.
6. God is not literally pleased by the aroma of the sacrifice, but by the heart behind the sacrifice.
7. God uses the grain offering as an expression of devotion, but also as a means of supporting the priests and Levites who had no land. They made their living from the temple.
8. Today I am taking a piece of wrapped bread with me wherever I go. It will be a reminder to me today that I depend on the Lord for all my needs, and that He provides everything I need to live and serve for Him.
PRAYER:
Lord, I offer to You my life, and I trust You to provide for my daily life.